0:00

So if you're looking for a way to find more margin in

0:02

your food budget, hunting some sales, getting

0:06

some coupons, and even making an effort to

0:08

shop efficiently and cook at home more, all

0:11

of that will save you a ton of money

0:13

in the long run. Hey

0:16

guys, welcome to the Rachel Cruze Show podcast. I'm

0:19

so glad that you're here. In

0:21

today's episode, we're gonna be talking about

0:24

how to cut, how to cut, how to cut,

0:26

how to cut, how to cut, how to

0:28

cut, how to cut, how to

0:30

cut, how to cut,

0:32

how to cut, how to cut, how to cut. First

0:35

of all, in this episode, we're gonna be

0:37

talking about how to cut your grocery bill in

0:39

half. And one of the ways to

0:41

cut your grocery bill in half is by breaking

0:43

a habit that a lot of us, including me, have

0:47

gotten used to doing often. It

0:49

is one of my most controversial pieces of

0:51

advice that I'm given, so make

0:53

sure to stick around until the end. Hey guys, today I

0:56

wanna talk about 12 ways to

0:58

cut your grocery bill in half. So regardless of

1:00

who you are or how much money you make, most

1:04

people are looking for ways to save money on food throughout

1:06

the year. And since it's

1:08

one of your four walls, which is

1:10

housing, utilities, transportation, and food, your

1:13

essentials, this is an expense that

1:16

everyone has to have. But there

1:18

are definitely ways to cut back and create

1:20

a little bit of a balance between your food and your

1:22

expenses. And there are definitely

1:24

ways to cut back and create a little bit

1:26

more margin in your budget. So I wanna share

1:28

a few of my favorite money-saving tips for

1:31

you to try on your next grocery run. And also, be

1:33

sure to stick around so you

1:35

can let me know in the comments if

1:38

there are any grocery-saving tips that you have

1:40

that I need to try. All right, my first tip for cutting your

1:42

grocery bill in half is to

1:45

use the grocery store app. So

1:47

the grocery store that you shop at more

1:50

than likely has an app. And

1:52

I would recommend spending a lot of extra cash every

1:55

single month for the convenience of

1:58

grocery delivery services. grocery stores

2:00

app can show you the weekly deals and

2:02

coupons that will help you save money. So

2:05

browse through what they have to offer

2:07

before you make the trip in person

2:09

and see if there's any specials that

2:11

you can take advantage of or even

2:13

work into your meal plan schedule. Plus,

2:16

if you download a few different grocery

2:18

store apps, then you can compare prices

2:20

on staple items so that you can

2:22

know which one is cheapest here or

2:24

cheapest there. So never underestimate the

2:26

power of switching over to Aldi

2:28

and Trader Joe's. So speaking of, my

2:31

second tip for cutting your grocery bill is

2:33

to meal plan. So this is something that

2:35

I'm very passionate about. I think it's really

2:37

key. And Sunday nights, this is where I

2:39

do it. I like look to see our

2:41

schedule ahead. What nights do we have to

2:43

cook? What nights are we going to be

2:45

out? Take an inventory of what

2:47

we have and create a plan. And having

2:49

a schedule for each night of the week

2:52

makes it so much easier when it comes

2:54

to preparing dinner, especially after a

2:56

long day when you're mentally and physically

2:58

exhausted. So do some planning on

3:00

a Sunday afternoon so that you can save that brain power

3:02

for later in the week. And if

3:04

you need a tool to try out this meal

3:07

planning, maybe for the first time, I will leave

3:09

a link in the description for my grocery savings

3:11

guide. All right. The third way to

3:13

save money on groceries is to choose the

3:15

generic brand over the name

3:17

brand. Now, this may not sound

3:20

like a big deal, but just selecting the

3:22

Kroger version of your laundry detergent can save

3:24

you a couple of bucks here, a couple

3:26

of bucks there. And then after a while, it adds up

3:28

to 30, 40, 50, $60. So

3:32

again, it's very small at first, even like

3:34

your sour cream or your eggs or whatever

3:36

it is. But over time, you guys,

3:39

it can add up to so much money that

3:41

is being saved. So I'm all about the store

3:43

brand. Do it. And

3:46

my fourth tip is to find cheap

3:48

protein options. So I

3:50

always love to find quality budget friendly

3:52

meat at Costco, and it always helps

3:55

me to buy meat in bulk, freeze

3:57

it and use it for later. know

4:00

if you call your local grocery store and

4:02

ask when their meat is going to be

4:04

marked down, they will tell you. Isn't that

4:06

great? So do a little prep ahead of

4:08

time and know, okay, where can

4:10

I save money when it comes to protein? Because

4:12

it's usually one of the big places that you

4:14

spend a lot of money. All right, my fifth

4:17

way to cut your grocery bill in half is

4:19

to say no to anything you really don't need.

