Wednesday, March 2, 2011

The Results Are In

February is now gone and beautiful March is here.  I love the beginning of every month because it means a fresh new budget and PAY DAY!
Money

Last month I spent $201.43 for the grocery budget (not including any household supplies or personal items). I had a few things stored in the freezer to help keep the budget low, like cheese that I got on sale last year--November--and some beef Lee bought.

Some key things that help me stay in budget:

*Writing a menu before I go shopping
*Buying only what I need (sometimes I buy other things but I try not to stray)
*If I am not quite sure about how much everything is going to cost, I hold back items and see what the total is before I buy them. That way I don't have to ask to have the item voided--I just don't buy it.
*I look for coupons around the store...One luxury I have shopping on base is there are coupons all over.  I rarely get coupons on the internet and I don't subscribe to a paper to get them either (which those are GREAT sources!) 
*Lee eats lunch at home--we have either sandwiches or leftovers
*We don't go out to eat--we do go out to eat maybe 3 or 4 times a year and when we travel we like to stop at Little Caesars.  $10 for dinner for a family of 7, not bad while on the road.
*We don't buy extras, hardly.  I do buy apple sauce, animal crackers and pretzels at Aldi ($1 per box/bag) or cheese crackers at the commissary when they're a $1. Things like juice, lunch meat, cheese and yogurt are luxuries here. We have treats for Family Home Evening, Sunday night Conference talks and game/movie nights, but those are mainly things I bake from scratch; cookies, cinnamon rolls, brownies, etc. 
*I have a little food storage money set aside each month.  For March it's $30.  Someday it will be higher.  BUT, when fabulous deals come along, like cereal for $0.50 a box, I can buy a bunch and not worry about breaking the food budget!
Feb 23, 2011

The key though to all of this IS to have a budget and stick with the pre-determined spending plan.  Budget, budget, budget.

~Ramen Queen

4 comments:

Mary said...

I just accidentally discovered this site. How long has it been here? I think I'll be back!

Lee-Ruth-Clark-Cal-Shanna-Haley-Elden said...

We just started it in January. We hope you come back and visit Mary!

Michelle C said...

Where in the world is cereal on sale for .50 that is awesome!!

The Five Sisters said...

Hi Michelle! Right now I can shop at the commissary on an Army base. Sometimes they have great deals like this! I love it. Have you checked out Krazy Koupon lady? I have a friend who checks out her site, and it seems she almost always spends less than $1 on cereal.