As I mentioned in my last post, my food/cleaning/health&beauty/pet expenses (ie. my food/misc budget line) seem like they are way out of whack. I started a little spreadsheet to see how much I am actually spending. I think it will probably need at least a 2 month tracking to really see what I am spending. We do a lot of "stocking" up, so some of it will last quite awhile. Even so, I have a feeling I am spending way more than what I have listed in my budget line for this stuff.
Monday we shopped at 3 places:
a feed supply store for 2 bags of dog food. $40 ea. I also recently ordered a bag online from Chewy.com to give that a try (they delivered in like 3 days). It was $4 cheaper thru them, plus I got a first order discount. One bag lasts about exactly a month, so no change there in cost compared to what we have always been spending. We also buy treats and cosequin, on a regular basis. My estimate for that stuff is about $40/mo. Won't have to buy dog food for 3 more months.
Target: I picked up 2 prescriptions for $11 (I just include this in my "food/misc" budget line. That amount is constant and doesn't really change much.
Then, still at Target, we picked up various items that totaled: $120
We also got 2 big cases of TP (DH goes thru TP like crazy! plus he's completely brand loyal). But this should last us 2 months?, 2 boxes of Ritz crackers, a bag of Oreos, a big "bonus" can of Folger's coffee (I don't think I quite have enough left to last a month, so decided to buy, but this should last me several months), large jar of Jif peanut butter (I'm brand loyal on this one), 8 12-packs of Mountain Dew. He tries to only drink 2 can per day, but sometimes it's 3. He's addicted to the stuff. This should last us 5-6 weeks, kitchen trash bags, a big jug of laundry detergent and box of dryer sheets. We really didn't need the laundry stuff this trip, but he always thinks we do. The soda I had a 25% off cartwheel coupon as well as got back a $5 gift card, so it came out to $3.33 per 12-pack. I had a 5% off coffee store coupon and forgot to give it to the cashier. There was a $1 coupon stuck to the laundry soap, so I did use that and saved 5% using my Red Card.
At the grocery store we spent a whopping $330.75. 6 cases of water on sale for $2.50 ea. A few bags of chips, dh got 3 more 12 pk sodas (root beer and orange), other snacks, bread, rolls, and stuff to make dinners and lunches: lunch meats and cheese, hamburger, steak, chicken, bbq ribs, frozen skillet meals. Basically, from what we got I count enough stuff for about 26 dinners....almost a whole month. We got juice, milk, coffee creamer (bought the biggest this time - the medium usually last me 2 weeks, this one should last a month, frozen strawberries and bananas (so DH can start drinking smoothies again), my instant breakfast I drink every morning (bought 20 servings, but still have about 12 more from previous purchase).
I budget $650 a month for all the above. You'd think that would be enough for 2 people to live on. I know it's more expensive when I have to shop at the town store, but we try to stock up in the city and I order online. I just try to get milk and bread there in between trips to the city. and sometimes ice cream LOL.
Monday's total was $542. Seems a terrible amount, if I only want to spend $650 for the next 30 days. We won't be doing a big trip for another month now. Our last trip to the city to stock up was Dec 8, so over 5 weeks. I didn't spend much at the local store the first 2-3 weeks after that trip, but then the last 2 weeks I did, as we were running out of stuff, as well as I placed online orders.
Other than milk (and we are out of ice cream) I really don't think I would need to buy anything at the town grocery store for the next 2 weeks. It will be interesting to see what I end up there for. I know I will end up buying stuff I have forgotten or whatever. Probably will need more chips. I also tend to spend at least $25/week for online orders. Plus, we go out and eat about 2-3 times a month. Sometimes it's just $12 from Wendy's in the city, sometimes it $50 at the nicer restaurant we like. The town restaurant is about $25. I include those in the budget for food/misc. Maybe I need an "entertainment/fun" line going forward and have it be there instead of food/misc. Bottom line it all comes out the same, but it might be a better "mental" trick. Before the 30 days is up I will need to order our older dog's cosequin and brushing chews, about $30.
I'm not really looking for ways to cut down. DH eats what he eats (and me too) but I just think I'm not budgeting based on reality. I'm not tracking the spending, so I'm not sure if I'm really in the ballpark for what I am budgeting. DH mentioned that when we get our house and have lots and lots of storage room, he'd really like to stock up on everything we can - less trips to the city. If we start doing that I can make sure we are stocking up only when stuff goes on a good sale. That will save.
