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

[Pigeon]

The secret for me staying on budget for groceries is that I have very little brand loyalty. If you do, you are going to have a much harder time. I am a little picky about coffee, for example, but I have a range of probably six or seven brands that are OK. Chances are better that one of those will be on sale/have a coupon on a given week than if I had to stick to one particular brand.

Also, if you are buying items like shrimp and strip steak, it's going to hurt.

I agree with the others, a party is going to cost more and not fit in the normal budget.

 

[DawnM]

Ok, so your parents never fed you anything ever? Who ate that labeled food?

Dawn

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.

 

[QVCshopper]

I think you need to prepare cheaper dinners. I've never spent $15 on steak at home. Most times, I buy the close to expiration meat and freeze it immediately or cook that night. I get it at Wegmans, which is an excellent food store, and it makes splurges (like yummy kabobs) so much more affordable. Also, most of the food I buy is store brand; again, Wegmans is very good for that.

Also, I live near the food store and go 2-3 times a week and spend $10-$20 at a time. It really cuts down my spending. I don't stockpile (except for coffee and cereal) and I only use really great coupons, like free items through Facebook.

I don't think you mentioned how many people are in your family. I have four and average $300-400 a month in food and maybe $100 eating out. When I do the no-buy thread, I'm usually at $400 total (groceries and eating out combined). Not the best by far, but it's decent.

 

[Fyrefly]

Nothing wrong with treating yourself to expensive meats, but here are two thoughts.

Instead of strip steak, shrimp, etc. every week, why not try every other week for a bit?

Alternatively, if you're buying strip steak last week and shrimp this week, that tells me you are buying meat by the week. If you aren't already, start paying attention to what is $2 a pound or less each week. Build a meat stockpile in your freezer. It's much cheaper to buy 6 or 8 pounds of chicken breast at $2 a pound in the big packages than to buy 1 or 2 lbs a week at $4 or $5 a pound. The same goes with ground beef, and various cuts. We buy steaks in bulk, nice steaks, and freeze them. When prime rib goes on sale around Christmas to about 1/3 of its normal price, we buy 4 of them and spread them out over the next few months. So it's not just cheap meat that goes on sale. Frozen shrimp goes on sale too, etc. Once you get a good stockpile of meat going and get a feel for your local stores' sale cycle so you're almost exclusively buying meat on sale, you'll save a lot. And your between-meat shopping weeks will be cheaper too!

 

[tar heel]

I know you said it's hard to tell what's on sale, but the key to really lowering your budget is to plan your meals and shopping around the deals. We eat very well, but I don't buy some of our favorites - shrimp, steak, london broil, boneless pork chops -- unless they are on sale. We like lots of fruit, so I get what's on sale. If grapes are $3.99, they aren't coming home with me -- I'll get the 99-cent apples and BOGOF strawberries instead.

I wouldn't have bought the coffee either. If there's a coupon this month, there's probably going to be one next month, too. My expectation would be to use that coupon with a sale.

I agree with the person who said it's important not to be brand loyal. For most items, I have a range of acceptable brands. There are some things I would never buy at full price but are acceptable at good prices. Detergent is a good example. Purex is not my favorite detergent, but I can get it for 98 cents this week at CVS ($1.98 sale price minus $1 coupon), so I'll be using Purex a while.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I understand about commissary shopping and not knowing what is on sale because I also shop at the commissary.

I think you are budgeting plenty if you are doing $100 a week unless that includes any baby things like formual or diapers or other baby needs. However, some months are going to have almost 5 weeks so you will have to stretch the meals that extra week.

I will say that you have to be realistic about your budget and your food tastes. You may have a steak want but a ground beef budget and have to just understand that you aren't going to have a splurge meal every week.

When I shop, I do already have a meal plan in my head but I also understand that I will adjust it according to what is on sale. Frankly sometimes in the past a good meal was baked chicken drumsticks and a frozen veggies.

If you are trying to follow a strict budget, carry a calculator and put the most important things in the cart first like milk and produce and meat before the extras. Once you hit your $100 limit then stop shopping. I've certainly had to do that in the pasts where I just stopped when I hit my $80 limit but of course this was almost 10 years ago.

It's not always about coupon shopping either. It's all about shopping smart.

 

[jjsmom]

Don't be too hard on yourself. We all have our ups and downs when it comes to the budget.
Sometimes we need a few luxuries. I think the key to budgeting is "awareness"; Understanding where our money goes week after week, day after day. Most of us (thank God) are not in a desperation mode and if we want to spend 2 or 3 bucks extra on a pound of coffee, it's all right.

