$300 cash a week. Can it be done?

[amy-momofthree]

In an effort to spend less, I am putting our family on a cash only system. We used our Disney Visa for everything (pd it in full monthly) but when I got our yearly report last week, I was shocked at how much we spent on misc!!!! And most of it was unnecessary.

I figured from this report that we were spending between $135-$160
a week on groceries. This includes, paper products, health
and beauty and diapers. I don't do a lot of driving but dh fills up once
a week at $45 each time.

So, any tips to keep my new goal?? Do you think $300 a week
is realistic?

Of course, any extra at the end of
the week goes into the vacation fund.

FYI: it's me, dh, ds 9, dd7 and dd
20 mths and the $300 would be for groceries, gas, entertainment
(occasional movie, occasional eating out) and clothing. I cook most every night and kids and dh take lunch to school and work. But we will go out for pizza or something about once a month.

 

[ldadar]

Love it!!

I think it will be hard, but you can do it.

 

[100AcreWood]

We are a family of 5 and we do the cash system too (love Dave Ramsey). We live on $300 a week but we charge gas on a card. It's doable but tight some weeks. I keep any leftover money and use that on weeks when we run tight on cash.

 

[tar heel]

Did you mean to say $300 a month? If you really mean $300 a week and you're only spending $40 a week on groceries now, this will be a piece of cake.
I couldn't do $300 a month, but you might.

 

[amy-momofthree]

Did you mean to say $300 a month? If you really mean $300 a week and you're only spending $40 a week on groceries now, this will be a piece of cake.
I couldn't do $300 a month, but you might.

No, $300 a week. I spend $150average a week on groceries including paper products (family of 5) and $45 for gas for dh a week. Gas for me is about $10 a week. Which leaves us $100 a week for misc.

 

[wishesuponastar]

You might want to edit your first post then, cause you have $150 a month for groceries.

I hope this challenge works for you. I am going to get our numbers from DH and try a challenge too.

 

[amy-momofthree]

You might want to edit your first post then, cause you have $150 a month for groceries.

I hope this challenge works for you. I am going to get our numbers from DH and try a challenge too.

Ooops! You're right. I edited! $150 a month on groceries! I wish! It's $150 a week

 

[disny_luvr]

I think it is very possible to live on $300 a week.

I spend about $100/week on groceries (some weeks a little more, some less but it all evens out) for four people. If we lived on $300/week that would leave us with about $200 for gas/entertainment. Both DH and myself live close to where we work so many weeks we only spend about $20 on gas. We do eat out (probably too much) but we never spend more than $100 a week on eating out unless it is a very special occasion and we really splurge.
Now we don't do a whole lot of other things like going to the movies, bowling, etc. If we were to do things like that every week I think $300 would be a stretch.

Give it a try. If you find $300 is cutting it too close maybe you could increase your budget to $325 or $350.

My one and only New Year's resolution is to stop eating out so much. We've been doing pretty good so far; we've eaten at a restaurant once and ordered a pizza and brought it home to eat once. I'm happy with our progess. I only hope we can keep it up.

 

[prncess674]

I think you need to do a better job of allocating that money. Just having a $300 weekly fund still doesn't help you understand where you are overspending. Why not put specific amounts allocated to each category. If you just have a big slush fund you still have no idea where the money is going.

 

[goofyredraider]

Definitely! I'm trying to do $250/wk and I've been successful so far, but my pantry and freezer has been pretty stocked. Also, DH and I don't fill up every week (more like every other week), so on those weeks, it will likely be a bit more.

 

[disny_luvr]

OP,

Do you use coupons for your grocery shopping and/or any of your entertainment? I am big on couponing. Between my coupons and bonus card I usually save about $25/week. Also, we never go out to eat without a coupon. For example, the one restaurant we ate at this month I had a $10 off coupon. That $10 coupon was equal to a little more than one free meal. Our bill including tip wasn't much more than $20. We often go to Chili's when they have one of their kids eat free nights. A lot of times if you sign up on a restaurant's website you'll get some type of coupon just for joining. These are just randoms thoughts I have that might help you save a few bucks and stretch your budget.

I think when DH comes home from work today I'll talk to him about trying a challenge similar to yours. I enjoy a good challenge.

Good luck!

 

[amy-momofthree]

OP,

Do you use coupons for your grocery shopping and/or any of your entertainment? I am big on couponing. Between my coupons and bonus card I usually save about $25/week. Also, we never go out to eat without a coupon. For example, the one restaurant we ate at this month I had a $10
off coupon. That $10 coupon was equal to a little more than one free
meal. Our bill including tip wasn't much more than $20. We often go to Chili's when they have one of
their kids eat free nights. A lot of times if you sign up on a restaurant's website you'll get
some type of coupon just for joining. These are just randoms
thoughts I have that might help you save a few bucks and stretch your budget.

I think when DH comes home from work today I'll talk to him about trying a challenge similar to yours.
I enjoy a good challenge.

Good luck!

