New Month Means New Food Budget

It's that time of the month again.  Gotta plan for the upcoming month on what you will spend on food (groceries, eating out, health & beauty items/toiletries).  Earlier this year, I made a personal goal to only spend $10/day to feed my family of 6.  Over those 3 months, I spent an average of $308/mo.  It was hard, very hard.  But, I learned how to make do with what I had in my pantry/freezer, and  how to make substitutions for items I did not have.

A couple key things I did was use Supercook.com, and how to look up new recipes online using up the items I did not know what to do with.  There are other bloggers out there to help you make the most of your challenged food budget.  One of my favorites, is Grocery Cart Challenge, where she feeds her family of 6 on $60/week!  She kinda inspired me to try spending $10/day.  Little did I know that the change was necessary for our household budget, as my husband had just started a new job traveling 3 hours round-trip 3x/week, and I had just left my job as a server to be a SAHM.  Fortunately, he has relocated to a local office in town & doesn't make those long drives.

Do you know how much you spend on food?  Do you keep track of it?  I used to NOT be able to go under $600/mo for our family of 6, $100/person!  But, once I decided that it was something I was determined to make happen, it became possible!  I surrounded myself with others with like goals.  It was easy to do in the Frugal Living section at MyTotalMoneyMakeover.com, a support team of members on the Dave Ramsey Plan. Choosing to use the envelopes, going to cash only was really hard, but it works.  When the money is gone, there is no more going to the grocery store!  It's good to have accountability to make a goal happen!  It's pretty easy to be excited at the beginning of the month.  But as the month progresses, that's when your mindset can easily change! Are you going to stay focused on maintaining your goal!?

This last month has been pretty relaxed for us in our grocery budget, to be honest.  It has been nice to buy the steak & shrimp at the Mexican grocery store as a splurge.  But, I "feel" like we are needing to cut back again.  My 2 full-size fridge/freezers are stocked!  So, I "think" we can manage cutting it down again....but do I "want" to?  (No, not really.)  But, should I?  Yes.  Especially, if I want to get ready & stock up on the sales coming up for this Thanksgiving!  (Does anyone still have a turkey they have not eaten from last year's sales?...Or am I the only one???)

You have until Wednesday to come up with your numbers for September!  I'll be making the finishing touches on my food budget final amount, as well.  I'm kinda leaning towards going from $600 for August to $400 in September, that's $13/day.

Bottled Water In Lunches

Back when I used to only have one or two in school to make lunches for, I used to buy Carpi Suns pretty often.  But, when I had four in school, the cost per a lunch started going up.  They also started getting older & needed more fluids to keep from being dehydrated.  I started to notice how much fluid ounces is actually in one of those Capri Suns compared to a bottle of water.

So, there is MORE fluid ounces in a bottle of water vs a Capri Sun.  But, I still needed the cost of their drink to not be expensive.  I KNOW that water is healthier than a Capri Sun.  I KNOW that water in a regular water bottle that I can wash out is cheaper than buying a 24 pack of bottled water.  But, after loosing some bought water bottles & what-not, it is more convenient for me to just buy the 24 packs.  They are able to refill at school the 20 oz bottle @ the water fountain, if necessary.

Anyways, I like LOVE to go grocery shopping.  So, whenever I find a deal on something I would normally buy or is a treat, I will stock up on it.  Found this case for $1.49 on clearance when they are normally $2.99.  King Soopers is my favorite store, especially when I find bargains like this!  I don't always find deals like this, but I like to keep the cost of their drink under $.10.  For this bargain I found, I got them for $.06/bottle.

Does anyone else do a cost analysis for their school lunches they make?

Get More Miles Out Of A Tank of Gas

About the last month or so, I've noticed that my tank of gas hasn't been getting me as many miles as it once did.  Could it be that the oil just needs to be changed?  Could it be that it's the kind of gas, at a particular station?


Nope.  Just needed to get the tires to the proper air pressure.  REALLY?!  That's all it was?!  All four of my tires were low by about 5-6 pounds.  I lost about 100 miles/tank of gas x 4 weeks=400 miles lost!  I am really glad I did what my "gut" told me to do; I just wish I inflated the tires sooner!


Got ~free~ air @ Discount Tires.  They did all the work for me; I didn't have to get out of the car.  I have gone to them before to air up my tires.  I just wanted to give them a Shout-Out!  Thanks, Discount Tires!  


From the fueleconomy.gov site, I learned that I would've looked @ the wrong place to air-up my tires.  "The proper tire pressure for your vehicle is usually found on a sticker in the driver's side door jamb or the glove box and in your owner's manual. Do not use the maximum pressure printed on the tire's sidewall."


To know of the best prices in town for gas, check out GasBuddy.com.  I have been using this site since Hurricane Katrina hit & gas prices skyrocketed back in 2005.

Tight Electric Bill

This summer has been really expensive for a lot, I know, with the extreme heat being in the 100's for months.  Personally, I have not experienced the heat and am not disappointed.  


