Showing posts with label Frugality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frugality. Show all posts
6/28/10
Money Mondays - My Grocery Budget Part II
At the very end of May, I talked to you all about my grocery budget and my goals for the month of June in terms of tracking (and reducing) my spending. Well, the month has come and gone quickly, so now I'm back to update you on my progress and final tally.
If you remember, my May total for groceries was $530.46 and eating out was about $109, for a total monthly food budget of $639.46. I set some goals for myself for June, which were the following:
1) Reduce my grocery bill to $450 for the month
2) Reducing eating out bill to $30 for the month
3) Explore new ways to get local and healthy foods for cheaper (farmers markets, ethnic stores, etc)
4) Not compromise on quality while trying to save
I have to admit, I'm pretty pleased with the progress that I made in only one month's time, although of course there is always room for improvement, and I did not achieve all of my goals. As far as the month's tally, in total I spent $420.38 for groceries and $67.81 for eating out, which totaled $488.19! I also saved $110.03 through my use of coupons, which was a savings percentage of about 21%. The savings number actually should be a little bit higher though, as I bought a good selection of meat on sale at the commissary for "reduced pricing" (it is the meat that they need to get rid of faster) and that is not calculated into my amount saved on my commissary receipt.
If you are counting, the amount that I spent this month was $151.27 less than last month, which is a 23.6% savings over last month! I am always more inspired by the savings percentages, because it just seems like a larger chunk! It makes me pretty proud that I reduced our grocery spending by almost one fourth in only one month!
Here were the best tips that I used to achieve this progress:
- I did continue to use coupons. I scoured the internet for organic and healthy food item coupons, and used them on things that were already marked down (like some organic tomato sauce for about $1, and organic whole wheat pasta for about $1 as well).
- I mapped out my meal planning for the month, and really tried to use all the meals up. I have found that often times I am really good about sticking to the meal plan at the beginning of the week, but then we branch out a little bit as I get more tired of the foods we have in the house. One way that I combatted that boredom or whatever is that I always have some of my whole wheat homemade pizza dough ready to be whipped up into a homemade pizza, which has become our standby meal for the nights we don't feel like having a big to-do dinner. This has really helped, since we haven't been going out to eat as much, and also haven't been going to the store to just pick up a few things to eat for dinner.
- Making a grocery list - this has been invaluable to me. I've always made grocery lists, but just this month I have started really sticking to them and not throwing in a bunch of extras. Maybe we don't have as many snack foods around the house, but who is really missing them anyway?
- I have made less cookies. This was one of my original goals, and I think I only made two batches of cookies this month. It has cut down on our milk consumption, and also cut down on our desserts consumption!
- Taking stock of my pantry, freezer, and fridge before going to the store. This was part of Keeper of the Home's series, and I think it is something I will do every time before I go to the store for a big grocery trip. I haven't been as good about keeping up the inventory lists that I made last time, as we go through food pretty quickly and I don't really feel like crossing all the little cans of stuff that I've used off, but I definitely think that it helps me to get a handle on what we already have and don't need to buy again, and that helped me to cut down on my grocery spending a lot.
Although like I said, I am pretty happy with my progress, I also recognize that there are still some things that I need to work on in terms of getting my grocery bill to where I would really like it:
- More vegetarian meals - we are not vegetarians by any stretch of the imagination, but cutting back on meat is one of the easiest (in my opinion, but I'm not a big meat person) and most effective ways to reduce cost on meals.
- Less eating out - this is really my fault more than my husbands, as a few of the "eating out" meals this month were times that I went out with friends when he wasn't around. I'd like to start doing other things instead of just getting together for lunch, which is often the easiest thing to do. Some of the ideas of Work on It Wednesday - Get Outside! would be applicable - I am going to ask my neighbor if she wants to walk the dogs together, or maybe go over to a friends for lunch instead of going out to eat.
- Farmer's Markets - turns out the best farmers market around here didn't really open until last weekend, so I've only been once. We were sorely unprepared (no cash or a cooler), so we'll be going back again sometime soon. I'm planning on getting more meat, so hopefully we can improve on the quality of the meat that we do eat. That is the one place that I am really unhappy with our grocery situation at the moment - we are still eating the conventional, non organic, nasty commissary meat. This wouldn't be an area that will decrease my spending, but hopefully it can even out with the other things.
- Stop buying toiletries! Argh! As I said in Why I Quit the Grocery Game and Other Thoughts about Saving Money, I do still to some extent play the "grocery game" with my toiletries. The thing is, I have so much body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste that I really don't need anymore! We're moving soon too, so I need to stop stockpiling! I think some of that gets a little addictive, as I feel like I need to get the good deals out there. Money spent on things I don't need, even if I got them for a good price, is still wasted money. Goal for July: No more toiletries (except whatever I can buy with my leftover $6.50 in register rewards from Walgreens).
So there is the update, my progress, and a few goals for next month. The budget for the next few months is going to be a little skewed, as we are moving in the middle of August so I'll probably stop buying groceries completely (except for maybe a few fruits and veggies) around the end of July, and force my family to eat whatever we have (anyone want some spaghetti sauce and rice for dinner?!) =) I refuse to let the massive amount of food in my walk in pantry go to waste, so I fear we'll be eating some weird meals in the upcoming weeks. That being said, I'll let you know at the end of July what kind of progress I've made, and maybe July/August will even each other out (since we'll be buying staples all over again in August in our new house).
I hope you've enjoyed reading about my progress. Have you made any changes to your grocery budget lately? I would love to hear other people's end of the month numbers for their family. If you don't mind, let me know the region that you live in, how many people you are feeding, and if you buy organic/"real" foods or not. I am (for whatever reason) really fascinated by this, so please join in and share! Also you'll give me something to aspire to, as I really have no idea how my numbers compare to anyone else!
