![]() Before COVID-19, there was an extensive application process that included an interview and proof of loss of income, but many states’ policies have become more flexible and expansive since the pandemic hit. It’s definitely worth checking out your state’s income eligibility requirements for SNAP-the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which gives low-income families financial assistance to purchase groceries. And don’t discount the incredible help of low-income resources such as government assistance, free goodwill meals, and food banks in your community. You may need to lean even harder into snipping the expenses mentioned above to build a grocery budget. You can use your new grocery budget number to see how many months of future grocery funds you’ve got covered in savings. If you have savings stashed away, you’ll be looking to “pay” yourself this grocery budget from your savings before every trip, almost as if you’re cutting yourself a paycheck. If, like so many of us, you have recently found yourself with a reduction or pause in income, then of course your grocery budget game changes. Have you looked at all of your random subscriptions and cancelled the useless ones? Have you hit pause on your federal student loans, since you’re now allowed to postpone payments until October 1? Can you ask your bank or credit card companies to waive interest fees or monthly payments for a while, due to pandemic hardship? And if you’re looking at this new budget like, “There’s no way that number will work for me,” now is the perfect time to poke around your monthly bills and make space. You can always experiment and re-adjust next month. You can stick to this budget, or you can challenge yourself to go 10-20% below your average monthly spend and see where it gets you. ![]() $400 divided by 3 is about $134, and that’s your new grocery budget for every time you hit the store. Let’s say you typically spend $400 on groceries, and you decide to run for groceries every 10 days-so, roughly 3 times per month. Next, you’ll whip out your calculator, take your average monthly spend on groceries, and split it between your future trips. Random, impulsive grocery trips are the budget’s biggest enemy, so resolve to have one official grocery shopping trip every 10 or 14 days. What percentage of your overall spending in a month is spent on groceries? Is it more or less than what you spend on entertainment? Do you tend to spend money on takeout according to your mood, and could that money have been used to pad your grocery list? While you’re at it, try to measure out how much space your grocery spending takes in relation to other spending. If you’re more of a techie, there are tons of apps (including Mint, Clarity Money, and Charlie, a favorite of mine) that connect to your bank accounts and analyze your historical spending with aesthetically-pleasing visuals. ![]() If you’re more of an analog person, you can find this average by going through your credit or debit card statements over the last few months. ![]()
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