A few years ago, when money was really tight while we were doing our debt snowball on Dave Ramsey's plan, I sought to find ways to cut down as many of the variable costs.  I wanted to apply as much on our snowball as possible to get out of debt quicker.  After doing some research, I was surprised to find out that our electric company had peak rates & non-peak rates for usage.


It is so "normal" to come home from work & do laundry, dishes, cook dinner, have all the lights on in the house, be watching t.v., etc.  What I found was that the "peak rate" (the highest rate) is between 4:30 p.m.-10:30 p.m.  Hence, the electric company is making the most of their cash during this time of day!!!!  So, when is the cheapest time of day?  Noon-4:30 p.m. AND 10:30 p.m. - 5:30 a.m.  From 5:30 a.m.- noon, it is 2x higher than the cheapest time of day per a kw.  So, the peak rate is almost 5x higher than the cheapest time of day!


Do not think that I am the "Electric Nazi," when it comes to being disciplined w/ avoiding the peak time of day!  I am not consistent in avoiding the peak time of day to do my dishes, cooking/baking, & laundry, but I'm aware of it!  Sometimes, I will stay up late to do some laundry after 10:30 at night.


****This information may not apply to you, but check it out!  I know some in TX get to choose their electric company!  While others are treated like my water company, in that the more kilowatts used, the higher the charge on the pyramid to reduce consumption.  


To find more ways to cut down your electric bill, check out this site:
michaelbluejay.

So Many Ideas

Sat down today just to write some things down for future blogs & took a few pics to post in the future.  I am really looking forward to sharing these ideas with you, hoping you will benefit much from it, as you get some ideas to put to use in your own home, or continue to use.

Some of you are friends that I've known for some time, & others I will get to know through this blog.  But, a little bit of history, traveling through 'memory lane' if you will, one of my first tries of Frugal Living occurred back in 2004.  I learned how to make my own baby food for my fourth son.  We had overspent our bounds a little at a time & had no wiggle room in our budget.  I was very scared but determined to get us out of the mess somehow, someway.

I prayed a lot for God to get us out of the mess.  I hoped to find money in the mailbox every time I checked it; nope, no money to be found.  But, I realized that I needed to "just do it" & start taking action to become debt free.  I truly believe that Dave Ramsey was an answered prayer.  I started listening to his radio show online about how to handle money for free.  The calls into the show on Fridays were my favorites, as people called in to scream, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!"  We worked the plan from June 2006 & finished paying off $106k in 49 months w/ many setbacks along the way.  July 2010, we celebrated our victory!

During the months up to now, little by little, I stepped out & tried something new to become frugal.  Now that we are debt free, I believe I am more frugal than before, finding more ways to save money (which seems strange to me).  Earlier this year, I learned how to be very disciplined & budget $10/day for food in my envelope for groceries.  It was very tight & was a personal challenge.  I did this for 3 months.

So, whether you are being frugal because you have no choice in your budget or you enjoy it, you are not alone.  The days will get better, if you don't give up hope for a better tomorrow.  Thanks for listening.

Angela

Saving Money With a Price Book

When I used to do one-stop grocery shopping, I just bought whatever there was that I needed, no matter the price.  But, I noticed that prices were going up for these items, when my money started getting tight. Then,  I started doing some research on "how" to save money at grocery stores while on a budget.  I learned about how price books are key to getting good deals and save money.  

A price book will list the items you buy most, w/ the lowest price for each item.  Some have a spiral or have it on excel on their computer.  How I started my price book is, I just took note of every thing I would normally buy & wrote it down as I walked the aisles.  As I started price comparing other stores to find the best price, the prices fluctuated, and my one-stop grocery shopping ended.  I now will go to different stores to buy different items.

Another way to save money other than investing time in building a price book, is to match up coupons with a sale price.  The sales for stores rotate about every 6-8 weeks.  Some of my favorite coupon bloggers to get the best deals are of the following:   CouponKatarina , MoneySavingMom , and SpringsBargains.  Their service is free and with their help, I have gotten many groceries free or almost free.  (Keep in mind that clearing off shelves is rude!  There are others that are in town needing the same deals you may have found.)

Whenever I find a good deal on produce, pantry items, or meat, I like to stock up.  I will do batch cooking or prep in large quantities & freeze it, some call it Once A Month Cooking, OAMC.  Just make sure you keep track of the items you have already stocked up on.  It is good to eat from your pantry or freezer as well from occasion, so none goes to waste, or money down the drain.

There are  seasonal items that only go on sale as loss leaders about once a year.  Like the baking items (flour, sugar, etc) will go on sale as a loss leader later in the year for your holiday baking.  I am amazed @ how someone can buy a 5 pound bag of flour for $.69!  That is awesome!  On the other hand, just browsing around the store, I found a name brand sugar (5 lbs) for $1.89 on clearance!  So, I bought five, knowing that I was going to be doing a lot of baking for school lunch snacks.  The going rate for sugar right now is $2.24 for 4 lbs.

So, even though grocery prices are rising, keep in mind that there are still deals (or steals) to be found.