My grocery bill went from $120 to $75 a week just by changing one thing

For the past year, my weekly grocery run in Portland was always around $120, no matter what I tried. I felt stuck. Then last month, I started planning five dinners before I went to the store and only buying those exact ingredients. The first week I did it, my total was $75. I've kept it under $80 for four weeks now. The big change was stopping the 'just in case' buys, like that extra block of cheese or a random sauce I might use someday. I write the meal list on a notepad on my fridge and stick to it. It sounds simple, but seeing the receipt total drop that much felt like a real win. Has anyone else found that meal planning was the key to cutting their food costs?

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singh.uma6mo ago

Used to think meal planning was for people with too much time on their hands, honestly. But I got tired of throwing out wilted herbs and half-used sour cream every week. Started doing exactly what you said, writing down four meals and only buying for those. My fridge looks empty now but nothing goes bad.

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taylor.jordan6mo ago

The empty fridge look is weird at first, but it grows on you when you stop wasting money.

7

reese_chen6mo ago

Read a blog post about this exact thing, how an empty fridge is a sign of a good system. It clicked for me after wasting a bag of spinach again. Like @singh.uma said, I pick three dinners now and only buy those veggies. My fridge has like milk, eggs, and the stuff for tonight's stir-fry. It feels weirdly clean and I save a ton because I'm not buying random stuff that just dies in the drawer.

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