Mom Tries and Succeeds to Do Grocery Shopping on a Budget From 2012

A mother of two tried to do her weekly grocery shopping on a budget from a decade ago and found out that while it can be done, it won't be sustainable with today's current food prices.

Lucy Leeson from the U.K. is used to a $110 a week budget for her family of four's grocery shopping needs. However, one week, she challenged herself to shop at Aldi for just under $80, the average weekly shopping budget from 2012.

Writing for Hull Live, where she works as a journalist, Leeson detailed that she spent almost a quarter of her measly budget on meats like chicken breast, sausages, and meatballs. She also picked up some fruit and vegetables, salad items, and yogurts for her kids, aged five and 22 months.

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The mom said she also needs to stock up frozen goods like chicken nuggets and pizza for "emergency meals." She also didn't forget to buy the chips and snack packs, essential for her boys.

With her budget almost to the limit, Leeson didn't buy the "luxuries" like Diet Coke, ice cream, Fruit Shoots for her kids, beer for her husband, and Prosecco for herself. She ended her grocery shopping with a cart that wasn't as full as usual and admitted that this small budget would be a struggle to keep every week.

Lessons on Shopping on a Budget

Leeson said that this challenge had one good turnout -- it made her family realize that they should not waste food and be more careful with what they ate. She also felt grateful that she and her husband have full-time jobs with a good income. However, it also made her see how some families struggle to make ends meet and know that the situation could worsen as prices skyrocket.

In the U.S., a family of four with kids under five years old needs an average of $214.90 weekly grocery shopping budget, per The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The average weekly grocery shopping cost per individual between 19 to 50 is $67.

Frugal mom Sammy Hancock, however, can manage a grocery shopping budget of $30 a week for her family of three. The smart shopper likes using cashback apps that provide freebies like diapers, yogurts, and some ingredients that she can cook in one batch to store and reheat as needed. She seeks out food items with colored price tags because these are hugely discounted.

Hancock also cuts costs by buying second-hand children's clothes off the marketplace on Facebook. She also visits the local community shop where food items past their "sell date" are given away for free. In total, the mother said that she could save an average of $80 a month by being frugal and smart about their family's spending.

Where to Get Best Bargains at the Grocery

Meanwhile, another mom shared a tip about finding the best bargains at the grocery. She revealed in a TikTok video that shoppers should look at the top and lower level of the shelves and never in the middle section.

The mom said that brands in the middle sections are "top dollar for advertisers and brands" that pay huge money, so their products are on the eye level of the shopper. Thus, if a shopper wants to lower the cost of their grocery purchases, they should go for the top and bottom shelves.

This marketing strategy has been applied at grocery stores since the 1980s. Brands pay slotting fees so some products can quickly grab the shoppers' attention. Commenters on the TikTok video, who has retail experience, confirmed the mother's tip and agreed that high-profit products, which aren't necessarily good, are always placed on grocery shelves that are at eye-level.

Related Article: Beat Inflation and Stretch Your Budget With These Tips

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