4:21

So even though an item is on sale, avoid

4:23

spending money just to save money because there's definitely

4:25

a time and a place to experiment and pick

4:28

up a few new things, especially if they're running

4:30

a deal. But if you're tight on a

4:32

budget, make sure that you're not

4:34

going and just exploring and being adventurous and

4:36

all this stuff because you will end up

4:38

spending so much money. So stick to your

4:41

list and what you need. The sixth tip

4:43

is to buy produce when it's in season.

4:45

So did you know that produce is typically

4:47

more expensive in the off season? Well, it

4:50

doesn't mean that you never eat strawberries in

4:52

the wintertime, but know that those kinds of

4:54

choices are going to be more

4:56

expensive. So your fruits, your vegetables, even just do

4:59

a Google list and say, hey, what

5:01

are the best vegetables and fruits to buy

5:03

in winter or fall or summer and just

5:05

know ahead of time that if it's out

5:07

of season, it's going to be marked up

5:10

big time. All right, the seventh tip is

5:12

to use that breakfast foods to your advantage.

5:14

So a lot of breakfast foods are usually

5:16

cheaper than traditional dinner items. So if you

5:19

do breakfast for dinner once a week, or

5:21

if you work in some cinnamon oatmeal into

5:23

the snack category of your budget, those kinds

5:25

of things, thinking outside the box usually

5:28

will help you with your budget, not just because it's

5:30

cheap and it's not as fancy, but listen,

5:32

it's delicious. My kids think that this is

5:34

the greatest thing. If we make pancakes for

5:37

dinner and some bacon, I think

5:39

it is the funniest, greatest thing ever. And

5:41

it's so cheap. It's so great. All right,

5:43

my eighth tip for cutting your grocery bill

5:45

in half is to buy things in bulk.

5:47

So when you go to a wholesale store

5:49

like Costco or Sam's Club, be thinking through,

5:51

okay, are we going to use that huge

5:53

jar of peanut butter? Are we really going

5:56

to use it? And for some of us,

5:58

yes, we will. So this

6:00

could be a great time to do it

6:02

or maybe you buy things in larger quantities

6:04

and you're able to go and refill things

6:06

Throughout right you can do this with soaps

6:09

or other things and it's great because whether

6:11

it's food or Shampoo, whatever

6:13

it is when you buy in bulk usually

6:15

in the long run You're gonna save money

6:17

if you use it All right The night

6:19

thing to cut your grocery bill in half

6:21

is to make extra and freeze it for

6:23

later So this doesn't have to be every

6:25

night of the week kind of thing But

6:27

every now and again if you can double

6:29

your recipe and save the other half for

6:31

another night It will save you some

6:33

money and your future self will be

6:36

thrilled when you open up the freezer and you're like,

6:38

oh, that's so nice I don't have to I don't

6:40

have to make that I can just be frosted and

6:42

it's great or again Maybe you cook a bunch of

6:44

chicken take half of it put in the refrigerator for

6:47

a salad or something the next night So you go

6:49

ahead and just food prep and you can be able

6:51

to say, you know that you're gonna cook larger quantities

6:53

And use it for two to

6:55

three days and it helps with time and

6:57

it helps with the budget So by large

6:59

amounts of rice and chicken when they're on

7:01

sale again You can kind of switch it up

7:04

to do some things throughout the week, but it'll

7:06

save you time and money All right My

7:08

tenth tip for cutting your grocery bill in half

7:10

is to try to go meatless for a little

7:12

while So again protein is usually where it's most

7:15

expensive, but you don't have to find all protein

7:17

and just meat specifically So if you're on a

7:19

really tight budget see what it could be to

7:21

cut out meat just for a period of

7:23

time now again Don't get me wrong. A great

7:26

steak is a great source of protein or a

7:28

good burger is just delicious But maybe

7:30

take it down to once a week It

7:33

will save you money because on average people

7:35

can save around twelve hundred dollars a year

7:37

by cutting meat from your diet So this

7:39

doesn't have to go on forever But just

7:41

keep in mind as a hack if you're

7:43

getting tight on your grocery budget for the

7:46

week Maybe do like some pasta

7:48

or some grilled cheese instead again I know

7:50

health is a big concern for a lot

7:52

of people But if you don't have the money for

7:54

you guys you gotta get creative All right tip number

7:56

eleven is to use what you already

7:58

have so take inventory of what's in

8:00

your freezer and refrigerator and pantry. Because

8:03

before you go out and buy a

8:05

bunch of stuff, look to see what you have. And

8:07

I can be really guilty of this. It's like we

8:09

have sour cream in the back and I didn't notice.

