Super Nachos
I wasn’t going to make a post today, but then I was over at The Peaceful Mom and inspired that this woman feeds her family of 6 for $100 a week! I figure if she can feed that many people for $100, how come I’m not able to keep our budget to $300-$350 a month for just 3 of us? The month of May I spent over $600 in food groceries! Now, part of that is because of Gracia’s birthday party, but still that was probably only about $100 of food, which means I was still spending $500! And I should mention that our eating out total was $25 LESS than my goal! So that’s good! 
Anyways…I decided to do a grocery challenge for this month to help me really focus on our grocery budget, which is actually kinda funny because last year I did a grocery challenge in June.
If you read my blog much you know I menu plan, shop generic brand, cook with beans, ect… But even with all of that I still spend more than I feel I should on groceries, so I’m going to focus on what I think my areas of weakness are:
- Food Waste – Food in the trash is cash in the trash, so I want to have very little wasted food.
- Knowing where I’m at in my budget – I usually update our budget a couple of times a month, so sometimes I go to the store not really knowing how much I have left in my grocery budget. I think if I keep up with this more (which I plan on doing, so I can share it with you), I can better know what to buy at the store and what to do without.
- Eat from the freezer and pantry – This isn’t really a weakness of mine, I just want to start eating up some of our foods, since we’ll be moving in a couple of months and it will help me to keep the food costs down.
There’s my plan, along with my usual saving strategies, now time to see if I can keep our food groceries under $350 (or better yet $300)!! Anyone want to join me in this one month challenge? You, of course, don’t have to have the same goal as me, just whatever amount you feel is good for you!
UPDATE: I forgot to mention, this amount does not include eating out or non-food groceries.
Beans are a great way to keep grocery bills low!
Katy,
We struggle to do the same thing, however our budget is $200-$250 per month. My problem is that if I read a cook book and see something that looks yummy, I’ll run to the store to buy the things to make it and then I don’t make the meal I had originally planned for.
Also, eating healthy is pretty expensive in our area so we spend quite a bit more on produce. I’d love to have a garden but we have deer that eat them in town
Heather – I have totally been there! When I was learning to cook for the family (I only had the most rudimentary cooking skills when I married) I would immediately want to try everything! Now, if I see a recipe that I want to try, I add all of it’s components to the grocery list, but block them together to indicate that they are for a certain dish, so that I do not mix it up in my head and try to allocate them into another recipe. That way, I get to look forward to making the new dish, and I do not mess up my budget for that month!
Good luck!
I have a date log style calendar that I put all of our family stuff on. Plans, vacations, appointments, etc… I have found that it has helped me to put my grocery spending on the calendar. It helps to be able to open to the current month and kind of eyeball where I am in my spending for that month. When I am done putting groceries away, I sit and write in my expenditure, then highlight it in yellow. It also helps me to be more accountable to myself. At the end of the month, it is super-easy to calculate. I then put my total in the little box left for “notes” on the calendar. Some months, when I have not done so well, I can console myself by looking at previous months where I did super-well. It also helps me to see trends and spikes in my spending, so I can budget more effectively.
Good idea about posting grocery spending on your calendar. I keep a google calendar and post everything on the calendar from playdates and doctor appointments to when bills are due and errands to run. I’m going to start posting the total because I think I run to the store too often. If it’s on the calendar, I can keep better track of it.
Good luck with your challenge! The months that I go over budget are months when I pick up something prepared, or I’m buying a lot of produce. I think produce is a big chunk of most people’s budgets. Finding ways to make it less so takes organization and planning. For instance, in the summer, when I find that one really outstanding price on any fruit or berry, I buy a lot and freeze. In the fall, I buy several pumpkins, really cheap (sometimes free the day after Hallowe’en), then cook them down and freeze. Just before St. Patrick’s Day each March, I buy several heads of cabbage. They keep in the fridge for several weeks. And all year long, I can buy onions in 50 lb. sacks, and carrots in 25 lb. sacks, at a restaurant supply/wholesaler.
Nachos look yummy!
I make my meal plan off of what I already have on hand. It is much less expensive to purchase sale items to restock your pantry and freezer than it is to make a meal plan and then go out and buy what you need.
I am able to keep my freezer stocked with meat I find on sale and then cook it up in a future meal plan. If something I need or want isn’t on sale or a good buy I don’t purchase it. Instead I’ll change my plan and do something else.
For instance, my girls love canned green beans but they haven’t been on sale for a long time. We don’t have a can of beans in the house and haven’t for months. When they go on sale I’ll stock up. Until then we’ll eat something else.
I’m glad I found your comment at The Peaceful Mom, because I had found your blog a while back but then couldn’t find it again.
Anyway, I just posted on Thursday about things we do to save on groceries. I’m sure you probably already do most of them, but here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.servingjoyfully.com/2012/05/31/budget-series-frugal-living-groceries/
Our grocery budget is $200 for our family of 4 (although my kiddos are still young, 2 and 4)…my grocery budget also includes some things like household supplies (cleaning, personal products like bathing, etc.)
Thanks so much for the shout out! I really enjoyed reading your story and it’s nice to “meet” you.