January's Grocery Budget- How Did We End Up?

I told you earlier about, how I fell of the wagon for a while with my grocery deals...

And how this month, I was asked by my hubby to start back doing 'the deals' again. I knew it was time. Our grocery budget was normally $70. or less per week for our family of 6. And at the end of this year, we were over $100. and more towards $130. on average weeks. And that was using some coupons, but not really trying hard to find the BEST deals.

Well, working at finding the best deals is worth it! In the end, my average per week for groceries, was $70. Which is where I was when I 'fell off the wagon' before. In the month of January, my first month back to 'deal shopping', I spent $284.71 for 284 items! That is $1 per item! Considering, each week I buy 6-7 gallons of milk ($2.29 ea), 3 gallons of Soy milk ($2.95 ea), and diapers ($8.99 on sale), I think my average is pretty decent!

And in fact, my goal for up coming months, is even LOWER. I had a high goal of $380. for January, which is a little higher than I wanted it to be, but I was getting back into the 'groove'. Heck, I still had over $95. to spend! :)

So, my goal for February is $285. I am hoping to get lower than that. My goal for March (as of right now) is $280. Then when Spring hits and I start being able to produce some garden vegetation, I am going to slowly start to lower my budget again. I am also planning on canning and freezing lots of garden veggies, so this will bring my grocery bill down even more!

On our small farm, we are going to be getting some meat chickens, a cow (for meat), more egg laying chickens, turkeys, and we will have goats for milk. We already have a freezer full of venison from my hubby this last Fall. I am hoping our budget can drop even more than I am planning. I am hoping at the end of the summer, I will only be spending $200. per month. So in August and September (5 shopping weeks) I will only have $40 to spend on my family of 6!

One thing that may help in that equation is that I am planning on having my littlest one potty trained... We shall see how THAT goes! :)

I am excited again, to be working on reducing our grocery budget. I am going lower than we have even gone before, and I am excited about it!

We have some other areas we are looking to apply that $$ to. We are hoping in a year from now to take our kids to Florida and go to Disney. We are of course doing this in the most economical way possible! More on THAT later! We are also starting the process of adoption. We would LOVE to add a little girl to our mostly masculine family. And unfortunately, to place a child in a good and loving home, is very expensive.

But, I think we can do this. So far, God is leading the way. And I pray that we continue to follow in His footsteps.

So, are you on a grocery budget? How did you do this month??? What changes are you planning on making for the future???

Money Saving Monday

Saving money was not always something that I cared that much about. I tried on and off to use coupons, and found it was easier and cheaper to just go to Wal-Mart and Aldi's and buy the off brands.

Boy was I missing out.

If you would like to see how I am able to save my family lots of money using coupons and sales COMBINED, check THIS out.

Do you wonder how people get such good coupons sometimes? Well, besides all of the great regular resources HERE, I also write companies!

My sis in law told me about doing this, and I was unsure at first. But, I have done it, and will continue to do it more!

Basically, you take companies that you love their products and your write them an e-mail. I write the companies, and I tell them how our family loves their product or whatever, and I leave it at that. MOST of the time, the company will send a coupon or two. Sometimes they send you a coupon for free product!

So, that can definitely help on the grocery budget. I wrote a yogurt company about how we love their products and they sent me a coupons for one free and 2 coupons for $.35 off one. Well, it doubled at my Meijer making them free! So I got 3 free yogurts! Not bad, I'd say!

So try it. Look up the companies that you buy from, or would like to buy from. And tell them how much you like their stuff! Don't be dishonest. Don't write them begging for coupons. A positive comment actually helps their company.

Hope this helps! Now, go on. Get started!

Now, do you have any Money Saving Tips to share? Leave a direct link to your entry on Money Saving. Thanks!

Money Saving Monday

Is it Monday again already? (Do I ask that every Monday, I think I do...)

Here are a few small ways that I know I can save money for my family each week:

• Use rags instead of paper towels. I know. This sounds a little like nickle and diming, but it does work. I make sure that instead of grabbing a paper towel to clean off the counters or to wipe up a spill, I grab a towel or washcloth. It IS important though, to throw a washcloth or towel in the laundry if you have something like raw meat that you are cleaning up after. You don't want to get your family sick! I wash all of my cleaning rags together in one wash also, in warmer water. I have also noticed I don't need to buy paper towels NEARLY as much, which is saving us money!


