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!

Grocery Budget: A Different Perspective

 

One of our goals this year is to get our finances back on the fast track. For the most part, my husband handles the finances in our home. And we're both okay with that! It stresses me out too much, but he actually enjoys it. I do almost all the shopping in our home, so I'm in charge of the grocery budget.

I hate to say it, but I wasn't exactly great with the grocery budget last year. I'd make two weeks worth of menu plans and the grocery list. Then, off to the bank for the budgeted cash before shopping. I tried to make sure to allow some wiggle room, in case we needed anything else before next pay day. More times than not, I would eventually spend that left over cash. Then, before pay day, I'd ask Hubby to stop at the store on his way home for a quick thing or two I "needed." So, yep, I realize I've been slacking.

A Different Perspective

A couple of weeks ago, I read a book called The American Frugal Housewife. This book was written in 1832 by Lydia Maria Francis Child. A lot of the book I skimmed through. Much of it consists of recipes that are hard to understand because of ingredients and methods that no longer exist. But, one of the things I read that really stood out was when she was talking about home economy. I'm paraphrasing, but Ms. Child said if you have 1 dollar to spend per day, spend no more than 75 cents.

Hmm. I obviously know what I have to spend every 2 weeks. And it's not difficult to work out the math to see what the monthly grocery budget is. But each day? Maybe I'm the odd one out, but I've never broken down the grocery budget into daily terms. When I took my bi-weekly budget and broke it down into 14 days, I was amazed. I looked at what three-quarters of that every day would look like, as Ms. Child suggests. It seemed more than enough! Granted, with my grocery money, I fit in everything. Food, paper products, toiletries, cleaning products, supplements, and cat and dog food. But still, I'm not always going to spend the full allotted daily amount on food alone. I can even say most days I wouldn't.

My New Plans

I found with my old way of doing things, we were wasting quite a bit of food. Fresh produce bought for 2 weeks worth of meals would go bad before we used it all. Forgotten leftovers were often moved to the back of the fridge, only to be tossed later as well. I wanted to find a way to reduce all that waste. Because we live very close to all the stores I frequent, I decided to do a trial-run of a 3-day plan. I will expand it to a week once I am confident that this will work for us.

1. Make menu plans for 3 days
2. Write shopping list
3. Take 3 days allotment of cash shopping
4. Try to only spend 3/4 of cash

I had my first go at this yesterday, and it worked out so well! I'm excited to see if I can keep it up. I actually spent under the 3/4 of the cash for everything I needed for 3 days! So, I will be able to put away the other 1/4 of the money and save the rest for those just-in-case moments. Plus, I'm hoping shopping more often will encourage a lot less waste!

Obviously, if you live far enough away from where you shop that gas is an issue, the 3-day plan is not going to be very economical. So make sure you work out a schedule that is not going to cost you more than you save. But, if you've never figured out how much you have for a daily grocery budget, still take a look! It may seem like such a small thing. But sometimes, just that slight change in perspective can make a huge difference in how you think about something!

Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman Part 5

She considereth a field, and buyeth it; with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

Proverbs 31:16

There are many things I see in this verse.  First, the word considereth.  It doesn't say that she bought a field, it says she considered, and THEN bought a field.  This shows wisdom and careful judgment, especially in financial matters.  It shows that she did not make snap decisions...she wanted to make sure she was getting her money's worth.

How easy is it these days to take for granted the hard-earned dollar?  It seems that recently, many people are tightening their belts in the financial department...the economy sure isn't what it was a few years ago.  Yet, we are still for the most part, a throw-away society, as well as a society in debt.  Foreclosures and credit card debt are at an all-time high, yet people continue to buy what they cannot afford.  For some, the thought never crosses their mind to go without because they don't have the cash.  Then the bills come.  Then the collectors start calling, who are then made out to be the bad guys because they are trying to get someone to pay a debt they agreed to pay when they signed the credit card slip!  I won't play Miss Perfect here.  Yes we do have some debt.  But, we are paying it.  WE accrued it, it is OUR responsibility to pay it!  No one else's!  It's getting harder and harder to find people out there who are willing to take responsibility for their actions.

Anyway, I got off on a tangent I hadn't meant to, but apparently I needed to rant a little.  :)  I'm stepping off my soapbox (for now!) and getting on with the subject at hand.

The point is, we all need to show wisdom and discretion when it comes to finances.  Here in our home, hubby is almost completely in charge of finances.  Not because he's the husband, but because that's his "thing," and it's most certainly not mine.  :)  Now, that does not mean I have no affect on the finances.  I'm in charge of all the shopping in our home, among other things that can have an effect on how efficiently (or inefficiently) hubby's hard-earned money is going out the door.  Am I making wise choices at the grocery store?  Am I making *healthy* choices at the grocery store?  If I'm buying junk food, even though it's "cheap," I don't consider that a very efficient use of money.  Am I making sure we're not wasting things around the home that cost money?  Water, electricity, gas?  Am I making good use of my *hands* (there it is again!)?  Attempting to fix broken things before throwing them out and deciding we need new?  Am I being careful in my de-cluttering, making sure I'm not getting rid of anything that hubby may need/want later?  (Don't ask me how I know about that one!)  To put all of this more simply, am I considering any and all financial ramifications to my household for the actions I take (or sometimes, don't take)?

