End of the Month Budget Advice

Its the end of the month.  How is your budget going?  The last week of the month can be a little rough if your cash is running low.  Here is my advice:  PRIORITIZE your list.  We have had some great sales weeks over the last month.  You should be pretty well stocked up and saved  A LOT of money if you have been shopping smart.  If your cash is low and you need to go shopping buy only what you really need and will benifit your family the most. 

We have had two extra adults to feed during January and February and to stay in our $350 budget I have had to prioritize like crazy and guess what, I HAVE.  We've had 4 adults and two kids in our household and $350 has still worked out just fine.  I've had to give up a few extra snacks in trade for things like toilet paper and laundry detergent but that's ok.  Now that its the last couple days of February I only have about $25 left and we are running low on a few things.  I looked through all the lists this week and while Albertsons has a great promotion running, a lot of the 4 and 5 star items are NOT things that I NEED to feed a household of 6.  Smith's has what I NEED on sale this week, meat : )  I just used up my last bag of chicken breast and they are on sale this week so that's where I am headed.  Here is my grocery list for this week: chicken, roast, bread and milk.  I should be able to squeez all that into my last $25.

I'd like to do more personal advice posts over the next month.  Is there anything you would like me to write about?  Leave me a comment and I'll try to get a post in that answers your question(s).

I'm a cash girl!

There is something very psychological about holding cash in your hand. I know that there really is no difference between using my debit card to pay and cash besides the physical element but when I hold cash in my hand I WANT TO KEEP IT! I watch it closer and I like to try and still have some left at the end of the month. When I just use my debit card I typically will use up my entire budget and occasionally go a few dollars over. With cash I can’t go over because I’d have no money ; ) and I often have more left at the end of the month because I don’t want to be left without any money. Plus what ever I don’t spend I get to spend however I like (that’s the deal my husband and I have) Currently I am saving up my left over grocery budget money to eventually buy a Shark steam mop: )


What are you trying to save up for?

Budget Idea: Eating from the Pantry

There are lots of deals to be found each week but if you are not using what you buy than you are just wasting your money. Even if you got it for only a few pennies if its gets thrown away or never used you just wasted money! An idea that I've seen Money Saving Mom blog about that I love that helps prevent this waste of money is doing an eating from the pantry challenge.

In an eating from the pantry challenge you are trying to eat only what you already have in your home. This helps use up what you've already purchased enabling you to make room for new items and use products before they expire. You can choose how long you try doing an eating from the pantry challenge be it a day or two or a whole week. When you do one get creative. Look at what items you have that are going to expire soon and find interesting ways to use them.
Sometimes this means modifying a recipe or going with out an ingredient or two but it can be done.

Another Budget Idea

Its been awhile since I posted a budget idea so I thought I'd give you an idea that my family has been working with this month. Since it is summer and we are doing a lot more traveling I decided that it would be a good idea to cut back our monthly grocery and household items budget. (if you are new to my blog our current budget is $300 for all grocery, household products) My goal is to cut back at least $50 and put the extra money toward travel expenses. I did this because if I am away from home it means I'm not using up as much of my cleaning, food and other household items so I should be spending less at the store. It seems to have worked well this month and I'll give a full June budget report tomorrow on how we did.

Another Budget Idea

It's time for another budget idea! To make life a little more simple, stress free and budget friendly remember you DON'T NEED to shop EVERY great deal out there. Its awesome that we are getting so many lists to look at but you will burn your self out and your money if you shop every deal at every store. Pick a couple favorites and call it good for the week.

Last week I was feeling pretty tired and didn't see any deals that I felt I was starting to run out of so I made a quick run to Vons for some fresh produce and called it good. I spent less than $20, we had plenty of food to eat and now I have extra wiggle room in my budget when another awesome sale comes around!

Budget? What Budget?

Do you have a budget for your groceries and house hold items? If you do is it hard for you to stick to it when you see so many great 4 and 5 star deals? It is for me but I still do. It has been requested that I write some tips for how I make and stick to my budget of $300 per month. So whenever you see this light bulb money image it means its time for a BUDGET IDEA!! : )

A few quick tips:
1. Decide what your budget is. I have found that we can live quite comfortably allotting $75 per consumer in our household. In our college days when things were of course tighter $50 per consumer is what we'd aim for but it was tough. If you are looking for baby steps and easing into a tighter budget $100 per consumer is very doable! It may take a couple months of watching what you spend to fine tune exactly what $$ amount works best to meet your family's needs.

2. Keep track of EVERYTHING you spend. Months when I haven't kept a personal record made by me, (my husband tracks everything in his money program but that's his thing not mine) I will overspend. If YOU are keeping a running tab on how much you have spent you are more likely to stick to your budget and know when you are starting to either impulse buy or overdoing it.

3. Stick to it!... even if it means passing on some great deals. It is April 28 and I have spent all of my budget for the month. I am looking at the Vons and Albertsons lists and wanting to run to the store and buy more but I am not going to. I've already shopped both stores promotions this week and got the things I really wanted so now I am going to wait until Friday May 1 for the new month to begin.