For years I made my living as an actor/waiter. My first paying job was at a little theatre in Berthoud Colorado called the Wayside Inne Dinner Theatre. At that time (1983) I was paid $15 per show and there were 4 shows per week. I also waited tables and collected tips, but there were other ways you could make money there.
Box office hours were available and costumes and sets needed to be designed and built every couple of months when the shows changed.
I built sets for several shows there. The budget was $500.00, $250 for materials and $250 compensation for the work. However, if you could build everything for less than $250, you got to keep the difference. This was an amazing challenge that taught me more about finding creative solutions and working within a small fixed budget than anything I have experienced since.
The framework for creating a budget for our home should be the same.
Once you have recorded all the food expenses for a month, sat down with receipts and determined where cuts can be made, you should be able to come up with a realistic figure for a monthly food budget. Divide this number by four and you will have an amount that you can spend each week. The challenge then becomes trying to come in under that number.
Before I go on with any of my strategies I would like to comment on two of the cuts you might be able to make in the budget and how to see this, not as a sacrifice, but as a positive, life enriching experience.
I have talked to people who regularly purchase 2 Starbucks coffees a day. I know people who go out to eat 3 to 5 times a week.
We try to go out about once a month, we have given up daily Starbucks and make our coffee at home. I don't feel like these "sacrifices" have effected our lives in a negative way, in fact our appreciation for these things has escalated and we make the most out of the times we allow ourselves the luxury. Going out to eat is a big deal for my family. We anticipate it (the best part) with excitement and take the opportunity to review good restaurant behavior with our boys. We keep the expense as reasonable as possible and we have a really good time.
I get the same joy out of the occasional Latte from Starbucks. It is a special treat that makes me really appreciate the times we let ourselves splurge.
Now let's get down to business.
Once the budget has been determined, inventory taken and menu planned, it is time to create the shopping lists. The number of lists you make depends on the number of stores you need to hit.
I really recommend keeping this number down. Determine the grocery store in your neighborhood that has the best prices and offers the best deals and stick with them. To this we add Costco and Dollar Tree and that's it.
Costco has good prices on several items but you have to buy a lot so figure out how you are going to use it all or don't bother. If you end up throwing half of the giant bag of broccoli (which can be steamed and frozen) away, you haven't really saved.
Dollar Stores are not good for food, but often have name brand cleaning products.
Both of the above mentioned should be visited once every 4 to 6 weeks, neither except coupons. Your weekly trip will be to the neighborhood grocer.
You need two lists each week. The primary list is all the things you need to fill out the menu for the week. The secondary list is really good deals.
The secondary list can only be addressed once the primary list is filled.
Once have stocked up on enough really good deals (5 or 6 weeks in) you will start to see the primary list get smaller.
It is also a great idea to look at the whole month's budget when buying meat. If there is a great sale on pork chops or family packs of chicken, buy what you can afford (stock up) and subtract that total from what's left for the month and re-divide the total by the number of weeks left to know what you now have to spend each week.
Do not go over the weekly allowance! But, for the first few weeks try to spend it all so that you can establish your reserves.
Don't go too crazy! Sales cycle and everything goes on sale eventually. You don't need more than 4 to 6 weeks worth of food in your stock pile.
NEVER use a coupon on a full priced item! And, never buy an item you have a coupon for if the store brand is cheaper and of comparable quality.
Collect as many coupons for items you use as you can get your hands on, In addition to the newspaper, you can go to several websites and print coupons (google grocery store coupons) and you can go to the manufacturer's website. If they don't have coupons on the site, write to them and ask for some.
Keep your coupons until the time is right to use them, watch the sales closely.
Eventually you will develop a system that works for you and you will start to come in under budget each week. That is the money that goes in the teapot!
If your weekly budget is $100 and this week you spend $80 ... put $20 under the mattress.
If you do the work and you are honest about the numbers, you can budget a lot less for groceries and still save some of it for a rainy day.
No comments:
Post a Comment