6/21/10
6 Expensive Habits You Can Live Without
This is a guest post for Money Mondays written by Andrew Salmon. Stay tuned for next week's Money Monday where I will update you on my grocery budget for June, and how well I stayed within my very clear set of goals (hint: pretty dang well...so far!)
Saving money is getting harder and harder to do these days. And yet, we waste a fortune every year on things we don’t need or are too absentminded to stay on top of. With enough legitimate demands on our money, it’s a shame to squander what’s left on too much comfort or convenience. Here are six habits we can live without.
1. Butt Out
Quitting smoking is tough. Anyone who has tried can tell you that. But you won’t find a more rewarding habit to break. The health benefits aside, let’s focus on the financial windfall that’s waiting at the end of that last puff. Nothing about smoking is cheap: the price of a pack of cigarettes gives the value of gold bullion a run for its money. Then there’s dry-cleaning for your clothes, breath mints and gum, gas when you drive to the store to restock, etc. They even charge for matches these days. So butt out and save! Big!
2. Yes, Virginia, There Is A Kitchen
Everyone loves a nice meal in a fine restaurant. Every once and awhile. Sure, dining out is easy and there are no dishes to wash afterwards but it’s a habit that will starve your wallet. Buy groceries and eat at home most of the time. Save that trip to the restaurant for a special occasion not because you’re too tired or lazy to cook.
3. Plain Ol’ Joe
If you’re serious about saving money, then say goodbye to the $5 coffee! It doesn’t matter if you like the taste of coffee or are just drinking it for the caffeine to keep you going throughout the day, buy plain ol’ coffee. Or, better yet, bring a thermos of the stuff from home to drink. Do the math: 3 X $5 coffee a day = $15. Multiply that by a 5-day work week = $75. Times 52 weeks = $3900! We’re talking serious savings here. 4. Get Me To The Bank On Time
Nobody likes to pay bills, which is why we’re so often late doing it. But that tardiness is costing you extra money through late fees and other charges. They seem minimal when one pops up on a statement. However being chronically late with payments can add up to a serious cash drain. Stop the bleeding and stay on top of your bills. Paying late fees is totally unnecessary. 5. No More Trial And Error
Like snake charmers, magazines, newspapers and other mail clubs have a way of spellbinding us and getting us to agree for free trials of stuff. But how often do we forget that it is up to us to cancel these things when the free trial period is over! Failure to do so makes for surprise subscription charges to your credit card. And if it’s something you weren’t enjoying for free, you’re now paying for it! Either stay away from free trials or be vigilant. Either way, you’ll save.6. Dr. Retail Will See You Now
Feeling blue? Go for a walk. Call a friend. But stay out of the stores! Buying stuff because you feel depressed is one habit that you want to break. Instead of trying to buy happiness, work at making your life better, improve, challenge yourself. This will give you more peace of mind that than dress you’ll never wear or that new car. This article written by Andrew Salmon - he writes for a website that helps Canadians find affordable life insurance.
6/14/10
Money Mondays - Saving Money on Vacations
Summertime is the season of vacations. The kids are out of school, the weather is nice, and it just makes you feel ready to hit the road and explore the Wild West (or the beach, or another country!)
Summer vacations are great, memorable, family bonding times, but that doesn't mean that you have to throw your budget out the window in order to gain the experience. The following are some ways that I have found that help to keep a budget friendly vacation. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to leave them in the comments section!
1) Ask around - from your family and friends, that is! Maybe someone's family has a beach house that they aren't able to use the whole summer, and they will rent it to you for a fraction of the cost that the resort would charge. Maybe you could house swap with someone that wants to come to your town - particularly nice if you live in a vacation destination. You never know who has a vacation house, or whose parents or family members have a vacation house until you start asking. Don't be shy!
2) Find discount hotel rates - If you aren't going to stay in someone's house that you know, try and find the best deal possible on hotel rates. You can usually find good ones through Expedia or Travelocity, and I've also heard good things about Priceline, although I have never used them myself. Hotels are having trouble keeping full with the economy the way that it is, so it might even behoove you to call the hotel and ask them for the best rate. Also - negotiate! I have a relative who swears he has never paid full price to stay anywhere just because he negotiates! I'm not sure exactly how he does it, but my best guess would be just to ask!
3) Stay in a hotel with a kitchen or kitchenette - I know that vacationing and spending all day cooking don't really mesh, but by staying in a suite or a hotel that has small kitchenettes in each room, you can save a fortune on meals that you would normally eat out. Even if you still eat dinner at a restaurant every night of your trip, you can cut costs by eating breakfast in your room, and something simple like sandwiches for lunch. Don't forget to treat yourself, but every meal doesn't have to be a treat.
4) Be flexible with travel dates - This can be a little harder if you have older children or a very strict work schedule, but try and be flexible at least with your leaving and returning dates. Sometimes airline prices can fluctuate wildly within just a few days, simply because of the day of the week you are wanting to fly on. Same thing with hotel dates - often times in large cities hotels are actually cheaper on the weekends because they typically cater to business travelers, so by being flexible you can make sure you are getting the best deal possible.
5) Don't rent a car unless it is absolutely necessary - Rental cars are outrageously expensive, so buyer beware! It might even be cheaper to stay at a more centrally located but more expensive hotel, if you don't have to have a rental car on top of the hotel costs. Be sure you are looking at the big picture - staying in that cheap hotel that is 10 miles outside the city because less cheap when you have to drive everywhere, rent a car, and pay for gas (not to mention the inconvenience).