 

[Marionnette]

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)

Okay, first you need to keep that surcharge in your accounting for your budget. Why? Because you're not paying for it with Monopoly money. It's coming out of your pocketbook regardless of whether it is a tangible item or surcharge.

Second, disregarding the party foods, you overspent your allotted budget for the week by $14 (before surcharges). That translates to busting your monthly food budget by $56 plus surcharges if you keep this up! Most experienced budgeters know that there are some weeks that you will go over by a little bit. But they adjust by coming in under budget by an equal amount the following week. So what you need to do is to make sure that your spending on next week's groceries comes in that much less. To do this, you may have to postpone that shrimp feast until the following week. IOW, you already spent your shrimp money on extra coffee, crackers and hot dogs.

I know what you mean by "splurge" meals. We try to have at least one very nice meal each week. But most of the time it is a roast that can be served for more than one meal. For instance, I made a pork loin on the grill on Thursday last week. It was a 2.5 lb. roast and fed 3 people. We ate less than 1/3 of it. The remainder was sliced down, vacuum sealed and frozen for future meals. Some was refrigerated for sandwiches. The roast was $7 on sale but it will make at least 3 meals. Compare that to your $15 strip steaks that will feed you for all of one meal.

 

[GatorMama]

Thank you! I appreciate everyone's advice! I don't think I'll be changing my brand loyalty on most of what I buy, but there ARE some things that I don't mind switching to what is on sale (frozen veggies are pretty much all the same to me, but some canned veggies I will only get in certain brands because I haven't liked other brands; I also don't mind getting a different brand of organic milk, but I don't like to some brands because of the company's practices)

As far as meat goes... once we buy our deep freezer, it will be much easier to stock up on larger quantities of meat at one time, when it's on sale. We also plan to buy a share of a grass-fed cow. While many of you might not want to pay the $7/lb for that meat, we think eating organic or grassfed is very important and are willing to pay that extra money... and it will be easier to stomach the extra cost knowing that its so much cheaper to get it straight from the farmer!

Sorry I forgot to say how many people I'm feeding. There are three of us, but our little guy barely counts in our meal plan. He was breasfed (free and SO much better for him that formula) and we use mostly cloth diapers, so we don't have many extra costs for him... besides the milk and the bananas... and broccoli. The kid can put away some serious bananas and broccoli!

 

[GatorMama]

Okay, first you need to keep that surcharge in your accounting for your budget. Why? Because you're not paying for it with Monopoly money. It's coming out of your pocketbook regardless of whether it is a tangible item or surcharge.

Oh I do! It was just easier to tally up a total by having it in a separate column. The total I wrote down as what I spent on groceries was actually $144 (I rounded up to the closest dollar... and added $3 for tipping the bagger... which is pretty much expected at the commissary since that's the only money the baggers make)

Second, disregarding the party foods, you overspent your allotted budget for the week by $14 (before surcharges). That translates to busting your monthly food budget by $56 plus surcharges if you keep this up! Most experienced budgeters know that there are some weeks that you will go over by a little bit. But they adjust by coming in under budget by an equal amount the following week. So what you need to do is to make sure that your spending on next week's groceries comes in that much less. To do this, you may have to postpone that shrimp feast until the following week. IOW, you already spent your shrimp money on extra coffee, crackers and hot dogs.

I was UNDER $13 the week before (I ate most meals from the freezer/pantry) so I won't be TOO terribly off next week! I'm hoping we'll have some leftover taco meat from the party to have for dinner one night... and I'm sure I won't make the whole bag of chicken, so I can atleast use the last few pieces of chicken for one meal too.

I know what you mean by "splurge" meals. We try to have at least one very nice meal each week. But most of the time it is a roast that can be served for more than one meal. For instance, I made a pork loin on the grill on Thursday last week. It was a 2.5 lb. roast and fed 3 people. We ate less than 1/3 of it. The remainder was sliced down, vacuum sealed and frozen for future meals. Some was refrigerated for sandwiches. The roast was $7 on sale but it will make at least 3 meals. Compare that to your $15 strip steaks that will feed you for all of one meal.

We *should* get two meals from our steaks... I got two of the larger ones on purpose so that we'd have enough leftovers for lunch. When I get the smaller steaks, there's never enough for me to have lunch the next day... which sometimes leads me to buy fast food... and I don't want to do that... it would end up being more expensive than additional cost of the bigger steaks AND it would have added more calories that I don't have the time or energy to run off.

