18Aug20153 Easy Ways to Stick to Your Grocery BudgetThis is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Visa Clear Prepaid program and the Green Dot® Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Card. Ahh grocery shopping. For some people, it’s a lot of fun. For others, it’s the bane of their existence. Personally, I don’t exactly hate grocery shopping, but I certainly don’t look forward to going every week – that’s for sure! I think being stressed out over how much the bill is actually going to be at the end of the checkout line is probably the main reason why many people despise the trip to the supermarket. It’s not like you’re buying two or three things, usually it’s a whole cart of food and it’s hard to keep track as you’re shopping of how much it’s adding up. Here are three tips I use when grocery shopping to make the experience just a little bit better: 1. Write out a Menu Plan If you’ve been a reader of Mostly Homemade Mom, even for just a short while, you’ll know how big I am on menu planning. It’s stressful flying by the seat of your pants every night for dinner – trust me – I’ve done it many times! Plus, if you’re not planning your dinners out then most likely when you get to the store you’re buying extra items and things you don’t necessarily need for that week. Which brings me to my 2nd tip… 2. Make a Grocery List (and email it to yourself) Every week I use an online document to write out what I’m making each night for dinner, and then at the end of the online document is my running grocery list. I can easily add recipe links if needed and as I go through and write in the dinner, I just add the ingredients I need for the week at the bottom. When I’m ready to go shopping, I just simply highlight the list at the bottom and email it to myself – that way I can just pull the email up on my phone once I get to the store. It’s nice to know that at the end of the checkout line, even if the bill is $150 or more, you’ve bought enough food for 7+ days of meals for the family – NOT random things here and there. 3. Use a Prepaid Card The easiest way I’ve found to not going over my grocery budget is to use a prepaid card. I know some people use cash, but I’m always afraid of losing a large amount of money like that. For our family of four, my budget is $100 per week. So each week before we leave for the store, I transfer that amount onto my prepaid card (this may include a small fee depending on the load method) – NO MORE than my budget. Each family has different needs, so sit down and figure out a reasonable budget. If you use a prepaid card each week I find it’s much easier to stick to that budget. I like the Green Dot® Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Card, part of the Visa Clear Prepaid program, for helping me keep to a grocery budget each week. I like that the card is upfront with what’s included in the monthly fee, so you know clearly when you’ll pay a fee and when you won’t. The one monthly fee covers purchases, point-of-sale cash back, and in-network ATM withdraws. With this card, you don’t have to worry about overdraft fees because you can only spend what you load onto the card. I really like that our money is protected through Visa’s Zero Liability* fraud protection, just in case it’s ever lost or stolen. This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Visa Clear Prepaid program and the Green Dot® Reloadable Prepaid Visa® Card. *Visa’s Zero Liability Policy covers U.S.-issued cards and does not apply to certain commercial card transactions, or any transactions not processed by Visa. You must notify your financial institution immediately of any unauthorized use. For specific restrictions, limitations and other details, please consult your issuer. Don’t miss another Mostly Homemade Mom recipe! Click here to have recipes delivered by email. Or, you can follow along via Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, or Google+ – I’d love to connect with you!{linking up!}