We survived our first month!
Monday, February 4, 2013 at 9:49PM Well we survived our first month of sticking to our new food budget! Contrary to some of our friend’s belief, our diet did not consist of eating nothing but rice and beans. We have been enjoying a rich diet filled with lots of fruit, vegetables, healthy protein sources – fish, beans, and legumes – and whole wheat grains.
One of the major changes we’ve noticed is the lack of junk food in our diets. We do not even eat potato chips! (Unless we get the urge to cook them ourselves.) Processed food is full of empty calories and they are quite expensive. Eating them is not only unhealthy, but they would completely blow our budget.
Another major change is that we did not eat out once this month. Usually, at the end of the week, we would stop to pick up some take-out food. (Especially Greek or Chinese! Yum!) This was not only unhealthy, but a little hard on the old pocket book.
Our results for the end of our first month were both encouraging and disappointing. The total amount we spent fell comfortably within our range of between $160 and $200. We were hoping to spend only $160, but our total expenditure came in at $167.37. [Please see last month's posting for the rules we agreed to follow.] Since we did not eat out this month, we have $32.63 that we can carry over to February. We have included a little spreadsheet of the different meals we ate this month.
One thing that is hard to get over is our cravings (eg: Chinese food and chips or cookies) How did we get over that? It is a constant battle; however, keeping a wish list of favorite treats and checking online how to cook these dishes solves the problem. Our home cooked meals are even better than eating out. We both love to bake, so it is easy to bake treats ourselves. Also, packing a lunch and bringing something to munch on for a snack is a must for us as well.
We will post again soon to share some of the strategies we have been using.
Click here to see our grocery expenses for January
Click here to see our meals for January
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