So I don't know about anyone else, but despite our efforts at budgeting, our groceries always seem to go over. When we came back to the US we tried to start with the budget we had two years ago. We quickly realized that wasn't gonna work. So we bumped it up. And made exceptions. And bumped it up. And now are trying to decide what to do. Do we bump it up again? Or do we just say no to the Kashi cereal - even though it's on sale and I have a coupon? Maybe I need to learn to make cheaper meals? Maybe... I don't know.
Steps we have taken:
* cooking mostly from scratch
* eating planned meals each week
* planning those meals based on what we already have on hand, what's on sale, and then what we want to eat
* buying more frozen vegetables instead of fresh
* buying meat (and other things) when it's on sale and freezing it to use later
* eating more ground turkey instead of beef and pork
* shopping at Aldi's and not caring about brands
* using coupons - but only for things we would buy anyways
* using cash (but that didn't work too well when we got to week three and the cash was gone but we still wanted to eat)
So after a huge month of going over in January, we decided that for February we're going to actually really truly stick to our budget. And maybe that will mean ramen for the last week of the month (although hopefully not!), but we're going to do it. And maybe March too. And then we'll reassess and make a decision on if we really need to increase the budget or if I just need to tighten my spending.
Do you have a grocery budget? What does your family do to stretch their grocery money?
we always cook for leftovers so that we also have lunch for the next day and (if possible) another dinner for another day during the week. Soups also tend to stretch well and can be frozen for later. (better with tomato based soups)
ReplyDeleteWe do have a grocery budget but also need to do better at keeping with it.
Ya, that's good. We usually do enough for lunch, but not another meal. I need to try more soup! It's a good way to not have to use as much meat too.
Deletei joined a meal swap group - we cook a bunch of meals, freeze them, and trade with each other! saves TONS of time and you can find good deals on ONE set of ingredients instead of the ingredients to make a bunch of meals.
ReplyDeletehttp://freezersupperswappers.wordpress.com/meal-swap-guidelines/
and if you swap meals, you can spend all the time you saved from cooking doing MK appts. then you'll earn so much money you won't have to worry about the grocery budget, anymore! :)
Huh, will have to check that out! And yes, ha! Love having MK appts!
Deletealso egg bakes are great - cut bread cubes, eggs (cheap!), cheese and milk are staples that we already have around. you can change the flavors by adding bacon or sausage and dried spices, too.
ReplyDelete