Okay, so we’re now one month into 2010 and I am going to aim to write much more frequently (all good, useful, and interesting stuff, of course)! Also, I’ve decided that I am going to do an experiment in frugality for the month of February. My husband and I keep a log of all of our expenses (every penny) and we try and keep to budget but the past two months we have been going over in our grocery budget. Way over. By like $200! We have budgeted $400 per month for 2 adults and an almost 3 year old (Madam Poopsalot is breastfed so she doesn’t count…yet). I was horrified to find out how far over we’ve been going, especially since I look at the weekly circulars and try and do my menu planning from what is on sale and what is in season. Granted I won’t skimp on fresh fruits and veggies and I like to eat well. We’ve also been eating more meat than usual…maybe because I’m breastfeeding now?! I also use coupons so I was just shocked because I think that $400 a month for 2 adults and 1 toddler is very reasonable for a grocery budget in Southern California – especially one that doesn’t include diapers or paper products under the umbrella of “groceries”. So why are we going over so much? For the month of February my goal is to come in under budget!
Some good resources for budget planning are:
Ideas from $5 Dinner Mom on how to make $5 dinners at $5Dinners.com.
Learn coupon advice and tips at A Full Cup. They make couponing a sport!
To compare advertised deals in one spot to maximize savings before you go out visit My Grocery Deals.
Looking for online printable coupons? Visit Coupons.com. They have a new batch every week.
I’m curious how much everyone else spends on groceries per month. Send me your stats!
[...] last month I wrote about a goal I had set for myself to keep to our food budget in February (preferably coming under budget). For the past few months we had been running WAY over budget in [...]