South Africans spend, on average, 12,8% of their income on food and beverages per month, making this one of the top 3 expenditures in South African households along with transport and housing. We used to spend roughly the same amount of our income on food, and sometimes even more than that, if truth be told. We now spend about 10% of our income on food and beverages each month, and in this amount I also include all the food and treats for our 4 doggies as well as all our household cleaning items and our toiletries. And we pretty much stick to our grocery budget each month.

Our 10% figure took quite a bit of tweaking before we got it right. We manage to stick to it month in and month out because a) I budget, not only for food, but for everything else, b) I plan our meals according to our budget and based on what’s available on special that month, c) I shop at 2-4 different supermarkets at a time to take advantage of the variety of items on special and d) when I do go shopping, I don’t go over our budget even if there are plenty of great deals around which makes it so easy to overstock, and overspend, on lots of items.

More and more supermarkets and just about every other store in South Africa is offering ‘specials’ and ‘3 for 2’ deals and ‘50% off’ and ‘massive savings’ just before month end i.e. payday. While this is good for consumers because we can save on our monthly grocery shopping and stock up on what we need for the month ahead, this can also work against us, and our budget, if we’re not careful.

Remember that retailers, including supermarkets, are in the business of selling us their goods,…
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While specials and deals will inevitably provide the opportunity for you to buy more at a lower price, you might just end up buying a whole lot more in order to ‘stock up more’, therefore generating higher profits for the retailer and either making a serious dent in your budget or going over your budget completely. And while you’re in the shop, you might also end up buying one or two or three or fifteen items that are not on special or on sale, increasing the amount you spend at the shop even more, and cancelling out the savings you made by going in to buy the items on special in the first place.

I often used to do the same, especially if I didn’t have time to shop around or I was too tired after a long week at work. I avoid this now, no matter how tired I may be and so not in the mood for grocery shopping. I look at the specials and deals available before I leave the house and I plan what to buy and where to buy it. Yes, I do generally end up shopping at 2-4 different supermarkets for the month but they’re all pretty much in the vicinity of each other so I don’t spend more on fuel and my budget benefits as much as possible from all the deals and specials available.

I also no longer overstock, or overspend, on specials and deals. I do sometimes stock up on items that we use on a regular basis but only if I can find those items at rock-bottom prices and even then, I only buy what my budget allows but no more (you can read more about how I stockpile in my post Are you a fan of Stockpiling?). This really helps us stick to our grocery budget each month. I know it’s great to have a stocked up pantry cupboard, it really is, but amid all the other things we have to think about each day, we do tend to forget what there is in our cupboards, how much there is and what the expiry dates are. Having to throw food away because it’s expired means that you’ve wasted, and not saved, the money you spent on it. Now I make sure that expiry dates are labelled and visible so that I know what needs to be used up and by when.

And also, if we’re not careful on how much we stock up we might just find ourselves with something like 20 tins of baked beans and 15 tins of tuna in our pantry at some stage. For us, there is a limit to how many tins of baked beans or tuna we can go through in a month or even two. Besides, certain foods do tend to go on special pretty much every month so I don’t really see the need to stock up on those items. The brands do change and while we have our favourites, I tend to buy whatever is cheapest. Either way, it’s all good and it can all be eaten and used. This is all the more reason for me to stock up only on items when they are at their lowest price.

I also have a pretty good idea of how much of each item we need for the month such as milk, sugar, coffee, tea, rice, pasta, to name just a few. If you’ve been budgeting, as I have, for a while now, you’ll get to know your budget and your expenses quite well. Buying just the right amount of groceries for the month really helps me stay on track with our budget.

Apart from this, I also plan our meals. Stay tuned for my Meal Planning Series coming soon on the blog!

Do you have any tips and tricks that help you stick to your grocery budget each month? Please leave me a comment below and share your ideas. I’d love to hear from you.

*Part of Financially Savvy Saturdays on brokeGIRLrich, Disease Called Debt and Frugal Consumerism*

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It’s February already. It seems like we’ve only just returned to work the other day! But here we are, now almost at the end of February. As I was working on my budget for next month I remembered that now is the time to start budgeting for Christmas expenses. Yes, that’s right. That, for me, is the easiest and the most effective way to budget for Christmas: several months in advance!

While at times it may be tempting to rely on your employer for providing a Christmas bonus along with your December pay to take care of your expenses over the holidays, it’s worth reminding yourself that a bonus is just that – a bonus – and by no means compulsory. We never know what the year ahead has in store for us or our employers. What if their business doesn’t do as well as projected? In which case, there may be no bonuses for anyone in December. Even if all does go as well as planned, or better, and you do receive your Christmas bonus, wouldn’t it be nice to save most of that money or use it for something other than Christmas gifts, food and drinks?

If you’re keen on starting a budget for Christmas expenses now, a good place to start would be to go through your bank statements for November, December and January and look at the total amount of money you spent over the holidays. This should include all the Christmas gifts you bought, the Christmas lunch you paid for, out of town trips, outings to the cinema, restaurants and bars as well as your bills for entertaining family and friends in your home. You should also include any other Christmas related expenses that you and your family had.

Now that you have the total amount all tallied up, think for a moment about the number that’s in front of you. Are you happy with the amount? Or are you a bit surprised at how much you’ve actually spent? Either way, you’ll have a much clearer picture of how much Christmas cost you last year.

If you’re happy with the amount, and you believe that it’s pretty much what you would like to spend over the Christmas holidays this year as well, go ahead and add an extra 5% of your total amount to anticipate the projected inflation rate for South Africa for the remainder of the year. If, on the other hand, you feel that you would like to, or possibly even should, spend a bit less this year, then decide on a figure and work with that.

There are 10 pay-days left from now until November this year. Divide the total amount you have in mind by 10 so that you know how much you would need to put away each month, starting now. You may also want to keep the money stashed somewhere where you can’t get to it too easily, or better yet, if you can open a save-for-a-purpose bank account, with no extra charges per month, then do that and forget about this account until you need to add money to it or until it’s time to spend it.

Budgeting for Christmas expenses, especially gifts, several months in advance means that you will have access to a bit of cash to buy gifts throughout the year if you come across something really nice or very affordable, but hopefully both! Unless it’s a perishable item, and most Christmas gifts usually aren’t, there’s no reason why you can’t buy the gifts in advance. This will save you the mad dash through crowded malls later in the year, trying to find the perfect gifts for your loved ones.

Also, if you allocate a specific amount of money to be spent on each gift, for example, and work towards finding something for that amount, this will make your Christmas shopping experience a lot more fun as you look for ways to be more creative, more thoughtful with your gifts.

Do you budget for Christmas expenses from early on in the year? Or do you have a different budgeting method that you use? Please share your ideas in the comments below.

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