Now that I'm a stay at home mum looking after Zoe everyday, I'm obviously not working and so corners have needed to be cut here and there so that we aren't slowly drowning in money woes. It makes sense, I'm sure a lot of people are the same. You can't just spend what you want all the time, we all have budgets, mortages, debts and things we are squirreling away money for to buy some day. It all changes when you go from two incomes to one.
All of this seems pretty simple, except I'm a spender - not a saver. The accountant husband of mine is the SUPER saver and so thus balances me out (thank goodness otherwise our bank statement would be around '0' or have a '-' symbol glaring back at us each month). So I've found being at home and on one income with less spending money on fun stuff, a bit hard. Fair enough right? right? I'm a girl, I LIKE STUFF!
One of the things that I find hardest to do is to buy a decent amount of groceries for the week on a budget. Of course there are extras now like nappies, baby wipes, baby food and copious amounts of laundry powder so the cost has gone up. Not to mention the fact that food is now just more expensive, it really is. Things that were affordable like Cheese and Butter are now the 'extras' or the 'treats' we add to the trolley as a bonus. Plus I'm really bad at that 'treat' part, it would help if I didn't LOVE food so damn much. AAGH!
I found out from a friend that they feed their family on $100 a week. I'm not sure if that includes veges, but I'll bet it does! This made me feel pretty stink, as my bill is, well, just a tad *wince* more than $100....... So I'm out to fix this, get good food for a reasonable price, cut my treats down and get on target.
I'm after any tips and tricks that you might use to get through your groceries without coming to the counter and cringing at the total staring back at you. I'm going to live and breathe
Destitute Gourmet and see how I go.
Here's a few things that I do/don't do currently to help you with your tip** giving:
- I buy all the grocery items from Pak'n'Save.
- I buy veges and fruit from a local fruit store. Although their prices are lower and quality higher than the supermarket, I do feel I spend more or buy more here.
- I don't buy my meat at a discount butcher - should I?
- We really like salad and try to buy salad as long as possible in winter until the lettuce runs out and we have to resort to broccoli, pumpkin, cauliflower etc...
- We like to have a good selection of veges in our dinner meals. It's also important that we have potatoes every night or a constant carbohydrate (rice is good but potatoes are better) portion to keep hub's sugar levels* consistent and normal through the night. So we can't just up and have a large salad only or a fat bowl of pasta or a pizza, get what I mean?
- Free Range Eggs and Chicken just taste better and is better for you..... eeek.
- I don't always make a list.
- I don't bake anything but am wondering if I should be?
- I am never on budget, the odd time I am under, I have had to go get extras during the week as I've forgotten something.
- We shop weekly.
- I try to shop on a full stomach as to not buy food for myself. This NEVER works. haha.
So there you go, any tips? tricks? Should I shop online? Should I shop all in the one place? Should I give a discount butcher a go? Should I try and shop monthly with veges and essentials weekly? Should I have more faith in the 'home brands'?
I would love to hear from you. Email me {here} if you'd rather not comment below.
(I must be serious! there is NO IMAGE on this post!)
* Diabetic if you must know!
** I mean advice ~ not money when I say 'tips' haha
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