When my kids were little, I couponed, planned meals around the weekly specials, and tried to keep a tight rein on our grocery budget. But as they grew, I began working more. We all got busier, and I let some of those habits go.
Slowly, without really realizing it, our grocery costs inched up. A few months ago, I tracked every grocery expenditure for the entire month and discovered our bill totaled $2,300. I about had a heart attack.
I knew it was time for a change, and thankfully, the whole family pitched in.
Small changes in my spending habits led to a larger bill
Some of this spending happened because those previously little kids had become teenagers. And while having teen drivers makes me nervous for their safety, I have to admit there’s a huge perk: They can run errands for me.
After years of having to load toddlers and babies into the car for a quick trip to the grocery store, they were finally able to repay the favor. In fact, they enjoyed doing it. I could text them as they got out of after-school practice, and they could grab the few small things I needed for dinner that night.
Except it never ended up being just a few small things. I’d get a text back, asking if they could treat themselves to a drink or a snack … usually both. Of course they could! They’d been working hard at school and practice all day. They were probably starving, and they deserved it.
The month of our horrifying grocery bill was also marked by a family birthday party. We grilled, had snacks, and appetizers. We had cocktails for everyone over 21 and fancy sodas for everyone under 21. It was a great party, but that bill definitely contributed to our out-of-control spending.
The other big problem, I realized, was that I’d started grabbing convenience foods. I got frozen breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches, figuring the protein would fill up hungry teens more than cereal. We had some easy, ready-made meals for nights we were too busy to cook. All of these small additions combined to produce one huge bill.
I debated whether to tell my kids
On the one hand, we’ve always talked about budgeting with them. We have talked about the things we can and can’t (or don’t want to) afford as a family. They do their own budgeting for Christmas and meals out with friends. One of them bought her own car, which cost less than our grocery bill, so budgeting isn’t a foreign concept to them.
On the other hand, it felt weird to tell them we needed to watch our spending on groceries. Those feel essential. We’ve always been fortunate to be able to provide the basic necessities, and it was a blow to my ego to tell them we needed to cut back on food. I didn’t want anyone to worry that we couldn’t provide for them.
We had a family discussion to reduce our spending
I finally told everyone that we would have to change our grocery shopping habits. The kids were surprisingly on board, and we set a family challenge to reduce our bill.
We agreed to do two inexpensive meatless meals a week and make things like breakfast burritos at home. They started cooking from scratch, and not asking for quick, convenient snacks. My teenage drivers would pick up my once-a-week grocery order from the store, and we managed to avoid adding any extra trips in between.
All of us have gotten better at using up leftovers and emptying the pantry before we shop. We’re wasting less food as a family.
We even had another family party this month. Instead of a big cookout, we did a grilled cheese and soup bar, with a homemade menu full of cheesy puns.
By the end of the month, we’d managed to stick to our challenge and cut $750 off our grocery bill. It was a valuable lesson for all of us on how to be mindful of our spending and waste.
I hope this was also helpful to my teens. In a few years, they’ll be buying their own groceries, and they probably won’t have a lot of money to start. But now, they have some ideas for how to cut costs when they need to do their own shopping.
