I have been using coupons for about 3 years and I have been shopping the ads since I got married, so 7 years (wow!). We used to live on $25 a week for food in college. Even after we had Caleb. I have fluctuated between $10/week to $100/week since we got a job and moved to the real world. Alas, our real world is just Houston, where our cost of living is minuscule. I don't know how the rest of you survive.
Are you ready? I'm about to share some seriously personal information. Relax, it's just about our food budget. But I am such a private person that this feels like some serious baring of my soul. Here goes nothing... Our current number is $50 a week for food. Phew! I did it. Try it, it's liberating to do something you normally wouldn't do (as long as your not compromising standards, hurting feelings, or rooting for the Lakers). Wow, again I digress.
So, we feed seven people on that amount and it works out okay. We're healthy and happy and probably still eat too much. I went shopping yesterday and got three boxes of cereal, two boxes of pop tarts (nutritious, I know), two bottles of bbq sauce, six boxes of microwave popcorn, four packages of hot dogs (turkey dogs, actually), and apple juice for under $15. That's four dinners and at least a week of breakfast in the bag. I wish all my shopping trips were like that, or better!
Our newest strategy is using cash for our variable expenses. For us that means the food and misc. categories in our budget. We take out the cash for it at the beginning of the month and use that until it's gone and that's it. We can't buy any more food after that $200 is gone. We live on rice or oatmeal or beans. Sounds fool-proof, huh? Well, we actually start today, so I'll let you know how it goes. Let's hope you don't see an "o is for overdrawn" post anytime soon!
I'm impressed you feed everyone that cheap. You should sign up for the "all you grocery challenge" because it sounds like it would be very easy for you (they give you $25 a person per week).
ReplyDeleteWay to go, Kath! What a great post; this was truly entertaining to read. Our kids' favorite meal is beans and rice; we have it almost weekly. Oh, and I loved your mini-fruit pizza idea. So cute and brilliant! Can't wait to try those soon.
ReplyDeleteOur food budget isnt quite as tight but we also follow the 'when its gone, its gone' strategy. Most months we do pretty well but last month we went a little overboard early in the month so for the last week we had to get creative and make meals out of stuff we already had on hand.
ReplyDeleteI'm a little OCD when it comes to handling our finances too - I need budgets for everything or I get stressed out.