Wednesday, October 5, 2011

What a Waste Wednesday ....Week 1

 So as was saying last week it is time that I put my happy ass on a budget. After seeing the amount waste and damage dollar wise we were doing on a monthly basis as a family it put allot shit into perspective and it was time to put on eeekkkk brakes! So every week on Wednesday I will feature items that we have decided to take a closer look and our solution. After printing out our monthly expenses some things I wanted to see and others I would rather choose to ignore but cannot any longer. The first item on the attack/change is our.....Beeeeppppppppppp....OK I just had to kick start my heart........our

Grocery Bill

I knew that we SUCKED in this area but HOLY shit last month alone...OK please people do not judge or think we are nutso - $2,000.....Mmmmm.....yep you got that right........NOT a typo. I am not proud of this at all*shaking head*. This is just food, this is not including toilet paper, diapers and all that other crap {we will tackle that next week} that comes with the household. Yes this is what happens when you do not

  •    Make weekly menus {got off track}
  •    Do not make/stick to a grocery list
  •    Cranky toddler + nap time = not checking the prices
I am the first to admit we are super spoiled when it comes to food we buy only organic and all our meat comes from a butcher {we do not eat allot of red meat so when we do we like to get grass fed}. We spend allot of money on fish cuz LDG loves loves fish and I would rather her eat fresh fish then processed frozen fish sticks.  We shop at high end grocery stores {Hello Whole "paycheck" Foods}. We entertain quite a bit an we never ever do things half assed. It is time to make some changes and it is time to put a stop to it.

Hubby and I have decided that from now on instead of me doing the grocery shopping alone with curious, antsy toddler he would join my and we will do the shopping on Saturday. This will make it sooo much easier for me to take the time to compare prices, use coupons and stay on point. I will be starting my menu list up again and adding only the items I need for the week. I would LOVE to take advantage of the buy one get one free at our local Safeway however because we live in the city we have limited storage space. We do not have a garage, we do not have a back yard and we do not have the extra square footage to stock pile shit.....I did however take a look at our attic space and with a little get ride of stuff  and organizing I will be able to put up some shelves and stock the larger paper products. I do not buy actual food in bulk maybe some cereals but most of our food is fresh I just need to make sure that I spend $5.00 on cheese instead of $25.00.

This is getting me back on track and I feel allot more organized it is also already making a positive change in our budget. As a SAHM one of my jobs is too make sure we stay on track. Below is what I spent this week compared to last week 

Grocery {food only} bill last week - $369.96 - yep
Grocery {food only} this week -      $161.00
                                                       $208.96 this is a WEEK

Next week I will be taking advantage of the health department at Safeway - get a flu shot you get a 10% coupon to use towards your grocery bill...Woot Woot....
Watch out Coupon Suzy there is a new sheriff in town.......

Happy Hump Day!

11 comments:

Theresa said...

I KNOW HOW U FEEL, i am at the store every other day and we spend about 300.00 a week! diapers food households yes, and my freezer can only hold so much at a time, to top it off they raised their prices and remodeled their store so i got a chuckle out of your comic strip. Loved the post!!!! <3

Michael Ann said...

Holy S*&$ your new blog design is AMAZING!!!!! I LOVE it! Woo hoo!!! I can't stop with the exclamation points!!

Ok...down to business. Oh wait, more exclamation points because you saved a S*&$ LOAD of money at the grocery store, good for you!!! Wow, I am impressed. I LOVE that you and your dh are going together on Saturdays. See, for us that would be horrible because my dh does NOT believe in being frugal. And we are WAY poor. That's a whole other story. Anyway, I'm impressed and keep up the GREAT work budget girl!!!

expatmammy said...

Wow that's alot of money on food, I have to say tho we probably spend more or less the same amount. Good luck with your budgeting

Val @ Mental Chew said...

We are on a tight budget. By using a local CSA, we are eating all organic and spending about $200 a week all things included.

Unknown said...

first -- l♥♥♥♥ve the new layout!

secondly -- i have been exactly where you are. i shopped blindly & bought any and everything i wanted without a care in the world. then bri's biz went under and money got real tight. now i make out the menu, then the shopping list, and never buy anything that isn't on the list. and i also have bri come with me so i don't lose my mind with a toddler in tow! sounds like you know exactly what you are doing!

but sighhhh -- i do l♥ve me some trader joe's and whole foods and do splurge on occasion. how bad is that -- grocery shopping is a splurge?!?!

Cavinder Family said...

Thanks for following me!! Good luck on your quest to save! Seems like you are doing a good job thus far. I've watched Extreme Couponing and I don't even think those coupons or double points even exist where I love, but it is a bit inspirational! Good luck!

Mommy Bags said...

Hey ladies one day at a time. I think I will freak once I check out in detail my childs clothing budget...yikes

Marissa said...

Thx for the follow! Wow, I don't think I've ever spent that much on groceries!! But seems like you are working on a plan to save!!

Kerry said...

Good luck with it all!! Great savings this week :)
I grabbed your button for my blog...have a great week!!

Jen at A Heart Full of Love said...

I wish you the best of luck getting on a budget. With 6 people in our family, we spend an insane amount on groceries each month too.

Thanks for visiting. I am following you back.

I'm free of the abuse said...

You can do it! Keep us updated and rock on. Or should I save on?
Susan
http://75percenthippie.blogspot.com
http://happyhippieheart.blogspot.com

Feeling the love......