1. Groceries!

2. Minimum Monthly Food Budget Maximum Monthly Food Budget
Groceries and budget
Food is a need!
10%-15% of your budget should be for food
Monthly Income
Eating out is more expensive than buying groceries
Yearly Income
Monthly Income
Minimum Monthly Food Budget
Maximum Monthly Food Budget
$15,000
$1,250
$125.00
$187.50
$25,000
$2,083
$208.30
$312.45
$32,000
$2,667
$266.70
$400.05
$48,000
$4,000
$400.00
$600.00
We have talked before about needs vs wants. Food is definitely a need! As an independent adult, you must spend money on food. However, you can make choices about how to spend that money, depending on your wants. If you want to save money for something else, you could eat very cheaply by buying low-cost food at the grocery store. If food is your favorite thing or you enjoy social eating (like at restaurants), you will end up spending more. Be careful not to go over 15% or you will find yourself running out of money for other needs! Ms. Sarah LOVES food and realized that she was paying $700-$900 per month for food. Yikes! That’s way too much!
Pass out the Cost of Food document. Explain that the USDA puts together this information, which reports on the average cost of food for four different levels of spending– from thrifty to liberal. You can also see that it breaks it down for different combinations of people– like individuals, families, or children. This isn’t what people should be paying (that is, it’s not based on a budget)– it’s what they are paying (it’s based on reality). How do children add to the cost? Have students figure out the cost for various combinations of people (thrifty female, low-cost family of four, etc.).

3. Making Healthy Choices
When you are an adult, what you eat is up to you! This is your chance to really make healthy choices when you are buying groceries or eating out. Don’t forget what you learned in Fitness for Life and in middle school about the My Plate or Food Pyramid guides!

4. Food Waste If we shop smart, we can reduce food waste.
This is good for your budget and for the earth!
What do you think is the problem with wasting food?

5. Share the information on the infographic
Share the information on the infographic. It’s been split into two pages so it’s easier to read.

7. Grocery store tips and tricks
PLAN AHEAD
Don’t shop hungry
Stay on the edges as much as possible
watch?v=0pCWTbloobg
Plan ahead: To make sure you only spend what is required, plan ahead! Make a list of what you need and only get those things. This will also save time, as you will avoid walking up and down random aisles, wondering what you needed to buy.
Don’t shop hungry: If you are hungry when you shop, you are more likely to buy things you don’t need. You might grab an extra bag of chips, a rotisserie chicken, a lunchable…not because you want those things, but because you are hungry and are more impulsive.
Stay on the edges: the edges of the store tend to have the most necessary and healthy foods, whereas the aisles have more processed or junk foods.
Show the video about grocery shopping tips and tricks.
If you have extra time, you can explain that there are lots of apps available to make grocery lists, keep track of the food at your house, and to compare grocery prices. One is the Flipp App (

8. Grocery store social skills
Be aware of your space
Blocking food
Don’t run into people
Don’t comment on other people (with words or body language)
Greet cashier (phone, etc.)
Samples
Don’t crowd
Take one
Cart etiquette
Put away your cart at the end
Only get the children’s cart if you have small kids with you
Share these social skills for the grocery story. Can the students think of any others, based on their experiences?

9. Comparing grocery options
You can buy groceries at a lot of different places!
Gas station
Target
Costco
Walmart
Smith’s
And many more!

10. Things to Consider Convenience Cost Other Hours they are open
How close they are to you
How quickly you can get in and out with your groceries
Cost
How cheap/expensive the store is compared to others
What sales/deals are currently available
Does a loyalty card give you deals or reward points?
Other
Brand loyalty
Ethics (do they treat their employees well?)
General Appeal (Is it clean? Do they treat customers well? Is it in a safe location?)
When choosing a grocery store, they are a lot of things to think about!

11. Your turn to compare!
Use the Grocery Store Comparison Worksheet to compare the prices of three items of your choice.
Be sure to calculate the actual cost per unit
Per ounce (oz)
Per pound (lb)
Per item (actual cost per bun, egg, etc.)
Introduce students to the website above. They will use this website to compare prices at different stores. This is an east-coast website, so some of the stores may be confusing. For that reason, I’ve only included Kroger, Trader Joe’s, and Walmart on the worksheet. Kroger is the same stores as Smith’s, just with a different name. Use 1 gallon of milk as an example to walk students through the basic lay-out of the website.
We must calculate the cost per unit because stores sell items in different sizes. If we just see that applesauce is $2.89 at Kroger and $1.99 at Trader Joe’s, we might automatically think that Trader Joe’s is cheaper. In fact, you only get HALF of the amount of applesauce at Trader Joe’s, so the applesauce per unit is actually more expensive. You will have to teach most students how to calculate the price per unit. They should do it like this $2.89 (cost at Kroger) divided by 50 (number of ounces). The total is the cost per ounce ($.06 compared to Trader Joe’s $.08).
On the worksheet, they can choose any three items. They can use the space at the bottom to make calculations/notes. They should use their chromebooks to go to the website and calculate. Once they determine the cheapest option, they should highlight it (see the worksheet for an example).

12. Exit Ticket:
Get in a group of 3-4 students. Each student should answer one of the questions on the paper before you leave.
What percent of your income should be spent on food?
About how much does a gallon of milk cost?
What is one trick for being a smart grocery shopper?
What is one specific social skill you can use at the grocery store?
Pass out the Groceries Exit Ticket and have students complete this before leaving!