That Bleepity Bleep Food Budget

Oh, how I loathe food right now. Or actually, food costs. I knew I was going to go over budget about 2 and a half weeks into this whole thing, but I really went over budget. I am feeling kinda bad about that too.

I guess I should have been a bit less zealous. I have a habit of throwing myself into things instead of easing into them and then get upset with myself when I do not meet my lofty unrealistic goals. So, instead of giving up I am just going to at this a bit more slowly.

I am running the final numbers today instead of on the 31st because I am going to finish out the month with what I have left in my pantry and make due with what we have in the house.

For the month of July our family spent: $942.64

This is: $420.62 over budget. Eek!

BUT...I do want to give myself some kudos because I tallied up just how much money I spent on food for the month of June and found out that I had spent a whopping: $1735.38!!!! Can you believe that?! (This total includes: $422.09 in eating out.)

So, in essence I saved our family: $792.76 this month.

Here are some of the things I learned this month:

1.) Eating out was not an option for us with our new budget.

2.) Planning out our food and snacks is imperative for staying on budget.

3.) I had to give up some things that I thought were really important like dishwasher detergent & coffee for myself because both of those items are too expensive when shopping on a budget. I would rather use that money to buy food.

4,) The Farmers market is a good place to shop in the summer for quality, rather cheap food.

5.) With some good planning (which clearly I lacked towards the end of the month) I think that it really is possible to eat well on a budget AND buy mostly organic food.

6.) Having less money to shop for food meant that I bought less which meant that I had less food that got wasted.

7.) My kids are now eating foods (gladly) that they would have never touched or touched grudgingly before. (Think walnuts/almonds, 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, pure maple syrup.)

Here are some things I need to work on:

1.) Plan, Plan, Plan. (Lack of planning was the cause of some unnecessary spending.)

2.) Follow my own shopping commandments! (I broke every one of them at least once this month.)

3.)  Do major grocery shopping less often and shop for fruits and veggies more often. (I tend to do better at spreading my money out and getting more food for each dollar when I have a smaller shopping list and less money. BUT this only applies with things like snacks. If I had to go to the store each day for a whole day's worth of food I would over spend. If I have just $10 and know that I need to get fruit and veggies for the two days I am able to get more for my money. I know, that is weird, but that is just the way I roll.)

4.) Ease into my goal of living on a food stamp budget. My kids went into shock this month with our new shopping goals. I think they would have called children's services on me if I actually  cut my budget from $1700 to $522 in one month. I don't know I would have blamed them either.

So there you have it. This is what my month looked like. I am looking forward to the month of August to see what improvements I can make.

 For those of you who are trying out your own shopping goals I am curious to hear how you did. Happy shopping and good luck in August!