While I’m out recovering from surgery, I’ve asked a few friends to step in and fill my shoes. I hope you enjoy what they have to share with you! If you like what you see, stop by their blogs and tell them!
Hi, my name is Crystal. I blog over at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff. My husband and I have a problem with food. We love it, buy to our cravings, and constantly go over our food budget. When we are trying to stay under certain spending limits, here is how we try to keep our food spending in control.
Document It
Our first order of business when we are trying to control spending is to write down every expense. In the past, we’ve placed a simple piece of paper on our refrigerator and document every, single time we spend money on food. We put the amount and the name of the place we were at when we spent the money. There are two columns – one for eating out and one for groceries. By the end of our budget month, we’ll know exactly how much we spend in each category.
Get Accountability Partners
It’s also very motivating for me to share our progress with others. I use my blog to post updates and results from our food expense adventures. I even take a photo of our fridge sheet so everybody can see exactly how many times we ate out or grabbed groceries. Knowing that all of my readers will know exactly how we did motivates me to make sure that we succeed. I’m on a pause right now to keep my husband’s sanity in tact, but this method works wonders for us when we are trying to stay within a certain amount.
Meal Planning
We are not as advanced as some people when it comes to meal planning, but we try. About once every week or two, we make a plan on what to eat for lunches and dinners for about a week. We use that plan to make our grocery list. The idea is that we won’t waste money on extra stuff that we don’t need.
We usually end up buying at least one or two items that are not on the lists and eat out once or twice that weren’t planned, but we do make sure to eat all of the groceries we buy. In general, the plan at least persuades us to eat at home more often.
Overall, we are definitely not the best at food budgeting, but these little tips work well for us when we are trying to cut back.
What works for you to keep your food budget in check?
Crystal blogs at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, where she covers spending, saving, and budgeting in the fun stuff along the way. You can also check her posts out through Twitter @bitfs. Thanks for reading!
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I think you are doing a good job of trying to stay within your budget. I find food one of the hardest things to budget for because you just never know what might happen to get you off your game plan or where you might be when you decide you need a pretzel dog. I went way way WAY over in June, so I’ve really been cutting back and doing a lot pantry and freezer cooking this month.