WoodElves

I just want to start by saying that I'm very thankful for how God has provided for us. He has given me a job that (almost every day) I enjoy and the health and energy to do it. He also has placed David and me in an area where coupon deals are abundant and kept our coupon-printing equipment working.

Today I want to give you a little peek into my grocery budget and how it works.

1. David keeps our budget on a very complex, but easy to use Excel spreadsheet. He keeps track of every penny and has really done a great job figuring our budget out.

2. I try to spend $20 or less a week for groceries.

3. We get nearly all of our produce along with some other food from the food bank at the school. David volunteers at the food pantry often and although we aren't financially strapped enough to be dependent on the food pantry, they are often trying to get people to take the food so they don't have to throw it away.

>>>>>This explains why you rarely see produce in my grocery trip posts!

4. Our budget is really a monthly and yearly budget. I can spend $20 for 52 weeks in a year (this takes care of the 5-week month problem). In other words, if I go over my budget one month, I can just spend less the next month to make up for it so that I stay within my overall grocery budget for the year.

5. We budget eating out separately than the grocery budget. Often when I splurge and get a Starbucks or another treat, I may mentally take it out of my grocery budget and simply spend less on groceries that week, when in actuality, David puts it under Eating Out in our budget.

6. Drugstore purchases are separate from the grocery budget, but our drugstore/toiletry budget is $0. While playing the "Drugstore Game", we rarely pay for more than tax and are able to get all of the razors, shampoo, body wash, and feminine products that we need.

7. I do like to serve food as healthy as possible, but our downfall is snacks and desserts :) Right now I would like to change to organic and local foods, but it is not a change I am able to do at this time. Once David gets out of school and I'm at home, this will become a priority to me and I'm looking forward to it. I've told him before that when our grocery budget expands, this will be the first thing I will change. It doesn't make much sense now to buy organic produce, for example, when I can get my produce for free.


There you have it! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment.