I need a shoulder to cry on... (and maybe advice?)

[GatorMama]

I went WAY over budget on groceries this week... and I'm not even finished.

We budget $100/week. I spent $142. We're trying to use coupons more, but I don't want buy much stuff that has coupons readily available. And since I'm so new to using more than the occasional coupon, I haven't really figured out sale/coupon cycles, so I fear I'm sometimes "stocking up" when it's not the best deal I can get. For example, yesterday I had a coupon for $1.50 off of dunkin donuts coffee, which is DH's coffee of choice. The coupon expires on 5/31. When I got to the store, there were two more of the same coupon laying on the shelf. (Thank you, coupon fairy!) I felt selfish using them all, so I only took one and replaced it with a similar coupon Ihad for $1.50 off of dunkin donuts turbo coffee that won't expire until July (DH doesn't like that flavor as much but I clipped the coupon in case we didn't get another one for the flavor he likes). So... I bought two bags of coffee, saving $3 off of the normal price of $6.99/bag. Did I do the right thing?

Also of note is that in my meal planning for the week, I am making one LARGE batch of soup that will definitely feed us for more than just dinner and lunch. And we're havin a party on Saturday (we expect 20-30 people) where I'll have shredded chicken in the crock pot and seasoned ground beef for tacos with all the appropriate tacos. I guess I'm just worried about the budget since I know I have to go back later in the week... and then again on Tuesday! (Thursday I'll be getting the produce that I'll need for weekend meals and Tuesday I'll be getting the next week's groceries... and shrimp for that night's meal)

 

[DawnM]

I am heading out the door, so can't answer too much right now. Have you gone to HotCouponWorld.com? They are a wealth of information.

Do you subscribe to a service that will help match coupons with sale items? That will help you out tremendously as well.

From all that I have read, you should not try to cut your grocery budget drastically all at once. Keep it higher for a few months until you can stockpile, which is the key to couponing and getting your grocery budget lowered.

Dawn

 

[GinnyEmma]

Some weeks are just like that. Maybe next week you can save a bit. I find holidays really affect our budget too.

 

[scrapquitler]

I think the part about the coffee coupon was smart, and planning ahead.

As to the rest: I'd consider part of your overage as your "entertainment" budget rather than your grocery budget because it is for the holiday and company. It's still money out of your pocket, but I think of it differently than just groceries. YMMV.

Anyway, I'd simply adjust the menu plan for the rest of the week and probably for next week as well. I'd think hard about buying anything else for later in the week and next week (certainly I'd change my plans to eat something with Shrimp), just buy the bare essentials at that point. Then I'd adjust my meal plan and work at eating things we already have on hand (pasta meal, bake some homemade bread instead of buying, pull something out of the freezer or pantry, not eat as many pieces of fresh fruit, or at least eat less expensive ones, eliminate the shrimp and maybe eat a meat free meal then instead, etc).

Don't beat yourself up

 

[Kay1]

I agree that some weeks are better than others. Some weeks I can't resist deals as I use the pantry method. Other weeks I spend very little. This is a tough week for you as you're doing some entertaining.

Don't worry, it all takes time.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Hmmm, I need to explain the entertainment budget to dh! This weekend we have 6 teenage boys staying with us. Scary!!

 

[USAND3KIDS]

When I was a preteen and teenager, I wasn't allowed to eat. Not at all, none, nada, never. My friends mother who worked in a bakery snuck me bags of expired bagels and muffins when my father wasn't home. I ate in my closet only after he went to sleep. All of the food in my house was literally kept under lock and key. Even went as far as to count how many of something were left in a package and write the number on the package with a magic marker to ensure that I was NOT getting any food.


It's a horrible horrible story I know, however my point is.....soup is ok............soup is better than ok.

 

[sydneysmom]

start small and try to make a game of it. If you try to do it all at once, you're going to overwhelm yourself.

