For last week’s Super Savings Saturday carnival hosted by Crystal at Money Saving Mom, I asked the questions How does your family work as a team to reduce your expenditures? and How do those of you who are on tight grocery budgets work bargains into your budget? Okie Dokie, who blogs at Saving $$ in Johnson County Kansas, had a great response to both these questions:
I’m just beginning to coupon, but we have made it a family hobby. My boys clip & sort the coupons. I do the research & make the “MASTER PLAN” Sweet, awesome, handsome, adorable husband goes shopping with me on Sunday.
Coupons have changed the way we shop. It’s not a browse through the store & pick out whatever we want ordeal. It has become a treasure hunt of sorts. Shopping is much more relaxed & we laugh and play and flirt (and drive the other customers crazy, I’m sure!)
Then we come home and set up photo shoots of our “haul.” This is weird.
I haven’t been doing this long enough to give advice about budgeting. This week, I’m testing out this method : $35 in cash to spend on this week’s needs – milk, meat, bread, produce. $100 to stockpile future food/household. I think this is the best plan so far. If I don’t spend the whole $100, I’ll save it for next week.
Although she says she isn’t an expert, her advice sounds pretty good to me! In fact, Steady Eddie and I have decided to adopt this plan beginning in February: we will set our budget at $100 for each week, with $50 being spent on necessities and $50 left in reserve for CVSing and too-good-to-pass-up deals. Any extra money will be left for bargains for the next week or potential extra money into savings. This amount includes both grocery and non-grocery items. What do you think?
I am excited to get start this new system in February, but unfortunately, there is still a week left in January! Although I have not yet done updated this month’s grocery expeditures total recently, I know I’m getting really close to the $300 mark. This leads me to my next question: What are your favorite budget meals? I need some kid-friendly, frugal meals for next week that will appeal to my preschoolers AND not break the bank. Any suggestions?
For more great frugal ideas, be sure to visit Biblical Womanhood!
Amy,
That sounds like a great idea! I also loved your idea about the movies. We love the library but can’t seem to find enough family movies at ours. I need to check it out again to see if maybe we can request them from the other libraries in the area.
Thanks for visiting my blog!
Blessings,
Vickie@PursuingSimplicity
Amy,
If your kids like spaghetti, maybe they’ll like Chili Con Carnie. It’s easy to make, not expensive and a favorite at my house. You’ll need 1 lb. ground beef, an onion, 2 small cans of tomatoes, 8 0z. can of tomato sauce, and macaroni.
While boiling the macaroni, brown the meat; then simmer the tomatoes, sauce, onion and beef. Salt & pepper to taste. Mix this with the drained macaroni. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
Hope this helps!
Leslie
Hi!
It works for me to keep it all in one grocery budget. Our payday is every other week, so I get grocery cash every second week. My budget is $40/week, so each time I get $80. That way, if I find good deals the first week, I can use closer to $50 and be extra frugal the second week to make up for it.
It took us about 6 months to build up a stockpile, but it only took about $10 extra a week.
Couponing has made grocery shopping so fun. Sometimes people think I’m an employee because I browse along slowly with a big (coupon) binder on the cart.
Have fun!
With little kids it seems they are all fans of simple, unseasoned foods that are cut into cool small shapes. Half a grilled cheese cut into tiny triangles or veggies cut with a crinkle cutter are popular. Pasta that comes in cool shapes are fun. Also they love having a little cup of something to dip things in like ranch and veggie sticks or french toast strips and syrup. Triangles, squares, and long strips are easy to do with a knife. If you have any cookie cutters they make any sandwich or pancake cool.
On the recipe side I have found that the more seasonings something has or the more complicated the recipe is the more likely they are to hate it. Also giving them too much food to start with often causes them to resist. Write down what things are successful and then you will have a list to draw from that are sure hits!
That’s an interesting idea to set aside two distinctive amounts. We have a monthly budget, and I prefer to not go to the store every week. Takes a lot of planning ahead, though!
We sor of make saving money a family game around here, and now if we find a really good deal we all get excited about it. Once a month we assess how much we have saved and use a little bit of the savings to do something special like have take out or rent movies, etc.
I spend about 30 a week on necessities and 40-70 on stock-ups. I’ve actually had to start restraining me on stock-ups because I was going beyond what we’d actually use. I just have to be realistic, regardless of how cheap it is.
I budget $500 for the month that includes food & household products and I don’t spend it all so we have the bad habit of using it on eat outs. But I am getting stricter.
This is a family fav., except dd, but it is simple.
Crescent Roll Cass. (I sub. crescent rolls for my biscuit mix.)
Brown hamburger
Add Manwich (if you have a sloppy joe mix that you like use it)
Shredded cheese. use what you like
Layer
Roll the dough into greased cake pan
Add hamburger mix
Cheese
Dough for the top
Bake until biscuit is golden brown. 350
Very filling.
These are some great ideas ladies. I need to rope in my budget next month lol
Hi! I’m flattered that you used my response as your plan.
I had it backwards, though. After trying this method out, I found I don’t need NEARLY $100 to stockpile. I’m finding that most of what I stockpile is super cheap &/or free.
In the beginning, our numbers were high, but I think we’ve really balanced out.
Last week, we set aside : $60 on household necessities & food & $30 was our stockpile number. We held the other $10 for a “lunch date”
After looking at a month’s worth of receipts, our Jan expenses (Food, gasoline, entertainment, household needs, clothing, education, etc) were $901.04. Our savings reflected in those receipts were : $1402. I’m saving over 50%… and GAS was included in the total… but I was shocked at the “out of pocket” total!
This month, our goal is to cut that 901 number in HALF!!! I’m focused on finding creative ways to cut those numbers.
I can’t promise a blog update – I don’t live by my computer & BLOG isn’t my top priority… but I am interested to know how things are going for you & your family.