One of the many things that came along with getting married was combining our incomes, paying bills and BUDGETING. Luckily for me, Kevin has been a budgeting fool for years and is a PRO. I, however, have never been good at such a responsibility. When I was single, making the big bucks, I paid bills, bought what I needed and did whatever I wanted with the rest. It just seemed to work out each month... so I thought.
Kevin and I, in the three months that we have been married, have been working on this budgeting thing. Easy for him and a real struggle for me in some departments. Kevin has come up with an amazing system via Excel where he takes everything that we make in a month and puts it into little "departments". We have departments such as; tithing, food, entertainment, Kevin & Kyla personal, gas, car insurance, cell phones, gifts for others, K2, future savings and many more.
It seems like every dollar is counted for. I am so grateful that Kevin came up with such a great plan and I can absolutely see (especially in our savings departments) how beneficial our budget has been for us now and for our future.
The greatest struggle/disagreement that has come from this budget is in the food department. We have an amount set and without fail, EVERY month, we have gone over. Given, I am the one who is in charge of the food department because I cook the meals (most of them). I am finding it very challenging to stay within my budget while trying to make sure I have a good home cooked meal on the table every night for my husband when he comes home from a long day of work! What am I doing wrong??
The amount we have set for food each month is based on research and asking other people how much they spend.
I struggle because food is the first thing I want to spend money on. I love to cook and entertain (a trait no doubt I inherited from my mother) and want to be "that" domestic housewife I always imagined I would be.
"The plan" is to buy food to last two weeks with half the money in the budget, then buy food for the next two weeks to last us until the end of the month with the rest of the money in the budget. FAIL. I have tried so hard to buy only things we NEED for breakfast, lunch and dinners and somehow during that two weeks, I am making a 2 or 3 more trips to the grocery store to get things I forgot, things I ran out of, or things I need for a specific recipe. It so easy in a quick trip to the grocery store to drop another $20-$50 dollars.
I have tried couponing (a little bit) and feel because of the things we are buying and that we are only buying for two, the saving isn't making a dent in the total at the end of the transaction. Am I doing it wrong?
I have even printed out weekly meal calenders to chart down exactly what we will eat for each meal, on each day to make sure I only buy those things.. It's not working.
I was raised eating very well. I don't believe I ever had a frozen TV dinner until I moved out to Utah last year. Not that I am making steaks, ribs and other expensive meals every night, but I like to have a good home cooked meal! I like fresh fruits and vegetables in the house and we go through milk, bread, turkey, eggs, cheese, juice and so many other things like we are feeding an army. Are we eating too much??
I know it's possible. My question to you readers is what do you do to keep within your food budget each month?
How do the groceries you buy last two whole weeks?
What are your suggestions for a food budget, couponing and meal ideas?
Part of being "that" wife I always wanted to be; is asking for help when your plan isn't working. I want to prove to Kevin that I am serious about our budget and I want to make it work and still be able to cook good meals! That's why I am asking all of you for your thoughts and ideas.
Thanks Everyone!
Love,
A "cook-aholic" wife :)
Kyla, I love the pics of your food! I want to beg recipes from you. I too am happily addicted to cooking, my blog is solely dedicated to my food. I have some ideas for you in the budgeting department. I don't want to post a huge thing here, so I will send you a FB message with the info I have found useful.
ReplyDeleteKeep cooking!
If you watch the local circular for your grocery store you can shop the sales. I also plan out what I want to make a month in advance so I can look for sale prices. I also try to eat meat at dinner only three times a week...this saves us lots of money. I cook with beans instead. In my enchaladas I use chicken, but also put in white beans and then I use half the amount of chicken--and they still taste great. I also read a tip recently--if you cut your meat into small pieces you can get away with using about half the meat, because it still looks like a full dish.
ReplyDeleteThose are my two ideas since meat is expensive, use it less frequently, and shop sales. Only buy meat when it's on sale and the other things you use regularly. That's where I started...I am now doing lots of stuff like making my own bread and cooking from dry beans...but that took me a while to get into it.
This is something that I have been trying to figure out as well. I wasn't the best at sticking to our grocery budget at first, so I started paying more attention to what my mom did. She makes incredible, healthy meals every night, and stays within her grocery budget every week.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I changed was grocery shopping two weeks at a time.I was doing the same thing you mentioned-running to the store for more stuff anyways. So, like my mom, I started shopping once a week. Another thing my mom does is she takes a look at each stores weekly print out ad, and compares prices for different items. Then she starts deciding the menu. It does make planning the menu a little more time consuming (instead of just thinking "what sounds delicious this week?") but this way you are also utilizing local sales, and you end up using what is in season.
That's another thing she does-head to your famers market. You can get great deals on produce that is in season. I don't think Utah has a year round market, but there is Sunflower Market in Orem-the best and least expensive place to get fresh produce (especially during the winter months months).
The next thing my mom does is she really doesn't buy snack food. With teenage boys at home I thought she would, but she stopped when she noticed that her family ate better and she was able to make more elaborate meals when she stopped buying it. She still gets crackers and tortilla chips and like things, but that is pretty much it. Instead she gets more fresh fruit to have around. That means my brothers snack on cheese, crackers, and apples instead of pizza rolls.
Probably the best thing I started doing, mimicking my mom, of course, was using leftovers. Instead of cooking a new meal every day, I cook new meals two nights in a row, and the third night is a left over night. This way we don't waste any food-it all gets eaten either as leftover dinner, or as lunch. Or re-use what is left over-ribs last night? If there are extra, take the meat and use it in burritos, on a salad, etc.
You also don't need to use meat every meal-I think Jordan was secretly disappointed when he realized I don't put meat in everything. Instead of chicken in curry, try sweet potatoes. Very in-expensive, very filling, and very nutritious. Or chick peas.
Martha Stewart has a magazine called Every Day Foods. I don't subscribe, but I look at them online at her website. One of the recipe sections is for meals that are budget friendly. Tonight I'm making orange glazed chicken with a side of couscous and carrots. Sounds fancy, right? Also super in-expensive. The recipes there typically use what you probably already have in your kitchen, so you only need to get a couple things.
K. Sorry this comment is so long. Splurge on somethings every now and then-steak for fathers day, desserts for just because. Sticking to your food budget doesn't have to steal every delicious indulgence there is. Hope this helps!