Alright, no heavy stuff today. It's hard work trying not to offend anyone.
Today...groceries and finances. One of these days I'll tell our whole financial story from years back but I don't have the energy or time today.
We always follow a written budget. I hate bookkeeping. I loathe tracking spending. Every month I go to the bank and withdraw all the money I have in my budget for groceries for that month. It put it in an envelope. When it's gone, I stop buying groceries. No checkbook to balance, no overspending, no impulse buys.
One of the things that helps me keep spending down is when I take the time to write out a cryptic menu for the week or month. When the kids were little, I used to do this for the month. Now I might do it for a week or two and I base it on what's on sale at the grocery store and local farm markets. I don't go into a lot of detail, and I can swap meals within a week, but to have a plan assures that I have everything in the house that I need for all the dishes to be prepared that week. If I go to make a plan and there's not a lot of stuff I usually use on sale that week, I just plan one week and then wait to see if the next week's flier has some better choices on sale and then do a longer menu/shopping list based on those sales. I realize this is no original genius plan.....it's just how I do it and it works for us. When all of the guys are around my grocery bill is hideously enormous so every little bit helps.
I need to make my plan today. Tomorrow is bank and stock the fridge day. I think it will also be 'blog about the finances day'.
Have a great day!
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1 comment:
This is also very much like I do it. When I make out a menue sometimes I switch the meals around but at least I know what I am working with. It works for us also. connie from Texas
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