At the time of writing, food prices have been going up for 12 straight months. ????

An entire year of getting sticker shock every time you hit the cash register with your weekly cooking essentials.

Not fun.

And honestly, I wish I could tell you it’ll end soon, but I’m not in the position to make that call.

So… what’s a smart budgeter trying to grow their wealth to do regarding groceries and inflation?

Especially if you’d rather not eat only PB&J and rice and beans for the next few years?

There are a million little pieces of advice I could give, but here are two of my favorite strategies:

1. Play around with your budget. 

Is there an area or two of your budget where you could cut back on spending to shovel an extra $50 or $100 to your groceries? (For example: maybe you cut back on how much you contribute each month to your vacation fund, or make a resolution to only buy clothes on sale, so you can save some there.)

Likewise, any time you get a raise or promotion, you can shovel some of that extra cash in your paycheck towards your groceries, so you can afford the kind of food you like and nourish yourself well, without feeling the inflation pinch.

2. Get strategic in your day-to-day grocery use. 

After you’ve made your budgeting moves to give yourself more breathing room on your grocery bill, make sure extra cash gets used as efficiently as possible. In other words: cultivate better shopping habits so that even if grocery costs continue to rise, it won’t feel like as big of a burden.

Do your best to plan your meals in advance, to not over-buy items that are perishable, to store-hop for better prices, and, of course, to never shop hungry.

Planning your meals in advance can also help you eat with more affordable foods in mind, so you can consume less meat (which has gotten really expensive), use up ingredients before they go bad and need replaced, and use the opportunity to flex your cooking skills and get better at making tasty at-home dishes… especially if you previously only had one or two go-to dishes you could cook.

Groceries and Inflation: You Don’t Have to Go Off-Grid Yet ????

Short of going off-grid and growing all of your own vegetables, herbs, and animals… these two things you can do as a busy startup employee who may or may not have time for gardening. ????

And if you’re ready to have serious conversations about planning your long-term wealth, book a discovery call with us.