I make room for stock up prices. putting food under the bed might help, plus there are other places for small amounts. After trying other brands, I am brand loyal to Northern when it is on sale. It's not pretty all stacked up, but in my house, it is always on sale...lol. As a matter of fact, most everything, including milk sometimes, is on sale in my cabinets. It works!
ReplyDeleteWe have some stocked up, but when we have our house we'll have lots more storage room. So, DH is thinking like get like 20 cases of water at once instead of the 6 we have in our current pantry closet. Quilted Northern is our TP brand too LOL. The bottom of my linen closet is full of TP LOL
DeleteWe have an T and E budget every month, because we do travel several times a year and we usually eat out weekly, plus we go to plays, concerts and movies several times a year. It just makes sense for us to have a separate budget for that.
ReplyDeleteOur grocery budget is staying the same but we are spending much less than we did.(I have been under budget every month except for December when we had everyone here for a week) We are eating vegetarian meals at least 2 days a week and it makes a big difference in the overall budget, plus one night each week we are having soup and a half sandwich or cornbread. That makes a huge difference too.
We usually have one super cheap meal per week - like soup or even cereal for dinner. I also have been freezing half my cassseroles to make two meals out of them
DeleteHave you tried pricing at Amazon? I do tp dog food and most cleaning supplies on subscribe and save. It sure was a better price than Sam's club.
ReplyDeleteI've bought a few things on Amazon but have never really figured out the subscribe and save program
DeleteOur grocery budget is $400/month which also includes meals out. The pets have their own budget of $75/month. How much we spend depends on how much my Hubby is home and also whether he chooses to drive or fly home. When he drives, he always takes shelf stable food with him, which in turn means more spending. Hubs also has his own "away from home" budget which makes tracking much easier. Thankfully his company gives him $25/day for food costs when he is working.
ReplyDeleteWhen you do get a septic field, be careful of some of those softer brands of TP. They can be very hard on the system.
If your DH was home all the time how much do you think you'd spend? I just want to track because I think my budget amount is too low and I'd like the number to be what I am spending, not what I think I am spending, LOL
Deletemeant to add - we had a septic/drainfield all those years at our old house and no issues. The septic pumping company always told us we didn't need to pump so often (we'd do it every 3-4 years)
DeleteProbably not too much more. When he is gone for an extended amount of time, I usually come way under budget. This month I have spent less than $50, but will need to make a trip to the grocery store in the next day or two.
DeleteAnd here I thought my husband was the only man that uses an overwhelming amount of TP!! Quilted Northern is our paper of choice too. We also have a septic drain field and have never had a problem using it for a family of five. Have only had to clean it out once. You can use Rid-X once a month by pouring it in your toilet, it helps to maintain your septic system.
ReplyDeleteWe had septic drainfield for almost 30 years at our old house and never any problems at all.
DeleteDo you freeze the bakery products? I always stock up on TP when I find it on sale and I am not brand loyal. Having said that I know I stick to either of only 3 brands. As I see, you consume a lot of soda. That must be a big part of the budget. I barely drink two cans of coke a week. My drink of choice is always water, home brew unsweetened iced tea in the summer and ayran which is a Turkish soft drink. It is not sweet but salty and you can make it at home with plain yogurt. The industrial kind is made by milk but really the taste is not so very much different. I do not drink much milk either. Only in my coffe twice a day. At work we have a big coffee machine. I usually fill my mug 1/4th with regular milk, heat that up in the microwave and pour 2/4 of coffee on it. A full mug is too much for me. Turks generally drink excessive amounts of tea but I am not much of a tea drinker either.
ReplyDeleteI freeze loaves of bread - the 7 grain bread freezes fine, the white bread, not so much. I also freeze english muffins. We keep 2-3 months of TP stocked up. DH is the soda drinker, 2-3 cans per day. What we have now will last him about 5-6 weeks. I am a big milk drinker and one cup of coffee per day.
ReplyDeleteIs the water in your house bad to drink? A Brita filter might help and it would cut down on the plastic you have to recycle. Also I had a friend who loves his soda stream but it would probably be hard to replicate Mountain Dew.
ReplyDeleteThe water isn't that great, but DH puts those little tea packets (Crystal light) in his water bottle.
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