Party like a princess...

So times are a changing here in the King household. Almost 2 teens live here, and soon to be a bunch of pre-teens to follow. :) Trying to...

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

weekly budget.

***disclaimer***my husband, who doesn't get offended, just told me that this blog entry could be offensive. so...i re-read it for like the 4th time, and i certainly don't mean to be offensive to anyone. so sorry if i offended you. i really try to be honest with my thoughts and emotions here, and that's all i was after, not meaning to be mean or step on anyone's toes. soooooo...all that to say, didn't mean to offend anyone, or sound like i have it all together, but be more of an encouragement to those out there who are interested in saving money. if i can do it, anyone can do it mentality. from the sounds of things, i am not saving near enough money, so i have nothing to be encouraging people about. :)

can anyone tell me what i am "supposed" to spend at the grocery store a week?

let's say to feed a family of 5+?
(6 would be great, but i know ya'll don't have big families) ;)

an average weekly budget.
what does that look like?

my bill was $21.90 today at CVS.
10 items.
do you wanna know how much i paid?

$0.02.

yep. that's all. made me smile.

but back to the grocery question.
so i have been couponing for real for the past 2 months now,
and while i am noticing that my credit card bills are slowly creeping down,
my grocery averages are really not as much as i thought they might.

 i am getting WAY, WAY more food for my money,
which i need to take into account,
and saving large amounts of money, in doing this,
( anywhere from $20-$60 savings)
 but i am also trying things i wouldn't normally try if i couldn't buy them for a mere buck...

 also noting that if i keep up the average that i am "saving"
per say, that i could "save"
almost $3000.00/year on groceries.

hello. did you hear me?

that might mean paying off the farm before i am 60, or maybe even 58.
ha.ha.ha. ;)
or bring my bay house idea to fruition.
i haven't given up...yet.

but, still...curious to know how much everyone spends on groceries a week.
please tell.
maybe someone knows what all the money authors tell you...

since i want you to tell me, i guess i need to tell you. :)

my average was more like $200. before this coupon experiment.
now, it has ranged from $155 - $190.
and let me tell you, that some weeks i spend $30.
but then it's "catch up" other weeks.
and i never just go to one store.
so, some weeks at the amish store i stock up on a lot of things,
which skews my "weekly" average a lot, because then i don't buy those
things for months.
so...i save all my receipts, and then average them out,
but, it still doesn't really work out right.
like, now...i have a TON of cereal, and drinks...sodas and juice boxes
because they were a really good deal.

granted i do entertain a lot, which i think does make a difference,
and pull ups, etc.
soooo...
( i think the money people tell you to track toiletries seperately,
which i haven't done, and don't really know whey they tell ya that...
but it seems like a big headache, and quite frankly i don't wanna take the time to figure that out)
however, i also ~rarely~ buy meat
because we have our own beef, chicken, and eggs here.
(i can't wait to try to do this grocery thing without having some sort
of diapers or baby stuff on my bill.
talk about jacking it up...)
 
and milk.
milk is so expensive.
i know you dairy farmers have supposedly not been making any money
but do you know i pay sometimes over $4 a gallon for milk.
do you know how much milk we use here?

:)

okay. enough of my ranting.
i have got to get some work done.
see ya.

4 comments:

Kendra said...

i want to know how to do the couponing, where to get them and how much time is involved! great savings. we spend anywhere from 65-100/wk at the grocery store. that sometimes includes toilitries(no diapers or pull-ups here though) and often doesn't include meat as we buy it in bulk at bj's or walmart so we don't have to buy it every week. we do go through a lot of milk and cereal. I try to go cheap and buy a lot of store brand stuff.
K

Unknown said...

wow kendra. great job. i can vaguely remember the weeks i spent $65/wk. seems very long ago. :) i will e-mail you my two favorite coupon sites, and it took me a ton of time in the beginning, but now it's not so bad. you are doing great though... :) mis.

Kendra said...

thanks! we never use coupons and the $65 could be a little off, but jason does most of the shopping. I would like to try and save more though. I know my neighbor has been doing it!

Angela Stoltzfus said...

good job missy! couponing intrigues me. even though it takes TIME! i've done a bit of research on it. & have you seen the new show? extreme coupon-ing?? kinda crazy!
btw...this post is NOT offensive. running a household is so different in every family. if someone is comparing themself to you & yours...that is the first problem. anyways...my organic milk place is $4 a gal. then you wouldn't ever pay more than that! =)
my one gripe about coupons is that they are largely for processed & packaged foods. do you think that's true? diapers i used to get at Diapers.com (free delivery) or Target generic brand. i think that they are more $$ at grocery stores.?.?.?
anyways...such a random comment...but i love stuff like this.