• Make your own cleaner. I make a super simple cleaner that I use on my table and counters. It is safe, and I don't worry about it getting on any food. Water and vinegar. That's it. I take a spray bottle and fill it about 3/4 with water, and probably less then 1/4 with vinegar. And YES, it smells like vinegar BUT like I said, I don't worry about it getting on any food! Plus it is VERY cheap!


• Keep all appliances clean. If you keep your stove, oven, microwave, toaster, etc clean, then you are saving yourself loads of money. Stuck on food will actually ruin surfaces and will make your appliance work harder to get it's job done, THUS shortening its life.


• Clean the most "touched" surfaces in your house AT LEAST weekly. Door handles, light switches, sink handles, walls in the hallway or stairway, the top backside of kitchen chairs, etc. This will keep germs from spreading in your house. I make sure I do this several times a week when one of us gets sick or has a cough. And usually the illness runs out of the house pretty quickly. Doctor bills aren't cheap, so prevention is key to saving money at the doctor or pharmacist!

So, how do YOU save money for your family? Either leave a link going directly to a blog entry OR leave a comment on how you save money. Thanks for sharing!

Money Saving Monday

What to do with the kids this summer...

Here are some money saving ideas of what to do with them this summer:

• Buy a zoo pass. We actually have two zoos within an hour of our house. But one of the zoos you can get the zoo pass for $5 cheaper. This lasts for 1 year from date of purchase, and you can get into many other zoos with that pass, AND many more for 50% off cost. Plus you get discounts at gift stores, etc.
• Camping. This may take a small initial investment, but then it won't cost much. This is also a fun ALL FAMILY time. We like to do this with other family, or friends also. We go to places that have fishing available, playgrounds, activities and of course clean facilities!
• Parks! Utilize and support your local parks! Parks around our area have LOTS of cheap activities for kids to do during the summer. Also, the playgrounds are a great place to go and have picnics and to get some extra energy out!

So, those are just a few ideas that WE save money during the summer. How do YOU save money? Link up and show us!

Please link directly to your post on saving money.

Money Saving Monday

I have been talking to a lot of people lately about saving money. And each and everyday, I find myself trying to save my family money. Not skimping on nessecities, but cutting out or reducing things we don't really need. Or just changing the way we do things!

On problem I had for several years, is that I knew how I had been taught how to do things, then when I got married, we did things a certain way. When you continue to do things ONLY in this way, then you may not be doing yourselves any favors!

For example, 2 years ago, I thought I was saving my family money by shopping Wal-Mart and Aldi's and buying generic. Now I know that I can save my family money in other ways.

Saving Money is a challenge for me. It is my "job". And I DO take it seriously!

So, I thought I would start a Money Saving Monday, where we can come and share our frugal tips each week. Do you make all of your own cleaners, do you shop at certain stores, do you go somewhere special for you coupons, do you by in bulk, do you shop garage sales... Whatever you do, share it with us. We are all looking for ways to "grow" while shrinking our budgets!

Here are some Money Saving Tips that I have learned over the years. Today, I am going to share on CLOTHES:

• We don't wash our clothes after wearing them just once. Did I hear someone say "EEeww!!!" ? I mean like, if we wore good clothes to church, came straight home, we don't throw these clothes into the laundry. We save them for another day. I usually wear a pair of jeans 2-3 times before washing them. And a shirt 1-2 times. If we get something on them, or you were around smokers, or if you went to a restaurant where you smell like the food... wash the clothes. But if not, save 'em for another day!
• We have "Play clothes" or "work clothes" and then we have "good clothes". Do not allow your children to wear good clothes out to play! If you are eating something like spaghetti (or other messy food), have your child take off their good shirt (when at home), and put on a play shirt. So, if they drop something on the shirt, it won't be as big of a deal. If I wear my "work" pants out to the barn, then if the cat snags my jeans, I won't be mad. As soon as my boys get hoem from school, they know they are supposed to put on " play clothes".
• Use cold water as much as you can to wash your clothes. I DO wash with warm or hot water when I am washing a load of underwear, or towels, or bed sheets. Other then that, we use cold!
• Save your clothes from child to child. This seems like a "given", but some people don't do it because they don't want to store the clothes. I have all boys, and I have clothes that I am wearing on boy#4 that I wore on boy #1. I keep each size of clothing in different LABELED totes. Like I just pulled out the 18 month tote for my #4. This has saved us a TON of money!

So, it is your turn. Do you have a Money Saving Tip or tips you would like to share today? Link up! Make sure you give the link that goes directly to your Money Saving Tip(s). And if you would, please leave a link for people to some back here and check out other people's tips!