Thanks! I do use coupons for groceries. We don't find many coupons for restaurants though. I didn't know Chilis had a kids eat free night! I will have to check into that! Thanks!!

 

[amy-momofthree]

I think you need to do a better job of allocating that money. Just having a $300 weekly fund still doesn't help you understand where you are overspending. Why not put specific amounts allocated to each category. If you just have a big slush fund you still have no idea where the money is going.

You are right. I just want to go cash only because I think it was way too easy to spend when you whip out the card. I think having cash in hand will make us stop and think before buying something unnecessary. And a lot of that spending was totally unnecessary.

 

[maui13]

Kids eat free at Chili's every Tuesday night. Let us know how it goes!

 

[pigletto]

Totally doable. I think we too spend about 150 (at the maximum) on household/grocery items in a week. We have a small car and it is good on gas.
In fact, I would say have a plan for when you don't use the entire amount so you don't just blow it because it's there.
We are on a tight budget right now. We are going to Disney in May, and going to the Mountains this summer. So we are watching all extra spending very carefully to build the vacation fund.
Some weeks we don't need more than the grocery and gas money. Others we go over because we want to see a movie, or field trip money is due for the kids, or a birthday gift etc. So, I like to make it a monthly budget so we can transfer the surplus from week to week.
It's tight, but completely doable when you have an immediate goal in mind

 

[Sheaboys]

Absolutely doable. We are a family of 7, me, dh, ds13, ds11, ds9, ds5 and ds2.

We do about $325 a week, this includes grocery, walmart for paper stuff, and gas. Some weeks were more, when we were buying diapers and pullups, but no more thankfully, since the little decided in October to train himself.

We have take out at least 1-2x a week, usually Friday and/or Saturday. We do not eat out during the week, we are just too busy to take advantage of those kids eat free nights, which are usually only during the week.

During school vacations we spend more, because I take the kids out to lunch or something special.

We are a one income family so we have to make it work, we also have a really good savings cushion for when it does not work, which is usually around when registration fees for sports is due, or summer camps etc.

Good luck!

 

[disprincessatheart]

i think you would want to track the weekly spending as you're doing this, at least in the beginning. Hand your DH the $45 for gas, or have him continue to use the card just for that and take it off your budget (i know gas is simpler for me not to go in - that way I don't buy junk!). When you spend anything else, write it down. $100 for misc might be more than you need, or you might need that on average so the extra each week can build up for things like swim lessons, etc.

 

[Marionnette]

In an effort to spend less, I am putting our family on a cash only system. We used our Disney Visa for everything (pd it in full monthly) but when I got our yearly report last week, I was shocked at how much we spent on misc!!!! And most of it was unnecessary.

I figured from this report that we were spending between $135-$160
a week on groceries. This includes, paper products, health
and beauty and diapers. I don't do a lot of driving but dh fills up once
a week at $45 each time.

So, any tips to keep my new goal?? Do you think $300 a week
is realistic?

Of course, any extra at the end of
the week goes into the vacation fund.

FYI: it's me, dh, ds 9, dd7 and dd
20 mths and the $300 would be for groceries, gas, entertainment
(occasional movie, occasional eating out) and clothing. I cook most every night and kids and dh take lunch to school and work. But we will go out for pizza or something about once a month.

So, after groceries and gas, you'll have anywhere between $380-$500 each month for entertainment, dining out and clothing.

I would say that it's possible but you are really going to notice the belt tightening. The more drastic the cuts, the less likely you are to be successful.

I don't know how much you were spending prior to this decision, but I would recommend starting with a 10% reduction in spending for about 6 weeks. Once you're proven to yourself that it was painless and manageable, then you can consider cutting back a little more. Then keep trimming your budget until you've reached your goal.

 

[amy-momofthree]

i think you would want to track the weekly spending as you're doing this, at least in the beginning. Hand your DH the $45 for gas, or have him continue to use the card just for that and take it off your budget (i know gas is simpler for me not to go in - that way I don't buy junk!). When you spend anything else, write it down.
$100 for misc might be more than you need, or you might need that on average so the extra each
week can build up for things like swim lessons, etc.

That's a great idea!! I will keep the weekly receipts to keep track. Thanks for that tip.

 

[amy-momofthree]

So, after groceries and gas, you'll have anywhere between $380-$500 each month for entertainment, dining out and clothing.

I would say that it's possible but you are really going to notice the belt tightening. The more drastic the cuts, the less likely you are to
be successful.

I don't know how much you were
spending prior to this decision, but I would recommend starting with a
10% reduction in spending for about 6 weeks. Once you're proven to yourself that it was
painless and manageable, then you can consider cutting back a little more. Then keep trimming your budget until you've reached your goal.

Yeah, I am afraid it will be tight. I wanted to hear from those who have had success with such a goal. The $300 a week is a lot less than what we were spending using the card. But I kept telling myself that was all unnecessary spending. Other than Christmas presents, we can't really account for the extra spending!! And since we just had Christmas and the kids received new clothes, toys, etc. I'm hoping We can do this.