How to Find your Ideal Grocery Budget

I'm often asked about grocery budgets, how much they should be and how they should be spent.

Here's a breakdown of how your food budget should spent for optimum value and health:

• 60% on fruit, vegetables, cereals, breads, grains, etc.
• 30% on dairy, fish and meats (middle of the pyramid)
• 10% on fats and sugars

But how do you find your ideal grocery budget?

It's easy really, but it may take you a few weeks. Start next time you go shopping. Write your list as you usually do and buy your groceries, this will give you a figure to work off.

Next time you go shopping, write your list but deduct 10% from the total you spent last time.

If you can do your shopping and feed your family on that amount without any complaints, cut your grocery money by 10% the next time you go shopping.

Keep going in this way until you find you can't buy the groceries you need or your family starts to complain about missing out.

Then simply up the grocery budget by 10% and you've found your ideal grocery budget.

We won't all have the same ideal grocery budget, that's OK, we are all different. We all eat different foods and shop at different stores. We all buy different brands, some of us stick to plain labels, others will only buy particular brands. Some of us shop around, others don't.

Our grocery budgets are personal and the only person your grocery budget has to suit is you. Follow the steps to find your ideal grocery budget and then relax, happy in the knowledge that you are getting the best value for your grocery money.