Signs That You're Overspending On Food (And How To Stop!)

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Overview

As I sit here enjoying my milkshake, it occurs to me that I may be writing this post as much for myself as for anyone. After all, I didn’t need this shake. At this point I’m not even hungry. It’s just here…and delicious. And really, we all deserve a treat every now and then, right? But, if I’m being honest, I probably treat myself more often than I should. In fact, I may be overspending on food. You might be too.

What are signs that you may be overspending on food? Let’s take a look at a few:

You Can’t Fit Anything Else in Your Fridge or Pantry
You Shop for Groceries Without a List
You Make a List Without a Schedule
You Do Your Own Shopping
You Eat Out With Food at Home
You Order Drinks at Restaurants
You Leave Uneaten Food at Restaurants
You Let Leftovers Go Bad at Home
You Have Food Subscriptions and Regularly Fall Behind
You Haven’t Read These Articles: Cut Food Costs

Let’s look at each of these and come up with some solutions.

#1: You Can’t Fit Anything Else In Your Fridge Or Pantry

How many times have you come in with groceries only to realize, before putting them away, you’ll need to make room?

Again, guilty.

This is a huge sign that you’re overspending on food. Why? Because you’re literally throwing it away on a regular basis to make room for more food that you will also be throwing away to make room for more food that….

You get it.

Fix It: Eat what you buy before you buy more.

#2: You Shop For Groceries Without A List

If you walk into a grocery store without a list, you’ve officially entered the realm of “shopping.” Buying food really shouldn’t be shopping. That’s a great way to get into some overspending on food.

I think of shopping as a sort of extra curricular activity. You go into a store unsure of what you’re going to buy. Sometimes you’re not really even sure what you’re looking for. Shopping is almost entertainment.

Buying food should not be entertainment. It’s a chore. I know the word chore has a negative connotation, but really, that’s what it should be. In and out, buying only what you need.

And there’s only one way to know for sure what you need beforehand. You’ve got to make a grocery list.

Fix It: Never go to buy groceries without a list prepared ahead of time.

#3: You Make A List Without A Schedule

Lists are only half the battle though. You’re still going to end up with a pantry full of uneaten food if you just sit down to make a list based on that moment’s cravings. You need an informed list.

The only way to make sure your list is actually effective is to first plan out your meals. Now, I’ll tell you the truth up front: I hate doing this. Ask my wife. She has to beg me to sit down and plan out our food for the week. But, it’s always worth it.

Once we’ve made a schedule of exactly what we’re going to eat and when we’re going to eat it, we can make an informed list based off that schedule. This saves us a ton and ensures we eat what we buy.

Fix It: Plan out all your meals before making a grocery list.

#4: You Do Your Own Shopping

What if I told you that you could make your grocery list online. Not only that, you could see the actual price of each item as you make the list and the subtotal of your entire cart. And, after you’ve finished, you can check out, pay, and go pick up your groceries without getting out of your vehicle. Now that’s a way to stop overspending on food!

Oh, and it’s a free service.

This is a basic description of Walmart’s grocery pickup service. This is pretty much how we do all of our grocery shopping. No more making an awesome list and walking into the store to get suckered into buying something tempting off the end caps or impulse buys at checkout.

We just build our list straight into the Walmart grocery website after we schedule our meals and go pick it up at the store.

Fix It: Stop doing your own shopping and putting yourself in the path of temptation. Use a pick up or delivery service so that you are guaranteed to stick to your list.

#5: You Eat Out With Food At Home

Even the best laid plans can fall apart if you don’t stay strong. I again must confess my weakness here. We can plan out a whole week of food, pick up the groceries, and have everything we need and still mess it up by swinging through that drive through.

Now, it’s true that you can eat pretty cheap if you pick the right fast food place. But, on the flip side, it’s really gotten to the point lately where most fast food places are going to cost a couple of adults close to $20 to get full meals with drinks. Consider that you’re also wasting a meal you bought to make at home that would have fed you both for $10, and you’ve effectively blown $30.

Bad plan.

Fix It: Make a plan. Stick to the plan.

#6: You Order Drinks At Restaurants

$2.99

I have seen that price on a soft drink at restaurants. A gas station can sell you the same drink from their soda fountains for $0.89, so we can safely assume that there’s a little bit of a markup going on here. The restaurant knows you’re a captive audience, so they can hit you with that price. Don’t fall for it.

Think of a family of four with teenagers. Let’s say the drinks come out to $2.50 each. That’s $10, plus an additional $1.50 on the tip (if you only tip 15%, which is on the low side by the way). Your drinks alone just cost you $11.50.

I can probably get you a two liter of soda you just had for $0.92.

Fix It: Skip the drinks. Water is healthier anyway.

#7: You Leave Uneaten Food At Restaurants

Restaurant portions are, generally speaking, pretty big. Now some of us take that as a challenge and refuse to be defeated by a feeling of “being full.” For those of you with more common sense, if you’re leaving your uneaten food on the table, you are basically throwing away your money.

You paid for it, whether you eat it or not. You may as well have it later as a snack or for part of your lunch the next day.

Fix It: Take your leftovers home.

#8: You Let Leftovers Go Bad At Home

Assuming you make it out of the restaurant with your leftovers, you then need to actually eat them. This goes for homemade leftovers too.

My wife is not a huge fan of eating the same thing several times in a row. I get that. But, she’ll happily do it at least twice, especially if it means saving some money. I, on the other hand, will eat the same thing for a week to save a dollar.

Fix It: Regardless of where you fall, find some way to use your leftover food instead of letting it go bad.

#9: You Have Food Subscriptions And Regularly Fall Behind

I’m a fan of food subscriptions IF you have the discipline to stay on schedule. I’ll give you an example:

If you sign up for some sort of meal kit like Every Plate or Hello Fresh, and choose to have three meals delivered each week, guess how many meals you should make from your kit each week…three.

I know it seems obvious, but some of those meals take some time to put together. They also call for some fresh ingredients that will go bad on you if you don’t use them quickly. If you’re going to pay for the convenience of the kits, the last thing you want to do is get backed up and start throwing out veggies and meat that has that cost built in.

Fix It: If you have a subscription, stay on top of the schedule or consider reducing the number of meals you order weekly.

#10: You Haven’t Read Our Articles On Cutting Food Costs

And finally, this is an easy one. I’ve written extensively on ways to cut costs on food.

You need to read those posts!

Fix It: Explore our articles on cutting food costs

Explore Articles On Cutting Food Costs

Conclusion

Do these relate to you?:

You Can’t Fit Anything Else in Your Fridge or Pantry
You Shop for Groceries Without a List
You Make a List Without a Schedule
You Do Your Own Shopping
You Eat Out With Food at Home
You Order Drinks at Restaurants
You Leave Uneaten Food at Restaurants
You Let Leftovers Go Bad at Home
You Have Food Subscriptions and Regularly Fall Behind
You Haven’t Read These Articles: Cut Food Costs

If so, make the changes recommended here to stop overspending on food today!

And as always, regardless of your money goals, you can “Bank on a Budget” to get you from where you are to where you want to be!

After all, I didn’t need this shake. At this point I’m not even hungry.

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Alex

Hello, my name is Alex! I'm a public school teacher who has achieved some big financial goals just by getting control of my money using some simple strategies like using a monthly budget. Now I'd like to share what I've learned with you. Welcome to "Bank on a Budget!"