Gen Z Guide to FI

Come rain, COVID or inflation, my $100 grocery monthly budget has stayed exactly the same. This seems extreme but I honestly hadn’t noticed or thought about how it has managed to stay so low until now. The heaviest line items in most budgets are housing, transportation and food.

So, how have I kept my budget at $100?

First for context, I am a single woman, living in the boonies of California, with no kids or pets. I am also not a foodie. I eat out of necessity but I do enjoy fancy meals on other people’s dimes (this is to my future lovers, take note).I value healthy, non junk meals on my own dime.

Here are some hacks I have used:

• Shopping at discount grocery stores: grocery outlet…bargain market! Sponsor me please. I love that place. I’ve heard about ALDI but I don’t have one in my area. It’s good quality meals for a bargain.

• Don’t shop when you’re hungry: this is a psychological tactic. You end up buying more than you need if you get groceries on an empty stomach. This could lead to food waste.

• Taking advantage of free lunch opportunities at work: I wrote earlier that I’m my office’s Starbucks bitch. I am a slut for Skymiles; what can I say? I also get invited to a lot of free lunches since I’m fun to be around. I’d like to think of it that why people buy me lunch lol. It is also a chance to get to know people at work as I don’t usually go out of my way to talk to other humans unless food is involved.

• Meal prep and rotational meals: I like to eat the same things week by week – pasta, beans, plantains, eggs, salmon, ‘fancy’ ramen. I grew up with a weekly meal rotation and it has continued into adulthood. For breakfast, I typically have a yoghurt, cereal or oatmeal. I usually make 1 large meal during the weekend and eat that for most work lunches during the week. The rest of the meals/dinners are smaller dishes that I can make throughout the week in 30 mins or less.

• Ibotta: I’ve talked about Ibotta in my Easy Beer Money article. I still use this app to look for deals before grocery shopping. I usually find some great deals on yoghurt, oatmeal & cereal.

• Keeping an empty fridge: This is my favorite one because I actually get stressed when my fridge is full. I hate food waste. If I have too much food, it will go bad especially if I can’t freeze it. I try to buy groceries every week or two. Then, I plan around what I have in my fridge or pantry. I don’t buy anything else till I run out of those. If I crave something else, even with food in my house, I tell my stomach to shut the fuck up. Just kidding, most of the meals I prep are freezable so I just put them away till later.

Some of these techniques are unconventional but if you are looking to reduce your food spending & food waste, I hope this helps 🙂

xoxo Gen Z Fire Baby