Mr. BFS and I are trying to cut back our expenses to build up some padding once we close on our new house. That said, we decided to cancel our big summer vacation, are trying to avoid any major expenses for 3-4 months, and we started attacking our food expenses.
Background of Our Challenge
We were spending way too much on food. The $727 bill from March 13 – April 12, 2012 scared us. So we were aiming for $600 or less total for April 13 – May 12, 2012 and $550 for May 13 – June 12, 2012…which we achieved! Yay!
That said, for June 13 – July 12, 2012, we are aiming for $500 or less.
In order to track our spending without logging into our credit card account every day, we keep a running tally on a sheet of paper stuck to our refrigerator. Between the two of us (and by double checking ourselves by logging in to our credit cards), we write down every food expense diligently throughout the month. It’s not the prettiest method ever, but it works great to keep our eyes on the prize.
Let’s see how we are doing for the first 2 weeks of our second month of the challenge…
Food Expenditures from June 13 – June 27, 2012
It was a tough two weeks. I have been trying to get back into the swing of things after a funk, we had our monthly Sam’s Club run, and we hosted a Chicken Pot Pie night with friends that ran up the grocery bill. Then I started really digging in to finish my eBook, and pretty much everything got pushed to the side. Sometimes I have to take a step back and see the big picture. We’re healthy, we have friends, we can support ourselves, so I will not berate us for a bad 2 weeks. Budget-wise, we are on track. Health-wise, we have to jump back on the wagon.
Eating Out – $143.98
Groceries – $87.86
That comes to $231.84 total. Could be better, but we will finish strong. 
What We’ve Been Eating
Mr. BFS and I haven’t been eating super healthy, but here is a quick rundown for curiosity’s sake:
- Mexican food like soft tacos
- Sandwiches
- Chicken Pot Pie
- Bananas
- Eggo waffles
- Total Raisin Bran
- Breakfast Tacos
- Value Menu Items
- Egg McMuffins
- Steak
- Potatoes
- Green Beans
- Skittles – I have been really hitting the Skittles
- Cookies
- Brownies
I swear I will actually eat something green soon…other than lettuce. This reminds me that I need to start taking a daily vitamin again…
Did you hit any specific goals lately? How is your food budget coming along?
Hey congrats on keeping your food budget on track. It does worry me however how many meals you eat out. I can see that you’re trying to make “healthy” choices, be careful to not only watch for fat content, but also sodium. Many of those meals you enjoy out could also be prepared at home for many less calories and sodium content. You could also double up a recipe in order to have your own “fast” food supply. Good luck!
Looks like you’re doing good! We’re doing good with our food budget as well, but I’m hoping for an even better July.
@Ramona, if you take out the frozen yogurt and diet beverages, it’s not so bad.
And a few of those meals were shared with others like pizza on Father’s Day and Chinese the day we went to the movies. 
@Michelle, good luck!
Does the frozen yogurt place you guys like sell pints of their yogurt? You might save a bundle by buying a tub every now and again and leaving it in the freezer, rather than stopping in every time you get the craving.
@Sheryl, it sells by the ounce.
But we do get 10% cash back to use as we want – 10% is credited to our Orange Leaf card each time and we use it towards the end of our budget month to have a treat without costing as much.
My food budget is the hardest one to meet. I think we might have a handle on it for now but it has only been 3 weeks so we will see. Once we are consistently meeting it I will be happier.
Looks like you’re doing well but eat your veggies, woman!
Not too bad money-wise. It looks like you have a lot of transactions in that two week period. Maybe it would be easier if you limited grocery shopping to once a week and eating out to X times per week?? Just a thought. Keep working on it!
Looks like y’all are doing better! We suck at food budgets – feeding the fam plus two rugrats puts us at like $200 per week. It’s rough. I actually planted a garden to save on the veggie part of the bill, if I don’t kill the plants first!
Food can be such a big monthly expense if not kept under control. Thankfully I made use of the Sam’s membership. The only probably with that is separating and putting all that food up. Glad to see you two attacking the food issue.
Have you thought of using a mobile app (like Adaptu?) to help you stay on track budget wise? No need to track with paper and pencil or log into your bank account every day.
Also, thought of joining a CSA to eat healthier?
Don’t let your budget be the reason for not eating healthy! A few extra dollars now will save you multiple times that down the road.
@Adam, good luck!
@Kathleen, yes ma’am!
@20s Finances, we actually wasted more food if we buy more than a few days at a time. And yes, we should eat out less…
@Nell, I have a black thumb, so good luck!
@Thomas, we use our Sam’s membership for the staples too.
@Jenna, the paper and pen makes it easy for both me and my hubby to stay accountable. Since we are so picky about vegetables we like, we would end up wasting food from a CSA.
@Lance, our budget isn’t what causes me to eat like this…I like bad food…
A. We have a TON of tomatoes coming out of the garden. I’ll share.
B. CHICKEN POT PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Ivy, LOL. Yes, Mr. BFS and I know that you love his chicken pot pie. It is addictive. I think he puts crack in it…
We’ve been doing pretty good at hitting our reduced numbers. One more month, and we get our full grocery budget back ($600/mth for four people). It’s been an interesting experiment, but it’s been good for all of us.
You and Mr. BFS seem to be holding on OK too – you can do this!