During January and February, I challenged myself to stay within a $200 out-of-pocket budget for our groceries, health/beauty and cleaning supplies.
I challenged myself for a couple of reasons.
First, January and February are our family’s lowest cash flow months. Cutting the budget allows us to not take as much money out of savings.
But more than that (and that is a good enough reason all by itself), I wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting “lazy” in my couponing/strategic shopping.
I wanted to make sure I wasn’t in a “I’ve always spent $300 – so I’ll just keep spending $300” mentality.
And here is what I found.
- It is possible for our family to stay within a $200 budget every month.
- In order to stay in that amount, I would need to shop at a minimum of three stores every week – with some weeks shopping at four or five stores.
- I will have to create and stick to a weekly meal plan.
- I will need to take advantage of the drugstore sales/deals each week. They provide not only deals for FREE or cheap health & beauty items, but food as well.
- We will run out of things in our house. We will go without if the item is not on sale.
- I will have to monitor my spending and prices like a hawk – because a $10 mistake is 20% of my weekly budget.
So….Will I stay on a $200 budget?
No.
It was a good exercise, but I realized that the amount of running around to stores, the planning, and constant diligence were not good for our family long term.
Which reminded me of something I say in every one of my coupon classes…
Do what is best for your family and compare yourself to no one.
We could survive on a $200 budget, but it isn’t the best decision for our family.
I’m in awe of my friends, who are super coupon-ninjas, and their amazing Dillon Mega-Event shopping trips. Sometimes I get envious, but then I realize that driving to Lawrence isn’t the best decision for our family right now. Maybe someday, but not now.
Only you know what is the right for your family. A challenge every now and again is a good thing. We can see if we have become complacent or lazy. Sometimes an adjustment should be made and some times it’s smart to leave “good enough” alone. And each season of our life can bring a different answer.
So, while I will be more mindful of my $300 budget, I’ve determined that it’s better to leave “good enough” alone.
(And I’m thankful I get to buy Oregano at Costco this week.)
Thanks for your honesty and reminder to do what’s good for you. I feel great about the money I’ve saved and deals I’ve gotten the last few weeks, but it’s easy to feel like I’m not as good as other couponers. I enjoy saving money on essentials so I have money to buy the gourmet foods we enjoy.
I totally agree. I tried to cut our houshold spending by 25% for Feb. as a similar experiment to yours. Trouble was, for a family of 6, you can only cut groceries so much, and when the kids wear holes in your shoes they need to be replaced. I’ve decided we certainly can LIVE on less, but when you are already living on a reasonably frugal budget cutting even more just adds stress when things run out rather than lightening the burden of debt.
Whoops! I meant the kids wear holes in THEIR shoes. Not mine.
To whatever level you choose to do it, it will help your kids when they are grown. My mom was super frugal when she had to be and I have always had the attitude, that while this stuff is no nice – I could make do with a lot less.
Great post, Kelly. Especially the part about “doing without”. We are good around $500/month – it’s tight, but we can do it without feeling deprived. If life necessitated, I could probably cut another $50-$100/month, but quality would suffer. It might be necessary, if life came to that, but thank G-d it hasn’t!
I also like what you said about a $20 mistake. So true!
(One of these days, we might have to take a roadtrip to Lawrence. Especially if they ever have that free Cottonelle toilet paper again š
I appreciate you very much girlie! I know that sometimes I go over $200 for 2 people, so with more that has to be tight. (Of course I buy for my mom and dad too!)
I think I am going to do a $100 challenge in March. Maybe.
Thank for the encouragement ladies. I just like to keep it real – as much as I can….
Kelly- I was just wondering if your $300 a month budget includes eating out?
Lauren – we have a separate eating out/family fun budget of $100 per month. That includes eating out, movies, activities, etc.
During January/February it was only $25 each month (those cuts and all), but in March it will be back to $100.00.
Kelly- I have been following you for some time now. I went to 4 groceries stores this weekend and I still can’t get the deals that you do! I am anxious to get some pointers this weekend. I’m glad to hear $200 per month is tough. Right now I am spending around $500.oo per month. I know I can do better, but I need help with organization. It is easier for me in the summer when I am not working to manage all of this. Unfortunatley, it is work to save money, but I’m addicted to it.
I’m so glad you are addicted. š
Honestly, so of my deals come because I have a bigger stash of coupons that most people. I’m on a LOT of mailing lists and get coupons sent to me from quite a few brands.
And yes, we will talk about all of this on Saturday morning. Can’t wait.
I print off coupons at my school campus. The library has 100 computers I can use to print coupons at 5 cents a piece, which adds up but not when you compare it to what you save. There is also another computer lab I managed to get the coupon printer on so I have about 30 computers I can print from for free. This means if a deal is big enough I end up limited by store supply and can print so many coupons it’s ridiculous. I do keep in mind not to empty shelves and try to be courteous of other couponers.
Recently the So Delicious Coconut Milk 32 oz went on sale for 3 for $5 with a coupon stake of $2 per carton this was a sweet deal. I got 102 cartons plus $34 worth of organic food for free! I went to the store several times and waited until the last day to clear most of their shelves. This made for a great opportunity to share a healthy food with friends and family. It was a great item to stock up on since it doesn’t need to be kept cold and has an expiration date of Oct.
Maybe you could try working out a deal with one of your local Universities and teach a coupon class? Then you could access their 100’s of computers. Imagine what you could do with hundreds of coupons! It would be great for the community and your family.
Does your friend have a blog? I happen to drive to Lawrence on Thursdays (without my 2 year old! :)) and would like to know what great deals she gets at Dillons.