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No spend days???

August 13th, 2008 at 04:45 am

So I've been really trying not to spend money, except for essentials. Since I am the Chief of Finances in this household, I talked to my husband last week about paying our car off 1 year early and he agreed that it should be doable by reducing our spending. He ate lunch at home Monday and today and I've cooked dinner both nights. Going out to dinner is by far our biggest non-essential expense. But, I've been to the store 3 times in the past 2 days. Went to Costco last night for some groceries, Trader Joes for some more groceries and then today I went back to Trader Joes to exchange something (bought the wrong kind of pine nuts) and then again tonight for milk. Mind you, I bought food that we needed, but just spending the money is bugging me. I guess I need to plan better. One thing I am trying to do is NOT shop with the kids because I always end up buying them something (soda, candy, cereal etc.) and leaving them home with my husband saves me money!

5 Responses to “No spend days???”

  1. greengirl Says:
    1218600297

    I know it's hard sometimes, but it can be a lot cheaper to plan a weekly meal list and do one shop a week, because then you save money for 3 reasons: driving to and from the store saves petrol money, everytime you go to the store you (usually) buy something extra and if you already have the ingredients in the fridge you will be less tempted to get takeaway because of the money you've already spent on groceries. Big Grin

  2. little l Says:
    1218601568

    greengirl, you are right! I've already created a spreadsheet for my meal planning. I cannot cook without a plan and a recipe. Since I have school aged kids involved in sports, I've noted on the spreadsheet when they have to be at a game or practice, thus prepping the meal ahead of time will be key on those days. I've also listed the ingredients I need so that I can print the entire plan and ingredients list and take it with me to the store. So far I have 3 weeks planned and working on the 4th. I'm going to save and reuse them since they are seasonal and with the kids activities already incorporated into them. All I will need to do is simply update the days the kids have practices/games, cut and paste a few meals and my menu for the month will be done.

  3. my english castle Says:
    1218604295

    Beside using more gas to haul DD to the grocery store with me, I figure it costs $10 a trip and I cave in to her begging for cookies etc.

  4. luxlivingfrugalis Says:
    1218637920

    I do best when I take the menu and the list together to the store. When I leave the menu home I forget sometimes why I wanted a certain ingredient and have been known to leave it out of the cart for arbitrary reasons. With the menu at hand, I can refer back to WHY I need a certain thing.

  5. little l Says:
    1218642912

    luxlivingfrugalis,
    I do the same thing with my menu! It is especially helpful to have the menu when there is an ingredient called for that isn't something you'd normally buy. It's reassuring to read that other people do some of the same things that I do, or I do the same things that other people do lol.

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