Grocery Budget Update: How Did I Do?

 

Happy Friday, everyone! A couple of weeks ago, I posted about my new-found perspective on my grocery budget. Well, the first full pay period of the New Year is over, and I thought I'd post an update about how my new system is going.

Well, I am excited to report, it's going really well so far! I have made quite a bit of progress, and I'm hoping I can continue.

Every 3 Days

With my vehicle, how little I drive, and how close I am to all the stores I use, shopping every 3 days does not affect my gas usage hardly at all. I'm not going to lie. It is a bit tedious compared to weekly or bi-weekly shopping. But, BUT! It's better than shopping for a week or two, then having Hubby or the Teenager stop at the store almost daily for a thing or two I "need." There really isn't a lot that can't wait 3 days if I run out of it. Then, there is the food waste factor. Honestly, I can't say there's been zero waste. However, I am extremely happy with how much less waste we've had these past two weeks compared to normal! Produce is getting used up instead of going bad.

That said, I will probably continue for awhile on the 3-day planning. Once I feel like I have a good grasp on that, I will expand it out to 4 days and see how that goes.

Staying Within the Budget

My goal with shopping every 3 days, was to just take 3 days' worth of the grocery budget with me to the store. Then, I wanted to try and only spend 75% of that. Sometimes I met that goal, sometimes I had to dip into that other 25%.

Results

Yesterday was the last day of that pay period. Today, I get cash for my next two weeks of groceries. Guess what, y'all? I have two days' worth of my cash leftover, with my family eating well and stocked up on all we need! Plus, I stayed on the Trim Healthy Mama plan the entire time. I was hoping to have 25% of the budget left over, but you know what? If I would have spent the full amount and not a penny more, that still would have been serious improvement over how I was doing! So yes, I am super excited with how my new plans have gone so far! Granted, we're not even a month into the year yet, but here's hoping the momentum stays strong!

So, have any of you made any goals regarding your grocery budget this year? What kinds of changes have you made to stay within your budget? Do you have any tips for families trying to eat healthy, yet maintain their budget? I would love to hear from you! Share your ideas in the comments below!

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Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope you all have a blessed weekend!