Jeff and I were looking at our bills for this month and trying to see where we could cut costs since we have an extra $100 a month coming out now for my car payment and we have to put in several tons of pellets to keep us warm this heating season. One of the best places that I know I can cut expenses in is my food budget. Luckily, I am not alone in doing a grocery budget challenge as several of my sweet friends here in blogland are doing the same. My friend Bless at http://bless2cents.blogspot.com/ is the ultimate black belt or shopping ninja as my middle grandson Isaiah would say at this. 😀 If you have not visited her blog before, you really should.
I am setting a goal for myself for $150 for the month and that includes stocking up on sale items that are at rock bottom prices. I will not include pet food or kitty litter. As you know, if you have read my blog for awhile, we usually have several family gatherings each month and we do those potluck style. I will have my oldest grandsons here for the day at least once and hopefully several other times as well. I want to have a dinner with each of my kids and also with my cousin this month. There is also a friend, who has a birthday near the end of the month, along with my oldest son Jaysn that I want to do something special for.
I have a full pantry and 2 deep freezers to pull food from so we will not be hurting by any means. I love a good challenge and I know this is one that I can meet.
So far I have spent:
$10 for apples from the orchard ( .50 a pound and I am sharing them with my family)
$36.99 for stock up on groceries
So $150- $46.99 = $103.01 left for the rest of the month.
I'll try to update as I go along this month.
Wow that is not much of a budget. I will be excited to see how you do.
ReplyDeleteIt really should not be that hard with all that I already have on hand here. :) I average about $200 a month for our food budget. Some months are higher and then I have months where I just spend a little under $70.
DeleteI think now a days around here one has to be a wizard to economize in groceries. North Dakota is a very expensive state. Thank you for the post. You are an inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThank you Angela. I have heard that about North Dakota, along with housing costs.
DeleteOh heck girl, you got this. With the pantry and freezers all you need to do is get creative. It will be fun, make it a game!
ReplyDeleteGood luck.
Thanks my friend and I am doing just that! ;)
DeleteCheering you on with your challenge!
ReplyDeleteI made a pot of pinto beans from scratch last week. Froze up most of the beans in meal size containers. I've been making soft sided tacos for lunch. One of my motivations was that I had some tortillas that were languishing in the fridge and needed to be eaten. It all came together for some yummy lunches last week. And, if I have something I really like at home, it makes easier to drive by the fast good places. Win-win.
Cheers, SJ
Those do sound good SJ! There are so many times that we picked up something at a fast food place and it upset my stomach and did not taste all that great either. ;)
DeleteThat's a great challenge! It's enough to really save money, and to not bring your stockpile down too far since you are going to still buy bargains.
ReplyDeleteI thought I was going to have even less than that for groceries, due to the fact that I worked less in September than I have for months, and even though Rob got a paycheck at last after a summer off, it was smaller than usual. And, we would have been totally fine because I was able to really stock up in September. I may not even need the entire $50/week, although I'm sure I will be able to spend it easily:) I really am well stocked up after September.
But, we were unexpectedly blessed with 15 extra hours of work this past weekend, so there will be plenty to do $50/week, plus a small Costco run. As expected, the school is still processing his extra hours that he does riding the little yellow bus with a boy that needs extra help on the ride, and he was not paid for that for September. As they did last year, he will get that money for those hours in the next check, around Nov. 1. So, next month, we will have that extra, plus I'm scheduled for a more regular amount of hours.
We should be able to put some in savings next month, barring something unexpected. Because my income is so unequal and because Rob does not work for 3 months of the year in this job, we try to put some aside every month in case we run out in the summer. (We do have them divide his paychecks into installments for the summer, too, but they paid it all to us in June--surprise, surprise....but we did fine with setting it aside for each month.)
Becky, being a former teacher and then a substitute teacher I totally get the delayed pay in some cases. As a sub, I would work in September but not see any of that money until the end of October. Meanwhile I had extra costs for commuting to work all month long. It made things really tight. I am so glad you were blessed with some extra hours this weekend. I know that can make such a huge difference for your family. :)
DeleteHi-yah! *Slashes the grocery budget in half*! LOL!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the shout-out!
I know you can do this $150 grocery challenge. In fact, I recall you doing something similar a year or so ago, too.
My regular grocery budget this month (not counting the prayer gathering budget) is $53. I spent another $.61 today, for bananas. So far, I've spent $6.72 this month and have $46.28 left in my budget. If anyone is wondering, this is for one person for food only (not pet food or household supplies such as paper goods, laundry detergent).
:) You are welcome my ninja friend! ;) You continue to amaze me!
DeleteYou inspire me, Debbie! I have truly been trying to cut down on my grocery bills, using all sorts of coupons and shopping the sales. It feels good to get a cart full of groceries for a lot less than I usually spend. Even at that, I'd say I spend about $150 per week, it's so frustrating. Granted, our mountain top store is pricier than down in the valley, but I don't want to drive 30 minutes each way to save $10....my time and gas are worth that anyway. Like you, I stock my freezer, and I shop when things are on sale and stock up. I will do another no spend month in January, hopefully, and challenge myself.
ReplyDeleteAwwww... thank you Debbie. :) I was wondering if you have a Grocery Outlet store anywhere near you. I find so many gourmet type food items there for pennies on the dollar, as well as things that I use on an everyday basis. This really helps to cut down on the food bill. I'm also sure I would spend tons more on meat but am blessed that my son Chris supplies us with elk and venison so I rarely buy any red meat at the store. I look forward to your no spend January post and all the creative and delicious things that you make!
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