Day 20 - Grocery Budgeting

Believe it or not, I watched for the first time last night, the show, Extreme Couponing.  Several years ago, I considered myself to be quite the couponer, and even taught a couple of classes.  I wasn’t a shelf clearer or cereal hoarder, but we always had a good enough stock pile to provide for our family.  Then, I had baby #3 and started homeschooling.  So for the past year at least, I’ve done very little couponing due to lack of time, stress, and our desire to eat more wholesome foods.  I have many friends who have even more children, homeschool or work full-time, and are still able to coupon.  I would love to start incorporating it more into our budget again because I know the benefits are worth it.

Over this last year, I’ve read of different moms who are able to provide healthy food for their families without breaking the bank.  They budget a certain amount per month, plan a menu that allows them to stay within that budget, and shop accordingly.  This has not been as easy as they make it look.  We budget $335 in our budget for groceries (this includes toiletries and paper goods), but it’s often closer to $375 - $400 when the month is over.  When I couponed, it was easier to keep it closer to $300.  

We are a primarily vegetarian family (my hubbie eats meats when we eat out), which saves us from having to buy meat.  We do purchase fish to eat once a week, but sometimes it is just canned tuna.  We try to eat as much organic as possible.  We’ve bought organic milk for a few years (due to medical reasons for our girls), and have slowly tried to transition to organic yogurt, hormone-free cheese, free-range eggs, etc.  Obviously when we eat away from home, we are not so choosy.  Right now, I primarily shop at Aldi, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Harris Teeter.  My desire is to one day have my shopping list taken directly from my menu to help me shop less during the month.  One thing that has helped us to stay closer to our budgeted amount is to take out cash at the beginning of the month.  By allotting myself only a certain amount when I go the grocery store helps me to not splurge as much as when I just pull out a card to swipe.  

Here are a few examples of healthy grocery budgeting:

• Keeper of the Home – “What I would feed my family on a monthly          budget of $250”

• Poorganic – “Grocery budget for one actual month”

• Passionate Homemaking – “A peak at our real food budget”

Day 19 - Finances

Money… Studies show one of the greatest areas of conflict in marriages concerns a couple's finances.  Usually one person is the saver, while the other is the spender.  Obviously, this can cause some tension in the home, if communication (another area of conflict) is not flowing in friendly fashion.  We have had our share of high wired Monday night budget nights.  I strongly believe though, that one of the keys to staying on the same page concerning your family’s finances is to have a budget.  You either feel goosebumps of excitement over that word “budget” or you are experiencing your lunch returning at the thought.  

We are definitely blessed to have been carefully guided by my parents in this area.  Debt has never been an option for us (except for a house payment).  My dad told Marty soon after we started dating that if he even considered marrying me that he needed to go ahead and pay off his debts.  He did so promptly, for which I am so thankful.  There may be times in the future in which we will need to get a loan of some kind, but only in extreme circumstances.  

I’ll not bore you for much longer, but I just wanted to give a glimpse of the categories we use in our family budget.  We have gleaned these from Crown Financial Ministries, Dave Ramsey, and other friends who have shared from their years of budgeting.

o Tithe (10% of our income given to God through our local church)

o Utilities (water, electricity, gas for our home)

o Phone (cell phones & internet)

o Auto Insurance (we pay yearly, but budget an amount once a                 month so it’s there when it’s time to pay)

o Gas (for our two vehicles)

o Auto Maintenance (oil changes, car repair, etc)

o Groceries (I hope to write about this area tomorrow.)

o Recreation (eating out, Redbox movies, Netflix, etc)

o Clothing (for our whole family)

o Medical/Dental (doctor bills, prescriptions, medicines from Whole         Foods)

o Mortgage (our monthly payment & our neighborhood fees)

o Missionaries (Right now, we support two families minimally and           hope to add another family soon.  This portion is to be given in                   addition to our tithe.)

o Savings 

o Vacation (We feel that getting away even for a night or two is so             important as a family, so we make this a priority in our budget, even         if it’s just a little bit.)

o Christmas (We set aside $50 a month toward Christmas and by               the time Christmas comes, we can enjoy the blessings of giving debt-         free.)

o Gifts (birthdays, graduations, baby showers, etc)

o Blow money (Marty & I have a small amount allotted each month         to spend as we please.  From this money, I enjoy my scones &                   coffee each week, and any craft items I want to buy.)

o Home school (We budget a certain amount for the year and use             this money for books & supplies, extra-curricular activities, our                 home school co-op, and field trips.)

o House Maintenance

o Miscellaneous (stamps, batteries, etc)

o Retirement

o Insurance

Hopefully, this wasn’t too boring.  I wanted to address this subject because I feel so strongly about it, and also to encourage me to be more diligent in keeping up with our own budget.  Our “plan” is to look over our budget on a weekly basis as a couple, adding receipts to the checkbook, deducting from the budget, and staying on tract together in our family’s spending.  Still an area that I need to work on…