I Only Spend $1,500 Annually on Groceries

Disclaimer.

You probably think I'm a crazy person, but I've been able to make this work. I'm not a financial expert. I'm not legally bound to consult you, and you're not legally bound to my consultation. Any advice followed from this article should be carefully and freely considered. The information provided below is simply an overview of what has worked for me. Thank you.

First of all, I'm single and I rent a basement from a homeowner friend of mine in the city. As a single man living alone, I've been able to make this work. When I was thinking about this article, I was anticipating this part because I love to share my experiences.

The Numbers

I spend $1,500 annually on groceries. That's not a whole lot of money to most people. The people I've shared this information with outside of Hubpages often laugh when they find out how little I spend on groceries annually. I was not a frugal person before I moved out on my own for the 3rd time. They say the 3rd time is the charm! As time has progressed, I've learned how important it is to save money.

The numbers, in fact, work up to these figures: $1,500 annually equals out to just $125 per month. That is $62.50 every two weeks. Since I shop for the week because I have 2 days off a week, I'm only spending $31.25 each week for groceries. That's crazy, right? Maybe.

When it comes down to it, I have less stressors at my job than I did previously, so I'm able to eat sensibly and not overeat. It's a blessing to be able to say that I have less stressors than before, because my job used to be very stressful. I do what I can to find rest and relaxation whenever I can so that I'm prepared to face the day.

Since I only spend $31.25 each week on groceries for the week, I usually go to 2 different places. I go to a growing chain of discount superstores known for their very affordable prices on bread, produce, lunch meats, etc. and I also go to my local dollar store.

Lunch Time

Sometimes, living frugally means that you spend a portion of time on one of your days off making food for the rest of the week. I make sandwiches and I often buy 2 bags of chips or something similar to take as a companion to the main lunch course. What it looks like each day for lunch, is a sandwich, some chips, and something sweet. While I'm doing this, I still feel much healthier than if I was eating mall food or something quick on the way.

Dinner

When I get home after a long day, dinner usually means that I've bought some frozen meals from the dollar store, or a frozen pizza from that discount superstore I mentioned a little bit ago which remains unnamed because I don't know if I can use it here. Sometimes, dinner is nonexistent simply because when I'm tired after work, all I want to do is sleep. That will happen sometimes.

You might think I'm starving myself; this is simply not true. I only eat until I'm full, and I get full quickly sometimes. It's never good to overeat. I've done plenty of overeating in my life, but that is for another article.

At the end of the day, I can finally say that I'm living frugally when it comes to groceries, and I'm still satisfied after eating my meals. Living frugally isn't easy, but everyone can take steps to get to their best version of frugality.

I get asked this question a lot. Why do you choose to live frugally when it comes to groceries? I understand the amount of concern that is associated with each occurrence of this question.

The answer is this: I actually never intended to live frugally on groceries. I actually thought the opposite, "If I work as hard as I do on my job, stressors or not, I need to eat a lot to keep up with the physical demands."

I would always find ways to justify spending more on groceries than necessary. In addition to that, before I started living frugally, I was frequently eating out at fast food and sit-down restaurants. What I learned is that it was my habit of restaurant eating that contributed to feeling more tired at work and after work, than I should have.

I knew that living frugally on groceries would be a heavy challenge for me. I love to eat! I also knew that if I can live frugally on groceries, which was my biggest hurdle to overcome, then I can live frugally when it comes to everything else.

The art of it is to challenge yourself in your most difficult areas, and then work your way down from there. What happens is, you're actually working your way up in life while improving your quality of life as a result of challenging yourself in your most difficult areas. The thought of it is, "If I can do this, then I can do that, too." Challenge yourself.

I am able to live frugally on groceries because I challenged myself head on. This might not work for everyone, but it works for me. I am now working on living frugally when it comes to everything else. This might involve avoiding temptation to buy nice watches or rings, or dress shirts.

I challenge you to live frugally against your biggest difficulties. If you struggle with that, then live frugally against your next biggest difficulty, and so on.

It is easy for me when it comes to groceries, because I only have to look out for myself for the time being. I live alone with 2 roommates who happen to be a couple. Living frugally on groceries, though difficult at first, is now something I've mastered. You can master living frugally, too.

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