middle east? Roaming around here doing groceries weekly is not really a practice. And besides, paychecks
are given monthly which means that money here needs a month-long stretch of budgeting.
After months of wise money handling I realized that it is easier if all the bills are settled at the first week after salary. I always remember what my mom taught me as the basic principle of success in money matters (Salary - Savings and Investments = Expenses). But honestly, I kind of tweaked this formula a bit to (Salary - (Groceries + Responsibilities + Savings and Investments) = Savings and Expenses) <Apply MDAS rule here>
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| After posting this one, my mom messaged me in facebook to do juicing ASAP. |
See what I did there? Grocery Shopping is a primary activity in life which can create a harmonic world if it is well-managed. So what is this blog about? This is just to elaborate how I do monthly grocery shopping without ending into drought, famine and starvation. As terrible as the heat we have here in Kuwait.
Filipinos know better how to do frugal-shopping. I usually ask people who have lived here for years, where are the cheapest grocery outlets to buy good stuff and have good value for my money. I will be naming few stores that has become part of my monthly system which I can assure as commendable.
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| Ryan lining up to weigh and price the produce |
1) Carrefour Avenues Mall
2)Ambassador Kuwait City
3)Lulu Hypermarket Farwaniya
4) Fishmarket in Sharq.
You should have noticed by now that I am living at the heart of Kuwait since most of these stores are just at Central Kuwait.
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| Waiting for a cab. See the flock of expatriates doing their groceries here as well. |
How I move around the grocery to get everything I need which lasts a month.
In doing my groceries, I normally head first to the PROMO section. Here I pick-up anything I want as long as I normally use them. Even if it is in the promo lane yet I know that I will not be eating or using it, then I ignore it. After which I move lane per lane to buy toiletries, preserved goods, milk, and more. It's routine buying thus I already have in head what are the stuff to be bought. The only time I change my brand is if there is a good discount. Then I move to the produce section where I buy just enough vegetables and fruits for a week. They easily ripe then rot so I only buy enough. Then lastly I bulk my cart with the fresh and frozen meat. Almost half of the cart which normally is enough for one month consumption. Then to top it of, I buy bread or pastry.
How do I budget everything.
I love to eat rice, and I guess in this case it's a good frugal strategy because I get to eat meals in bulk. Since I have rice, I just need something to pair it with. Stews are great budget meals. If you are not that picky, they can last for a whole day or two. When I cook viands, I put a little meat and more vegetables especially in sautes. That's why I buy few amount of various and cheap vegetables on a big store because luckily there is a small shop where I can just purchase fresh healthy vegetables in small amounts. I do not mind spending more on them since in the first place I cannot store a month-long vegetables in the fridge. For breakfasts I usually resort to easy to cook food. I include in my groceries, nuts/almonds,cookies,biscuits,and a lot of coffee. I am insomniac so usually when the clock hits 3am I look for food. These are lifesavers and they are great to munch. I make sure I have all the ingredients for my specialty "baked macaroni and carbonara" because at least once a month I cook that. I buy a lot of frozen whole chicken since they are really cheap here (around 7-8pcs in a month). These are great for almost any viand. For fish, we usually have a friend who brings a box of it from the fish market and they are just priced so cheap. So this is better than buying them in the grocery.
Advantages.
For me monthly buying of groceries helped a lot in budgeting. It can save the cost and effort of going back and forth to the grocery store. You can also work your meal planning from what you have bought. You will get use to it in the long run so being innovative, resourceful and creative can surely help.
For middle class Filipinos who work here in Kuwait just to earn and have something to set aside for their families back home, this is a great strategy to save. The only downside I can see though is the problem in proper food storage and management which can be learned in due time. Just make sure you have in a list everything you got stored and plan which to cook first and next.
