I’m back with a Food Budget update. So here are a few things that I learned this week:
:: It’s a little embarrassing to spontaneously go out to dinner on the very day that I put up my first Food Budget Post. But we did it nonetheless!
:: We drink a lot of milk. We should buy a cow.
:: Even with careful rules about juice consumption (only a small amount at mealtime), we go through juice pretty fast.
:: Homemade cookies go a lot faster than the store-bought kind. Especially pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
:: Just because you are excited about going under budget does not mean you may forgo buying actual food. Evidence: I had to return to the grocery store on Wednesday after having just done my big shopping on Monday. Not good.
:: Cheese is tricky. A block of cheese costs a lot more than the bag of shredded cheese, but you get less shredded cheese than if you shred the block yourself. True. But when you are trying to meet a particular goal for weekly grocery spending the $2.50 bag of mozzerella looks very tempting in the face of the $6.00 block. I know the block is a better deal, but I can’t get over the up-front “investment.”
So here’s where I stand two weeks into the project. Week #1 groceries cost $138, and we ate out last Thursday for $32. That’s $160. We returned to the store for milk and a jug of iced tea on Friday. That was about $8. So $168 {groan}. This week’s groceries rounded up to only $67. I quickly realized that I didn’t have enough things for school lunches and “snackies.” So we made a Wal*Mart trip. Of the $29 I spent there, $23 was spent on food. That brings me to $90 for Week #2. I’m happy about that!
{And we are saying NO to store bought iced tea, a habit we only started when we moved and my iced tea maker stayed back home.}
How’s everyone else doing?
The Week 2 Participating Blogs:
- Emily
Levenson - Dairy-Free
Cooking - Test
Kitchen Tuesday - Red Pen Mama
- Acquired Tastes
- Fit Flexitarian
- Warm As Pie
- Katy Rank Lev
- My Inner Healthy
- Little Blue Hen
- xox,
b - What da
Health? - Project Food Budget
2.0 - Ignition
Nutrition - A Nice Heart and a
White Suit - Because Hobbies
Happen - Primary
Focus Health Coaching
Warm as Pie 
yeah, juice is a killer! i try not to buy it (although i couldn’t help buying cider from the orchard…it’s autumn!), but my family loves it so much it’s sometimes hard to deny them a little juice.
I am with you! I don’t drink juice, but my husband does, and ouchie – it adds up! I am impressed you are keeping your eating out budget in with your food budget.
I am soooo making pumpkin chocolate chip cookies this weekend (after my shopping trip)!
This is such a great idea. I love it. How do I jump on the train? (I’m going grocery shopping tomorrow).
Kate, you can still join in. Just click on the icon at the top of the post or more directly, you can click on the first blog in the list above (Emily Levenson). Just e-mail Emily, and she will add you. It is fun!
Hi Erica….I always find that using a calcuator at the store helps me stay in budget and also my coupons…I am sure you miss Giant Eagle and their double coupons in Florida! But living on a budget is not easy…but the alternatives are worse…ha ha. As for juice…We find that Tang lasts long…its 2 bucks for the powder and it lasts us 2 weeks…..but anyway our main thing is yogurt the kids it like crazy.