If you haven't noticed yet, changing diet habits often takes a toll on your budget. I've been told that having food allergies can increase your grocery bill by 20% or more, and man can I testify to that!! When I first found out we had multiple allergies, especially the wheat and gluten, I went straight to the health food store and bought a bunch of expensive mixes and prepackaged GF foods. This, if you haven't noticed yet, just isn't a good
budget choice. Since then I have been asking the Lord throughout the last year to show me how to make our grocery budget stretch while purchasing everything we need and making sure we are all eating nutritious meals that are allergen free. One of the biggest budget savers I found was couponing.
I never thought I would be a "couponer" but here I am. It's amazing what hoops we are willing to jump through when we are trying to save money. Before we knew there were any food allergies in our family, I began couponing. I ordered the weekend paper and cut out and organized all the coupons that came on Sundays (plus any that I came across in other places). I spent at least 5 hours (stretched through the week) going through adds and trying to find coupons to go with the sales and specific products we might have needed at the time. I averaged savings of about $70 per two week shopping trip. After about six months my good friend Alisa gave me a call and told me about a website,
http://www.grocerygame.com/. I tried the free four week trial membership and have been using it since. (There is a small fee every 8 weeks, but it is well worth it!) I am not trying to sell this site like a product, but it truly changed how I shop.
This is how I have organized my coupons, it seems to work pretty well!
The idea of the website is to give you a list from your local grocery stores of all the things that are on sale, including many items that are not in the weekly add and items that are on clearance that week. The list is broken down into categories and allows you to see what items are at their lowest price (based on a 12 week sale cycle for that store.. meaning those items will most likely not be at that low of price for another 12 weeks, stock up now!). It also tells you whether or not there is a coupon for that item, what you will pay if you have the coupon, and what week that coupon came in the paper. The first week I used the list, it saved me hours of going through the adds and I saved around $160! I paid $180 for our two week shop instead of $340! Now this may sound like I am some testimonial for the website (which I guess in a way I am), but my point is that I found a tool that has allowed me to stretch our dollars as far as I possibly can.
My point...Here it is...Since I have been doing this system of couponing and using the website, I have been able to spend less on the things I need (cleaners, produce, etc) and redirect the saved funds to purchasing the more expensive essentials like GF flour etc.
Now, I totally understand that many of you either don't have the time to put into couponing or you just don't feel like it's for you. Don't worry, there are still some things that you can do to tame that pocket book! And if you are couponers, you still should implement these steps too!
1. Make a MENU!
Take a look through the local grocery adds (or health food store adds) and figure out whats on sale. Plan out your meals for the next week or two around what is in season and on sale. Make sure you are planning balanced meals and find substitutes to accommodate your allergies that are not so expensive.
- Obviously, depending on your diet, you are still going to have to buy substitutes that are a bit pricey, but knowing where to buy them can help cut those costs. For example, there are some great gluten free noodles and other products that tend to be cheaper at Wal-Mart rather than the grocery store. Subbing rice for noodles (brown rice preferably) or baking your allergen free bread from a mix that costs $3.49 at Vitamin Cottage compared to buying a pre-made loaf at the store for $5.50 are also ways to save.
- CHEAPER PRODUCE! Now, this will be different depending on where you live and what stores you have around you, but generally I found this to be true. Produce is usually cheaper at health food stores such as Sprouts or Sunflower market than at the grocery store. Check their adds for what is in season and compare it to the grocery store add. I have found the price of produce to be significantly cheaper at these store enough for me to make the extra trip.
- ASK AROUND!! The best way to learn where to buy stuff is getting involved with other people who are dealing with the same allergies. You will be amazed at how many helpful tips and how much rich knowledge you can glean when you get involved in support groups or get together with other moms and dads whose kids have the same allergies. (Blogs are a great resource for this if you are not able to actually get involved in meetings.)
2. Make a PLAN! Set a budget!
DO NOT go to the grocery store without a list!! A BIG NO NO!! The list is what keeps you from impulse buying. Plan out your shopping trip and tell your money where it's going! Don't let that chocolate bar that is beckoning you from the sideline snatch away any money that is meant to go towards something else!
- CARRY CASH!! If you pull out cash for your groceries, you are much less likely to spend over your budget (Dave Ramsey speaking here :) ) If you don't have the money, you DON'T buy it! Wow! What a concept!
3. Eat IN instead of OUT!
For those of us who are on strict budgets, eating out can be a killer. We often set ourselves up for a fall when we don't plan ahead. After making a menu, consider your schedule and plan for easy meals on the nights you are going to be busy and you know you won't have time to cook. Pre-prep as much as you can when you have extra time. (I am still learning this myself!).
- If you know you are going to want to eat out at certain points, plan that money into your grocery budget and pull it out in cash! Set it aside and know that when it's gone it's gone!!
Although these steps are not all pertaining specifically to shopping for allergen free foods, the steps (if you are not already implementing them) will help you control where your money is going and free up more money for you to use towards those more expensive products that are essential for your diet.
I hope this has helped you, even if only a little. This is, as I have said, what has worked for me, but if you have found ways that have helped you to control those escaping dollars when it comes to your grocery budget since you have started shopping allergen free, please share with us in the comments! I am always open to learn more! God Bless and happy shopping!! Stephy