6) Consider "off season" vacations - Most warm weather vacations (think the Caribbean or Central America) are in season in the US winter time. US travelers want to escape the cold weather and head to paradise. However, when it is super hot in the summertime in the Caribbean, the rates dip drastically. Consider traveling in the locations "off season" for huge savings.
7) Consider "off the beaten path" vacations - Camping in St John USVI, touring US national parks, camping, etc. These less-luxurious-but-still-wonderful-experiences vacations can save you a bundle (especially if you are traveling with children) and can still offer what is truly important with vacation - a source of family time, a relief from the hustle and bustle of daily life, and a chance to spend quality time together doing something new.
Those are my best tips on saving money on vacations. I love to vacation just as much as the next guy (or girl!) but I definitely don't want to blow a budget when it isn't necessary. By following some of these vacation trips, we are actually able to save money and apply it towards our next vacation! Twice the fun in the sun = a happy Lauren!
6/7/10
Money Mondays - Ways to Make a Few Bucks Online
I don't know about you, but I'm probably never going to get rich online. Unfortunately, I am not Mark Zuckerberg (I'm not quite that computer savvy) and I'm never going to make my millions off the dot com marketplace. Alas, I've come to terms with that!
I have found, however, a few good sources to make a couple extra bucks online. I'm not talking about replacing your 40 hour a week job (I wish!) but just a way to make some money here and there with things that really don't take long at all. The following have been personally tested by me, and I've actually received a paycheck from them, so I know they aren't scams!
Opinion Outpost - I would have to say this is my favorite company to take surveys for. Even though it can be somewhat frustrating at times, because I don't always qualify for the surveys, they email you so many that there are almost always ones in my account waiting to be taken. If I was on top of my game and took them right away, I feel sure I would have made even more money, but so far in about the last month I've made $35.80 with them, which I feel like is a pretty decent amount of money considering the time I spend taking them surveys!
Pinecone Research - I don't get as many of these to take, but they are extremely prompt in their sending of your paychecks, and each survey is a $3 payout. This was the first survey company I signed up for, and I take every survey I get the opportunity for from them!
Swagbucks - I'm relatively new to Swagbucks, although if you have hung around the Blogosphere for any length of time you've probably heard of it. Basically you use their little search bar and you earn "swagbucks" every once and again for using it. You can also earn bucks for signing up for services, shopping online, and tons of other ways. I've been using it for less than a month, and I've made $10 in Amazon gift cards so far, which I absolutely love! I'm planning on saving them up, and either buying Christmas presents with them, or buying something nice for me and my husband! I can't say enough good things about Swagbucks.
These are definitely my top three sites I would recommend, and I'd say you could probably count on making around $60 per month from all three combined (although certainly some people make more!) I like to look at it as my "organics" money - it is money that I'm not counting on in my budget, but its great to have around for extras that we want, or maybe to buy a little organic meat, which is something that isn't usually in my budget.
There are tons more survey companies out there, but I only want to recommend to you the ones I've tried and actually been paid for. I know there are also a lot of scams on the internet, so please be careful in signing up for anything! Be sure to read through the information, and if you don't feel comfortable, don't do it!
Like I said before, I know I'll never get rich doing surveys, but they can be a great source of a little extra spending money. The time they take is minimal, and payout is great to have just that little bit extra (they all pay out very quickly too, which is an added bonus!) Whatever you need the money for - kid's afternoon activities, summer camp, gifts for weddings this summer, father's day gifts, whatever these can be a great way to get that little bit extra.
Do you have any other sites you want to share? Feel free to link up in the comments section. Do you have any tips on ways to make a little extra cash (aside from getting a second job) =) I want to hear how you make that little bit extra for spending money!
If you do happen to sign up for one of the above sites, I will receive a small referral bonus (except for Pinecone Research - I don't receive anything from them). I would greatly appreciate this bonus, but of course I would never recommend something to you, my wonderful readers, that I haven't personally tried and tested and really believe in.
Freezer Cooking Thus Far
Homemade Sausage (NT recipe)
Crescent Chicken Squares
Pork Tenderloin w/sauce
So far I've gotten through the Pizza Dough, Crescent Chicken Squares, and Pork Tenderloin. I recently learned the great tips with freezer cooking that you can cut up your meat the way that you want it to be, and then mix up the marinade and freeze the marinade in a bag with the meat. That way, when you are ready to eat, you just move the bag from the freezer to the fridge, and it will thaw overnight, soak up the marinade, and be ready to go by the next day! In my cooking today I also made a batch of Chocolate Chip Cookies and froze the dough, so that when my hubby inevitably asks for more cookies, I'll have some on hand (although I'm still planning on limiting them, as per my ways to reduce my grocery bills from last week). I also mixed up the dough for the tortillas, but it is supposed to sit overnight so it is currently in the freezer. I thawed out the meat I got for the sausage, so I'm planning on making that and the breakfast burritos (as well as frying the tortillas -that is the random ball of dough that is sitting uncovered in the picture) tomorrow after I get home.
My meal plan for the next two week includes the following meals:
- Breakfast Burritos
- Spice Rubbed Chuck Roast
- Chicken Fajitas w/homemade tortillas
- Sausage and Tomato Casserole (already in the freezer)
- Spiced Chicken Breasts (from Nourishing Traditions!)
