This tip from Dave Ramsey about saving on groceries can backfire

Following this advice from Dave Ramsey could pay off in the end.

If you’re tired of maxing out your credit cards at the grocery store, you may be interested in finding ways to lower your food costs.

The good news is that there are some great suggestions for saving money on groceries.

However, there are also some money-saving offers that may not go away. In fact, finance expert Dave Ramsey offers one tip for cutting grocery store costs that could actually cost you. more st.

Check out this tip from Dave Ramsey for cutting grocery costs

One of several suggestions Ramsey made when giving advice on how to cut grocery costs was to “test your green thumb.”

Specifically, Ramsey was referring to planting a garden so you don’t have to buy all your fresh produce at the supermarket.

“You can grow your own tomatoes, bell peppers and cauliflower in your garden, and you don’t have to buy them from the store. You can just go out and pick them up in your garden, Little House on the Prairie style,” Ramsey. suggested.

The Ramsey Solutions The blog went on to explain that you don’t even need a lot of outdoor space to implement this tip, as there are “many indoor garden kits.” And she also recommended trying to grow herbs and potentially freeze any leftovers you might collect that you can’t eat right away.

Here’s the problem with this advice

While growing a garden may seem like an easy way to save, the reality is that it can actually cost you more money than you might expect.

To begin with, the garden needs dirt and pots or flower beds. And if you want to have a good chance of actually growing a lot of food, you’ll need high-quality soil with nutrients. You can’t just go dig a hole in your yard and expect to have a harvest.

You’ll also need seeds, water, a way to keep pests and animals from eating your crops, and time to care for all the plants. And, even if you have all of that, if you don’t have a ton of space, chances are you’ll have a crop that will provide you with enough for maybe a meal or two if you’re lucky. And then you can do it all over again next year.

We actually tried this tip in our family a few years ago by gardening in raised beds in hopes of growing a reasonable amount of our own food. Despite high-quality soil from a local farm, buying heirloom seeds, and spending a lot of time and energy on pest control, we ended up with a handful of peas, some celery, a whole tomato, and not much else.

The stories are about people spending huge amounts of money on gardening only to end up with very little for it, and the reality is that there’s a good reason why most ordinary people gave up growing their own food a long time ago and just bought it instead. from the supermarket. .