I love www.couponingtodisney.com , www.hip2save.com , www.krazycouponlady.com and www.dealseekingmom.com . You can sign up for their daily emails and you can check in on the websites during the day for quick tips. You can get tips on matching up coupons to what's on sale that week at whichever store. it's a HUGE help. They preview what coupons will be in Sunday's paper, usually give you Target / CVS / Rite AID / Walgreens sales w/ links to coupons for matching.

If you can try to really shop CVS and the other drug stores for your toiletry items, you can score some VERY great deals (cheap or free). This gives you more money in your food shopping budget.

One major thing I've learned is just because I have a coupon, I don't have to buy the item. And just because I have the coupon, I don't have to buy it NOW. I have found that it's best to "hold what you've got" until there's a sale. Usually if there's a coupon released, there's going to be a sale on that item within the next 2 weeks. www.coupons.com and www.smartsource.com and www.redplum.com are great resources for online coupon printing.

I've also learned to see what's on sale at our grocery store THEN make our dinner menu. I wasn't doing that and wound up spending more on meat and everything else. Now, I work around what's on sale, make our menu up and go. If our Kroger is having a "mega sale", I buy what's on sale (that we WILL USE) and put it in the pantry for a rainy day.

It takes time and patience. If you can cut yourself some slack and go slow....it will pay off HUGELY. I average about 45-60% savings per week at Kroger and I'm averaging an 80% savings at CVS. Our food shopping budget has stayed at $125 week (3 of us) through all this "recession", and I've stuck to it. And that amount includes meat, toiletries, cleaning supplies....all of it.

People can say what they will about coupons, but I'm not ashamed in the least.

 

[Disneylush]

POCKETYOURDOLLARS.COM

pocket your dollars is a FREE service that matches coupons and sales for you.

 

[ChrisinNJ]

One more site, not that you haven't got enough, livingrichwithcoupons.com

Good Luck!!

 

[GMU MOM]

If you just started getting into couponing, you need to cut your grocery budget gradually because you haven't built a stockpile of the items you use most yet so you are going to still be paying full price for certain things.

Just to give you my example, I used to spend $200-$250/week on all groceries for a family of 4. When I started couponing a year and a half ago, I aimed for $150/week. Now that I have a decent stockpile (especially toiletries) I aim for $100/week. There are certain weeks that I spend only half of that and other weeks where I do go over my $100 budget. But the weeks that I don't spend it all, I roll over that money to the following week.

Just like a PP said, if you can shop at least at one of the drug stores, you can score great deals for your toiletries which usually eat up a huge chunk of the budget.

One of the great blogs I follow is www.southernsavers.com
It is very easy to navigate.

 

[MomToOne]

And we're havin a party on Saturday (we expect 20-30 people) where I'll have shredded chicken in the crock pot and seasoned ground beef for tacos with all the appropriate tacos.

You cannot possibly expect to feed an extra 20-30 people and stay in your normal budget.

Subtract out what you spent on those supplies, and my guess is that you are within your normal budget.

Parties=a separate budget

 

[ColoradoDisneyFreaks]

One different way that we budget (DH is in finance/accounting and this comes from him) is that we're budgeting for the year, not a week or a month. So, if you're tracking your spending, and you see a trend that you're consistently over budget, then you've got 2 choices, you can either change your spending habit (I'm not sure how big your family is, but $100/week or $400/month is very reasonable for groceries), or your other choice is to accept the overage this time, and change your budget for next time.

We use Excel for our Budget (have for the last 12 years) and track groceries purchased for normal family consumption in groceries, but if we're buying for a party then we track that under entertainment, I'd split out that shopping list and only use the total for the groceries that you didn't buy for the party as going towards your regular budget, and any that you buy for the party later would go towards that entertainment budget as well.

(Yes, we do actually try and go through and budget "buffers" like a summer bar-be-que or Christmas party into our budget... We're pretty thourough with it!)