- Marinated Sirloin Steak
- Crescent Chicken Squares made w/pizza dough (I do not follow this recipe super closely, but that is the main idea)
- Falafel with Dip
- Saucy Sirloin Steak
- Pork Tenderloin with Sauce
- Spaghetti with Parmesan and Bacon
I also want to point out (and thank Stephanie!) that because of the freezer and pantry inventory I took, I only spent $138.95 this week at the grocery store, which even included some extra meat that I wasn't planning on buying but was marked down to reduced (which I always buy if it is a cut we like, so I grabbed it right up!) Since it is already June 7 and this was my first grocery shopping trip of the month, I'd say I'm doing pretty well sticking to my budget thus far! I am also very excited that I have some room in my budget to head on over to the farmer's market next weekend for opening weekend and check it out!
Did you participate in freezer cooking? How'd it go? What did you make, and do you think it was a good use of time for you to make things ahead of time? I'm excited to hear about your experiences!
6/5/10
Cleaning Out the Freezer - Round 2
I tackled my chest freezer this morning, and in all honesty it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! It took me hardly any time at all, although I must admit I skipped the step of actually cleaning it, because I wanted to go ahead and get to meal planning (and it isn't really that dirty).
Here is my before picture:
If you can't tell, everything is just piled on top of each other. Have I mentioned I hate chest freezers? It is so hard to organize them, especially the more full they are! Lucky for me, we've been working on cleaning out and eating the food in the freezer for a while (and not buying more when we go to the store) so there wasn't as much in there as I thought. You see that box of butter on the left hand side? The box is empty. How embarrassing is that? I also found an empty plastic bag (like a grocery bag) in there. Weird.
Here is my after picture. It's from a different angle, obviously, but I was trying to show that I have the meat on one side, the veggies on the other side, and the random processed food that we need to get rid of asap in the basket on top. I do really love those Yoplait smoothies, but I'm beginning to delve into the world of homemade smoothies, and get away from them (because if you look at the ingredient list, although it should just be fruit and yogurt balls, it has about a million ingredients, and I am not ok with that. Smoothies should be a simple food!)
So now that I have my freezer and pantry inventoried, I know everything that I have in the house to work with. I'm so excited about having done this, because I found some foods that I really can use this week (particularly meats), which will save us from having to buy them this grocery trip. I also found the things that I had prepared before as "easy dinner meals" like my sausage and pepper casserole mix, so I'll be using that in my meal plan and it will be one meal this week that will be super easy! Yay for not having to go to work and come home to cook for hours on end!
Have you been following Stephanie's series? If not, there is plenty of time to join in! Since I do work now, I'm doing my meal planning today, and grocery shopping and freezer cooking tomorrow, so I will be a little ahead of the ball game by the end of the weekend, but Stephanie has great tips and wonderful ideas for your freezer cooking. Also I would love to hear your favorite freezer recipe. Leave me a link or leave the recipe in the comments, and I will try it out sometime! I love collecting new recipes to try!
6/3/10
Cook More Real Food - Cleaning Out the Freezer
I started off by taking everything out of my freezer. I tried to work pretty quickly, since coolness is a factor here, and my house is hot (we don't have A/C). I don't want things to start thawing out, so I speedily took everything out and put it on the floor.
After that, I took this opportunity to wipe down the inside of the freezer and really get a good cleaning in. This needed to happen very badly, so I was excited for the chance!
Once everything was cleaned out, I wrote down everything that I have in my freezer on my handy-dandy freezer inventory list which you can print off here for free! I found all kinds of things I didn't know where in there, like some spaghetti sauce for a casserole that is one of our favorites, and three more containers of homemade freezer jam! I even recorded the liquor that we store in the freezer, even though it never gets used....but I didn't want to throw it away in case we have a party or something where it would come in handy! I chose to write down the items in my freezer in two separate columns - one for individual items, like pie crust and butter, and the other for freezer meals, like my sauce that I just have to add pasta to, and the breakfast burritos.
I then put everything back in, in a somewhat orderly fashion. I also have a chest freezer, so I took the opportunity to reorganize things and put some things into the chest freezer instead of the side by side, which I really like to reserve for things we use on a daily basis, like the breakfast burritos my husband brings to work.
I didn't get a chance at that time to reorganize the chest freezer, so I am probably going to have a "cleaning out the freezer round 2" this weekend. The chest freezer is a bit more work, since it kind of just piles everything on top of each other (if you are in the market for a freezer, I would not recommend a chest freezer! Although I love the space, it is a pain to organize. I would love a stand up one!) So anyway, there is my progress! I recorded everything on my inventory list, which I am going to file away in the homemaking binder that I am creating.
Are you following along with Stephanie's Cook More Real Food series? I hope you are joining me! I am very excited about the upcoming steps (including the Meal Planning one, which I am already behind on!) I can't wait to do my freezer cooking and really dive in!
6/2/10
Organic Coupon Roundup
I haven't done an organic coupon round up in a while, so I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about some great organic coupons that are floating around the internet these days. There are some really great ones, from $1.00 off any Muir Glen product (which could get you some really cheap tomato sauce or salsa!) to a variety of Organic Valley coupons and tons of Seventh Generation coupons, there really are a lot out there right now that can be paired up with prices to get some hot deals!
I'm not going to list them all here, because I found this organic round up on the blog Your Green Helper, so I wanted to give credit where it is deserved and put out the link. So here you go - Organic Coupon Roundup. Enjoy the coupons, and come back and let me know about any great deals you find!
5/31/10
Money Mondays - My Grocery Budget
This week for Money Monday, I'm going to talk a little bit about myself. ☺ I want to talk about my personal grocery budget, and ways that I am going about cutting it down (which, as you will see, needs to happen!) I'm not 100% sure what exactly I can cut it down to or what my goal ultimately will be, but I wanted to get some suggestions from you, my readers, and also to bounce ideas around. Remember that if you are commenting on posts, leave a comment on the Kitchen Tools Bamboo Set giveaway and tell me which ones you left because you get extra entries in the giveaway! Ok, here it goes...don't judge me too harshly!
