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October Wallet Watch - I Got This....

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

So if you come here with any regularity whatsoever you know that I am always Brokey McBrokerson. I am stuck in a house that I cannot afford  because of some legal issues with my ex-bag of doucheliciousness.  I don't think I should get into it here because someday soon we will be back in court. Having said that I am the epitome of house poor and kid poor... they pretty much suck all of the money right out of me. But there are some things that I could be doing better on financially and I freely admit that. I often sometimes very occasionally feel sorry for myself and my #singlemomproblems and spend money on things just to make myself feel good and/or not poor. Which I am really not,well sort of,  I just need to adjust my living sitch and downsize... like way, way down. And possibly definitely get a better paying job that I don't hate but that's another post. 

I have been thinking about jumping on this October Wallet Watch bandwagon with Steph and well, it's time to put my money where my mouth is. Quite literally actually because my focus for my personal wallet watch is going to be food and drink/eating out. The way I see it is that most of my living expenses are fixed or at least somewhat controlled. The grocery bill and eating out is something that is totally within my control. But it is also very easy to let it get out of control when you don't have a plan. I think if I work a little harder on this it will leave more extra money for the fun stuff. 

So here is my plan. My 5 rules:

1. No shopping without a list and/or veering off said list. I am famous for stopping at the grocery after work for a gallon of milk for the next days breakfast and walking out with some oreos, fancy cheese, a baguette, some protein bars, wine.... you get the picture. To keep myself honest I am going to commit to posting some side by side list/receipt pics periodically. 

2. Make 3 double duty meals at home a week. That means leftovers from meal 1 can be another meal. This could be anything really. Pancakes and waffles are great for this. Super cheap to begin with and if I make a double batch on Sunday morning I have leftovers for weekday breakfast. Saves time too, 

3. Before making a list check the sale flyer online. Don't blindly plan meals, plan around the local store specials. If chicken is on sale we are eating chicken. If pork roast is on sale... same. If money is really tight and pasta is BOGO we go meatless!

4. Alcohol. No weekday drinking/purchasing alcohol. Weekend purchases limited to one bottle of wine or beer purchase within reason (not a 36 pack). This means if my lush face chugs all the wine on Friday night I'm out, cheers to the freakin dry weekend. No liquor period. Bye bye cute tiny bottles of Fireball. Think ahead to how much more I will enjoy Pumpkin Pie Martini's in November. 

5. No eating out and/or takeout that costs more than $20 (for the fam.). Believe it or not this can be done if you look for BOGO coupons, places where kids eat free, don't order alcohol, shop online deals, eat at QuikTrip, etc. We don't eat out much but we do love our pizza and sushi... maybe some Dunkin Donuts once a month. 

I am going to save all of my receipts for the month because I honestly have no idea how much it really costs to feed my family. So this is kind of a first step toward getting on a budget for me and know where my money is going.

*** If anyone invites me out to eat or drink on their dime I'm getting drunk and ordering a big fat steak cause then the rules don't apply.*** 

Do you have any other tips for me on how you save money on your grocery bill?


Life According to Steph

Wish me luck!

7 comments :

  1. Good luck! I really need to get on this wallet watch too, but with my vacation being in October it's a no-go. I'm excited to see how it goes for you - and I'm going to stick to my no spending until I leave for vacation!

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  2. YES! I'm doing no spending october, we got this!!

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  3. I'm in love with your list. I am the queen of stopping for milk and spending $100+...and also buying my wine for the weekend and drinking it all on Friday. Whoops. My waistline and wallet need to cut that out.

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  4. good luck girl! you got this :) i love your rules, they are things i dont even think about and I know i do them too. like picking up useless crap at the grocery, and oh double duty meals are so smart!

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  5. I love these challenges! I need to send this to Mark.....he veers off the list all the time and then comes home with like 4 things of cookies that I usually end up eating :-(

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  6. I'm doing this too! As far as grocery shopping, make your list but check all your cabinets to make sure you aren't buying doubles. Depending on the store you go to if they have a card sometimes they have coupons you can add on so you don't have to worry about paper!

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  7. grocery: i got that down; check it:

    1) on friday night, make your menu FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK. that will also prompt you to figure out what you need to buy vs what you already have.

    2) while you're doing your menu, write down the ingredients you need to make all of those dishes <-- that's your grocery list. take that shizz with you on saturday morning and shop for everything. this prevents you from making those impromptu stops and buying everything under the sun.

    if you're making stuff and have left overs or dont use a whole bag/jar of something, freeze that shit. i used to throw out half jars of sauce but then i was like, wait - I CAN FREEZE THIS SHIT! DUH!!!!! talk about a revelation LOL

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