Save $20 on Your Next Grocery Run: $80+ per Month!

Send Katie a Message with Your Questions/Thoughts! :)

The rising cost of living is killer right now, especially when it comes to groceries!

According to data from the Census Bureau in the United States in 2024, families with kids spend an average of $331/week on groceries.

Our family of 3 has been averaging $240/week on groceries over the past year, nearly $100 less than the overall average, and that means we're saving $4,700+ MORE than the average U.S. family on groceries per year!! 

So today, I’m going to share with you 3 ways to save at least $20, likely more, on your next grocery run – or $80+ per month!

Hi, I’m Katie – a mama, coach & podcaster focused on supporting eco-minded mamas to live sustainably: saving thousands of dollars and living a life that is in alignment with their core values so they can care for their families and their environment! 

Let’s get into it, going from low-to-high cost savings… 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode: 

• Saving Money with Plant-Based Meals
  
  
• Average cost of groceries for families in USA
  
  
• ✨Download 5 Hacks to Start Saving $2,000 in Your Kitchen Today!✨

Ready to start seeing HUGE savings with simple swaps that are sustainable for your family, your budget, and your planet??

➡️ ➡️ Join our online community inside The Eco-Minded Mama Collective to receive instant access to digital guides, videos, Live Q&As, challenges + giveaways, and consistent real-time support!! 

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P.S. Be sure to subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode and follow us on Instagram & TikTok @ecomindedmama to stay connected! ✨

Episode Transcript

Katie Kurpanek (00:00):
The rising cost of living is killer right now,

(00:03):
especially in the United States,and especially when it comes to
groceries. According to datafrom the Census Bureau in the
United States in 2024, familieswith kids spend an average of
$331 per week on groceries. Ourfamily of three has been
averaging about $240 per week ongroceries over the past year,

(00:25):
that is nearly $100 less thanthe overall average. And that
still hurts. But we are verythankful for the savings. So
today, I am going to share withyou three ways that you could
save at least $20 or likely moreon your next grocery run. And
that could average around $80 amonth. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm a mama

(00:46):
a coach and a podcaster who isempowering mamas just like you
to live sustainably, saving1000s of dollars in the process
and living a life that is inalignment with your core values,
so that you can live with lessstress. So if that sounds like
something you are interested in,let's get into it going from low
to high cost saving tips.

(01:06):
Okay, money saving tip numberone, buy produce in season as
often as possible. So whenfruits and veggies are in
season, then there is anabundance more locally
available, so then the grocerystores will typically lower the
costs of those things. Sotypically, if strawberries are
not locally in season, forexample, then they may cost

(01:28):
about $7 per pound. Once theyare in season, then that price
will typically drop to about $3or $4 per pound. So let's say
that you just started with twovarieties of produce per week
that you buy locally. So thinkof the produce that your family
enjoys most often. And I canlink some resources for you in

(01:49):
the episode description but youcan figure out when those
varieties of produce areactually in season. If you just
picked two of them to startbuying only when they are in
season, then you will likelysave $6 Just through that one
step per grocery run. And ofcourse, you will be saving more

(02:09):
if you commit to more.
Money saving tip number two, buyfoods in their whole form rather
than processed as often aspossible. So one big money saver
example for families issmoothies or smoothie pouches
Squeezy pouches. If you bought a16 ounce bag of frozen mixed

(02:30):
fruits from Walmart, currentlypriced at $2.38, you could
likely make at least 12 Kidsized decent sized smoothies for
that price $2.38. If you were tobuy a 12 pack of popular Squeezy
pouches from Walmart, a brandthat I won't name, but very

(02:51):
popular, it would be priced atcurrently $7.78. So the cost
savings there is about $5 forthe same amount of servings.
Let's say that you make your ownsmoothie batch with a bag of
frozen fruits. And you alsodecide to make a batch of
muffins at the very beginning ofthe week, instead of buying a

(03:12):
bunch of packaged snacks, thenthose two things combined could
save you roughly $10 In that onegrocery shopping trip. So then
combine that $10 with the tipnumber one that I just gave you,
and now you've saved $16 in onegrocery trip.
Now for money saving tip numberthree, which has potential to be
the biggest saver depending onhow you get into it. Incorporate

(03:36):
plant based recipes into yourfamily's weekly meal planning.
Now hold up before you turn offthis episode and skip to the
next one. I am not going to tellyou to go fully vegan to give up
meat or dairy or whatever. I amnot going to even get into this
from like an ethical or personalperspective. Let's just look at
the money for right now.
According to a survey of over1000 Americans that I will link

(03:59):
below, consumers on meatlessdiets spent an average of $23
less per week on food. And thenthat number goes up for the
people who were buying organicor nitrate free, non GMO, all of
that meat. Meatless Mondaysalone, so just one day a week of
not eating meat could save you$3.30 On average for the one

(04:23):
day. So okay, if you onlyswapped one day out of your
whole week with plant basedrecipes, meaning just meatless
that's not even taking outdairy. Then if you did that, and
you combined with the first twotips that I just gave you, now
you have saved roughly $19.30 inone grocery run. So then if you

(04:47):
also decide to cut out dairy forthat one day as well, let's say
you wanted to do like a fullyplant based day, one day a week
for your family. Well now yoursavings is going to be over $20
for that one grocery run, and soon. So if you were to do that
even more, maybe experiment withmore plant based recipes,
throughout different times ofyour week, the savings is just

(05:09):
going to continue.
So now, if you were to take allthree of these tips and feel
them out, feel what works bestfor you and your family. If you
start really simple, and youjust save that simple $20 a week
that we outlined, then that isgoing to equate to about $80 for

(05:30):
an average month. And thenthat's an extra $1,040 per year.
If you start applying these tipseven more, so even more of your
purchases, changing up more ofyour habits, buying even more
whole foods rather thanprocessed or buying more produce
in season, incorporating moreplant based recipes. If you were

(05:51):
to just like switch this up overand over again, then you could
experience what my family isdoing, which is currently saving
$91 a week more than the averagefamily. Like we outlined at the
very beginning, we're averagingabout $240 per grocery trip, so
once a week, rather than youknow about $330 For the average

(06:14):
family in America right now. Sowhen you calculate that out, we
are saving an extra $4,732compared to an average US family
every single year.
This is just scratching thesurface of how much you can be
saving with sustainable swapsfor your family. So check out

(06:34):
the episode description for moreresources, you can go to eco
minded mama.com to download yourFREE guide with five more hacks
to saving over $2,000 hiding inyour kitchen with sustainable
swaps. And then if you arereally ready to commit to saving
1000s of dollars every singleyear, way beyond what I just

(06:55):
described, then you couldconsider joining The Eco-Minded
Mama Collective. We are anonline membership program and we
are unpacking monthly challengestogether, saving money every
day, and at the time of thisrecording we are heavily focused
on saving money and time andfood waste in the kitchen. That
is the theme for this month andwe will constantly come back to

(07:16):
that if you are listening tothis episode at a later date. So
check out those links in theepisode description. I hope that
this helped you today and I willbe back next week with more
sustainable living tips.