This month, all in all, I spent $530.46 for groceries. I am including in this definition household items like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, toiletries, all grocery items, and pet food. So basically anything you would buy at the grocery store. This is for me, my husband, and our 17 pound dog Charlie. I also want to throw out there that we eat almost every meal from items that we make. My husband brings breakfast and lunch to work every day, and I eat at home. We make dinner most nights, but actually did go out to eat this month 3 times, for a total cost of roughly $109. Additionally we went camping for Memorial Day Weekend, and we ended up spending almost $60 just for food items for the camping trip, which probably skewed the results somewhat. Regardless, those are the numbers.
May is the first month that I have ever religiously tracked every time we went to the grocery store, and frankly I must say that I am rather appalled. I expected to spend around $400, and I was even okay when we got up to $450, but $530! That averages $132.62 per week, which I guess makes it sound somewhat more reasonable, but still seems like a pretty high number for just the two of us (our dog only ate one, $8.50 bag of dog food this month, so he's not really very expensive). I think the thing that bothers me the most about it is that we spent the additional $109 on eating out. That brings our total "food" budget for the month to $639.46. Yikes! That just seems crazy to me.
I'm not opposed to spending money to get good, high quality foods. I knew that our grocery bill would go up once we started buying more organic items, and unfortunately I wasn't reliably tracking the expenditures beforehand, so I don't have a number to compare to. I'm going to look at $530.46 as my starting point, and work from there to get it down. I am not trying to get down to $30 per week or anything like that (see post here), but I would like to spend around $450 per month on the two of us. I think that is reasonable and doable.
I also want to point out that while I am disappointed to know that we spent so much on our groceries, I am pleased to know that we save a total of $142.11 through the use of coupons and grocery store saver programs. In total we saved about 22% off the cost of our groceries through combining this two ways of savings, and I feel pretty happy with that. I'd always like to be able to increase that number without compromising the quality of our foods, but again I feel like it is an okay starting point.
Here are my goals for the next month:
- Reduce grocery bill to around $450 this month
- Reduce eating out bill to $30, which would be 1-2 eating out meals depending on what kind of restaurant we go to (something like Red Robin versus something like Chipotle)
- Continue to explore new ways to get quality food items (specialty stores, ethnic markets, ordering online)
- Not compromise the items that I am buying to save cost. Even my husband agrees that foods that we are eating make us feel better and they taste better, and I do not want to save money by cutting down on quality.
I'm planning on saving a little bit of money by doing the following things:
- Continuing to use coupons when I can find them. Right now on Coupons.com there are coupons for Cascadian Farms products, Muir Glen products, and Boulder Canyon Chips. You can usually print these up to two times each per computer.
- Meal Plan. Part of Keeper of the Home's Cook More Real Food series involves some meal planning, and I've written my own thoughts on Money Mondays - Meal Planning. I'm planning on only meal planning for one week at a time though, as I find that two weeks at a time just gives me too much time between trips to the store, and we run out of healthy items like fruits and fresh veggies. Key to making meal planning work is sticking to my grocery list when I go to the store, which brings me to the next bullet.
- Make a grocery list and stick with it! I get so hungry/gluttonous when I go to the store, and I just want to try everything. We do usually end up eating it, so food rarely goes bad in my household, but that doesn't mean that we would have missed it if I hadn't bought it.
- Make less cookies - I know this sounds like a weird one, but I always have homemade cookies sitting around, and my husband loves them. He really loves to eat them with a big, tall glass of ice cold milk...organic milk, that is! This can get rather expensive, as we go through about 2 gallons of milk per week. Not only is it not great to be eating cookies all the time, I'm planning on cutting down our milk purchases through having less cookie options (shhh, don't tell the hubby!)
- Go to the store 2x per week to check out the reduced price items. We can often get organic milk, cheese, and eggs for 50% off when we hit the reduced item section.
- Exercise self control. My biggest problem is that I love to shop, and I really love to grocery shop. I have a lot of trouble not picking up new items every few days, because it always looks so good. This month, however, will be an exercise in self control for me.
- Hit up the farmer's markets. According to the information I found online, one of the ones in my town is opening this week, and most of them should be open by the end of the month. As we've talked about before, shopping at the farmer's markets can help to reduce the cost of items like organic fruits and vegetables, as you are cutting out the middle man.
- Last, but certainly not least, we are going vegetarian for at least two to three meals out of the week. I find that I spend quite a bit on meat, and that is without even buying organic or grass fed meat (I didn't think we could really fit it in the budget). I am hoping that by cutting down on the meat, we can buy better quality and healthier meat. This may be a wash in terms of money spent, as we'll be eating less meat but it is pricier. I'm okay with that though, since I am not a huge meat eater, but I want the quality of our meat to be better.
That is my plan of action for the upcoming month. I'm really optimistic about my progress, and I know that we can cut down on our expenses simply by being more aware of the times we are going to the store, and how often we are throwing things into the cart just because it looks good at the time.
Have you cut down on your grocery bill without sacrificing quality items? What are some tips that you want to share with the rest of the readers? Any secrets of the trade? I would love to hear from you about all that you've learned! And remember that each comment up to 4 earns you an extra entry in the giveaway!
5/27/10
Pantry Inventory
Recently, a wonderful website called Keeper of the Home started a series about Cooking More Real Food. It is a two week or so series that focuses on ways that we can organize our lives, and in the process make the time to cook more real, whole foods. The first step in the series started Tuesday, and involved taking inventory of your pantry so that you can know what foods you already have available to you. I wanted to share my progress with you all, so you could get a glimpse into my life (/pantry).