8:11

So I buy another thing, it's sour cream or like

8:13

whatever it is, go ahead and look. Because

8:16

when you do this, you're going to be able

8:18

to challenge yourself not just to meal plan around

8:20

the ingredients that you have, but it's going to

8:22

save costs when you go to the grocery store.

8:24

And you'll be surprised about how much you can

8:27

actually come up with if you're forced to get

8:29

creative with ingredients you have. The 12th

8:31

tip for cutting your grocery bill

8:33

in half is to use EveryDollar.

8:36

Yes. Okay. EveryDollar

8:38

is a budgeting app and budgeting helps you

8:40

so much to know upfront how much money

8:43

you have to spend. And then

8:45

you can take that money and build around it

8:47

and be able to say, okay, how much money

8:49

do we have? And it helps you stay on

8:52

course. And another huge

8:54

benefit to EveryDollar long-term over

8:56

multiple years and months is being

8:58

able to see trends from your spending.

9:00

So it pulls together all these graphs. So you're

9:02

able to look past like the last three years

9:04

to see, okay, our food budget, how's it been

9:06

month to month? So if you get to November

9:09

and December, I know you end up spending more

9:11

because you're cooking more at home. You're able to

9:13

adjust and to know that and you can

9:15

shuffle things around. So again, being detailed when

9:17

it comes to your money is key and

9:19

EveryDollar is one of those. I'm

9:21

curious to know what tips have worked

9:24

for you guys. Any other hacks that

9:26

you have because budget friendly grocery tips,

9:28

it's huge. We all want them. Hey

9:35

guys, it's Rachel. If healthcare costs

9:37

are increasing while your available choices

9:39

are decreasing, check out Christian Healthcare

9:41

Ministries. CHM is a biblically

9:44

based health cost sharing ministry and

9:46

it's an affordable alternative to health

9:48

insurance. Find out more at

9:51

chministries.org. today

10:00

I'm going to be putting America's

10:02

cheapest grocery store to the test.

10:04

An article came out recently saying

10:06

that Aldi, which is a Ramsey

10:08

favorite is the least expensive grocery

10:10

store option available in America. So

10:12

my team gave me 50 bucks

10:15

and I decided to see how

10:17

many meals I could make for

10:19

$50. How far would that go

10:21

within Aldi? Okay. So I took

10:23

my old trusty phone into Aldi

10:25

with me as I went around

10:27

shopping. So here is what I found.

10:29

All right, you guys here at Aldi

10:31

and I got my quarter to get my cart.

10:34

We're going to see how many meals we can make here at

10:36

this bargain grocery store. Okay.

10:39

So for two of the meals, I'm going to do the

10:41

pizza night and the Italian night.

10:43

I'm going to want some salad. So here

10:46

are some bag salad options for $3

10:49

each. All right. For

10:51

Mexican night, we've got some tortilla

10:53

chips that are $2 and the

10:55

salsa that's two at $19. All

10:58

right. So we got marinara sauce for $2 each. We're

11:00

going to get two cans, one for spaghetti, nine and

11:03

one for our pizza. We got

11:05

some spaghetti for $2. And

11:08

we got taco shells for $2 and then

11:10

some beans for $1. Okay.

11:13

Cucumber cheese for our tacos

11:15

or quesadillas for $3. And

11:20

then some mozzarella for $3.69 for our pizza. We

11:25

got meat for tacos and spaghetti sauce, which is

11:27

$12.43 for sure. The

11:30

most expensive part. All right. Now I paid $1.29.

11:34

Good. All right. Back in my car, three

11:37

meals for $42 and 35 cents. Look

11:42

at that. Okay. So as you guys could

11:44

see, I mean, it's pretty amazing. Less than $50. In

11:46

fact, $42 to be exact. I

11:50

was able to get three great meals

11:52

for under $50, which is amazing. So

11:55

again, you got your ground beef with

11:58

some spaghetti sauce and noodles. and a

12:00

salad, you have some tacos with some

12:02

chips and salsa and meat and shells.

12:04

You have a pizza night

12:06

with again another salad, some pizza dough and

12:08

some more of that cheese with some sauce

12:10

on top and all of it together. It's

12:13

amazing. And again, you could even go more

12:16

limited. You could just do, you could do cheddar

12:18

cheese on your pizza instead of

12:20

buying mozzarella. You could have taken that out. Like

12:22

there's even some swaps in here you could have

12:24

done and we still had $8 left. So it's

12:26

an amazing thing. The food budget is always one

12:29

that we end up besting. So the fact that

12:31

we could get three great meals under

12:33

$50 is great. So let's

12:35

talk about how Aldi is able to

12:37

pull off this because they are so

12:40

inexpensive. So according to this article, Aldi

12:42

is a German based company specifically designed

12:44

to minimize the cost for the customer.