 

[SOnotLayuh]

weusecoupons.com is amazing and has helped me learn and begin a stock pile!

 

[C.Ann]

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!

Just a quick question.. I'm not familiar with commissary shopping, so at the risk of sounding totally ignorant, do you have to do all of your shopping there?

If not, I'm wondering if you could save a little more here and there when a major market (or chain store) is having an extremely good sale on certain items and you have some really good coupons that you have acquired by using the links to the sites provided here and printing out coupons for whatever name brand items you typically use.. If so, at that time (like with the DD coffee for your DH), you might be able to stock up on items that you know you won't get for less at the commissary (or at least at the specific time that you need it)..

Just a thought..

 

[*Seanaci*]

Don't beat yourself up too bad.

I recently started clipping and using coupons myself in the last few weeks. It's not a process learned over night. And I'm assuming you're not trying to be one of those...people whose goal in couponing is to get out of the store spending as little money as you can (meaning well under $100 on lets say $200 worth of groceries).

My advice to you is this...make out your grocery list. Grab your coupons and see what coupons you can use that week in conjunction with your grocery list. It may not save you much...but over time, those savings DO add up. I find I save about $5 a week using coupons (not to mention the discount I get for bringing and using my own cloth bags, or the 5% I save using my target debit card as we primarily shop at Target). The toughest part for me using coupons is making sure I use them before they expire. But even then, if I don't, I try not to sweat it too much...and find that often times it's not something I use often enough to have just bought it to use the coupon.

A piece of advice for the future though...when you know you're having a party...plan ahead. If you have to buy meat or bread/buns, buy it a little at a time and freeze it. Same goes for any non-perishable items...and even plates, cups, napkins, plasticware. Then when it comes time to buy the perishable for the party, you don't freak about going over on the grocery bill...because you have bought when you can and frozen it or whatever!

Hope this helped! Have a great party.

 

[tomthebarncat]

Have you thought about scaling back on your party food?? Shrimp is expensive and to serve it to that many folks is a budget buster in it's self. You have gotten some good coupon advice here, and I have seen folks using a calculator at the commisary, so they have an idea of what their total bill will be. There is no shame in doing this and remember it is your money you are spending! Have fun at your party!

 

[Schotz]

Shop at a smaller store, no coupons, no cards, just the stuff you need. Use cash and only bring a set amount with you. Have something to eat before you go shopping.

You pay more per item at the smaller store but if you buy only what you need, you end up spending less. Using cash stops you from over spending or an unbalanced checking account. Debit cards are the worst.

 

[fakereadhed]

I went way over last week, and I can honestly say the increased food prices are to blame. I do double $1 coupons then fill in the blanks at Aldi. It was the Aldi trip that killed it and I buy the same items there. I may have to bump up the grocery budget to keep up with inflation.

Now a tip! Don't be brand loyal. Buy things that are on sale with coupons at significant savings and try them. Sometimes this gets you out of a rut and keeps the family from being bored with the same old thing. Some will be a hit, some will be a miss, but you will still be full either way. I would never buy frozen rolls, but got 3 packages of Sister Shubert's rolls for free last week. My family loved them! If you look at it as exciting to try new things rather than a let down because you didn't buy exactly what you wanted it makes it a lot more fun.

 

[VAN]

I'd average your food budget over two weeks. I'd also look at what you are serving your family. Can you mix some inexpensive meals in there somewhere. Save the nicer cuts of meat for a special dinner during the week and then have a few meals that are just mac-n-cheese + hotdogs, or a pasta meal, what about eggs and toast for dinner?

There are ways to cut costs ... just think back to the days before family when you only had yourself to worry about. I can remember just fixing tomato soup (was 10 cents back then) and buttered bread for dinner. When my DH was in college and we were living on my income, we had beans and franks most nights. Can you say "Ramen Noodles".

If your family is commited to sticking to a grocery budget, then EVERYONE will need to adjust their expectations about what is available for eats at home. Get everyone (including your DH) involved in planning the menus ... make it a game .... hey, we only have this much money for groceries ... what can we fix to stay within budget??

I also try to use coupons and will "stock-up" on items we use when they are on sale (e.g. I have probably 50 cans of chunky soup purchased for between $0.75 and $1.00 ... they sell usually for $1.79 each).

As mentioned, get the whole family involved ... but this party has really thrown off your budget ... just make up for it with the next week's budget by serving low-cost meals.

