Why is eating food so expensive? I don’t know about you, but I feel like most of my monthly budget goes toward food. ESPECIALLY when I am working out consistently… and even more so when I choose to bulk up. Over the last 10 years of working out, I’ve learned a few things that help me not blow my entire paycheck (or now student loan check) on food.

1.     STAY ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GROCERY STORE

This is one of the most common pieces of advice you will see when it comes to shopping for your groceries. Not only does it save you money, but it generally lends itself to better eating habits as well. If you think about it, the food in the aisles tends to be the more over processed and excessively packaged food. In almost every case of aisle food you will encounter packaging that is designed to get your attention. This may stimulate hunger, or it may remind you of subconscious memories you associate with positive things. Both strategies are used to hijack your decision-making abilities. One secondary cost associated with the marketing these companies use is the cost that comes with label design, marketing, shelf placement and production of the product. When you stay to the outside of the store, most products do not have heavy duty packaging. Think about the butcher department at your local grocery store. The only packaging you get there is what the meat is wrapped in for transfer to the cashier, and then to your house. Now think about the produce department. Most of the products over there are sitting on large displays freely, not packaged with other veggies or fruit. Again, in this case, there is no cost that goes into the packaging since there is none. Therefore, the costs are not passed on to the customer which lowers the price. When it comes to buying food, the more processing (handling by humans/machines) that is involved in getting it to the store, the more each customer will pay for the product.

2.     Pay $60…

Yes you read that right. If you spend $60, you can save up to hundreds of dollars per year. Now you might be wondering how spending that money will save you money… well let me tell you about this incredible opportunity I have available for you. For the small price of $60 you can gain access to the rest of this article…. JUST KIDDING. $60 is the price of a membership at Costco. That’s the price for the whole year of having a membership (at least at this point in 2021). Costco does not make its money on product sales; they make their money on the thousands and thousands of active memberships they have. The price per item in Costco is much better than that in any local grocery store.  The only down side is if you need only small amounts of food, you won’t find that at Costco. Products are generally sold in bulk, so this is where I usually recommend clients stock up on non-perishables. Things like rice, beans, quinoa, etc are sold in very large quantities, and if you have the space at home you can store these things for months and not have to spend money on them again. You can even buy your meats/proteins in bulk. If you have freezer space, this can also be a great option for bulking on a budget. Whether the meat is already frozen or not, you can bring it home and toss it in the freezer to then take from the storage in there later. I usually don’t recommend people buy frozen vegetables from Costco though. Not because they’re poisonous or bad, but I’ve found that most people prefer “fresh” produce. It is worth mentioning though, frozen veggies and fruit tend to have more nutrients than “fresh” products. This goes back to the shipping. Food that is “fresh” is picked early from its growing areas so that it won’t go bad before reaching the store. The product will ripen during transport and while sitting on the shelves at the store. Frozen veggies and fruit stay on the vine longer, and therefore are picked closer to being ripe which means they are more nutritious. They are then flash frozen and transported in climate-controlled trucks to the grocery store. If you don’t mind frozen vegetables (which taste great when cooked well) then I would recommend stocking up when you get this Costco membership.

3.     Work your grocery shopping around when you get paid.

I’m going to use the example of someone who gets paid twice per month. To reference one of the big names in personal finance, Dave Ramsey always mentions a “rice and beans” diet. However, this is not necessarily a healthy diet, it can work. The idea of this is to live off the cheaper items while managing your finances. On your first paycheck, buy a large amount of bulk carb sources such as rice, pasta etc. and some protein, but stick to the cheaper cuts/forms of these proteins. Ground beef, chicken thighs, stew meat, etc. all works great for getting the essential nutrients in, while not blowing your (money) wad. And of course, buy some veggies… frozen in bulk might be the best option here. Live off what you bought in bulk and the cheaper protein sources until your next paycheck. After you get paid on your next paycheck now, we can start looking at stocking up on protein. This would be a good time to use the Costco membership you bought in the second recommendation to go look for large amounts of protein in bulk. The 20-pound bags of frozen chicken, large amounts of ground beef, $7 full chickens, all make for great options. This is also a good time to restock anything you may be running low on like fruits and vegetables. Continue working in this system and you will be able to control the amount of money you spend per month on groceries, AND without waste.

4.     Make a plan.

Going to a grocery store with no plan, especially when hungry, can be one of the worst instant financial decisions you can make. This is one I personally struggle with. When you go to the store with a list of what you need to buy, you will look for the items on the list. When you go to the store without a list, you will look at everything in the store searching for things you might need. This just opens you up to the potential of justifying spending money on more and more and more…. Trust me…

5.     Make sure you are fed before shopping.

Much like the last recommendation, when you go to the grocery store and you are hungry, you will notice how many things look good. I, personally, will look for foods that are either already prepared by someone else, or are quick to heat up and eat. In both cases, someone else has handled/processed the food, which will lead to a price increase like we discussed above.

6.     Skip on the organic/grass fed options.

Although people swear by organic/grass-fed/grass finished, I would rather you get consistent nutrition in than sporadically eat well because you don’t have money to spend on groceries. Once you are making more money or move somewhere that has a lower cost of living, you can choose to pay for these things. Until then, focus on the bigger “rocks”.