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Home » Business And Finance Articles » How Much Should My Grocery Budget Be

How Much Should My Grocery Budget Be?

You talk about a question without an answer! But, I'm going to try to answer it anyway.

First, when we are talking about setting an exact dollar amount for groceries for each family that asks, that's almost impossible. What we can do is allot a portion (percentage) of our income for food.

There again, you have all of the variables like the size of your family, eating habits, etc. Also, a family with a low income may have to allot a larger percentage of their income toward buying food.

The question I would like to ask you is how much are you spending on groceries per month? I would have to say that most people wouldn't have any idea.

Better yet, how much could you be spending on food? In other words if you are currently spending $600 on food for your family let's try to cut that down to $500 or even $400. But first you will need to know how much you are spending now.

This is going to be a real hassle for a month or two because you will need to keep track of your grocery purchases. All of them!

Now, we can make that a little easier but you will need to have your finances set up a certain way. I always suggest that you only use 4 categories for your budget. These are Housing, Other Bills, Household Expenses and Savings.

Your grocery bill would come under that category of Household Expenses. If you have your finances set up this way each member of the family will have an allowance each payday for things like car gas, lunches, parking, snacks, etc. Doing it this way would eliminate the need to keep up with each family member's food spending except for the family pizza night.

All you would have to do is save your grocery receipts for about 30 to 60 days and add them up. This should give you a good idea of how much you spend on a monthly basis for food.

When you have this information it's time to start looking for ways to cut that figure down as low as you can and still provide good nutritious meals for your family.

If I started telling just the ways I know of how to save on groceries, this article would turn into a book. There are endless ways to cut back on your food spending. The best way to start learning is to search the web. Here are a couple of web sites you can start with:

The Frugal Shopper http://www.thefrugalshopper.com

Money Saving Grocery Tips http://homeparents.about.com/od/groceryshoppingtips/

Grocery Saving Tips http://www.grocerysavingtips.com/

With all of that said, the bottom line is that you need to spend what ever it takes on groceries to survive. In too many cases people will pay their bills out of their grocery budget. This won't work. Water, Food and shelter are the basics. Put them first no matter what your bills are or how many times they call to harass you.

I know you are still looking for a dollar amount for your family. If you pin me down I would have to say about 15% to 20% of your income could be spent on food. For a family making $3000 a month that would mean you would set aside about $450 to $600 for food. This is great unless you have teenagers that go through the kitchen like vacuum cleaners.

And here is another random article you might be interested in...

Increased Consulting Fees Through Self-Confidence

Sometimes consultants and other service providers are hesitant to charge a fair rate for their services.

Maybe they feel that the services they provide are so basic that you really can't justify charging much or anything for them.

Perhaps they feel that they don't have the knowledge or experience that other consultants have.

Thus, they hesitate to charge fair rates because of a lack of self-confidence. This is natural (especially for new consultants). However, what you know and do has real value.

By the way, I'm sure that most people find it more appealing to deal with someone who is humble enough to admit their limitations than someone who is arrogant and cocky and not as great as they think they are.

To stay in business, though, you need to charge a fair price for all of your services. Fair means fair to the client but also fair to you.

You can enjoy increased consulting fees by developing more self-confidence.

1. Don't Take Your Skills for Granted

First of all, we tend to take our assets for granted. If you are an expert bookkeeper and good with numbers, you may feel it's easy to do the work you do. Yes, it's easy for you but not for others.

You may actually have an aptitude for what do. You may have a gift that others don't have. Perhaps, through hard work and applying yourself, you have developed a marketable skill.

Second, even if someone were fairly good with numbers, it might not be a good use of time for that person to do the bookkeeping. By outsourcing this work, time can be more productively spent on other activities crucial to the business.

Bookkeeping may seem pretty basic but if you ask your accountant to do it for you, he's going to charge you extra. Why? It takes his (or his staff's) time.

Your services may also improve your client's bottom line. That being the case, your client is profiting from your services.

Thus, by realistically evaluating the value of your skills and other assets, you can boost your self-confidence for increased consulting fees.

2. Increased Consulting Fees Despite Inexperience

Just because there are people more knowledgeable and experienced than you doesn't mean that you can't charge for what you can do.

The top tax lawyers in the country may be more expert than other lawyers but who can afford them? For most clients, hiring them would be overkill.

Sometimes you might feel inadequate because you know you are still learning. You realize that you don't know everything there is to know about your field.

Who does? We're all learning! Get paid for your on-the-job training.

If you know some things that your client doesn't and you can help him improve his business, then you can offer a valuable service.

Don't under-estimate the value of your services.

Again, self-confidence can lead you to enjoy increased consulting fees.

3. Increased Consulting Fees for Additional Services

Many feel that their clients wouldn't pay extra for certain additional services offered.

How do they know? Have they asked their clients?

Make your case for the extra fees. How could the services offered help improve the profitability of your client's business?

Replace unappreciative clients (who undermine your self-confidence) with appreciative ones.

Selling value-added services is one way to obtain an edge over your competitors. For example, a web designer who is knowledgeable about search engine optimization could help increase their client's targeted web traffic which could result in increased sales and profits.

Premium services deserve premium rates.

In summary: Don't take your skills for granted. Lack of experience doesn't mean that you have nothing to offer. Charge for all your services. Yes, your self-confidence can result in increased consulting fees for you.