Can I do it?

Can I feed my family of 4 on $70.00? That really does not sound hard, does it? I mean, really. It’s me, dh (a big guy), an 18 year old girl & and 16 year old boy. Oh. And a cat. An expensive, exotic cat so they say. He comes in & out all day and night long. Annoying little creature but we love him to death! So back to what I was saying. Does NOT sound difficult or even much of a challenge, really. BUT when I look back on my past totals for monthly receipts, I spend anywhere from $700 to $1500 a month at the grocery store. A few months back (probably around October), I started getting back to the coupon mode, and if it wasn’t at least $1 off then I didn’t use the coupon. BUT then I got myself in the silly mode of over buying stuff. Geesh. Can’t win for losing it seems. If it was a good deal, I just could not pass it up. So thankfully, all my really really good coupons expire on 12/31/08 so that gives me 10 or so more days to really get geared up and stock up … . So just how do I plan to approach this? 1. Do a thorough inventory of both the freezers and pantries. I know I have plenty of stuff, just need to start using it up and not worry about keeping a year’s supply of stuff. 2. Menu plan. All 3 meals. As most of dh & I lunches are leftovers, that are planned, not a big deal. 3. Gather up my recipes when I do the menu plan. I used to be so very big on the menu plan, then kinda fell off the wayside (when I started going to the gym after work). 4. Make a list, check it twice and stick to it. Not on the list, don’t buy it! 5. Dedicate ONE day for shopping. That’s it. No more stopping in between. 6. Get creative. Start making things from scratch again. 7. Give away coupons that you know are going to cause you to spend more than budgeted. Don’t feel obligate to USE a coupon just because it’s a good value coupon. Share. Spread the wealth around as someone once said (still waiting on my bail out by the way!!) 8. Do not stock up UNLESS you are under budget. 9. Cash. Cash. Cash. Remove debit and A&E from wallet. Keep ALL change and bills in wallet til end of week. Anything leftover at end of trip, then you can stock up on meat or some other sale item. But only then. 10. Post weekly post on grocery trip & menu plan for week. Do I want to post a pic? No, just totals from receipts along with the items purchased. 11. Start to use up what I have in house … maybe build up a little extra grocery spending for Costco? NO. That kind of defeated everything I just typed above!! 12. Realize that the weekly spending may fluctuate and try to come up with a below $70 average. 13. Let the family know what’s going on & what it may mean for them. I know that somewhere I forgot a crucial step but I’m sure it will come up soon! So January 2nd, which falls on a Friday (next Friday!!) will be the beginning of this new, exciting adventure!! Does anyone else want to join me on this crazy ride? If so, send me an email & maybe we can set up a weekly review?

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