Managed to Stay UNDER Grocery Budget

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2005
Managed to Stay UNDER Grocery Budget
4
Sat, 06-25-2005 - 10:35pm

Guess what guys? I went grocery shopping tonight and I planned it all before going and I kept it under the budget!!!! Not by a whole lot mind you, but still UNDER the budget. My bidget is $75 a week and I spend around $70. I was hoping to spend less and put that amount towards CC bills but.....

Today was hard to get through...knowing I will have no spending money from now until who knows when. I was wondering this - Usually I get $60 a week to spend on whatever. Should I nix the whole amount and put it towards credit cards or should I cut it in half and keep $30 for me so I'm not feeling overly deprived and take my CC out on a whim and go shopping?

Let me know what you think.

When I start feeling bad, I just tell myself this. It's not ALL that bad. We have $160 a month going into 401k that DH's company matches 100% so that like $320 a month actually. We also changed our exemptions from married to single so more is taken from our paychecks but our accountant assured us that we will not regret this come tax return time. So that took another $200 out of our monthly budget. But all that extra money we get back in our returns will go towards CC bills, of course. I cant wait.

Right now my main focus is making the minimum payments on all but one card. I am going to try and get our savings account up to $1000 for backup in case we NEED anything (we are due for a partial new roof) and then I will commit to nickel and diming my way to finding EXTRA to put on the main CC each month.

Love,
Kim :)

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-30-2003
Sun, 06-26-2005 - 12:33am

Good for you! Now, that $5 you saved *could* be used as a snowflake... ;)

I like the hope I am 'hearing' from you! You're on your way!

Good job!

Lisa :)

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-21-2003
Sun, 06-26-2005 - 5:45am

Hi Kim,

first of all: Congrats on staying not only within but below your budget line. 5$ may not sound much, but think it this way: 5$ is 6.6% of your weekly grocery budget. And show me that CEO of a big company not craving for a way to stay almost 7% below expected expenses ;-)

As for he other question: I always would keep some spending money to myself. I tend to feel deprived if I have zero spending money, and then start to spend a lot more in a crazy attack of 'retail therapy'. Keeping some money for myself usually prevents that, I found out. So I'd say: Half it, and you have 30$ for yourself, and 30$ to your cc's snowball.

Greetings, Jordis

ivy_jordis

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-11-2001
Mon, 06-27-2005 - 10:08am

Congrats for staying under budget on your grocery bill. That $5 is a definite snowflake to the CCs.

My suggestion if you have $60 a week - 1. Does your clothing budget come also from that money?

The only reason I asked is if you can see the $60 a week in your budget, I wouldn't halve it just yet. I would try and keep under that $60 budget each week as much as possible. There could be weeks where you need more than $60 (lunch with GFs came up), there could be weeks you spend less.

At the end of the month, anything you have left over from your budget I would then snowflake to the CCs. I wouldn't try and be too lean each week, because unexpected expenses come up, and you might find you are using your CCs to pay for those items.

Just my 2cent.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-24-2005
Mon, 06-27-2005 - 2:34pm

My clothing does come out of the money but I really dont NEED anything as far as clothing. I have so much already. Any clothing I buy is because I love to buy clothes and want something new. For now, I'm going to cut it in half and keep $30 for me and $30 for the CC's. I am also starting a savings that will be used for miscellaneous needs, gifts, auto repairs, etc. That is already up to $250 and I should be able to get it close to $1000 by the end of next month.

Kim

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