Since it’s the beginning of a new month and the winter semester is almost done, I finally decided to start recording how much I’m spending when it comes to food. I had this nagging feeling like I was spending way too much. So here begins my first month of trying to spend less. This post is more in the style of a personal finance blog, which I am sure some of you will really enjoy. So here goes a little change in blog post direction and a change in my food spending habits.

I decided to go through the bills that I did save (yes I have a bit of a hoarding problem…) and go through my MasterCard and bank account statements online. I compiled a list of all my expenses, including what I have spent on meals at restaurants and at work (which I clearly need to cut out). This months worth of posts will consist of my journey to reduce my food spending.

Here’s the food expenses I incurred during the month of March 2012.

According to a few sources including studyincanada.com the average person spends about $200-300 per month on food. My total does fall into this category but I still want to decrease this number. With additional food charges at restaurants, my cafeteria at work etc. I took my month total to approximately $260.

And since I often to spend way too much, here are just a few strategies I am going to use to help lower my amount.

• Making meals with what I already have
• Buying only the few things that I need, once a week (ie. fruits, vegetables and the staples)
• Buying products on sale or purchasing private label/generic brands
• Continuing to write a list
• Bringing coupons to the grocery store when I go
• Not buying so much that my food goes bad and I have to thrown it out