I spend a ridiculous amount on food
Every month, I spend an absolutely absurd amount of money on food and groceries. I buy food for a family of 3 ( Wife, son, and myself ), and I rarely come in under the $1,000 per month mark for food. It’s horrible. I know that a huge part of my problem is that we eat out way to much - it shows in my budget, and it my waistline, which has nudged upwards a bit in the past few months. But even without the eating out expense, my grocery spending is way, way beyond what I think it should be.
So, now that I admit I have a problem, what can I do about it? For starters, eating out is going to be a twice-per-month venture now. I’m also going to start bringing my lunch to work again - “brown bagging” it, as some say. Subway is nice, but awfully expensive when you add it up over time. More chicken and less beef at home ( chicken costs less, at least ’round these parts ).
Groceries are truly a mystery to me though. I buy store brand when I can - some store brands just aren’t as good as brand names. I do drink a lot of soda which I’m sure doesn’t help… but I buy when it’s on sale. I need to switch back to Sam’s Cola or something really. It’s much, much cheaper, and doesn’t taste a whole lot different.
Overall, I have a lot of work to do. Food is undoubtedly the weakest part of my budget, and something I need to work on, starting today.
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Jessica H, LA said,
Wrote on August 8, 2007 @ 8:37 pm
You should use coupons. Just regular use will help or check out some of the many couponing sites to learn some hard-core methods. Try it and you will never pay retail for groceries again. You will also find that many everyday products are ALWAYS free (deoderant and toothpaste). My personal favorite is refundcents.com but there are many others out there too.
Anita said,
Wrote on August 9, 2007 @ 6:58 am
I have found the site: www:slickdeals.net is very helpful. I keep a log of what I have spent this year, which is a total of 1234.56 this includes all food, household items, lots and lots of birthday presents and etc. You can double and triple coupons at places like Kroger and Albertsons through-out the US. All of this can be accessed on the internet.
Penny Saved said,
Wrote on August 9, 2007 @ 3:15 pm
I used to be a coupon user, but I haven’t for awhile now. I found that the time spent looking for, clipping, and remembering to use them often didn’t make it worthwhile for me. I think I’ll have to rethink that whole strategy, since I’m tired of spending so much on food.
I took a quick look at refundcents.com , but it looks like it’s a paid subscription model - ugh. Pay money to save money - I’d have to save a lot to make it worth it. Have you been a member for awhile?
I haven’t visited slick deals in awhile, though I used to frequent it. Time to re-discover and explore