"How?" you might be asking. Did I win some grocery lottery? Well, yes I did--sort of! Here's how I'm doing it.
From now on, I'm only going to buy the BOGO items. In case you don't know what that means, it's "Buy One Get One" for free. It's going to require diligence, planning (which I'm really good at), and going to the store every week. I can do it for these savings.
We will eat based on what's on sale. Sorry, Butch if there's something you don't like. I'm on a mission to show it can be done. It also means that I'll be checking the Kroger ad too. Butch does the shopping there as I do not know the store layout. Another thing I don't like about Kroger--they don't put their BOGO's all in one place. You have to seek them out. Publix, you can just scroll through all of them at once. Win!
I'll be keeping track as I go along. I'm actually excited about this challenge for myself. Little things make me happy. Technically, this could be big. I have no idea what we actually spend on groceries now. Starting January 1st, I'll be keeping track. I also realize that I'll be starting that month with a pretty full pantry and freezer from the holidays.
I realize that there are basic things we need that are never on sale. That's okay. My goal is to figure out a crazy, random dollar amount that will be my goal for every month of the year. I have one in mind, but might think it's completely unrealistic. Okay, I'll tell you--$200. Only two hundred dollars a month for groceries. I'm excited about that challenge. I think I can pull it off. It will be fun to see if I can live within a reasonable budget for food--or an unreasonable budget. Whatever.
This will bring us back to our 1970's food budget. At the beginning of our marriage, I budgeted $18 a week. If I went over even $2.00, that meant some other bill wasn't fully paid. I was able to stick to that amount without too much difficulty.
By the late 70's and with the two girls, I was up to $50 a week. That's why I think $200 could be unrealistic. We'll see. I'll be sure to let you know how it's going.
Here are some of my recent purchases that makes me think I'll be able to do the $200 thing.
This was the last week:
These rolled under the seat--but I only got one of each as well as some other things above. You do not have to buy two to get the discount--basically half price.
Okay, so this all added up to $76.31. Looks like I'm going to have to start being a little more judicious with my selections if I want to stay within my $50 budget. Hmmm, it might be harder than I thought. We'll see...
Now that I think about this, I think I'm also going to set a limit on what I spend eating out. I eat lunch (and sometimes dinner) out several times a week. I'm always up for a good challenge. It's going to be hard to set an amount since I don't really know what I'm spending now. I'm also going with $50 for this too. Luckily I rarely have a cocktail which can be $18 or more! That will help. I'll keep you posted!
We haven't lived on a budget for probably 30 years. I'm not proposing that--going on a full budget--I don't want to get carried away here.
As I said, we'll see.....
PS After I finished writing this post, I coincidentally watched a documentary on Prime called Living on One Dollar a Day. It's about 4 college guys who went to Guatemala to live below the poverty line for 56 days. Most people there live on one dollar a day. I had no idea the careful planning it would take. They were counting calories because their nutrition was suffering. They are working to make a little extra. This was so interesting. Makes me realize that what I am committed to doing is going to be easy in comparison!
I can do this!!!
I will be so interested to see how you get on with this! I count myself lucky if I don't go over £100 for our weekly shop! So it will be so interesting to see how much more expensive things are over here. I don't think we eat extravagantly but even fruit and vegetables are so much more costly than they were a year ago. I know for sure I couldn't halve my bill!
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