Use a Spreadsheet to Help Make Your Grocery Budget

Carrying large debtloads is becoming increasingly common. With online shopping at your fingertips, advertising all around us urging us to spend, and the desire to keep up the Joneses, it\’s no surprise that many decide to use credit instead of saving for things. When people spend money without consideration for their long-term finances, motivated by satisfying their desires, they often won\’t realize they\’re in trouble until it\’s too late. No longer able to make payments, some have to file for bankruptcy, or seek out a consumer proposal or debt consolidation through a bankruptcy trustee.

Your credit score goes to R9, the bottom of the scale, when you file a consumer proposal or for bankruptcy, which forbids you from using credit for several years. Overspending is off the table. Eating at a restaurant every lunch hour may not be an option any more. Grocery shopping won\’t be a free-for-all anymore. If you grab things indiscriminately, you may find yourself coming up short at the checkout.

Planning your meals ahead of time is a great way to ensure that your grocery budget isn\’t tapped out prematurely. When you figure out how much everything costs beforehand, you can make a list of what you plan to buy knowing that you won\’t overspend. If you shop from a list and stick to it, you will be less likely to grab items on impulse. Scheduling your meals in advance can reduce your likelihood of ordering take out whenever the mood strikes. If your plan includes quick, simple meals, you can use those on the nights when you don\’t have the energy for a big meal.

If you\’ve got basic skills with spreadsheet software like Excel, you can use it to make planning your grocery trips easier. It may seem like a hassle to do the data entry involved, but it\’s really not much work to generate a database you can use to track grocery prices and make your budget go even farther. Make sure you hang on the receipt from your shopping, and when you\’ve got a moment, start up your computer and open up your spreadsheet software. Start the basic columns for item, cost per unit, store, and date purchased. Now simply type in your purchases from your receipt.

One handy technique for making your price database effective is to use the \’filter\’ function to sort and find the data you\’re looking for. In Excel, \’Filter\’ is in the \’Data\’ menu. What makes this function so productive is that you now have a pulldown arrow at the header of each column, and when you open it, you get a listing of all items in that column sorted alphabetically. Select just the one you want, and Excel will drill down to all the instances where you purchased that item, and with enough data, you can track prices over time. You can know how long it has been since an item went on sale, and start to recognize patterns. If you use a standardized naming system where you put the generic term first, then details, then brand name, your alphabetized list will group together all the items in that generic category, and show you the difference between brands and stores.

You can then copy the items to another portion of the spreadsheet, where you can keep a running total of your trip, and make sure you can get what you want for the money you have. If you are in a bankruptcy or consumer proposal situation with a bankruptcy trustee, sticking to your budget is a must. Planning your finances in advance is the best approach to ensuring that you restore your finances and your credit.

Rely on the bankruptcy trustee Rexdale dedicated to helping individuals relieve the burden of debt. Kevin Thatcher and Associates help find the solution that meets your needs.

Rely on the bankruptcy trustee Rexdale dedicated to helping individuals relieve the burden of debt. Kevin Thatcher and Associates help find the solution that meets your needs.
http://billfixer.com/toronto-bankruptcy-trustee.html

Author Bio: Rely on the bankruptcy trustee Rexdale dedicated to helping individuals relieve the burden of debt. Kevin Thatcher and Associates help find the solution that meets your needs.

Category: Finances
Keywords: bankruptcy,debt,credit,counselling,money,finance,family,personal,management,life,home,shopping

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