I am really
proud of myself for how well I’ve been doing with this challenge. Granted, I’m
only two months in, but I’m doing it and making it happen. I did the bulk of my grocery shopping at the
beginning of the month. I had worked my
way through my fresh produce and all I had left in the refrigerator was about
three pounds of potatoes, four granny smith apples, three rather spindly
carrots and an onion. I was ready to get
some more fresh produce and start making salads again.
Trader Joes #1 
Trader Joes #2
Trader Joes is
located only a block from the downtown bus station so I popped into there and
picked up a head of lettuce and my favorite herbed feta so I could make a salad
before I did a bigger shopping trip.
Then a couple days later I walked over to Winco and did my main shopping
trip and came home with more produce, sour cream, a carton of eggs and a few
pantry items including a few replacements for my LTFS that I’d used in January.
Winco 
Wal-Mart
I had to run an
errand to pick some things up at Wal-Mart so I checked prices on a couple
grocery items I wanted that were priced higher at Winco. I was able to pick up a jar of molasses for
my LTFS and a bottle of lime juice at a significant savings. I am more than willing to shop around for
better prices if I think something is too high at a particular store.
Albertson's #1 
Albertson's #2
On the way home
from work one day I stopped into Albertson’s and picked up a three pound bag of
mandarin oranges that were on sale. They
were big, juicy and delicious. Needless
to say they were gobbled up pretty quickly. Definitely worth the stop! The next ad had a good price on a 2# block of
cheese so I made another stop on my way home and grabbed that as well.
I was able to refill one of my spice jars 
I prepared a lot of delicious & nutritious meals
My nonfood
purchases this month included a box of the orange recycling bags that are
required in order to recycle the harder items like plastic bags and Styrofoam. A box of these does last me quite a while, however
it is hard to spend $8 of my precious $50 nonfood budget on a box of bags. I also picked up a roll of waxed paper to
replace one I used up and a couple of scour sponges at the dollar store. My total spent on nonfood items was $10.48
leaving me with $39.52 to spend this year.
My total spent
on food this month came in just under budget at $43.13 of my $50 budgeted
amount. The remainder has been added to
my rollover amount from January and
I now have $36.33 to add to next month’s $50 budget for a total of $86.33. That’s a pretty good amount to start off with
in my opinion. What do you think?
You are doing an awesome job! I enjoy reading your food spending reports. You provide motivation for me to pay close attention to my own budget.
ReplyDeleteI have a family of six. I decided to try to follow your lead, giving us a $300 monthly budget (6 people x $50). January we came in $13 under, February we were $30 over. We began March nearly depleted of produce and dairy. A fairly large stock up trip was a must and I’ve already spent a large chunk of the March budget. It’s still possible to stay in budget but I think we will be over slightly again.
On one hand I think it should be easier to achieve $50 per person with a larger group, but then on the other I question if some people simply need to eat more. My husband has a physically demanding job and often works outdoors in all kinds of weather. I have two teen daughters and two preteen boys. We all spend a lot of time outdoors. One of my boys eats way more than I do, but he’s eats mostly nutritious foods and is so tall and lean, I believe he needs what he eats!
We also grow a portion of our food. We have our own beef, poultry, and eggs, along with a vegetable garden in the warmer months. Because of all of that, I thought $300 per month would be easy, but it’s not really. One place I could improve is purchasing canned beans (kidney, garbanzo, cannellini, etc) but these are sanity savers for me. I know I could use dried or can them myself, but I can’t always keep up with time needed for those activities. I do can lots of green beans and tomatoes!
Even though I’m not quite achieving the goal I’ve set, that goal is still helping us to pay attention to what we are spending and keep us from spending even more, to do better when and where we can. I know we could do it if we HAD to, but for now it makes more sense for me to spend a little more money on groceries and invest my time in other important areas of our life. Thank you for the motivation!
I think your budget is set well but you have a lot going against you. Growing active teens and crazy prices at the stores these days. I think you can continue to do it, but if you do go over I surely wouldn't beat myself up over it If nothing else this will be an exercise to see how resourceful you can be. When I was a busy working mom I'd cook up a big pot of dry beans and freeze them. 2 cups of cooked beans in a ziploc bag. You can easily plop a frozen block of beans into soups or chili. You might want to give it a try, but if cans save your sanity then it is all worth it.
DeleteWith growing teenagers I also did my regular budget for everyday groceries and added a smaller "stock up" budget to use to buy items I use a lot when they were on sale. You could always add a $100 stock up budget, maybe that would help you. Just some ideas. Keep me posted on how you do!