Grocery Budget

I have been wanting to write this blog for a while now, as it may be of some help to many of you moms who are trying to save money...who isn't trying to do that! When eric and I were in Hamilton, we had a REALLY tight budget . Like, month to month we weren't sure where the money would come from to pay the bills. The Lord was so incredibly faithful to us, and we were never late on one bill. We never went without groceries, electricity or a car...etc. Probably the second or third month there we realized that we needed a grocery/food budget. You don't realize how much money you waste by NOT planning ahead for meals. You know-- those nights you look in the fridge and freezer and think- "I can't make anything from this!". Even though you have food, there's nothing that really goes together? Maybe that hasn't happened in your house. Before making this change in our house, i would make a sort of grocery list of main things that i knew we needed, and then pick up the rest as we shopped, off the top of my head. What you end up with, most of the time, is a big grocery bill and the need to go back for more stuff lot's of times throughout the month to pick up things that you forgot. And then, when you don't have what you need, you end up going out to eat...and nowadays, not only is fast food bad for you, but its expensive! So, to solve my grocery dilemma, I scoured the internet for advice from others on the best way to plan ahaed, shop smart, use coupons and schedule meals. I was upset when i did not find the "perfect" way to do this. I ended up taking a little info from everywhere and I guess you could say we found something that works for us. It is still being tweaked when it needs to be...

First...set a monthly budget (ours is $200) .Get a notebook to write all your grocery stuff in-- I have one with pockets in it to hold my calandars and receipts etc.

Before we started planning, we went to walmart (at the time we were in Hamilton, and that was the only grocery store) and went through the store princing everthing that we would ever buy...lol. You can look online for a master grocery list to help you-- or you can just do a walk through at the store. Write down what it is you would buy and the regular price of it. Heres what mine looks like:

This list will allow you to do what we did next:)

Next...Make a list of all the dinner meals that you fix. Examp. Chicken and Rice Casserole, Baked Chicken, Tacos, Spaghetti...etc. I have a list of about 25 different meals.

Now...From that master list of dinner meals we made a master list of a cost breakdown for how much each of those dinners would cost...for example:

SPAGHETTI: Total: $7.15
Noodles:$1 Sauce $2.14 Hamburger: $3.18 Mushrooms $0.54 1/2Onion 0.29= $7.15

Make sure you include everything that you need for the meal- sides and all. My first page of my master meal price list looks like this:

Now you have a great tool for yourself-- a list of dinner meals and how much they will cost you to make, in order to stay in your budget.

Now you're ready to make your dinner calendar! I use a blank monthly calendar that I print from a website called kristens guide -here's the link: www.kristensguide.com/Printables/Calendars.asp. I use the blank monthly calandar to make my meal schedule. It looks like this once its filled in:
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To keep our $200 budget for the month, each week we cook a regular dinner 3 nights, have sandwiches/soup one night, eat out one night, have dinner at our parents one night a week and one night we find something to eat ourselves. **That usually means some sort of leftovers in the fridge or sandwiches**
I go through the master list of meals/cost and put write them into the calendar. I have found as long as I stick to the above plan for each week, our budget stays under $200 . *Note: The $200 does not include our eat out budget. That has its own budget.*

From that meal schedule I make our grocery list...that looks like this (this is the one from this months grocery trip)

After i have gone through and marked everything that i need to buy for the month for dinner then I go in and mark the things we need for breakfast and lunch. We keep lunch meat, canned soup, ramen noodles, cereal, pb and j, and fruit on the list every month, getting them as needed. Obviously, if I am having a salad with dinner at the end of the month, i don't purchase it at my big once a month shopping trip. Things like that I usually get in a quick grocery run in to get more milk, bread or fresh fruit.

Then-- just stick to the schedule and the list! I am not a huge coupon user but i am subscribed to several sites online that send me coupons in the email and mail. The key to coupons is to only use them for things that you normally would buy, or a special treat! Be sure to check sale papers and prices of store brands to make sure you're getting the best deal. I always buy the store brand of canned foods because they're cheaper...BUT sometimes green giant will be running a sale...or during holidays there may be great sales on things that are CHEAPER than the store brand. It takes a little more thinking while you're shopping, but it really pays off at the end of the month. Watch for sales, esp. on frozen chicken, when its buy one get one free and buy in bulk if you're budget can allow. While it may cost you more this month, if you stick to your meal schedule, you will save money over the next several months by making buys like that.

Wow. That was a lot. I'm sure there are things I've forgotten:) Message me if you have any questions or advice:)

Until next time!