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.

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.