12:47

Aldi claims that 90% of its

12:49

products on the shelves

12:51

are private label brands, meaning Aldi

12:53

has control over things like supply

12:56

chain, simplistic branding and pricing. Other

12:58

things like the 25 cent shopping

13:01

cart fee, which I had to find a quarter to

13:03

get my cart and

13:05

having customers bag their own groceries, not

13:07

playing licensed music on the overhead speakers

13:10

all decreases the stores overhead costs, which

13:12

helps keep the prices low for us

13:14

shoppers out there. Thank you, Aldi. And

13:17

if you've ever shopped there, you'll notice

13:19

that they don't spend a lot of

13:21

money on merchandising, like making

13:23

the shelves, like all pretty and strategically putting

13:25

things in certain spots. All these

13:27

things are really small decisions that they have

13:30

made and it makes a big difference at

13:32

the register. So keep in mind that sometimes

13:34

stores like Aldi or Trader Joe's, they can

13:36

cut out the middleman and do things a

13:38

little differently. So it could take a few

13:40

trips to actually get the hang of it.

13:42

But once you do it, it's actually really

13:45

quick, in and out experience and

13:47

very efficient. Even the cashier was lovely. The

13:49

people around the store were all smiling, probably

13:51

because I had my phone up talking to

13:53

myself and they probably thought, there's

13:55

a 2023 blogger. There she is on

13:58

her phone. of

16:00

spending money eating at restaurants while

16:03

you're on a budget. Apparently it's outrageous.

16:05

Unbelievable. People get so mad at this, but

16:07

this isn't the only thing that I teach

16:09

about money. Like it's a lot of criticism.

16:11

So you're going to enjoy this episode, but

16:13

be sure to comment on which teaching you

16:15

think that I need to defend next. It's

16:17

think we're going to make it a series

16:20

because there are some principles that I stand

16:22

by and the haters are going to hate.

16:24

And that's okay. That's okay. But for today,

16:26

we're going to chat about why eating at

16:28

home is a non-negotiable, especially if you're trying

16:30

to pay off debts or build your savings.

16:32

Because these are key, you guys,

16:35

key to saving money, especially when

16:37

you're in that season. All right. First

16:39

of all, let's talk about why eating at

16:42

home should be a no brainer if you're

16:44

trying to save money. Well, for starters, studies

16:46

show that restaurants markup their

16:48

food anywhere from 28 to

16:51

32% on average. Because

16:53

listen, you guys, they got to make a

16:55

profit or they close their doors. They have

16:57

to have some level of making it an

16:59

income off of what they buy. So they're

17:01

going to buy food. They're going to cook

17:03

it. They got to pay their cooks and

17:06

their servers, their bartenders, like all of that, their

17:08

rent for the restaurant. I mean, you think about

17:10

everything that goes into running a restaurant and they

17:12

have to be able to then make a profit

17:14

under that to make money. And so it's really

17:17

important. And of course they're going to mark up

17:19

some of the food because again, they're a business.

17:22

But listen, specifically the food that tends to

17:24

be marked up the highest are

17:26

chopped or cubed fruits and

17:28

veggies. This is one reason I

17:30

love our garden so much. We did a

17:32

garden and I did an episode about this, I

17:35

don't know, a few months ago and it's been

17:37

really great and it saved us money over

17:39

the long run on so many things that we

17:41

were using. So I'll make sure to put

17:43

a link in the description in case you want

17:45

to check that out. But it's always the

17:47

little things you guys that add up over time

17:50

that can put a big dent in your food

17:52

budget. So don't underestimate the power of shopping

17:54

or growing your vegetables, your fruits, your

17:56

greens, your herbs, all yourself. And

17:59

then there's the issue. you have tipping, which I think

18:01

we can all agree has, well, maybe gotten a little

18:03

out of hand, even if you're going to pick up

18:05

food, they turn that little screen around and there's a

18:07

little bit of that guilt tipping that pops up on

18:10

the screen and you're trying to figure out, oh my

18:12

gosh, should I tip, should I not? So for example,

18:14

this is crazy, a recent Forbes article says that people

18:16

between the ages of 27 and 42 are most likely

18:21

to tip 25% on average,

18:23

y'all, it's pretty good. So

18:25

millennials specifically tend to get

18:27

heat from the older generations

18:29

about not being respectful and all this stuff,

18:31

but look at us, we're so generous

18:33

because again, 18, 20% is like a great tip, but

18:36

on average 25%. So let's

18:39

not get carried away, obviously, you want to take

18:41

care of the people that are serving you, but

18:43

also that's going to add in the cost of

18:45

your food and what you're spending at a restaurant.

