Some free avocados I got last month!
It's that time again! Here's a spending report on my four "focus areas" of 2018:
Groceries ($130.00): $90.52
We spent 75% of the grocery money this month. All this year, we've easily paid a lot less than I budgeted. On average, we've had $37.53 left over at the end of the month. And what we spend includes impulse buys, going over budget some weeks, etc. I think I may adjust this number to $100.00 per month, until further notice. That will make it more of a challenge and more fun for me. I would love to go back to the bare bones basics of "how to eat for $10.00 per week" and see if I can do any better than that.
The obvious answer for why we've got so much money left is that I'm budgeting for three, and only two of us are eating most of the food. When I set the budget, I wasn't sure if we'd need more than $20.00 per week (more food because I'm nursing still, more food because Baby eats solids, more convenience foods because I'm a busy parent, etc.). In all honesty, I think if we stayed away from junk food and impulse purchases we could keep it under $87.00/mo, which is $20.00 per week- a two-person budget. We won't be giving up impulse purchases any time soon, though, so I'll add an extra $13.00/mo. for wiggle room.
Things I did this month to save on groceries: I made a Youtube vlog compilation of how I use cooking skills and cheap pantry staples to prepare meals. The video shows a lot of "frugal accomplishments" I do on a regular basis. You can watch it below:
Groceries ($130.00): $90.52
We spent 75% of the grocery money this month. All this year, we've easily paid a lot less than I budgeted. On average, we've had $37.53 left over at the end of the month. And what we spend includes impulse buys, going over budget some weeks, etc. I think I may adjust this number to $100.00 per month, until further notice. That will make it more of a challenge and more fun for me. I would love to go back to the bare bones basics of "how to eat for $10.00 per week" and see if I can do any better than that.
The obvious answer for why we've got so much money left is that I'm budgeting for three, and only two of us are eating most of the food. When I set the budget, I wasn't sure if we'd need more than $20.00 per week (more food because I'm nursing still, more food because Baby eats solids, more convenience foods because I'm a busy parent, etc.). In all honesty, I think if we stayed away from junk food and impulse purchases we could keep it under $87.00/mo, which is $20.00 per week- a two-person budget. We won't be giving up impulse purchases any time soon, though, so I'll add an extra $13.00/mo. for wiggle room.
Things I did this month to save on groceries: I made a Youtube vlog compilation of how I use cooking skills and cheap pantry staples to prepare meals. The video shows a lot of "frugal accomplishments" I do on a regular basis. You can watch it below:
I was shocked at the sheer amount of food available when I carefully followed the grocery list from The Housewife's Guide To Frugal Food. It's amazing how many different recipes you can make from basic ingredients like eggs, milk, meat, flour, potatoes, and vegetables. It does take creativity to prevent boredom, which is something I want to work on over the summer.
Personal Care ($10.00): $7.27
'Twas the month of body wash! Hubs bought a two-pack of his favorite scent, and I bought a garage sale two-pack (uh... two different kinds) that will hopefully last us a very, very long time.
Things I did this month to cut expenses on personal care: we've continued to use up those little hotel toiletries. I'm so sick of coaxing conditioner out of those small bottles. It's crazy!!
Household Supplies ($25.00): $20.73
Things we bought in April: toilet bowl cleaner ($1.53), elastic ($0.97), laundry soap ($16.28- I bought enough to last five or six months) and permanent markers ($1.95).
Things I did this month to save on household supplies: I bought three silicone baking mats. These will hopefully eliminate the cost of parchment paper and wax paper.
Clothing: $14.00
I bought a hat and scarf for myself at a garage sale ($1.00). The rest of the money I spent on Baby's 12-18 month clothing stash.
Robot Vacuum: $164.00
So... uh... I bought a robot vacuum. It's the best thing ever. This vacuum wasn't an expensive Roomba, but a cheaper brand that I will hopefully get to review on Youtube. The robot functions more like a sweeper, picking up little pieces of debris and dust in a random (but surprisingly thorough) way. It's not as good as a real vacuum or person sweeping, but it produces a relatively clean floor with almost no effort from me. It has a few drawbacks, like the fact that it just pushes around larger pieces of debris, and sometimes it gets stuck under furniture. But overall I have enjoyed this little appliance a lot, and I don't regret the purchase one bit.
We also spent quite a bit of money on gardening supplies; far more than I normally spend, but I'm trying to adjust my gardening habits to be more baby friendly and less time-intensive. Some things I bought were landscape fabric, seed starter pellets, orchid potting soil and flower bulbs.
Since we've lived here, my goal was to slowly plant a few perennials every year to build up a relatively maintenance-free flower garden. So far I've planted lilies, roses, delphiniums, blazing stars, gladioli, and tuberose. To my delight, my mother-in-law and previous owners of the house put in plenty of iris, hyacinth, lilacs, peonies, daffodils, more roses, poppies and many others that we get to enjoy every year.
****
I guess that's about all for this spending report! Hope you all had a good, frugal April as well!
Til next time,
-Bethany
Personal Care ($10.00): $7.27
'Twas the month of body wash! Hubs bought a two-pack of his favorite scent, and I bought a garage sale two-pack (uh... two different kinds) that will hopefully last us a very, very long time.
Things I did this month to cut expenses on personal care: we've continued to use up those little hotel toiletries. I'm so sick of coaxing conditioner out of those small bottles. It's crazy!!
Household Supplies ($25.00): $20.73
Things we bought in April: toilet bowl cleaner ($1.53), elastic ($0.97), laundry soap ($16.28- I bought enough to last five or six months) and permanent markers ($1.95).
Things I did this month to save on household supplies: I bought three silicone baking mats. These will hopefully eliminate the cost of parchment paper and wax paper.
Clothing: $14.00
I bought a hat and scarf for myself at a garage sale ($1.00). The rest of the money I spent on Baby's 12-18 month clothing stash.
Robot Vacuum: $164.00
So... uh... I bought a robot vacuum. It's the best thing ever. This vacuum wasn't an expensive Roomba, but a cheaper brand that I will hopefully get to review on Youtube. The robot functions more like a sweeper, picking up little pieces of debris and dust in a random (but surprisingly thorough) way. It's not as good as a real vacuum or person sweeping, but it produces a relatively clean floor with almost no effort from me. It has a few drawbacks, like the fact that it just pushes around larger pieces of debris, and sometimes it gets stuck under furniture. But overall I have enjoyed this little appliance a lot, and I don't regret the purchase one bit.
We also spent quite a bit of money on gardening supplies; far more than I normally spend, but I'm trying to adjust my gardening habits to be more baby friendly and less time-intensive. Some things I bought were landscape fabric, seed starter pellets, orchid potting soil and flower bulbs.
Since we've lived here, my goal was to slowly plant a few perennials every year to build up a relatively maintenance-free flower garden. So far I've planted lilies, roses, delphiniums, blazing stars, gladioli, and tuberose. To my delight, my mother-in-law and previous owners of the house put in plenty of iris, hyacinth, lilacs, peonies, daffodils, more roses, poppies and many others that we get to enjoy every year.
****
I guess that's about all for this spending report! Hope you all had a good, frugal April as well!
Til next time,
-Bethany
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