Goal #1: Grocery Budget of $100/week

As I mentioned in my first post, we are finally budgeting. It's fun stuff, you really should try it! 

Something that really struck me from the Total Money Makeover is that if you don't tell your money where to go, it will leave. Think about that for a minute. I certainly don't want our money to just "leave." Hence, the new budgeting plan comes into play. 

Since I just started our money makeover a month ago, I'm still trying to work out the kinks. Right now my goal is to only spend $100 each week on groceries. So far I've found that if I plan a weekly menu and grocery list every Friday night and then stick to the list that I can stay very close to or under my budget. Sticking to the list means no more splurge buys and no more mindless shopping. Its actually been nice to have a menu that I can go off of when the hubby asks the dreaded "What's for dinner?" question. 

Another change that I've implemented has been the cash only system. I only bring my budgeted amount with me to the store: that means NO credit or debit cards are being used. I stopped using credit cards altogether now. (my new mantra is that you can't get out of debt if you are still creating it) One day I may actually have the courage to completely cancel and get rid of my credit cards but for now I'm just not using them. Plus, we don't want the hubby having a heart attack over here. ;)


-Lara