Back in 2023 and early 2024, I focused hard on cutting our grocery costs, tracking every dollar, and planning out full months of meals to stretch our budget as far as possible. It worked. We ate well on a pretty tight budget, and I got into a great rhythm with planning, sales tracking, and sticking to a low monthly grocery spend.
What I’m Doing Differently to Keep Our Grocery Budget Low in 2025
Fast forward to 2025.
I’m busier, and while our grocery budget has more breathing room now, I still want to be intentional about how I spend it. Despite rising prices, I’m consistently getting dinner on the table for $6 or less most days. Not because I have to, but because it’s a habit that I don’t necessarily want to break. So here’s an update on what’s working now in 2025, because budgeting isn’t one-size-fits-all, ever the same kind of thing. It evolves as you do.
Here’s how I’m approaching things this year:
I stopped planning an entire month of meals at a time
This was a big shift for me. A couple of years back, our budget was TIGHT. I relied on monthly meal planning to help avoid food waste and keep our budget locked down. Right now in this chapter of life, it’s a bit busier, and I have been struggling to plan that far ahead. I could, but right now my brain just isn’t cooperating, and that’s ok. Sometimes this comes in cycles, where I just have no inspiration and/or I feel exhausted at the end of the day and don’t really want to do a lot of cooking. It is what it is, and I’m building in some backup “easy meals” to drop in on those days when I don’t want to cook.
Instead, I’m planning one or two weeks aga a time, with a handful of flexible dinners that work around our schedule. I still have the freedom to use up what we already have, watch for and jump on weekly deals when they pop up, and adapt if we end up with lots of leftovers or a surprise night out.
I’ve also changed up my own nutrition goals, so I’ve been focused on cutting back on refined carbs and increasing my protein and vegetable intake. I’m less focused on rock-bottom prices and more on feeding us well while still watching the overall food spending.
Prices are up, but my cost-per-dinner hasn’t changed much
Grocery prices are higher now than they were even a year ago. Remember when eggs were cheap protein? (I guess they’re getting there again, but still…) Even with inflation, I’m still managing to keep most of our dinners under $6. And I want to specify that I’m saying $6 to feed our whole family, not $6 per person. Here are some of the things I do regularly:
- Use ingredients in multiple meals so nothing goes to waste. If I’m planning a chicken Gyro bowl, I’m going to repeat it before that store-bought tzatziki sauce goes bad. This way you spread the cost of a container of tzatziki, or a pound of chicken, out across more than one meal. This brings the average nightly per meal cost down.
- Limit expensive extras like snack packs, impulse buys, or higher cost treats. My kids still get ice cream and popsicles, but I don’t buy top-of-the-line expensive stuff. Oh – and single-serve items, even if they’re relatively inexpensive like fruit snacks, are for “out of the house use.” It’s so much cheaper to make your own version of a Lunchable when you combine a cut up piece of deli ham, some sliced cheese and a handful of crackers.
- Don’t feel pressured to be a gourmet cook when you canbuild meals around simple, versatile ingredients like eggs, beans, rice, frozen veggies, or whatever meat was on sale. A plate with a protein, vegetables and grains is just fine. Play with seasonings to make things taste good, and use that spice cabinet.
- Stick with meals proven to be filling, affordable, and flexible. Some of our favorites include taco, burrito or Greek chicken bowls, stir fry dinners, and sheet pan dinners. Cheeseburgers and chicken burgers are on regular rotation, too. Want fries with that? Try cutting a potato into wedges and popping them in your air fryer or into the oven for a healthy and affordable alternative!
I rely on straightforward meals and stock up when it makes sense
Instead of trying new, elaborate recipes every week, I find myself repeating meals that we actually love. That means I’m not buying niche ingredients that only work for one dinner and drive our costs up. We rotate through reliable favorites, and it’s easier, faster, and still delicious. The key is to space out your repetitive meals a bit, so you’re not having the same meal night after night. Sometimes our current favorites will show up two or three times in a month.
I continue to stock up strategically.
When I see a good deal on key staples like ground beef, chicken thighs, peanut butter, or cereal — I buy extra if the budget allows. Want a big tip for meats? Buy a roll of “freezer paper” so you can split a big family-sized package of ground beef, pork chops or chicken breasts into meal-size portions (about one pound per meal for my family of four), wrap, label and freeze them. This brings your long-term grocery bill down, since you’re building a stash of meats you bought on sale in your freezer and you’re not stuck paying full price just because you ran out.
This habit alone has helped buffer the impact of inflation.
I track prices and keep meal inspiration close
I’ve started keeping a small grocery notebook where I jot down “must buy” prices for staples — the prices I consider good enough to stock up on. For example:
- Ground beef: $4 per pound (I remember when my target price was around $3!)
- Peanut butter: under $1.50 for store brand, or I watch for the monthly paper coupons my Kroger store sends me with the periodic “free peanut butter” deal
- Cereal: $1.49–1.99 for a standard-size box (guess what – my kids can’t tell bulk bin cocoa rice cereal from the name brand. Don’t tell them! Get one of those see-through plastic cereal storage containers and dump it in before they see that it didn’t come out of that name brand box.)
Having those reference points helps me recognize real deals versus sales that aren't actually that great.
I’ve also been scoping YouTube and Pinterest for affordable recipe ideas, which I’ve mentioned and linked to before. I’m old school and I like printing out recipes, and when we like them, they stay in a binder I keep in the kitchen. Bonus – my kids or husband can start dinner even if I’m not there, and it’s not necessary to log into my social media account! This has given us a reliable menu bank to pull from when I’m stuck or bored with our usual rotation.
Budgeting isn’t one-size-fits-all, and that’s okay
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s this: food budgeting has to work for your life. There are no gold stars for spending the absolute least if it leaves you stressed, tired, burned out, or just straight up unhappy about what you’re eating. And there’s no shame in adapting to find a new normal based on your move into a new chapter in your life.
The best thing you can do? Review your grocery habits regularly.
Once a month, take 15 minutes to reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and track where the money actually went. You’ll get better over time, I promise!