I like to think that Tony and I are pretty good about managing our money. The only debt we have is our house and we only have one credit card for emergencies. I am the queen of the grocery store sale flyer, we don’t eat out more than once a week usually, but I still thought there was room for improvement.
Enter: http://mint.com. This is a free site that links to your actual bank account and lets you categorize how you spend your money. I decided to categorize debits and label “groceries” for our purchases at Dominick’s, Jewel, Dollar Tree, Butera, Fresh Market and Sam’s Club from September 20 to October 20.
Imagine my shock when added all together? $871.99! For a family of 3, and usually Hannah only eats one meal at home a day. That’s $29 a day! And if someone came up to me and asked me how much I spent on groceries for the month, I would have been 100% dead certain it would have been about $475 a month.
And we spent $229.90 dining out for the month, which I actually don’t think is too bad because that included my Mom’s birthday lunch and Tony’s birthday dinner. š
Does anyone pay cash for groceries, and when its gone you just eat out of your fridge/freezer/pantry? Hopefully some budget queens (or kings!) will leave their tips in the comment section! But this was a complete eye opener for me. š
When we went to Goodwill last Sunday my Mom wanted to stock up at the Entenmann’s outlet and I picked up mini Arnold thins – still 100 calories for 2 but I like tiny food. Tony doesn’t like tiny food, but if there are sliders, small plates I am all over them. š
Two arnold thins, 1 Pam “fried” egg, deli ham and cheese – with warmed sliced fuji apple sprinkled with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon/sugar mix (it’s next to our coffee pot – so good and if you put 1/2 a teaspoon into eTools it comes in at zero points!). Breakfast comes in at 8 points.
I brought my wind breaker jacket to work, but it was so windy/rainy/cold I chickened out of my walk – I need to bring in a winter hat and gloves to keep at work – weather.com said it felt like 37 degrees outside because of the wind. Check out this link – 20 boats got damaged because of wind!
So I stayed nice and toasty poasty at my desk and kept warm with my chili mac soup and a cheddar biscuit – lunch comes in at 11 points.
I ended up making chicken parm for dinner – only one thing, I was out of bread crumbs. So I took two pieces of toast from my freezer, put them in the toaster and then blended them in my food processor. Um, it didn’t work very well – half the crumbs fell off – and the crumbs started to brown too fast and when I brought the chicken to the table, we both cut into our chicken and it was still a bit raw on the inside – luckily my blood sugar wasn’t too low and I didn’t get mad! I just nuked the chicken for 2 minutes in the microwave.
Don’t worry, I didn’t eat this whole plate, I ate 3/4 of it and the dog had the rest – dinner comes in at 10 points.
Is it just me, or do you find this weird? The 2011 Foodbuzz Awards are out and voting is open. It’s always nice to find new blogs to read (because you know, there aren’t that many food blogs out there to read – ha!).
In the Best Family Blog Category is this one: You Fed A Baby Chili? I am just curious how this blog was nominated when he only has 7 posts in 2011. How you could be nominated on the content of 7 posts is beyond my comprehension.
But I do have a favorite blogger if you could run and go vote for her – Sophia of Burp & Slurp. We have been blog “friends” since early 2009. That’s the wonder of the blog world, where else would I become friends with a 20 something UCLA student? She’s also sent me the most amazing granola for Christmas a couple years ago. š
You can vote for your favorite food bloggers here. I think my nomination must have gotten lost in the mail. š
Stats for Thursday
- 34 points, including 5 points for cookies eaten when my blood sugar dropped
- no exercise
- average blood sugar 97
I love mint.com. It’s really eye opening to see where our money goes! We have a budget of 400 dollars a month for our family of four. I totally shop the ads and make sure that I am using stuff out of our pantry and freezer as I can. Also, if I forget something for a recipe, I have to adjust because I don’t go back to the store and get it. I plan very very carefully for my grocery trips!!
My husband and I do a pretty good job at managing our money, but we are always striving to do better. I am going to check out Mint.com. Once a month I let our food supply dwindle so the refrigerator and cupboards almost bare. During that time I only buy bananas, apples, milk and cold cuts for my husband’s lunch.
I make rice and beans once a week which usually stretches for at least two nights. I also try to keep a couple of containers of beans frozen for those really busy days or when I just don’t feel like cooking.
Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods shopping trips are limited to no more than once a month. I use the Costco American Express card for purchases at Costco only so I only shop there when the previous bill is paid.
I try to bake some kind of snack once a week to cut down on processed food costs. It is much more expensive to eat healthy foods and I don’t even buy all organic. I enjoyed reading all the comments because I’m always looking for tips on how to save money in this department.
Funny that you mentioned the Food Buzz Awards. I was a bit baffled by some of the nominees. I will head back and vote for Sophia right now.
Wow, I havn’t see any of the mini Arnold thins yet. I think I would like them, plus I can use one of them of a snack….
so happy for sophia! i did nominate her too!
I’m always complaining about our grocery bill. Especially since I have a teenage boy in the household. I’ve been trying to stick to chicken legs, chicken thighs, whole chicken to save money and leave pork and beef as a treat. I’m curious as to how much the grocery bill will lower after he moves out!
Sophia definitely as my vote!
Have a great weekend, Biz!
I’m actually in the same boat. I know for sure we spend way too much on groceries (I blame it on the blog-ha!) but I actually don’t really even know howmuch! I’m going to check out mint.com. Hubby always says you will spend however much money you have, so it’s best to spend it all on paper before you spend it in real life, budgeting where every penny will go, including savings of course. Now if I would only be consistent about it!
Hi Vat. I’ve gotta get myself on that site. I am pretty good at shopping the sales and going to a number of places for groceries but I think we could probably do a little better. And it seems prices around me are going up and up, but my salary isn’t, so I have to be a little more aware than I already am. Have a wonderful Friday.
We are struggling to manage a food budget. The cost of everything here is out of control! I hate reading food blogs because i get SO excited to try something new, yet I can’t get enough of them! When you figure it out, let me know!
i STINK at budgeting for food. But- I think of youre going to spend money on one thing, healthy fresh food is the way to go!! I can’t exercise outside when its cold. I am a total whimp. I am totally down with your lunch though- YUM!