- The first step in the process was to set aside some time to really go through your pantry. I would say it took me around an hour to an hour and a half to get everything taken out and then put back in again.
- Next, I cleaned out my entire pantry and dumped everything on the floor. You know what I see in this picture? Lots of room for improvement. I see myself as someone who eats pretty well, but after cleaning out my pantry I realize that we have a lot of junk. Please don't judge me for the large pack of diet cokes. We've really been working on cutting out artificial sweeteners (and had done a great job!) and then cokes went on sale, and we're going camping this weekend, and everything just fell apart! I will add though, that we've been drinking these cokes for the past two days or so, and both me and my husband have had terrible stomach aches. He's not convinced they are related, but I am! This will be our last pack of Diet Cokes for a while.
- Next up, I printed off an inventory sheet so that I could write down everything that is in my pantry. I tried to divide it up into categories so that things would be easier to find on my list when I'm using it later, but it is still a little messy. I did find some things in there that I didn't even know I had (like a full box of trash bags, organic almond milk, and an extra bag of whole wheat flour!) I also tried to combine things that I had more than one of if it fit. I combined two opened jars of peanut butter, extra containers of salt, refilled my brown sugar bucket, etc.
- Finally, I put everything back on my pantry shelves. Keeper of the Home also added the step of wiping everything down in the pantry, like the shelves. As you can see from my pantry, I have wire shelves so they don't really get messy. I did have some spilled honey on the floor, which I cleaned up and wiped out the corners, which can get kind of messy. Basically take the opportunity to clean it up before you put everything back in. Here's my after picture. I only wish I had taken a before picture so you could really see the improvement, but I'm happy with the outcome.
- After that, put the inventory list on the inside of your pantry door so that you can mark things off as you use them. I actually am in the process of making a "household" notebook, so that is where mine will be going. In order for the inventory to really be useful though, you have to mark things off as they are used to keep it current, so put it somewhere that you'll remember where it is and use it! I often put things on my grocery list and pick them up, only to find that I already had some at the house, so I'm hoping that this pantry inventory will help me to avoid that and thus cut down on the amount of things I am buying.
I am very excited for the next few steps in Keeper of the Home's Cook More Real Food series, so stay tuned for my documentation of my changes! The biggest lesson that I learned from this first step was that I have a lot of room for improvement in the kinds of foods that I buy, and I am very open to learning more and continually bettering my shopping and cooking habits! I think part of my problem is getting rid of some of the foods that I have that aren't good for us (like cake mixes and sugary cereal). Most of these things were bought while I was still playing the "grocery game" and I just can't seem to bring myself to get rid of them for some reason. We have literally had boxes of cereal since October that we haven't even opened, and yet for some reason I can't let them go! I'm really going to work on consuming/throwing away the foods that we have that don't move us in the direction of being healthy, so this pantry inventory was a great first step to see what I am working with!
5/17/10
Money Mondays
In addition, I will be updating you with my own monthly budget as it applies to my grocery savings and expenditures.
I feel like in interest of full disclosure, since I talk so often about food and organics and all, it will benefit me to share my monthly grocery bill with you all. I'm also hoping this will continue to inspire and challenge me to improve my own budgeting and ways to save. I'm not going to pretend like I am one of those people who is going to blow you away with our grocery budget. I'll lay it out there right here at the beginning - we spend about $400 per month on groceries. However, I will tell you that I feel like we are eating far better quality than we have in the past, and it is a choice that we make to spend that much and eat the way we feel like is best for us.
I love to read about budgeting and ways to stretch your paycheck further. As a non-working spouse in my marriage, I feel like it is my duty to be the best manager of my husband's paycheck that I possibly can be. Since he is in the military, his paycheck is the same every month (except during a deployment) and there is no opportunity for overtime or extra income. I say that only to make the point that the paycheck that we get every month is just that - there is never any more, never any less (this is certainly not a complaint. I feel very lucky to have the stability of the military). Thus, I feel like it is my job to manage this paycheck in the best way that I can, and I hope that I can share some of those tips for my readers!
As always, I would love for you to join me and share you own ideas. What do you do to save money? What is your favorite way to save? Do you focus on frugality in all walks of life, or narrow it down to just a few?
As always, I would love for you to join me and share you own ideas. What do you do to save money? What is your favorite way to save? Do you focus on frugality in all walks of life, or narrow it down to just a few?
5/4/10
Another Way to Save Money in Your Hometown
Check out Groupon for your city and let me know if you find any fabulous deals!
5/3/10
Organic Coupon Roundup
Green Works - you have to become a "fan" on facebook, and then under the coupons tab there will be a $3 off any size green works laundry detergent coupon
Mambo Sprouts - coupons for Method Laundry Detergent, Helios Kefir drinks, Lifeway products, Country Choice organic oats
Whole Foods Market - Ben & Jerry's product, Rudi's Organics, Clif Bars, Earth Balance Peanut Butters, Annie's Natural, Cascadian Farm's Cereal, Kashi Cereal, Tazo Tea
Organic Valley - butter, cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, milk, soymilk, and eggs
Smartsource - Newman's Own product, Odwalla drinks, Tom's toothpaste
Brown Cow - different varieties of brown cow yogurt
Coupons.com - Old Orchard juice, Old Orchard juice concentrate, Boulder Canyon Chips, Organyc feminine products
AllYou.com - CFL light bulbs, Bare Naked Granola, Oikos Greek Yogurt, Old Orchard juice and juice concentrate, Organyc feminine products, Swanson Broth (they have organic varieties that you can use the coupon on)
Safeway - Bright Green products, Fresh Express salad, boneless skinless chicken breasts
Seventh Generation - a variety of cleaning products
Stoneyfield Farms - yogurt, frozen yogurt, Oikos greek yogurt
There seemed to be some slim pickin' this time around, so let me know if you have any more to link up to. These do cover a variety of categories though, and many of the links from the last organic coupon round up are still available (like Cascadian Farms and Muir Glen). You can access that list right here.