 

[Marionnette]

Oh I do! It was just easier to tally up a total by having it in a separate column. The total I wrote down as what I spent on groceries was actually $144 (I rounded up to the closest dollar... and added $3 for tipping the bagger... which is pretty much expected at the commissary since that's the only money the baggers make)

Okay. Just as long as you're not deluding yourself into thinking that you only went over by $14 this week. You actually went over by a bit more when you take into account the extra money for the surcharge.

I was UNDER $13 the week before (I ate most meals from the freezer/pantry) so I won't be TOO terribly off next week! I'm hoping we'll have some leftover taco meat from the party to have for dinner one night... and I'm sure I won't make the whole bag of chicken, so I can atleast use the last few pieces of chicken for one meal too.

As long as you don't fall into the "I under spent my grocery budget by $13 this week so I can get a latte" mindset. It's so easy to do. When I first started doing a budget, I could rationalize spending that same $13 two or three times! You have to set that money aside for the week when you spend more than your budgeted amount whether you set it aside in your bank account or in a jar on a kitchen shelf.

We *should* get two meals from our steaks... I got two of the larger ones on purpose so that we'd have enough leftovers for lunch. When I get the smaller steaks, there's never enough for me to have lunch the next day... which sometimes leads me to buy fast food... and I don't want to do that... it would end up being more expensive than additional cost of the bigger steaks AND it would have added more calories that I don't have the time or energy to run off.

Yes, but here's the difference. I spent $7 and the meat will feed 3 adult for 3 meals. Essentially 9 meals for $7. You spent $15 and will feed 2 people for 2 meals. You spent more than twice what I did to get less than half the number of meals.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't buy steak...ever! I happen to love a nice thick Delmonico on the grill. What I'm saying is that you can make splurge meals that are more affordable and get more out of them for your dollar. Buy the steak when it's on sale and limit it (or the the shrimp, or other pricey protein) to once a month instead of weekly.

 

[GatorMama]

Just a quick question.. I'm not familiar with commissary shopping, so at the risk of sounding totally ignorant, do you have to do all of your shopping there?

If not, I'm wondering if you could save a little more here and there when a major market (or chain store) is having an extremely good sale on certain items and you have some really good coupons that you have acquired by using the links to the sites provided here and printing out coupons for whatever name brand items you typically use.. If so, at that time (like with the DD coffee for your DH), you might be able to stock up on items that you know you won't get for less at the commissary (or at least at the specific time that you need it)..

Just a thought..

No. I don't. But a vast majority of the time, the prices are better there. I don't mind going to another store if they have something that I want that is cheaper, but that just doesn't happen very often... and it really needs to be more than one item for me to go out of the way to go there with a toddler. I've got a spreadsheet with the regular prices at my three favorite stores and the sale prices... and BOGO prices still don't always compete with regular commissary prices. If I had coupons to add to those, it MIGHT be cheaper (since there aren't always coupons available for the specific brands at the commissary).

 

[GatorMama]

Don't beat yourself up too bad.

I recently started clipping and using coupons myself in the last few weeks. It's not a process learned over night. And I'm assuming you're not trying to be one of those...people whose goal in couponing is to get out of the store spending as little money as you can (meaning well under $100 on lets say $200 worth of groceries).

My advice to you is this...make out your grocery list. Grab your coupons and see what coupons you can use that week in conjunction with your grocery list. It may not save you much...but over time, those savings DO add up. I find I save about $5 a week using coupons (not to mention the discount I get for bringing and using my own cloth bags, or the 5% I save using my target debit card as we primarily shop at Target). The toughest part for me using coupons is making sure I use them before they expire. But even then, if I don't, I try not to sweat it too much...and find that often times it's not something I use often enough to have just bought it to use the coupon.

A piece of advice for the future though...when you know you're having a party...plan ahead. If you have to buy meat or bread/buns, buy it a little at a time and freeze it. Same goes for any non-perishable items...and even plates, cups, napkins, plasticware. Then when it comes time to buy the perishable for the party, you don't freak about going over on the grocery bill...because you have bought when you can and frozen it or whatever!

Hope this helped! Have a great party.

I do make a meal plan and make a grocery list from that. And I very rarely get anything extra (the ritz bits were an extra frivolous purchase this week that weren't on the list). And in case you didn't see my response to another post, I had over $11 in coupon savings in that $142 grocery trip. We don't get money back for taking our own bags though- not at the commissary anyway.

In the past, I have tried to get food ahead of time for parties, but this time we only decided to have a party 3 weeks ahead of time and just decided on the menu a few days before this shopping trip... I'm thinking this menu will be less expensive than other menus though.