Mr. BFS and I are trying to cut back our expenses to build up some padding for after we close on our new house. That said, we canceled our big summer vacation, are trying to avoid any major expenses until after September, and we started attacking our food expenses.
Background of Our Challenge
We were spending way too much on food. The $727 bill from March–April 2012 scared us. So we were aiming for $600 or less total for April-May 2012, $550 for May-June 2012, and $500 for June-July 2012…and we have been doing really well! Yay!
That said, for July 13 - August 12, 2012, we were aiming for $500 or less again.
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 did in our fourth month of the challenge…
Food Expenditures from July 13 – August 12, 2012
It was a pretty easy month, woot!!! I have jumped back on the weight loss wagon in order to lose 12.6 pounds by September 4, so I have been eating slightly less and a little pickier. Mr. BFS has whole-heartedly jumped into brown bag lunches (well, Walmart bag lunches…) for his bowling shifts as long as I put them together, so he’s been eating cheap. We have both started only eating out when we really want something specific or we force ourselves to throw something together at home. That is helping a lot. No more random food purchases just because we’re nibbly. Well…not as many…
And just a side note, but I fit in that last $25 grocery charge on the very last day just to give us a head start on the next month, lol. Yep, I am totally cheating. 
Eating Out – $222.82
Groceries – $268.02
That comes to $490.84 total.
WOOT!!! WE DID IT!!! And I think this may be the first month that our grocery expenses were larger than our eating out expenses. DOUBLE WOOT!!!
What We’ve Been Eating
Mr. BFS and I have started adding some healthier options to our diet and did okay this month:
- Grilled shrimp
- Grilled squash, zucchini, onions, and green pepper
- Sandwiches
- 1/4 pound hamburgers grilled at home
- Melon
- Honey Nut Cheerios
- Godiva chocolate that we received as a gift (yeah, not healthy…shut up. )
- Toast
- Scrambled eggs
- Value Menu Items
- A few fast food meals like Chick-fil-A and Jack in the Box, but less than usual
- Harvest Supreme Freschetta frozen pizza (it has spinach…that is a huge step up for us)
- Fig bars (Kroger brand “Fig Newtons”)
- Bananas
- Nectarines
- Cantaloupe
- Spaghetti
- Subway sandwiches
- BBQ (it was free and delicious…)
- Potato salad
- Deviled eggs
Overall, yay for a big improvement for us over the previous month! I know we could eat healthier, but I honestly am only really able to tackle a few things at a time. Right now, it is the less than $500 a month goal and the weight loss. So just subbing some of our really unhealthy options like brownies for fruit is a good enough step right now for me.
Did you hit any specific goals lately? How is your food budget coming along?
Ha! Sandbagging for next month. Is your spending at FinCon12 going to count toward the month’s total?
Seriously – congratulations on setting a goal and beating it enough that can sandbag for next month!
So when are you going to try to cut down to 450? Or is 500 as low as you plan on going? Either way it is a vast improvement and I am sure it is helping you house fund.
Great job, Mrs. and Mr. Crystal, on reaching your desired weight loss and grocery bill/food expense goals. Keep developing those healthy eating habits—with a slight peppering of Godiva chocolate. (Yum!)
Great job! And yes, even if you spent some money this month for next month? That’s still awesome that you came in under budget this month. I try to do that too
“I know we could eat healthier, but I honestly am only really able to tackle a few things at a time. Right now, it is the less than $500 a month goal and the weight loss. So just subbing some of our really unhealthy options like brownies for fruit is a good enough step right now for me.”
There’s no need for you to feel bad about handling one habit at a time. That’s actually the only way you can see permanent changes/results. In fact, new studies have found that people who lose weight have to work almost infinitely harder to maintain their new weight than those who started at the lower weight to begin with. But, if you get to that new weight through small habit changes and the weight comes off slooooooooowly, you’re much more likely to keep it off. (And, I suspect making money habit changes are similar).
I think building a house counts for a couple of things as well, so don’t feel bad if you can’t do everything at once.
Great job! I haven’t had grilled shrimp in awhile… might have to add it to my meal plan in the next week or so. Thanks for the reminder of how much I love shrimp!
Woot! Congrats. My biggest accomplishment this month is breaking even on my mortgage payment (yeah roommates) and moving out of my apartment completely and ending my lease (can’t wait for the security deposit to come in!)
Good job Crystal. It’s adapting to the small changes that you can live with that will keep you on track for both your budget and your weightloss goals. BTW, My food bill is a lot higher than yours and it is not that we eat out, but we entertain a lot.
Crystal, these area some great numbers! And the food’s not bad either.
Whether it’s food or habits, Baby Steps.. work every time.
One way we’re looking at cutting down on the eating out (or Pizza takeout, Chinese Food,etc) is by spending a day doing a whole bunch of cooking in advance. As a matter of fact, after I hit ‘Post Comment’ I’ll be cooking up 7 lbs of Chicken @ $1.99/lb and freezing it. Later in the week, or next, we’ll have it ready for heating, salads, taco’s, etc….
Hmm.. sounds like a good topic for my new blog
Congrats on the good month! Better yet, you are cutting out some of the bad choices. That is much more important in the long run.
Congrats! You two are doing great
I think you’re doing a great job eating healthier! I was reading down the list thinking to my self “nice.nice.nice.ooooooh (a good ooooh to the Godiva) haha
Good effort getting it down. Mrs Scot and I have nailed our to less than $100 per week. Mainly because we only get takeaway food once a week!
@William, yes, all food at FINCON counts towards the restaurants category.
@Lance, $500 is our long-term goal. We entertain and hang out with friends pretty much weekly, so we’re happy at $500.
@Jennifer, thanks!
@Bogofdebt, I am going to try to do that every month now.
It’s started this month off really well (like about less than $40 for this first week, yay!).
@Emily, exactly!
@Kim, this week has really made me understand the toll building a house has on my mind, lol.
@Denise, and shrimp are on sale here again this week.
@Jenna, yay for a returned security deposit!
@Leslie, yeah, we usually cook a meal a week for our two-three closest friends and ourselves and meet them once or twice a month at restaurants, so that’s why we are just stopping at the $500 a month goal.
@Joe, glad I helped spark a new post idea.
@Krantcents, thanks.
@Michelle, thank you!
@Jessica, HAHAHA. I am addicted to Godiva…
@Savvy Scot, yeah…we aren’t there yet…
Nice that is a reasonable goal. I have my budget set up separately for groceries and eating out but I think I may combine them, since usually when we eat out more we tend to spend less on groceries. I find I spend a lot on alcohol in the summers so that’s really messing up my budget right now
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