The next words in that verse that stick out to me tie in with what I mentioned above, but really deserve a separate look, too.  Back in verse 13 we talked about working with your hands, and now we have a reference to planting a vineyard.  This, too, ties in to being efficient with the finances.  Using your hands, and using your skills or acquiring new ones can save money, too.  In this verse it talks specifically of gardening, basically.  By nature, I am not a green thumb, although I am a wannabe.  :)  If you have the capabilities of growing your own food, even if it's just a few pots on your deck, give it a try!  It's a very satisfying feeling (not to mention economical) to feed your family something you grew yourself, or even together!

So remember, consider, spend wisely, and learn to use those hands!  :)

Frugal Friday: Books Revisited

I am a lover of books.  Anyone who knows me well knows this.  In my precious free-time, I can usually be found with my nose in a book...sometimes I can be found with my nose in a book when I technically shouldn't be having free time, but that's another story.  :)  Lately, I've been noticing that I've passed on my love of books to my kids, and I love that!  While I have been making frequent use of our local library--especially now that school is in full swing with my older two sons--I've been working on building our own library here at home, full of living books and classical literature.  And all at practically no cost to me.

How do I do this, you ask?  There are a couple of ways.  First, I registered for free at Paperback Swap (if you sign up, please use living4him2007 as your referrer!).  Upon signing up and posting 10 books, you get 2 free credits.  Each credit is good toward any book, or audio books cost 2 credits.  Then, when someone orders one of your books, you pay postage to send it to them.  When they receive the book, you get a credit.  Obviously when you order a book, the sender will pay the postage and you get it for free.  I have gotten quite a few books this way, and they come in very good condition.  I'm always on the lookout for free books or really cheaply priced books at garage sales, just so I can post them on Paperback Swap and keep my list fresh and keep my credits coming in.

Another way I get free books only costs me in time, and little at that.  I am registered at Swagbucks, and that is also a free registration.  Now, having been a member of quite a few "points" programs online, I have gotten very wary of these types of programs.  But, Swagbucks is completely legit!  All you do is use their search (as opposed to Google or yahoo).  Each search you do has a potential for getting Swagbucks.  That doesn't mean you will get Swagbucks every time you search--you won't!  But, if you like researching things like me, you can earn quite a few Swagbucks in a day.  Each search gives you the potential to earn up to 50 Swagbucks (realistically from my own experience, when you do get Swagbucks, it will be anywhere from 6-10 at a time), and Fridays are mega Swagbuck days, so then, the max you can earn per search goes up to 1000!  I haven't gotten that one yet, but I try!  :)  Plus, when you refer your friends to use Swagbucks, they will match what ever Swagbucks THEY get to YOUR account for their first 48 hours of being registered.  Take a look through the Swag Store and see what kind of things you can buy with your Swagbucks.  I always go for the $5 Amazon gift cards, which cost 450 Swagbucks each.  I have redeemed 6 of those in the past 3 months, and have been chipping away at my extensive Amazon wishlist with them.  I have my Swagbucks almost down to a science now...I just got a book in the mail that I ordered with a $5 gift card I earned, while I'm waiting for the last gift card I snagged to be credited to my account (it usually takes 5-7 days), AND I'm almost ready to snag another.

With just these two programs alone, I have a pretty steady stream of free books coming in the mail.  And, the kids love it, because most of the books are for them.  :)

One more way that I could earn more Amazon gift cards is through my Amazon Associates program.  There are 3 ways to get your commission: by check in the mail, by direct deposit, or by Amazon gift cards.  Right now, I have it set to gift cards, just because I don't want to wait to get $100 and pay the processing fee required for a check, and I haven't set up direct deposit yet, but I will eventually.

So there you have it.  If you love books and would love to build up a collection, but don't have the money, there are ways to do it very cheaply or even free.  It takes a little more time and patience, but--at least to me, anyway--it's worth it!

Frugal Friday: Introduction

Lately, I've been thinking of different ways to really stretch my husband's hard-earned money.  While I'm better than I have been in the past, there are still so many ways I could cut costs.  Each Friday, I am going to try and make a point of learning something new that will save us money.  I have a whole list of things that I want to try.  :)  I'm thinking of things here that we would normally buy, that I can make, or learn to make, for cheaper.  I'm also thinking of services for minor repairs that I could teach myself to handle.

So, while I'm getting my list together, I will leave you with a wonderful website I've found.  Money Saving Mom  This is a wonderful site for saving money on many things...she has links to free samples, store and coupon deals, and so much more.  Go check it out!