One of my goals for the new year was to stick to our food budget. I have had in my mind that we have a certain monthly budget for ourselves and Baby Skibbles ($300 or less), but I know we constantly go over that ever month. Last weekend Andrew and I went to the grocery store and spent $145—in one store, for food that would only last us for one week. That was my final straw.
We really need to stick to our budget, so I have been trying to figure out how to do that. So, I decided to meal plan using the remaining balance for the rest of the month. I figured out what we already had in our pantry, fridge, and freezer that I could use and then worked around that to create a shopping list for the remaining days. I decided to go to two different stores near our house today with my shopping list in hand.
Wondering the verdict? I did, unfortunately, go over the budget. I spent $167 and I still need a few things that I couldn’t get at the stores we went too, plus we will also need to buy milk, and possibly a loaf of bread at sometime during the week. I’m estimating that these things will cost less than $30. If so, our food budget for the month will be $342. I am confident I can get this under our budget for future months though. Meat is one of our biggest costs, so I plan to start watching the circulars and stock up when they are on sale.
Alicia Owen says
No, but we probably need one. My husband is usually pretty good about waiting for things to be on sale, especially meat! We are trying to make more home cooked meals and eat less processed stuff, so we are ALL going to the store now. We have been planning several meals in advance for the week and shopping from there. It seems to help. ๐
Were Parents says
Yes! Meal planning has helped me so much! It also helps my peace of mind knowing what we are having for dinner and not trying to stress 30 mins before LOL
Barrie Mac says
We shop by cash only so when my money is out, we make due what is in the house. I also have found that going shopping every few days instead of once a week makes my money last longer. I can purchase a rotisserie chicken and make 3 meals out of it (there are 3 of us in our family). We use salad as a before meal filler and I rarely purchase cookies or cakes as that can chew up a lot of a budget.
Were Parents says
Good tips! Thanks! I have been making any sweets from scratch to help!
Brianna Sherman says
We do. If you switch to cash it forces you to stick to the budget. Which we did for awhile. Thinking we need to go back to that because we've gone over the past couple of months. But meal planning around the ads and only shopping once or twice a month REALLY helps! Every time you go in the store you buy more…I swear by this method. Our current situation does not have a lot of storage
Were Parents says
This month I'm trying out the only going twice a month (except for milk or bread) so I'm excited to see how it works!!
Savy Mommy says
Oh, we have been known to spend $800 in a month. Just spent $400 this weekend ๐ although that included a Costco run of stuff that will last longer than the month. I'm thinking of doing a cash system.
Amanda Coburn says
We spend anywhere between $600-$800 a month…. I really try to keep it less, but it is so hard to eat well, non-processed food and do it cheaply
Tiffany Schmidt says
This has been the hardest for me to try to cut down on our food budget. There just aren't great coupons or deals out there for fresh foods. It's mostly for the processed foods. Ugh. Thank goodness for Ibotta getting on board for milk and bread, haha.
Tiffany Condon says
I should really start a meal plan and budget better. It is really hard to buy non-processed foods for cheap. That is the biggest problem I run into at least. Thanks for your thoughts on the issue.