4/30/10
Another Round of Organic Deals!
Here's a breakdown of what I got and what I paid:
Missions Tortillas x 2 - $3.58
- $0.75 Missions Coupon x 2(available here) and multiplied to $1.00 off
- $0.80 x 2 in-ad coupon for Safeway (special this week), thanks to my wonderful cashier!
Total: Free with $0.02 overage
Organic Almond Milk x 2 - $3.98
- 50% off coupon stuck to the front of the box (reduced for quick sale)
Total: $1.99 for two, or about $0.99 each
Organic Milk x 2 - $5.98
- 50% off stuck to the front of the box because it expires soon
Total: $2.99 for two (!!!)
Organic Eggs x 2 - $6.78
No discounts here, unfortunately, so they were $3.39 per dozen
Total for the whole trip: $11.72. I saved $8.60, which was a total of 42%!
If I wouldn't have bought the eggs, I would have spent only $4.96 and still saved $8.60, which would have been a total of 63%. I needed the eggs though, so they were worth it, and they were actually cheaper than the $3.89 I would have paid for the name-brand organic eggs yesterday at the Commissary if I hadn't had the $2 off coupon (which I don't have any more of). It just shows you that it pays to comparison shop!
4/29/10
Grocery Day Today!
So today was grocery shopping day in my life! I love grocery shopping day, if you can't tell. I think its because a) I just love to eat, b) I love to cook and c) I love to challenge myself to stay within my budget and save money while buying healthy things. I think I did pretty well today, for the most part. As you can see, I am just as guilty as the next person of buying some convenience items (I'm lookin' at you, smart ones frozen dinners!) I figure that it is still far better than eating fast food, and I got some coupons while I was at the store that are for Kashi organic frozen dinners, but they were sold out, so I'm going to try those next time.
I know the picture leaves a little to be desired. This was my first try at taking pictures of my loot, so I didn't really know how to organize. Plus it takes me so long in the grocery store, that I was in a hurry to get everything put away because my ice cream was melting. If you can't tell, it was all spread out on the floor, and I just broke it up into two pictures to make it a little bit clearer. So, I only bought one tower of Stoneyfield Farms Yogurt, and one thing of apples, etc, they just overlap in the picture a little bit. You can click on the picture to enlarge them if you'd like.
Some of my favorite purchases were...
Pork Shoulder to make BBQ - $2.96
Frozen Kashi Organic Mediterranean Pizza - $2.99
- $1 off any Kashi Frozen Pizza (x3)
- Free Commissary Bag with purchase of two Kashi items
Total $1.99 each x 3 = $5.97 for three (about the same prize as ONE Digiorno pizza!) + 1 free reusable bag ($0.79 value)
Organic Valley Eggs dozen- $3.89 -
Organic Valley Eggs 1/2 dozen - $2.29
- $2 off any two Organic Valley Coupons
Total $2.79 per dozen eggs or $4.18 for 1 1/2 dozen
Cascadian Farms Organic Blueberries (8oz) - $1.99 x 3
- $1 off any Cascadian Farms product
- $1 off any two Cascadian Farms Products
Total $3.98 for 3 or about $1.32 each
Stoneyfield Farm Organic Yogurt - $0.79 x 4
- $1.00 off 4 Stoneyfield Farm
Total $2.16 for 4 or $0.54 each
Men's Pert Plus Shampoo + Conditioner - $2.44 x 2
- $1.50 off Men's Pert Plus
- $2 off any Pert Plus
Total $1.38 for two or $0.69 each
Suave Shampoo - $0.79
- $0.50 off any Suave Shampoo
Total $0.29
Oral-B Toothbrush - $2.17
- $2.00 off any Oral-B toothbrush
Total $0.17
Head and Shoulders Shampoo - $4.51 x 2
- Buy one get one free coupon
Total $4.51 for two or $2.25 each
Before my coupons, I spent $194.33. After coupons, I spent $150.78, a savings of $43.55 or 23%!
To many hardcore couponers out there, 23% wouldn't be all that exciting. However, built into that amount is all my organic produce and dairy. You also have to take into consideration that I am shopping at the Commissary, where the savings is around 30%, so I figure that with the 30% savings and my additional savings of 23%, I am really saving more like 54% on my overall grocery bill. I am also defying all hardcore savers convention by going to the grocery store and buying things I need. If you really play the grocery game (and I've already explained why I don't), then you would go to the grocery store and stock up on things when they are on sale, and then supplement them with things like fresh produce in the middle. Like I said in my "Why I Quit the Grocery Game Post," I find that the things that you are really able to stock up on are things that we don't eat as often, so I've found that what works for me (and just me personally) is to shop for what I need when I need it, and be done. I'm pretty happy about my 23% savings though! And that doesn't include anything I bought that was on sale, so it may have been a little bit more. Unfortunately the Commissary only prints on the receipt the percentage savings from coupons, so I don't ever really know the exact amount of my savings. I am more than willing to spend a little more in order to eat fresh, organic produce and homemade meals instead of buying lots of processed foods.
This grocery shopping trip (according to my planning) should last us until around the 18th of May. I am trying this month to map out two weeks of meals at a time for the shopping, but I also wanted to avoid going shopping on payday, so I extended it a little past the 15th. I will post my menu for the month if anyone is interested, as I already have everything planned.
