Under or Out-of Control?

​Groceries have been steadily rising, and they aren’t going down anytime soon. And with everything else rising as well, it’s more important than ever to stick to a budget. Let’s talk about one big step you can take to make your budget behave itself- shopping with intention.

A large part of keeping your budget under control is being intentional with what you throw in the grocery cart and bring home.
Let’s talk about “nostalgia” spending- that is, buying something you remember from a happier time in your life in an effort to bring back those same feelings.

This happened to me over Easter. I found hot-cross buns at the store- and we ate those every Easter when I was a kid. I was so excited to see them they were added to my cart without a second thought.
The thing is, only one other person in my family likes them other than myself, and I don’t have room in the freezer to save them for later. In this case, spending on nostalgia was a waste of money. They came home with me only to meet an ultimate demise in the compost bin. It helps to ask yourself a couple of questions

1. Do I like these enough to eat them if no one else will? (My answer would have been no- I like them, but I prefer other things more)
2. What else, that I actually need, will this $$ purchase?

Giving yourself a moment to assess, rather than just grabbing an item off the shelf without thinking about it, will ultimately become a habit and help to keep your grocery budget under control.

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