Groceries are one of the most expensive parts of daily life, yet they are incredibly necessary. Although most stores and sites account for the cost of a family eating every month: single people are more unpredictable with their spending.
How much should you be spending on groceries? When do you pay too much? These are the top things to know about the average grocery bill and how to save money.
Crunching the Numbers
The average single person spent between $200 and $450 on groceries every month in 2022. This varies slightly depending on age and sex but is a good view of what the average person spends.
This just is between $6.60 to $15 a day, which is far more affordable than eating out for every meal. Since the average hourly earning in the United States (as of February 2023) is $10.97, this can seem steep.
How Can You Make This More Affordable?
If you want to make your groceries more affordable, it’s important to remember to buy in bulk and avoid getting premade meal packs. Although you may think it’s cost-effective to simply get a five-dollar lasagna for dinner most nights, it’s cheaper in the long term to buy pasta, meat, and sauce.
Another good call is to meal prep for yourself but keep it exciting. By buying a single protein, like chicken or pork, you can create a few different dishes, ranging from simple lemon chicken to curry or even chicken salad. Changing it up will help keep it interesting while still letting you save money.
Best Ways to Use Every Ingredient
Remember to try and use up every last ingredient you get: food waste can be terrible for both your budget and the environment. Plan your meals ahead of time, and avoid buying a lot of something you don’t need simply because it’s affordable.
It’s a good idea to treat your home as an ingredients-only home. This will stop you from reaching for chips when you could be air frying asparagus or quickly cutting up apple slices. In the long-run, it’s healthier for you.
Is Online Grocery Shopping Worth It?
One of the hottest pieces of grocery news in 2023 is that over 70% of Americans have bought groceries online in the last year. Although there are added costs of having someone else shop for you, and even more if you have them delivered instead of picking them up, you can save money. Impulse buying is far less common when you have to search for everything on a site.
How to Shop the Sales
Shopping sales will save you a lot of time and stress that would overwhelm the average person. If you want to get the most out of sales, try to get to know your local grocery store’s schedule. When do they drop new ads? It could be a good idea to plan your groceries and menu based on what’s on sale and what you can make with it.
Groceries Are An Expensive Necessity
Whether you’re trying to make sure you don’t spend too much or you’re checking to make sure you’re on average, groceries are more expensive now than they have ever been. Keep an eye on coupons, and work to shop sales if you want to save money.