My goal for the month is to spend $300 total, so I still have $149.22 left for next time. I still need to pick up a pack of chicken, some tortillas, and some asparagus for this trip, so it will end up being a little bit less. I may up the budget a bit, but I am definitely trying to cut down on our previous $400 per month budget.
I would love to know if you've scored any deals lately, or if you have any comments about mine! You can link up if you have your own blog and want to share your finds, or leave a message in the comments part and I will be sure to check it out! I'd love to hear about any finds that you have -- they don't have to be organic or anything, I just like to personally share my organic finds!
4/28/10
New Organic Coupon Site
I recently saw this on a money saving blog, and I had to share it with you all! Earth Fare, which is a natural/organic store similar to Whole Foods (but it is regional in the southeast) recently started putting out coupons on their website for a variety of organic and natural food products.
They have some products that I have never heard of, but also some more familiar products such as Cascadian Farm, Kashi, Applegate Farms (meat!!) and Seventh Generation. When you print them out, the page says "Redeemable ONLY at Earth Fare" but they coupons say manufacturer's coupon at the top, so I am going to give it a go at my local Commissary, since we are not currently living in an area which has an Earth Fare. I will let you know how it works out for me, and do the same if you try them out! If you happen to have an Earth Fare near you, well then here is a jackpot of coupons!
Thank you to MoneySavingMom for the information!
4/22/10
Organics on a Budget
This shopping trip was completely without coupons, as I went sort of on a whim and didn't have my coupon binder with me. Here's the breakdown of what I got:
- 1.57lb of Organic Bananas ---- 1.08
- Coconut Milk (1/2 gallon) --- 3.69
- Fresca (2liter) ---1.34
- Organic Artichokes (2) ---2.99
- 1.05lb of organic asparagus --- 3.14
- 2.47lb of organic red delicious apples ---3.68
- 3 lb organic strawberries @ 2.50/lb --- 7.50
All of it totaled out to be $23.42 with a savings of $10.81 of 31%. I wanted to show you all this to demonstrate how you can shop organically on a budget and even do it without coupons. Obviously my savings percentage would have been higher and my money spent out of pocket lower if I hadn't bought the coconut milk and the fresca (impulse buys), but I still think I did pretty well!
Have you gotten any great deals lately! I would love to hear about them!
4/20/10
Organic Coupon Roundup
I got multiple responses about my "grocery game" post last week, so I wanted to follow up with a listing of coupons that I have found online for organic products. Many of these (like Organic Valley) are available pretty much any time. I do believe there are print limits on some, but that will vary depending on which brand you are printing from. Beside the name of the brand, which should link to the printing page, I am listing what the coupons are for so that you can quickly look through if you are looking for something specific. At this point if you are going to sign up for lots of newsletters, coupons, etc I might recommend getting an email address just for this purpose. I did that recently, and it has cut down greatly on my "junk" mail. I do check the other email, so if something good comes along I see it, but for the most part it is where all of my subscriptions and other random emails go. I would recommend Gmail for a web based free email, but there are tons of others out there too.
So here it goes - my first ever Organic Coupon Roundup!
Organic Valley - milk, cheese, butter, eggs, cottage and cream cheese, soy milk, half and half
Mambo Sprouts - a variety of things currently including Method Laundry Detergent, Newman's Own Pizza, and Cascadian Farms Products. You can also sign up for the home mailer, which I just got in the mail yesterday and includes pages of coupons for organics.
Cascadian Farms - you have to sign up for future offers, but you get $1 off a Cascadian Farm product. You can also often find these at other coupon sites. I use them for frozen fruit - with the $1 off coupon, I usually get my 8oz frozen blueberries for around .99 a package. I love them to snack on!
Earthbound Farms - They have a quiz available and when you take it and get the answers right you get a $1 coupon.
Simply Organic - organic baking mixes, spices, vanilla
Earth's Best Organics - great organic baby coupons including $5 off formula. Also diaper, baby food, and cereal coupons.
Horizon's Organic - you do have to register, but currently they have milk and yogurt coupons
Muir Glen - $1 off - great to use on canned items or jarred spaghetti sauce!
Seventh Generation - variety of cleaning, baby care, and laundry coupons
Stoneyfield Farms - you have to register again, but they have a selection of coupons like Oikos Greek Yogurt, milk, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and stoneyfield farm yogurt.
Garden of Eatin' - $1 off chips made from organically grown corn (the chips themselves are not organic, but the ingredient list is as follows: Organic blue corn, expeller pressed oleic safflower and/or sunflower oil, sea salt)
Nature Made - vitamin coupons
Organic Prairie - fresh and frozen meat coupons
Burleson's Honey - $1 off Pure Honey
Burt's Bees Toothpaste - Fill out the form and sign up for either a free sample of the toothpaste or a $1 off coupon.
Safeway Store Coupons - this week they organic butter, fair trade organic coffee, and a variety of their "bright green" products including fabric softener and trash bags
Whole Foods Market Coupons - also a variety of coupons including peanut butter, cereal, kefir drinks, and yogurt.
Target - this week the only ones I see are for Kashi products. They also have a printable for GE CAF lightbulbs
Since grocery stores vary by region, I haven't included many of those in my coupon roundup. I would recommend checking with the website of your favorite grocery stores, as sometimes they do have printables available for their store brand or other organic products.
Hopefully you can find some coupons within this list that can help cut down on your savings! I will probably be continuing to post these organic coupon roundups if they are useful to you, so please let me know if they help you! Also let me know if you have any to add to the list.
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