This Dave Ramsey Advice to Save on Groceries Could Backfire

Following this Dave Ramsey advice could end up costing you in the end. 

If you're tired of giving your credit cards a workout at the grocery store, you may be interested in finding ways to reduce your food costs. 

The good news is, there are some great suggestions for saving money on groceries -- including using coupons and bulk buying combined with batch cooking. 

There are, however, also some money-saving suggestions that may not end up panning out. In fact, finance expert Dave Ramsey offered one tip for reducing grocery store costs that could actually end up costing you more money. 

Skip this Dave Ramsey tip for cutting grocery costs

When providing advice on how to reduce grocery costs, one of several suggestions Ramsey made was to "test out your green thumb."

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

"You can grow your own tomatoes, bell peppers and cauliflower in your garden, and you won't have to buy any at the store. You can just go out and grab them from your garden, Little House on the Prairie style," Ramsey suggested.

The Ramsey Solutions blog went on to explain that you don't even need a lot of outdoor space to implement this tip since there are "plenty of indoor garden kits out there." And he also advised trying to grow herbs and potentially freezing any leftover items you are able to harvest 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 this can actually end up costing you a lot more money than you might expect.

For starters, you need dirt and pots or flower beds to garden. And if you want to have a good chance of actually growing a lot of food, you're going to need high quality soil with nutrients in it. You can't just go dig a hole in your backyard and expect to have a fruitful crop. 

You're also going to need seeds, water, a method of deterring pests and animals from eating your crops, and time to take care of all of the plants. And, even if you have all of that, unless you have a ton of space, chances are good that you're going to end up with a harvest that provides you with enough produce for maybe a meal or two -- if you're lucky. And then you get to do it all again the next year. 

We actually tried out this advice in our household a few years ago, doing some gardening in raised beds with the hopes we'd be able to grow a reasonable amount of our own food. Despite having high-quality soil delivered 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, a little bit of celery, a whole lot of tomatoes, and not much else. 

Stories abound of people spending a fortune on gardening only to end up with very little to show for it, and the reality is that there's a good reason why most ordinary people gave up growing their own food long ago and just buy it at the supermarket instead.