Along
with a Month Of Soup I decided to
begin the year with a new $20 a week grocery challenge this month. This time I am going to get serious about it
and do it really well. With a month of
soup suppers I figure I really have no excuse for not making it happen this
time. I need to be successful this month
as I plan to do a few of these this year.
January
is a good month for a challenge like this because it is usually the month where
we have our highest heat bill. I'm
hoping that whatever extra money I have left at the end of the month that
didn't get spent on groceries will take care of the extra cost on our next heat
bill.
This
year I'm going to have a lot of grocery related challenges in an effort to spend
less, save more money, reduce food waste and use up what we have. One thing I will need to do either in late
spring or early summer is to defrost the chest freezer I keep in our
garage. Right now it is pretty full so
we will need to use up what is inside of it so I can get it defrosted and all
washed up. Then I'll need to refill it
afterward, but that will be a whole other thrifty challenge I'll tackle later
on.
I
have some pretty significant savings and financial goals set this year and I am
going to be doing all I can to meet those.
This $20 a week grocery challenge is going to help me along my
journey. I'll be sure and let you know
how I make out.
Wish
me luck!
Good luck! I'm starting a bit of a pantry/freezer challenge, trying to eat down my stores (especially the garage freezer. It's getting ridiculously full!). This week, I only spent about $30 on groceries for the four of us.
ReplyDeleteI'm conflicted. I used to make my own bread all the time and it was great, but the main problem with that is that the slices of homemade bread don't fit in the reusable sandwich containers that I send my son's lunch in, so I end up having to send a plastic bag each day, which I don't like either. Foil rips too easily... I'm wondering if my sewing skills are good enough that I could make a reusable sandwich container? I'm going to have to put thought into this, what with my daughter starting school next year. But making my own bread again would cut down on the grocery bill as well...
Anyway, here's to some interesting future meals as we clean out our food storage! :)
Here, here! It should be really interesting and fun too!
DeleteI see that some people make the sandwich "bags" on Youtube. Maybe check those videos out and see if they make something that would do the trick. ??? I'm on a campaign to cut down plastic and packaging this year.
Have a look at bees wax wraps. I've seen them for sale in ECO shops but very expensive to purchase. However my sister made heaps, all shapes and sizes from scraps of material that she already had and a block of bees wax. Happy New Year! I was going to have a frugal/use it up January but life has thrown the family a curved ball....I'll do a Frugal Feb instead.
DeleteI'll check those out. Thank you.
DeleteI think this is a great challenge. I want to do it but man things have been so expensive lately! We have also transitioned to a mostly plant based diet for health reasons and while I try to buy the sale produce for the week - it is still expensive. Being pro-active to use up that produce before it goes bad is the key to keeping the budget low and using those leftovers.
ReplyDelete$20 is a BIG challenge, no doubt. Not much to spend on produce for sure, but I'm hopeful I can do it.
DeleteI won't join you on the soup challenge, but I am going to go ahead and try the $20/week. As I want to get the pantry and freezer cleared out for out impending move, this should be easy. My only issue is DH driving DS to his evening campus classes twice/week--they always, and I mean ALWAYS stop for a late dinner on the way home. (DH sits in the car and reads a book while DS is in class.) DH refuses to stop this, saying he relishes this time. DS is perfectly capable of driving himself, but wants DH to drive him in. I'm sure the eating out has something to do with it, but cost aside, it's a good thing. Besides, other than not giving it a second thought if he takes the kids out to eat, DH never spends money on non-essential. He is very frugal, except in this.
ReplyDeleteThese are treasured moments for them. Good for them. So quickly our kiddos are off and on their own. Your hubby must really be enjoying this time together.
DeleteWishing you luck on your challenge. I was hoping to keep our grocery budget to 100 dollars this month since I have so much in storage already. Unfortunately I was out of olive oil and canned tomatoes (not to mention canned chili's were on sale and I use them often) so I am already down 23.57 and it is only the 4th. Maybe 200 is a more realistic budget.
ReplyDeleteSo far nothing in the sales ads has tempted me, but my big challenge will be if there is a good ad and to not cave in. Yikes!
DeleteWhy not ask your readers to join you in the challenge? I think I will! We could use the extra money this month...and the freezer needs to be cleaned out, anyways, after our Seven Fish Dishes.
ReplyDeletehttp://cindybrick.blogspot.com/2019/01/seven-fish-dishes-report.html
I honestly didn't think anyone would want to limit their grocery spend to just $20 a week but if you want to join me by all means! Please!
DeleteYippeeeee!