Budgeting

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This is my receipt today, after buying two weeks worth of food & household supplies for our family of five. Ok, four since number five only nurses at the moment :) $117.54

How do I feed us on that amount? Some of you may, or may not be asking that. But since I've received tons of messages about how we keep our grocery bill so "low", I think I'll just share it on here.

The most important thing I do is meal plan. This takes me two days, because I never have the time or patience to finish it in one. So the week before I need to get groceries I go through my cupboards, freezer, refrigerator, laundry room and bathrooms. I write down everything we need for the bathrooms/household for the next two weeks, and I keep a mental note of everything we have in the kitchen already. {By the end of the two weeks, we don't have much left in our cupboards except that nights meal and usually some random pantry items along with things like milk and eggs. Thats why I can remember what we have and not have to write it down).

I make a list of what we are eating for dinner every single night for 14 nights, and I make a list of everything we need for the meals, for snacks, for lunch, breakfast and household/personal items. The key here is to STICK TO THE LIST. I know, it's hard walking by some yummy foods or snacks or anything extra and wanting to just toss them in your cart...but RESIST! And it will pay itself off at the register! EVEN if it's on sale....DON'T DO IT. You don't NEED it unless it's on your list!

The list is really the main thing I did to make my bill go down. But here are more tips I use that also help a lot!

-Use coupons only for stuff on your list. Don't add something to your list just because you have a coupon for it.

-We don't buy "snacks" for our children. I mean, snacks like Dora gummy snacks-fruit roll ups- chips ahoy, yogurt covered raisins etc. Why? Because they don't do a thing, but taste good for the whole 2 minutes they last and make my kids hungrier. Really, if my kid wants a snack...it means she is hungry. 8 jelly bean sized gummy snacks are not going to fill her up or make a dent in her tummy. Big waste of money. For snacks I buy: a large bag of pretzels, a large container of Goldfish (it lasts me about a month), canned mandarin oranges, bananas, crackers (to slice up cheese with), apples, and sometimes we buy applesauce. Much cheaper, much healthier, lasts longer.

-We don't buy napkins or paper towels. We use dish cloths/ kitchen cloths for everything, and then just wash them! Same for paper plates, cups, silverware. We already have that stuff, so we use it and wash it!

-If you qualify for WIC, get it! It is worth the hassle of the appointments every three months...it really is!

-EAT leftovers! I have a friend who asked me how to make something, so I sent her the recipe. In reply she mentioned that she had so much left over that she had to eat the leftovers because there was so much she felt bad throwing it away, which is what she normally does. Throw away leftovers???!!!! Why do people not eat them? The only thing we ever throw away when it comes to leftovers is something like, a random extra pork chop that nobody ate after a week of being in the fridge. {and don't forget...there are people who would beg you for just a spoonful of rice)

-With that being said...we like to make big dishes that last days! Like lasagna, ziti, homemade mac and cheese, taco soup...any kind of casseroles. We make a big dish and eat it for dinner. We then usually have enough left over to eat for lunch the next day and sometimes dinner to! Making one meal that last's two/three...why not!?

-We share shampoo, body wash, face wash, shaving cream, and razors. Ok, not the SAME razor...but we split a pack of razors (mens). I dont care what color my razors are and mens seem to work better anyway. Our shampoo and body wash are just regular scents (i buy tresseme hair products and dial liquid body soap). I dont care for pink fruity shaving cream for myself, so I use his barbasol. Why not.

-We use cloth diapers and cloth wipes ( & love it!)

-Buy off brand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I save so much money buying TONS of generic items that taste the same as name brand. Like taco shells, sour cream, cheese, cereal, crackers, pretzels, pasta...I could go on and on!

Our meals for this next two weeks include:

Chicken Tacos

Broccoli and Cheese casserole

Spaghetti

Homemade pizza (twice)

Fahitas & rice

Baked Ziti

Cheeseburgers/veggies

Smothered burritos

Turkey with mashed potatoes and veggies

Taco Soup

Chicken tortilla pie

Leftovers

Blackened chicken breast with rice and veggies

For breakfast we have cereal, eggs & toast, or waffles in the waffle iron.

For lunches we have sandwiches, soups and leftovers.

Feel free to share any ideas you have :)