I spent 47.95 this week on groceries and this is what went to food storage!  Never before did I think it was possible to add to my food storage while lowering my budget.  Coupons have changed me…changed me deeply

Go here for a recipe using the beans, and here for one using peanut butter.  Anyone know a recipe using both? lol

My goal was $200 but I spent $274.02.  I still consider this a victory, as long as it’s below $300.  We are a family of 4 with 2 in diapers.  We used to spend $600, and that was a good month.   Truth be told I’m not sure what we were spending.  I decided in January that we needed a change.  I had been doing really well with coupons for awhile so I thought I would just try and do $200 to see if it was even possible.  We ended up spending $218.66, that’s INCLUDING toiletries, AND I currently only have 1 newspaper subscription.   I also have a love for Costco.  It’s like Disneyland to me.  So I decided to make $200 my goal for odd months and $300 for even.  This makes it so I can still go to Costco and not feel guilty about it…although I have to be careful, very careful.:)

I’ve also been acquiring and using our food storage.  I always thought we needed more money to get a decent supply, but cutting our budget has increased our storage!  Of course this takes planning and couponing, but that’s all part of the fun.  The next biggest help is just writing it down.  Keeping a record of spending helps reign me in.

I also can’t believe how much better we eat!  Planning makes all the difference!  Less waste…. You can go here to see some of the recipes I’ve used.

What do you do??  I would love to hear your family size and your budget amount.

My maximum budget is $100 per week for our family of four.

This week I spent $108.86. I’m in the red! I will make up for it next week or my husband will take away my shopping privileges; he is serious this time!

This week I saved $179.16 = $62% savings

How did you do?

Spent $47.85. Saved $118.15.

Total for this week: I paid $69.00 for $101.99 worth of groceries; I saved: $32.99 (I am disappointed)

I am doing a new thing where at the end of the week I show all that I spent for the week. This way at the end of the month I can see how much money I am spending monthly.  I have  a family of 4, so anything under $100 per week for all food, drinks, eating out, toiletries, haircare products, diapers and baby formula is my goal. I have 2 kids in diapers, so this may sound ambitious but I accomplished it this week!

Here is my second weekly review:

Total for this week: I paid $64.48 for $213.97 worth of groceries; I saved: $149.49 (70%!!!)

I am doing a new thing where at the end of the week I show all that I spent for the week. This way at the end of the month I can see how much money I am spending monthly.  I have  a family of 4, so anything under $100 per week for all food, drinks, eating out, toiletries, haircare products, diapers and baby formula is my goal. I have 2 kids in diapers, so this may sound ambitious but I accomplished it this week!

Here is my first weekly review:

$20.25, detailed breakdown here (saved $28.24)