Your Money Spent

[FarmerChick]

What is your biggest expense?

Mine truly seems to be in the grocery store. Aside from gas for the car, the food seems to be my biggest spending issue.

If I do about $100 - 120 per week....I am looking at approx. $5,280 per year...and I did NOT include my eating out. If that is $25 per week....than that is another $1,200 on top.

It seems to me I have to drastically cut this bill. Hmmm...time to truly take on this challenge. I must find ways to drop the extra spending. Alot is "want" buys....but I have some major expenses coming like a new truck and must save etc. in order to get this and to keep putting savings in action for emergencies.

So I am going thru the entire kitchen and freezers. Making a list of exactly what I have. AND ONLY buying to make meals with those things if necessary. And will buy limited fresh fruits and produce because of waste.

So I am giving myself $60 per week ONLY. Yup, if I can't put together meals for that cost with what I have, then I am a bad shopper....LOL

I have about 6 booklets of coupons from the sunday paper I have saved up over the last few weeks. Will clip and only buy what is on sale with coupons.

Time for me to control this. The grocery bill has been getting on my nerves for some reason (as did the electric bill, but I have tackled that big so far). So time for me to commit on a real game plan and learn to shop smarter, better and cheaper.

just rambling ya'll---just paying 100-120 or more some weeks has hit its final nerve with me.

So off I go to start my inventory and to check my freezer and start using what I have. Will put a small sheet on my word processer and start tracking and shopping with lists, etc.

I tackled power and cut my usuage in 1/2....hmmm...I know I can cut my grocery in half.

First tip for me....don't bring the kid or hubby! YA HOO!

 

[enjoy the ride]

Have you done an inventory of what you do buy? What you spent the most on? That might help focus your actions.
I think that you are an inspiration- most people intend to do something about expenses but never quite manage it.

 

[roosmom]

Like QA said, if you start a thread here saying this is what you are going to do, then you will do it, right?
I personally dont think a $100 a week is bad. How many people are you feeding?
When I was on Public Assistance with 4 kids, I got $400 a month for groceries. I would sit down at the begining of every month and make a menu. I would the second meal I could get out of the 1st meal, and I would have a leftover nite. Looking back now, I dont know how I did it..I fed 4kids, a husband and myself, on $400 a month. I bought no sweet stuff, no chips, no pop. No fast food. I had the most boring house, as far as food goes LOL.
I know you can do it FC, you are on the right track. We'll be here cheering you on.

 

[FarmerChick]

ETR
that is a good thought.
When I list all that is in the cabinets etc....I will see what my "heavy" buys are. And see what I can do to cut that expense a bit.

I know it is not cleaners...LOL...I haven't bought cleaners in years. I use baking soda, vinegar, type homemade stuff etc. etc....

but for actual food, hmm...I don't know. I come home with bags of stuff! What is in it I truly don't know and couldn't tell you what I bought the next day even..HA HA...that is how much I cared.

I mean, I buy healthy stuff etc. Didn't think I "truly" over bought or did different than others ya know.

But time to save money now. Time to see what is truly around....and if I see "stock" items on sale I will make small purchases for the pantry. No more like $40 on ONE item cause the price is good. Sometimes I spend too much on a great sale item, and it constantly jacks me up on the bill.

Hmm....just thinking this out for myself. Just trying to find a great balance of what to stock, how much to buy, etc.

Thanks for the good tip...knowing what I do buy heavy on and tackling that is a good deal to help me.

 

[Quail_Antwerp]

I dunno, do the kids count as an expense? I think that's where all our money goes right now

Bills, well, I think our biggest bill is electric. I don't consider food an expense as much as a necessity?

Growing and raising as much as you can yourself cuts down on the food bill, too. But you already knew that.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I am always looking for ways to reduce my grocery spending. It's true that to an extent, it is a necessity, but there are alot of things that could be seen as frivolous, and those I try to tailor down.

I usually plan my grocery list by what the flyers have advertised on sale. If cheese is on for a really good price, I stock up and freeze lots. I stock up on pasta when it is on sale and other things. My pantry is stocked with things that have gon on sale. But I only stock up on what I need. Every now and then we do splurge and buy a bag or two of chips, but those are treats and not gotten very often--and only when on sale.

there are alot of ways you can reduce your grocery bill. coupons I don't generally use, since they are for thngs that I wouldn't necessarily buy or use.

I still will say that planning a menu is the best way to use what you have-- and know what you need. Plan your meals around what is on sale, combined with what you know you have in your pantry.

 

[Dace]

I agree with North...plan you menu for the week based on what is on sale. I just can't afford to say 'hmm, I feel like ___________ for dinner' then go buy it. Way to expensive to live like that.

I used to spend about $250 per WEEK on groceries (family of 6) then I started playing the grocery game and using coupons. Now I spend about $100 a week....and I got to the point of being so incredibly stocked up that I went about 2 months spending only about $35-40 a week...just went on cruise control living off the stockpile

Most sale items come back around every 12 weeks (except for seasonal stuff, like baking supplies this time of year) so when you find a good deal stop and ask yourself how frequently you use the item and try not to buy more than 12 weeks worth...chances are very good that you will find it on sale again within that time frame.

 

[Cassandra]

I used to spend about $250 per WEEK on groceries (family of 6) then I started playing the grocery game and using coupons. Now I spend about $100 a week....and I got to the point of being so incredibly stocked up that I went about 2 months spending only about $35-40 a week...just went on cruise control living off the stockpile

I have really found that to be the case! Once I started buying food to last longer periods of time, it seems to last much longer! But two weeks worth of groceries last for three weeks. Who knows how long a months worth will last. But we keep buying a month's worth each month, so we get farther and farther ahead. It's like some kind of a worm hole. LOL

I don't know what causes it, but I believe that when food is available in abundance, it becomes less of a center of attention. If that makes any sense. We just aren't using as much of it.

Cassandra

 

[FarmerChick]

Dace I so agree with you.
Make the list and stick to it cause if I hit the store and say "I feel like ___" I will overbuy. Or if during the day I say that...I might stop on another trip just to get that item and buy more then....Ugh

great tips on the thread. thanks all.

Another great thought, STOP thinking about food so much. I guess that comes from the "stock up" mentality. I am not a huge stocker...but I know I have to have stock in the pantry. Hmm...maybe time to not think about it as much. You know, back off a bit and relax....hmmm..how to do that! ?---LOL

 

[angie68]

It isn't easy at first, but if you "MAKE" yourself stick to the menu, you'll do fine! I actually have no choice but to spend 50 bucks a week. This doesn't include meats, we have our own, otherwise any need whether it's toilet tissue or pasta, it all comes out of that. If you really pay attention to sales, use coupons ONLY when they are items you use and are cheaper than the generic, then use it, otherwise coupons won't save you money.

My hubby and I have no choice, Due to job cuts we live on 1/4 of what we used to. I love this lifestyle but at first it was a shock. My hubby was a plant manager making 150,000 a year. He went to serve in Iraq with the National Guard and came back hurt. Mentally he was a wreck so he was unable to work his job. He took a teaching job making 25,000 a year.

We are paying the same bills, still eating decent, and sending a son to Bible College all on 25,000 a year! You can do it, just stop and look at all the things you spend money on and ask yourself if you "HAVE" to have them. For me all we "had" to have was food and shelter, the rest wasn't important to me!