A Challenge for September

Mary at OwlHaven is having a challenge for the month of September. Can you feed your family for $75 a week? Mary has 10 children! And she's taking up this challenge also. When I questioned whether that $75 would be just for food, or include toiletries etc, Mary said each individual could and should set their own parameters. It didn't have to be exactly $75, some might like to start out at $100. Well as you know we are a small family anyway (me, hubby, daughter and dog) so if Mary can do it, then I told myself, so can I.

I'm always trying to be frugal. Hubby makes a good wage, but I always find myself trying to cut back on spending at the grocery store, or seeking out bargains for around the house (I hate to pay full price for things) so I thought this challenge would be good to try. I must say though, that we often have a lot of non-perishable foods in like canned goods, toilet rolls, ziploc bags (we shop at Sams club a couple of times a year), so really cutting my grocery bill down should be pretty easy for me!At least that's what I'm hoping.

Last week (before I knew about the challenge) I went to the store on Friday (my new day to go, so that we have things to eat over the weekend too!) and spent $136. If I'm honest, I have enough food in the house to easily eat for another week, with the exception of fresh produce like salads and milk, bread etc. But what I've often done in the past is just gone to the store anyway and stocked up on more food, the likes of which I already have in the cupboard or freezer - with no thought to what is on sale or not! So that changes this week. Last night I sat with a pencil and note pad and made a list of essentials that I know I need (I write them on a note pad that is stuck to the freezer as and when I run out of stuff) and also wrote out a meal plan for next week :-)

This morning I'm off to the grocery store after dropping Kristen off at school (I love how quiet it is in there at 7.40am in the morning), and when I get back I'll show you what I bought. This is a month long challenge so I will update weekly on how I'm doing and how much I spend.

One other thought/idea I had..... if I usually spent about $100 per week on groceries, but I only spend $75 for the challenge, AND if I did this not just for the month of September but right on through December, AND if I put the $25 per week that I save on food in a savings jar - do you know I would have nearly $400 by Christmas! Now imagine what I can spend that on, the week before Christmas!!!! Just a thought ;-)

Added + + + 9.40am. I just got back from the grocery store! Wow, this challenge may be harder than I thought. It's amazing how much more aware I am of the cost of food. And I really thought twice about just popping things in the cart that weren't on my list - I didn' t pick up a magazine like I often do just to browse through when I get home. I stuck to what was on my list, and my bill came to . . . . . . $78. 24

Here's what I got :

I won't list everything out, suffice to say most of it is what I needed this week, included were things like toothpaste, Swiffer floor cleaner, canola oil - all items I shouldn't need again next week.

I'm already thinking of ways to keep the cost of my food shopping down. I'll be making pancakes and cookies for a while and not buying Pilsbury frozen stuff! I'll be blogging on and off about some of the changes I'm making as and when I do them.

Hope you all have a fun Labor Day Weekend. We have no specific plans here, just the usual relaxing around the home.