budget buster

groceries.

does that word stress you out?

why yes. yes it does.

but groceries are so much more than groceries. for instance: meal planning, lists, cleaning out the fridge, time, effort, coupons, self denial, (or rather, self indulgence), in-store diaper changes (not fun), thinking ahead, more self denial, tantrums, multiple stores, etc. but most of all groceries mean money. ugh.

sure, you could just skip all the aforementioned stress and just make a trip to one grocery store (that would be something.), get whatever you felt like at the moment (oreos. it's always oreos.), end up spending 700 big ones, and not even bat an eye. but, if you're anything like me, you don't have that kind of money. you can go ahead and slash that number in half, subtract a bit more and then you'd be in the ballpark of my grocery budget. (i know i have some 'krazy' coupon ladies out there who are like, "i only spend 2 dollars every time i hit up my local grocery joint, and my kids never go potty while we're out." yeah. this post isn't for you.)

here's my problem: no matter how long i scope out the weekly specials, how well i plan out meals, how much self control i practice, how efficiently i think ahead, i always (and i'm so very serious) go over my budget, and i always end up throwing food out. what?!? how does this even make sense?

lately i have felt really convicted about how much goes to waste in my house. i've actually been really diligent about having a leftover night (or two) over the last few weeks but yesterday, i opened up my vegetable drawer and i discovered a moldy tomato i didn't even know i had. don't judge me. i know you want to. i thought to myself "i have got to do something about this," and then i kinda forgot about the tomato. that night c.krill and i went over our budget like we do every week. it was staggering. now, we did give ourselves a little grace, after all we did just move into a new house. there are things you just gotta have- like light bulbs and tp. but the food section was what caught my eye. i won't say how much (c'mon, talking about money is rude) but let's just say it was 5 big ones to my budget ordained 1. does that even make sense? regardless, it was plenty over the budget and i even said to myself, "maybe i should start couponing." yeah. that's a big deal.

let's save:

a. a lot of people, myself included, think couponing is for people who eat processed food. we don't really do that. i try to make everything from scratch so naturally, i stayed away from couponing. then one of my close friends started acting a little 'krazy' and posting things on her status like "february couponing report: total saved 418.94." what? this girl is gluten free, healthy for health's sake and she lives in longmont, colorado. she gave me a pep talk today and i'm feeling slightly overwhelmed and a little giddy. so, yes. i will start couponing, but i will be honest, i probably won't blog about it. i don't want to coupon really, (because i am lazy) so why would i want to write about it? there are a bazillion other women blogging about couponing. but i am going to do it, for budget's sake.

2. another thing i plan on doing... using less paper towel. i busted out the dish cloths. it's on.

D. less meat. i think most people will agree with me when i claim that meat can get pretty expensive. sometimes it goes to 1/2 of my monthly budget. so i've decided to cut down the meat to a couple nights a week and do lots more beans, rice and veggies. c.krill isn't a huge fan of beans but he does like saving money. we'll see how this goes.

4. CSA vegetable baskets. we live out here in Ohio country which means we live close to the amish. score. not only do they have beautiful farms, they also share all their fruits and veggies! and on top of that, everything is organic! that's another score. c.krill and i have done the research and it looks like its gonna cost us 20 smackers a week. ummm? yes, please. so who cares if i don't know what next weeks basket is going to look like?

i am still coming up with more budget saving tips. here's another one i just thought of: eat your food before it goes bad! easier said then done, sure, but my mom always says to have a relationship with your refriderator. open her up and look through all her drawers (this sounds bad, it's innocent, i promise). get to know her and what she holds... like any relationship i guess. so thats #5 right there.

like i said c.krill is a huge fan of saving money and bless him for being so patient with me. he's my ba-in-marketing-works-as-an-it-consultant-should-be-a-personal-finance-advisor husband. he is the big picture guy. he spends a lot of his 'free' time researching how he can save money, make money and invest money. i'm pretty sure he re-works our budget every week and projects where we are going to be in 5 years. most of the books and blogs he reads are about 'early retirement.' wishful thinking? or could it be a legit dream? we will see! anywho, i think i am going to pass the baton to him once a month and let him share with you all a "budget saving tip of the month." he's better at it than i am (unless you mention chipotle.). fun? we will see.

that's all for now since its his birthday soon. i need to finish planning his mustache party, in honor of his awesome facial hair:

 

(this is from our honeymoon almost 4 years ago. we still look the same but maybe a little softer now. regardless, we are adorable.)

 

 

and if you are curious as to where i learned how to count:

 

 

 

 

 

gotta love buzz. period.