2 years ago Carlos quit his job and started a full time PhD program and I started teaching Spanish 10 hours a week and added to my already existing work for my dad's multi-media company to round out to 14 hours a week. My busier schedule was great but having to go from a 2 income family to suddenly 1, was rough. Not only were we now without my husbands decent salary for the first time in 8 years, but my income has always been (and still is) drastically lower than what he was bringing home.
This left us with having to figure out a budget, which we had never done before. It was tiring and exhausting and was all in the hopes that we could find a way to make life work without me going to back to work full time with a 2 and 3 year old and home. The first thing we did was switch to a cash budget. All of our bills went to automatic payment through our checking account, but our gas, groceries and "fun" money was spent in cash each month. I withdrew the amount I needed at the beginning of the month and 95% of the time only spent the cash I had allotted myself each month. There were of course, exceptions to this. Examples would be something that our fun money didn't allow us to get or if something broke and needed to be replaced, car repairs, etc. But for the most part I've worked very hard to find the best value for my $.
We are a family of 4. 2 adults, a 5 and 3 year old. I budget $120 every 2 weeks ($240/month) for groceries. This does not include, paper goods, cleaning supplies or dog food. I do all my shopping, minus dog food at Aldi.
We had done most of our grocery shopping at Shop n Save prior to this change b/c it was the closest grocer to our home. We switched to Aldi's right around the time we switched to cash and I've never looked back. At first it took me awhile to get used to. I had to change certain things like, only buying seasonal produce or staying away from canned food and trying to buy more fresh. We're not a picky meat eating family. We eat a lot of chicken, and ground meats which is easy at Aldi's. I've heard complaints from people about the meat at Aldi's and I guess it all depends on what kind you like. Meat is like everything else in life. You get what you pay for. If you enjoy high quality cut meat, then Aldi's may not be your best vendor choice.
Aldi's produce is good if you buy seasonally. My cart always has bananas, oranges and apples. Beyond that, it's whatever is on sale. I used to plan my meals out and then buy whatever was in the recipe. Shopping seasonally means I don't meal plan in advance anymore. I buy what's cheaper and cook with it. I love to cook and therefor don't mind finding new recipes to try out if I happen to buy lots of something that we don't often eat. (Pinterest and I are besties)
On buying snacks, I try to avoid it. I always buy 2 bags of chips and a 12 pack of soda, but that's for Carlos's school lunches. When I first started shopping at Aldi's he would complain about how the chips weren't as good. He eventually got used to it and doesn't mind anymore. Like I said, it was an adjustment for everyone ;) I do always buy crackers (comparable to Ritz) and a box of honey wheat pretzels (which at Aldi's are huge boxes) and typically I'll buy string cheese. Otherwise, my kids snack on fruit, home made popsicles (yogurt, juice, fruit combo), home made granola bars, or other baked goods. I also don't ever buy juice or fruit drinks. We are a water/milk family. My kids don't need the crazy amount of sugar that juices and fruit drinks contain. If they're thirsty, they know where to find their water bottle in the fridge. All this to say that if my children are ever in your home be prepared for them to think your box of cheeze-its and jug of orange juice are the most amazing things ever b/c they don't ever get that kind of thing at home! My three year old has been known to help him self repeatedly to the neighbors stash of gold fish without asking. (I know, my poor deprived children....wah wah wah.)
In the next post I'll talk more about meals/grocery list specifically. I try to cook at least 4-5 nights a week. We eat left overs on the weekends and budget for eating out at least 1-2 times a weekend. We never eat out during the week though b/c we'd rather be home together. Our kids are still too young to have after school/social activities that would take us out of the house in the late afternoon/evening hours.
Finally, I don't coupon. I tried it once and found that I just didn't have the time. I know a lot of people that do, and more power to you. It's just not for me. The other thing about couponing is that it tends to apply to things that I wouldn't buy anyways like Gatorade, fruit snacks/bars or things that I often make from scratch like spaghetti sauce and yogurt. Again, nothing against couponing, it's just not for me.
Up next my typical grocery bill and standard meals throughout the week.
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