To recap:
We have two goals we are working towards: reducing our grocery budget & cutting out processed foods by eating more "whole" foods.
The national average grocery budget is around $100 per person in your household, per month. Our family was spending nearly (and sometimes over) $200 per WEEK. Our goal was to plan, shop and cook in a manner that would help us meet that national average. Since we are currently expecting our second child, we have decided our goal should be $100 per week, for a total of $400 per month.
We are hoping to achieve this goal in three steps.
Step 1: Plan. We are meal planning for a two-week time frame. By planning our dinners, we know EXACTLY what we need to buy and (hopefully) avoid those nights of, "we have nothing to eat, let's eat out!".
Step 2: Shop. Since we are planning for two weeks at a time, we are shopping for two weeks at a time. The theory is, the less we are in the store, the less money we will spend. There will be no impulse purchases when we "run in" for a gallon of milk...and walk out with $100 of stuff we didn't intend to buy!
Step 3: Cook. Our menu planning accounts for dinners, but what we buy and how we cook sets us up for leftovers for lunches and sometimes, additional dinners.
8/21/12 - Trip #1 - Total cost: $326.48
9/4/12 - Returns from trip#1: -$11.76
9/4/12 - Trip #2 - Total cost: $178.27
Total spent for Month #1 on our new budget system: $492.99!!
Remember what I said we were spending each month? In our first month of our new system we have saved around $75 PER week...that's $300 PER MONTH! I was so stoked when I first sat down to look at the numbers - and this was only the first month!! We still have a long way to go to get it right, but I am feeling like our goal is within the limits of DOABLE!
Although I technically should not have gone grocery shopping until tomorrow, I cheated and went yesterday. The reason was my husband was going to be out of town and grocery shopping with my daughter is nearly impossible.
9/11/12 - Apple Picking Trip - $13.00 + $7.00 @ the store for pie crust.
9/16/12 - Trip #3 - Total cost: $242.36
This trip was supposed to be a "cheap" trip, but it was still way above my goal of $200. As I mentioned before, my parents were up visiting for a couple of weeks and that translated into them either cooking dinner for us, or taking us out to eat on a few occasions. Since we didn't end up making all the meals we had planned, I just carried them over into the next two weeks and THOUGHT I would spend far less than I have the past two trips. There were a couple of splurges, on my part though...which is why I like having hubby shop with me - he keeps me accountable!
Some of the bigger splurges:
- Cheez-Its (I adore their salty, cheesy, crunchiness).
- Eggs, Bacon & Texas Toast - I had been craving French toast & much prefer it in "Texas" format. The bacon was a total afterthought (and $4.50/lb?!?!? Does anyone else think that is just plain ridiculous?!) and of course eggs....only because my one adult hen has not been laying since I made her room with all the chicks, who are not old enough to lay yet. [This is a whole other story!]
- Pilsbury Crescent Rolls - Yes. I admit it. We do love them, and they are a great treat for us to have every once in awhile. Since it's soup season, we like to make them with a little bit of cheese inside, as a variation on grilled cheese, to go with our soup. Don't judge me. :)
I did, however, feel like I redeemed myself as I was able to clip a few coupons and ended up reducing my bill by a total of $7.60. I made sure to make my grocery list BEFORE looking through coupons, though, otherwise I would have been tempted to "need" more things just because I saw the coupon for them. I will, at some point, be posting about my feelings on coupons, but for this trip it actually worked out pretty well.
My goal of $400 for the month is not out of reach...I just have to keep the next shopping trip under $150.00. Keep watching & wish me luck!
