Well I actually spent $160.21 this week in two trips--1 for $104.15 and 1 for $56.06.
I split the $104.15 trip as some items were bought for our July 4th cook-out(and I didn't want to wait until July's food budget kicked in)so I put $52.75 in the June budget, which put us $10+ over for the month.
So $51.40 of that $104.15 trip went onto July's spending.
Then I went back to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Thursday to pick-up a "few" things and use 2 coupons I forgot to take earlier in the week on that other trip.
Oops. ;-)
But really how could I say no to 2 bags of coffee for $1.75 a bag, salad dressing for $1 a bottle, 5 packs of OM bacon for $3 after sale and $3 off stickers, 2 boxes of turkey sausage bkfst patties for $1 after sale and $2 off stickers, 4 bags of shredded cheese on clearance for 1/2 price, 2 loaves of PF bread/2 canisters of lemonade mix/2 packs of snack crackers(for BF's lunches) for $6.49 total(it was a Buy 6/Sale $3 Deal + I had $3 in Qs to use), 1 Hummus dip for $1(after sale and Qs)?
A 58% savings rate for that trip alone so yes, I'll spend extra now to save later.
The $104.15 trip was a 48% savings rate as well so not too shabby.
This means I have already spent $107.46 of my $450 food budget for July.
And it's just July first.
meh.
As for the rest of July I am NOT going to push off any monies spent in July onto August, like I did with some of June's spending onto July.
Good, bad or ugly, my July total will be what it will be.
As for being stressed out over food overspending.....
I am not stressed right now. I am still trying to find our new normal food budget. IF we need to spend $500 or $600 a month now, so be it.
What would stress me out more now is to have more food waste. We've got more of that than I am comfortable with right now.
But again, still honing in on that sweet spot of the new normal for us so I'll be working on keeping all the leftovers being consumed and not throwing them out when they go off.
Daughter and BF don't seem to like leftovers from what I can tell.
Yes it would be easy to just tell them eat it or go hungry but to put into practice?.....not so much.
Maybe the plan going forward is to keep my amounts cooked for meals tight/smaller and try to avoid leftovers unless it's something I can repurpose into a new dish that we will all eat OR over cook some foods for planned-overs.
We do have a dog here now so an instant garbage disposal for leftovers(if it's not vegetables). Yes, that will help with making sure everything gets eaten before it goes bad BUT I really don't want to be buying food and cooking it to ultimately feed to the dog because the humans here didn't eat it.
So much to work on and consider.
Sluggy
I split the $104.15 trip as some items were bought for our July 4th cook-out(and I didn't want to wait until July's food budget kicked in)so I put $52.75 in the June budget, which put us $10+ over for the month.
So $51.40 of that $104.15 trip went onto July's spending.
Then I went back to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Thursday to pick-up a "few" things and use 2 coupons I forgot to take earlier in the week on that other trip.
Oops. ;-)
But really how could I say no to 2 bags of coffee for $1.75 a bag, salad dressing for $1 a bottle, 5 packs of OM bacon for $3 after sale and $3 off stickers, 2 boxes of turkey sausage bkfst patties for $1 after sale and $2 off stickers, 4 bags of shredded cheese on clearance for 1/2 price, 2 loaves of PF bread/2 canisters of lemonade mix/2 packs of snack crackers(for BF's lunches) for $6.49 total(it was a Buy 6/Sale $3 Deal + I had $3 in Qs to use), 1 Hummus dip for $1(after sale and Qs)?
A 58% savings rate for that trip alone so yes, I'll spend extra now to save later.
The $104.15 trip was a 48% savings rate as well so not too shabby.
This means I have already spent $107.46 of my $450 food budget for July.
And it's just July first.
meh.
As for the rest of July I am NOT going to push off any monies spent in July onto August, like I did with some of June's spending onto July.
Good, bad or ugly, my July total will be what it will be.
As for being stressed out over food overspending.....
I am not stressed right now. I am still trying to find our new normal food budget. IF we need to spend $500 or $600 a month now, so be it.
What would stress me out more now is to have more food waste. We've got more of that than I am comfortable with right now.
But again, still honing in on that sweet spot of the new normal for us so I'll be working on keeping all the leftovers being consumed and not throwing them out when they go off.
Daughter and BF don't seem to like leftovers from what I can tell.
Yes it would be easy to just tell them eat it or go hungry but to put into practice?.....not so much.
Maybe the plan going forward is to keep my amounts cooked for meals tight/smaller and try to avoid leftovers unless it's something I can repurpose into a new dish that we will all eat OR over cook some foods for planned-overs.
We do have a dog here now so an instant garbage disposal for leftovers(if it's not vegetables). Yes, that will help with making sure everything gets eaten before it goes bad BUT I really don't want to be buying food and cooking it to ultimately feed to the dog because the humans here didn't eat it.
So much to work on and consider.
Sluggy
I don't understand why you are worried about what your daughter and BF eat. They should be buying their own groceries and cooking their own food.It's different with your son- he is still a student and your dependent right? I'd buy and cook just like I did before and continue to save $$ if that is my plan. No stress- I'd just make sure they clean up after themseleves.
ReplyDeleteFor now the plan is we pay for food(except for lunch snacks for BF's lunch). Daughter came home so she could afford to finish school....her "job" now is to go to school and graduate with a useful degree. She has a part-time job to pay her car insurance and gas to get back and forth to job/school basically and a few dollars of "fun" money and to pay for her books(she spent $700 for the first semester on books so far...ouch).
DeleteWe are paying the utilities and the food and not charging them rent.
Once BF starts getting his paychecks we'll see what he has leftover after paying for his car insurance and gas to commute to work(and paying for his lunch snacks and sodas)to put toward "rent".
Daughter is helping me out with the cooking to give me a break.
I hope your daughter appreciates what a loving mom she has and treats you right. From what I read of your posts, you are one nice lady!
ReplyDeleteThis question is not to be contentious or tell you how to do things, but...Does he pay your for snack crackers and other things you buy for his lunch? This would be a good teaching lesson--that things can be had cheaply instead of full price and he can hand you a little money or go out and buy it full price. I think I remember you said that they pay for his lunch food. That's what I think you said. But, let's not depend on my memory...lol. However, I would not be able to pass by the cheap crackers if I saw them and give them to him.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand the situation; you are a great mom giving them a hand up as DD finishes school BUT your household expenses are going up. Should you choose not to charge rent, minimally, IMO, the increase in utilities, food needs to be covered by them-just my 2 cents. I get it that you don't want to tap them out yet there are increases. You are doing them a MAJOR favor, been there, done that! Good luck; stay stress free. : )
ReplyDeletePretty good deals again. I too just incorporated the costs of another person when we had DD's friend living with us. They were trying to get back into their home and worrying about the extra cost was just not something I wanted to do, so just worked it into the spending. I put a plug for your give away in my post today. http://newframereference.blogspot.com/2016/07/going-to-get-my-colors-done.html
ReplyDeleteTough situation as everyone has an opinion. But I must say you seem open minded to feedback even if you don't agree. That's what makes me come back to your blog. The diversity of opinions. Some blogs chalk it up to hate and block!
ReplyDeleteI will say I almost fell off my chair when you said the bf buys soda! Drink water! Fice that money to you and save your calories! Seems like a no brainer. Give up soda. Drop weight and hand the cash over!
Well, since everyone has offered their two cents worth, here's mine. Please be very careful what you feed the dog. There are so many human foods that they shouldn't eat and some have dire consequences. They are not garbage disposals. I am a huge dog lover and felt I had to give this advice on their behalf. I hope you're not offended.
ReplyDelete