By Abby Gray
In this age of mukbangs you would be hard pressed to scroll on your phone for more than 5 minutes and not come across a person sitting before a table laid out with mounds of food fit for royalty! Now, if you are like me, your first thought may be – in this economy-how? And the answer may surprise you- food budgeting!
Now let’s be honest- that is probably not the true answer, but there is a lot to be said for a good food budget to keep both your wallet and your belly full!
I suggest to anyone starting this journey of budgeting to give yourself grace and take it one step at a time. Start small and then once you feel you have found a rhythm, add steps. Going all in at the one-time can be overwhelming and if you are like me, you end up defeated and talking to a speaker box in a drive thru.
I have listed the real-life steps I took to be able to budget my food to help me save money!
1. Go to your pantry! Discover what is in date that can be the base of your next meal.
2. Check the ads for the grocery store you shop at & plan meals based on what is on sale that week.
3. Plan meals that have ingredients that can be used for more than just one meal and shop for fruits and veggies that are in season when they are at their lowest cost.
4. Add in “busy” meals. In a perfect world- cooking a three-course meal after a day of work/class/meetings/traffic would be awesome, but who has the time or the energy? So, I like to have a frozen pizza on hand to throw in the oven on the days I get home late, and I cannot be bothered to chop an onion.
5. Treat yourself. Make room in your budget for one of the meals to be a takeaway, or drive-thru! Go online to the menu and calculate the cost of your order and work it into your budget!
6. Use your resources and get creative. I follow a great lady on TikTok that does Dollar Tree challenges (@dollartreedinners) where she makes dinners for a whole family for less than a McDonald’s meal. You can find easy, cost-effective, and creative recipes to try all over the web!
You can also reach out to Emory Financial Literacy for help with building a grocery spending plan! Email emoryfinancialliteracy@emory.edu, DM us on Instagram. or come to one of our events.