Hellobee Boards

When we do a good job sticking to our budget, we plan our meals for the week and only buy what we need. I peruse the store ads and clip coupons, then we make the list and that's all we buy. At the end of the month, if there's extra money in our grocery budget, we can get "treats" for the next month, like ice cream, beer and sweets.

I make a list, and plan meals as best I can. I use coupons and store rewards when I can. I buy store brand when I can to save money too.

We are just now implementing a stricter approach to our budget. We used mint.com to see that we were spending an embarrassing amount on eating out. In that number, we count all groceries, dining out, coffee, fast food, trips to fro yo, drinks at the bar--anything consumable. We decided that we'd like to cap that at $500 a month for both of us and the way we have actually stuck to that budget in the first month of trying it is taking out a weekly amount of cash and using cash only for any eating expenses. If we go to the grocery/target and get home supplies (cleaning, toiletries, etc), we will put those on a card and pay cash for the food items. Since food was the biggest culprit in our budget we are starting there, and in the first month it worked!

To stay in the budget we meal plan weekly, cut coupons, look at sales, and make sure that our social life won't sabotage the budget--at times, that has meant having dinner at home and meeting people at a restaurant just to order drinks or dessert. With a LO on the way, we thought it was time to really take it seriously.

W went over a lot this month too. I think next month I am going to split the month in half and do two big trips to buy enough meat for meals for two weeks. So at least I know I have my basics covered. After that the other stuff would have to be cut back on

@maybebaby: We really need to do this. I am scared to even know how much we spend on food every month!

@lawbee11: It was bad. In October of 2012 we spent more than our rent on food, ie. 3 times what our budget is now.

@mediagirl: haaaaaaah sorry! just looked at your thread title and didn't read the text.
even though I don't budget, I always end up spending the same amount (around 100-150 a week).

@mediagirl: What kind of things do you end up going back for? Do you go because you ran out of something (milk) or because you forgot something?

I try to do meal planning on Saturdays too and then shopping on Sunday. I usually only plan meals for Monday through Friday and then we do whatever on the weekends or eat out.

Those extra trips really do kill your budget. You can either try to cut out those trips, or be REALLY diligent about not buying extra on those trips (a $12 grocery trip is different then $24!)

We went over this month. Budget is 750, and I overspent by $115. We need to do a better job at portion control. If DH likes something he will go back for 2nds and 3rds. I meal plan for leftovers, but it has not worked. I made 2lbs of chicken marsala, ised 16 oz mushrooms and served it with 1.5lbs of mashed potatoes. There was a corner leftover.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: This can be us too! It is so hard with my DH to know if we have leftovers or not. I like to not buy a lot of stuff for lunches and use leftovers, but we can't guarantee we have leftovers!

I find it easier to look at the budget for the month, we do Costco monthly and the farmers market from time to time, we go to Trader Joe's weekly. Some weeks we may only spend $40 and then others we might do a bulk run and stock up on lots of pantry staples and spend $200. I try my best to meal plan and I don't buy much by way of sweets or snacks.

@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: I used to have the same problem with my husband and I finally started putting away the amount I wanted to save in the fridge before putting dinner on the table. Sometimes it means dirtying an extra dish but it usually works. If he has to go heat it up he is more likely to just grab some fruit or a salad. He had been trying to loose wrought though so he sees it as helpful not as me micromanaging him.

It's hard! We are usually pretty good if we: make a list, only go once a week, and use cash!

I thought of this thread again today in the grocery store.... another way I limit impulse buys is by making myself carry (instead of cart/push) all the groceries throughout the store! This way I remember reusable bags, get exercise, and am much less tempted to grab anything extra because I'm already juggling all our produce, milk, etc.

Walmart will price match sales. So for example chips are $4 at Publix and BOGO. But at walmart they are $3 and they will match the BOGO deal. No ad needed.

I used to only take cash and a calculator to the grocery store and keep a price tally of everything that went in the cart so I wouldn't be surprised when I got to the checkout. I meal plan and shop the sales and almost always manage to stay within what we have budgeted. Granted, we budget $500/month, which is PLENTY for 4 of us, but I like to have a little breathing room so I can stock up on sales, as well as roll it over to the next month or food savings, for a big food expense, like a half a freezer beef or something. If I lived in a good couponing area, I would totally be a coupon queen because I think the whole extreme couponing thing looks like fun (even though we don't even eat most of the types of foods that generally have coupons, lol). I have no idea where you live, but something that has saved me a TON of money in the last 6 months has been a produce co-op called Bountiful Baskets (www.bountifulbaskets.org). Check it out and see if you have a site in your area! Seriously, between the high price of produce up here on the Northern Plains and the distance to a decent grocery store (180 miles roundtrip), this co-op has been a real budget saver. Ummmmm, I kinda forget what to tell ya. I used to be the cheap grocery shopping queen, but since we have started getting Bountiful Baskets last September, filling our freezer with meat chickens we raised, as well as two deer we shot, our chickens are laying well over 12 eggs a day, growing 600 lbs. of potatoes last summer, as well as a ton of squash and pumpkins that have been keeping very well in the cellar, I don't have big grocery trips anymore. <---------I realize we're really lucky to be able to do all this stuff, not everyone has the resources. But I would tell you, cash, off-brand stuff (except mayo- gotta have Hellman's), discount and "dent'n'bent" groceries, if you have them. Also, sticking mainly to the outside of the store--produce, deli, meat, dairy--will save you a lot. Meal plan, even if that just means 7 supper ideas, I don't assign a meal to a night because sometimes I just don't feel like making that particular dish that particular night. But having a meal list to check off and base your grocery list on is seriously helpful. If you see a sale on something that'll keep or freeze, stock up. If you have the space, stocking up is always good because you'll eventually build up a little stack of supplies, just in case you run out of cash before you get to the end of the week or something. Anyways, um, yeah, that's about what I can think of off the top of my head.

It's just me and DH and we usually spend $75-$100/week on groceries. If I'm really strict about meal planning I can keep it event lower (maybe $50-$60). Meal planning is key for us!

Every weekend I make a list of 5 weekday dinners and create my list from there. I try to use up a lot of what is in our pantry and see what meals I have most of the ingredients for already.

I *try* to only go to the store once a week. You always hear experts saying to keep to the outer edges of the store, but it really works! I don't even go down a lot of the center aisles because we either cook that stuff from scratch or I don't want to be tempted by the siren song of Oreos and Cheez-its.

We eat a lot of pork chops, ground turkey and sometimes chicken - rarely any expensive cuts of meat. Also with two people, we can stretch a pound of meat over two nights/dishes. Leftovers help us stay on budget, too. 2-3 of DH's lunches per week are leftovers. I used to turn my nose up at leftovers, but now I don't mind them.

@farmwifegina I've been wanting to try Bountiful Baskets! My SIL just told me about them and I'm going to sign up starting this spring - so excited!