Well, recently I became frustrated because every month I'd go to pay off the credit card and wonder why the balance was so high. Where was our money going? Looking at all the miscellaneous charges almost a month later, it was really hard to tell. So, in an effort to track spending and therefore, reduce spending, I've decided to go all cash for a while. Well, mostly all cash. See, I'm a visual kind of gal. I NEED to SEE where the money goes. It's more effective for me to see cash flying out of my hands - swiping a credit card doesn't phase me, however, seeing the bill does. And by that time, it's too late to correct it.
See, Hubby and I have had a budget for months. But, every month, we'd come under budget in some categories and over in others (always over in groceries). And to be honest, I think weI cheated alittle. I was really bad about keeping up with receipts and filing and reporting and all that stuff. It wasn't that I didn't want to do it -- but it's hard when you have two in tow to carefully place the receipt back into your wallet as children are standing in the cart, throwing things out, crying for juice -- well, you get the picture. And with the rising cost of groceries, I couldn't figure out if it was just the fact that groceries cost more now or if I was actually buying more. Hubby would look at the monthly recap of our budget and his jaw would completely drop at the amount of money we spent on groceries. And then he'd say, "But I'm not even here half the month." I think he began to wonder who was eating all that food. Oh I kid . . . maybe.
And shopping, well it was rushed. Because I had two children with me all the time, I rushed through shopping, not really thinking about what I was buying. My mission was to get out of the store just as quick as possible.
So, here are a few tried and true guidelines that have worked for me when it comes to reducing our grocery spending:
1) Do not bring your children grocery shopping. Now this one is trickyseeing as how my husband is out of town, ALOT. But, it just takes some extra planning on my part.
2) If you must take the children to the grocery store, bring reinforcements. Ask someone else to tag along and keep an extra eye on the kids while you shop.
3) Take only the amount of cash you want to spend during that shopping trip and leave everything else at home. I'm trying to grocery shop twice a month. So, I just split my grocery budget in half. Be sure to bring a calculator and calculate as you go. I calculate on the same paper I've written my grocery list on.
4) Pre-plan your menu so that you're not buying items that you don't need. I always hated this because it took the "grocery list" to a whole new level and required time that I just didn't want to spend on a grocery list. But - it works! And we spend less this way. So, I'm willing to spend the extra time, to save the extra money.
5) Once you spend the money, place the receipt in the envelope of the money that you spent. (i.e. place the grocery receipt in the grocery envelope). At the end of the month, you've got the receipt to show where the money went. And hopefully, you've got some left over money in there too!
6) A budget is only good if you show some discipline and follow the rules. Does that make sense? If you don't practice any self control, well then it's not going to work. However, if you follow the rules and choose how you spend your money and report honestly, you'll see results.
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