 

[GatorMama]

One of my problems with meal planning with a sale is that my grocery store (the base commissary) doesn't advertise their sales well. I can look at specials online, but it is in a typed out list format which can be difficult to read as sometimes not all varieties of a particular product are on sale and it only lists the brand, size and brief description (what would print out on your receipt). Sales on fresh meats, seafood and produce are not advertised at all. I would have go to the store to see the prices on those items. And since those are the things that are the biggest factor in meal planning... it makes it hard to do ahead of time... and with a toddler, I just can't plan meals IN the grocery store once I see what's on sale... maybe one or two a week, but not a whole week's worth. (Last month, when pork chops were on super sale, I did buy a few packages to have for later, but our freezer isn't big enough to buy more than an extra 1 or 2 packages at a time. We hope to get a deep freezer soon to help with that, but it is a couple months away...

I'm picky about what I buy so health and beauty aid deals aren't always going to help me. I will only use one kind of deoderant (because its the only one I feel like works for me). DH isn't quite as picky abotu deoderant, but he is about his shaving stuff... and his body wash... I'll only buy Marcal two-ply TP (because it's made from recycled paper).

There's just so much to learn and consider!

 

[maggiew]

You didn't say whether the coffee was on sale or not. However, it wouldn't be a stock up price for me unless it was on sale and I had a coupon.

Also, don't feel bad about going over your food budget if you are having a party.

Maggie

 

[GatorMama]

You didn't say whether the coffee was on sale or not. However, it wouldn't be a stock up price for me unless it was on sale and I had a coupon.

Also, don't feel bad about going over your food budget if you are having a party.

Maggie

No. It wasn't on sale... but it WAS cheaper than the sale prices I've seen at the other two grocery stores I've price checked. I've never seen it on sale at the commissary [yet].


I'm going to dig up my receipt and figure out how much was on party food...

 

[cglaura]

I agree that with the extra 20-30 people you shouldn't consider that as blowing your budget, but a needed over budget.

Perhaps to make up the difference, in the next few weeks you can "eat out of the pantry"...don't buy any new food except produce/dairy that is needed, and use up what you already have on hand in the pantry, fridge and freezer. It might be boring, but I do this every so often, and it is nice to only have a $15 grocery bill that week (small family of two).

 

[SaraJayne]

Our grocery budget is ALWAYS bigger when we're having a party.

It's ok.

If it bothers you that much to go over budget, try to eat a little "cheaper" next week. See what's in the cupboards and freezer that you can plan around.

 

[Marionnette]

Party budgets and grocery budgets are totally separate in our house.

When it comes to party food, there's almost no way to get everything you need on sale, with a coupon the week that you need it. So I usually plan my menu around what I have, what's on sale and most importantly, what my guests will enjoy.

And as for the coffee...you had a coupon. You needed coffee. You did fine. Coffee is expensive.

 

[GatorMama]

OK... I went back over my receipt.... I had $11.60 in coupon savings, which means I WOULD have spent $156.00 without the coupons.

I <3 Excel, and I already had my grocery list in there anyway, so I went in and put the prices next to each item (after accounting for the coupons).
With the party food in there, my total (before the "surcharge" that replaces taxes at the commissary) was 135.07. Then I went in and deleted all the prices next to food for the party. It only brought that number down to 113.90... so... I'm pretty sure that my little splurges got in the way of me sticking to our budget. (The things that weren't originally on my list but were at a great price and I had a coupon for... or it was just a great price and I've never seen a coupon for... those items included a box of snack packs of Ritz bits, a bag of rolled oats that I knew I was nearly out of, hot dogs and that extra bag of coffee.) And the good news is that I won't need any of those things on my next grocery trip... but I do still have A LOT on my list for Thursday... I will still plan to have my shrimp next week, but that will be our splurge meal for the week (this week it will be NY strip steaks... $15 for those suckers also meant it was a huge part of our grocery budget)