I have a love hate relationship with budgets. More love than hate. But there is a lot of hate.
I am in charge of buying groceries, little things we need like shampoo and laundry detergent. those things add up. I only buy what I need to make meals and try to save as much as possibly but did not have a specific budget to follow. After reviewing our finances last month, we decided I could do better and set a budget for groceries. Last month was the first month and I blew through my monthly allotment in THREE WEEKS, one of which we were not even home for.... I didn't even buy meat that month. Yikes. We decided it would be a trial month.
Today is November 1 and I have planned meals for the whole month. I have split the money up by weeks so that no matter what, I still have money left for the last week. (I think we had spaghetti twice last week and mac and cheese today, from a box!) I am trying really, really, hard to make this work but healthy eating is more important to me than saving the money so in the end, I may need a bigger grocery budget... Wish me luck.
How do you plan your meals and what healthy meals does your family like that are friendly to a small budget?
I am in charge of buying groceries, little things we need like shampoo and laundry detergent. those things add up. I only buy what I need to make meals and try to save as much as possibly but did not have a specific budget to follow. After reviewing our finances last month, we decided I could do better and set a budget for groceries. Last month was the first month and I blew through my monthly allotment in THREE WEEKS, one of which we were not even home for.... I didn't even buy meat that month. Yikes. We decided it would be a trial month.
Today is November 1 and I have planned meals for the whole month. I have split the money up by weeks so that no matter what, I still have money left for the last week. (I think we had spaghetti twice last week and mac and cheese today, from a box!) I am trying really, really, hard to make this work but healthy eating is more important to me than saving the money so in the end, I may need a bigger grocery budget... Wish me luck.
How do you plan your meals and what healthy meals does your family like that are friendly to a small budget?
It really is so hard! Especially when you need different things each week, and with a baby it seems that new things are always coming up, we just had to buy sippy cups. Price matching and using coupons helps, but I wish I was better at it too.
ReplyDeleteBeans and potatoes are some of the healthiest foods and so cheap and easy! I do a lot of rice bowls with black beans, brown rice, veggies, salsa, cilantro and avocado (Parker loves it too and it's really filling). Also frozen veggies are a great way to go. Buy them in bulk and add to lots of meals. They're just as healthy as fresh since they are frozen at their peak. My go-to meal if I don't have anything planned is scrambled eggs with whole wheat toast and arugula with a bit of salt and lots of better. Let me know if you want more ideas. I just try to cook simple and healthy and I'm grateful Rich doesn't complain about me experimenting on him. :) I'm actually starting a health blog soon that we'll be posting simple recipes and health tips on so I'll send ya that link. :)
ReplyDelete**better, haha, I meant pepper!!
ReplyDelete