Snippet 1: Budgeting

Before we were married, my parents encouraged my husband and me to make out a budget. Our budget allotment is $35/week, but I usually spend between $25-30. There is just my husband and I, but we do share a lot of food and household goods with others. Before I got married in January of this year, my mom had me plan the menus and shop on a budget for our family of 9. That was a really good experience for me. I now am able to bless my husband with good food that doesn't also break our budget. We eat very well, and usually eat out (using coupons!) once a week or so when we have extra grocery money. Since we do not have children and we are just newly-weds, I have more time to spend than money to spend and so I try to use that to my advantage. I shop at two stores (Kroger and Aldi). I do my major shopping at Kroger and only buy at Aldi what is too expensive at Kroger. I know what all the prices are at Aldi and so when Kroger is cheaper, I prefer to buy it there. I shop the sales and use coupons and usually try to do both. And it is incredible the deals the Lord provides for us! This past week, I spent $26 and saved $60!

We do eat convenience foods---but only because I get them with coupons for basically nothing. For instance, I often get TV dinners for $0.35 each, so that is worth it to me. We also eat a lot of whole grains, whole wheat bread, and fresh produce. I try to always pray before I enter the store that the Lord would provide good deals for us, and He is always faithful, it is incredible!

I highly recommend Jonni McCoy's Miserly Moms book.... it has saved us a lot of money! From the way we live, you would never know we live on about $1000 a month for everything!

Snippet 2: You Can Live Within Your Me ans

My husband is in charge of our finances. He makes the decision and pays the bills, but I know how much we have in each budget category. We usually go over everything once every other month or so together to kind of see where we are as far as savings and spendings and see if we need to rework anything. My only financial oversight is in our groceries. We made out our budget together (like I said) and then tweaked it after we were married, once we had figured out how much each category was really going to cost us.

We truly believe that you can live within your means, no matter how little they may be, with a little creativity, trust in the Lord, and the willingness to do without. A budget has been a wonderful thing for us...there is freedom when there are boundaries. Another motto I often adopt is, "You can always do it for less." There are so many things in life that people pay way more for than they have to. With a little work, research and creativity, you can figure out a less expensive route. It does take patience and perserverence though!

Snippet 3: Practical Ideas

Me at: If you purchase your meat at the gocery store, find out when it is reduced and shop at that time. I go grocery shopping early in the morning because I have found our store marks down meat and produce then and I can get the best selection. We only buy chicken or steak type of meat at the grocery store because we prefer high-quality ground beef. You can usually ask the meat dept. when they mark meat down and plan your shopping accordingly. Since we cannot afford high-quality ground beef, we just don't buy it. Although my husband would enjoy having it now and then, he realizes it is a sacrifice we must make at this season in our life. And we eat quite well without it. We make lasagna and spaghetti(We just add a can of chopped, seasoned tomatoes to the sauce for some zest) without meat. And just use refried beans in tacos. When I can get boneless, skinless chicken breasts reduced (which is usually every three weeks or so that I find a really good selection of them), I buy all of them that I can and then take them home and cook, chop, and freeze them in meal-size portions....that way, when I need chopped chicken it is waiting in the freezer. Our menu for this week:

~Italian Chicken over Noodles
~Ham and Beans (one of my husband's favs and this is as cheap as it gets---we just boil a ham hock or small piece of ham in with the final cooking of a bag of Great Northern Beans, season to taste with salt)
~Homemade Pizza (Also extremely cheap---we just usally like pepperoni, cheese, and colored peppers on it--and I get the colored peppers whenever they are on the reduced produce rack and then chop and freeze---I can usually get about 6-8 for $0.49-0.99)
~Chicken Noodles Over Mashed Potatoes (Just make chicken noodle soup with less broth and serve over mashed potatoes)
~Lasagna
~Hearty Chicken Soup

Dairy: We drink very little milk (we try to use up a half gallon in about two weeks!) so that saves us a lot right there. I know there are mixed feelings about calcium and such, but my parents never gave us milk to drink when we were growing up and we all are very healthy--- my family of nine went through a little over a gallon a week. If you reduce your milk drinking, you can cut your grocery bill very quickly.). We do use cheese rather generously. I buy cheese from Aldis or get it when it is on sale in the pre-grated bags (you can freeze those).

Coupons, Me al Planning, and Stocking Your Pantry: I am a huge coupon shopper! But I NEVER allow myself to buy something with coupons that is not worth the price. Just because you can get 80 cents off does not mean it is a good deal. Another thing, time is money. If you do not have time to clip coupons, don't beat yourself up for not doing it. But if you do have time, it can save you a lot. Every Sat or Sun night (Since I go grocery shopping on Mon morning), I go through the store ad with my coupon box (I have a large Tupperware tub with a lid that my coupons are organized in) and make out my grocery list and menu for the week. I always keep a running grocery list on the side of our refrig that I add to throughout the week as I notice we need to purchase something---(Since I keep a pretty well stocked there usually are only a few items on this list). As I go through the ad, I keep in mind what coupons I have in my box and if it seems to be a good deal, I pull out the coupon and stick in a envelope labeled "Coupons to be Used Today" That way it's all ready for me at the store in the morning. This whole planning and pulling coupons process usually takes me maybe 15-20 minutes.

When I get to the store, I check the reduced items first and then go through every aisle of the store----starting from one end and working to the other. The reason I go down every aisle and scan all the shelves is because there are often closeouts or manager's specials that I would miss otherwise. I use a calculator to make sure everything is within budget.