18:47

Listen to this, apparently men are twice as likely

18:49

as women to tip between 21 and 25%. Women

18:53

tend to tip between 11 and 20%. So

18:57

whatever your tipping tendencies are, again, keep in

18:59

mind that this is a battle that you

19:01

don't have to fight if you're just eating

19:04

at home. So tipping goes on top of

19:06

what you're buying. And trust me, there are

19:08

other ways that you can be generous on

19:10

a budget. Also, did you

19:12

know that most people eat fewer calories

19:15

when dining at home, it's actually healthier.

19:17

Edna recently published an article explaining that

19:19

restaurant meals are often loaded with excess

19:21

butter and salt to add to the

19:24

flavor and long-term preservative power.

19:26

But when you buy food at the

19:28

grocery store each week and make it

19:30

at home, you are more likely to

19:32

consume fresh products with less sodium and

19:34

additives. There are even some creators

19:36

on TikTok who documented their wellness journey just

19:39

by switching up to eating at home. So

19:41

not only is it good for your budget,

19:43

but also for your health. Now, another thing

19:45

that I've noticed with cooking at home is

19:48

that you can have fun with

19:50

it. It's kind of a creative outlet, especially for

19:52

those of us that are in the office all

19:55

day, or maybe you're on Zoom doing work, but

19:57

actually doing something tactical with your hands can be

19:59

very therapeutic. after a long work day. Now,

20:01

don't get me wrong, if you're working multiple jobs, you have

20:03

kids, like, it definitely can be a struggle, right? But if

20:05

you can get yourself in a place that there's a little

20:08

bit of peace, you may actually enjoy

20:10

it the process. And I have found some

20:12

intentionality on the front end, kind of like

20:14

that Sunday reset where you can prep for

20:16

some meals and know exactly what you're gonna

20:18

cook, you can actually get excited about the

20:20

process. So those of you on Baby Steps

20:22

one through three, I would really recommend eating

20:24

at home. It will save you money. If

20:26

you are trying to save up your emergency

20:28

fund, you're getting out of debt. These are

20:30

times that it is go time. It is

20:32

taking any extra money you have and throwing

20:35

it at that. And then once you have

20:37

that stable position under you financially, where you're

20:39

then saving for retirement, maybe

20:41

you're funding kids college, paying the house off, like when

20:43

you get to that point, you can loosen the purse

20:46

strings a little bit and go out to eat and

20:48

enjoy your money, right? It's like you, that thing, you

20:50

can never go out to eat, but especially if you

20:52

are trying to get out of debt and save up

20:54

an emergency fund, any extra money you have that can

20:57

go towards that process is key. And

20:59

finally, I'm gonna share the number one tip

21:01

that has helped me over the years when it

21:03

comes to cooking and eating at home. All right,

21:05

so my biggest tip when it comes to saving

21:08

money, you guys, is meal planning. Look

21:12

at your week. Look to see, okay, do we have

21:14

sports this night and it's got to be a quick

21:16

dinner? Are we going out with

21:18

friends this night? Are we home this night? Be

21:21

looking at your schedule, because that's gonna dictate so much

21:23

of what you're gonna be eating, what dinner's gonna look

21:25

like, and you can plan ahead of time. But if

21:27

you don't plan and you get in a rut and

21:30

you may be like, oh my gosh, we're squeezed for

21:32

time, you're gonna end up picking up food, and that's

21:34

going to be more expensive, as we talked about. So

21:36

make sure to know what is going on in your

21:39

schedule and plan around that. Okay, I

21:41

know we've covered a lot today, but I hope

21:43

you walk away knowing that eating at home, it

21:45

doesn't have to feel like a punishment. So give

21:47

it a try for a week or even a

21:49

month, and you'll be shocked at how much progress

21:51

you're able to make with your finances and

21:53

your cooking skills. Well,

21:56

you guys, one of the best ways to get the

21:58

word out about the show is to send these. episodes

22:00

to a friend, talk about them maybe on

22:02

your social media, leave a review. Anything

22:05

you can do to get this message out because we

22:07

want to help people when it comes to their money

22:09

so it is so helpful when you as a

22:12

listener take those actions and I just

22:14

so, so appreciate it. So thank you

22:16

guys so much for listening to this

22:18

episode and remember to take control of

22:20

your money and create a life you love.