I thought September would be a good month to try and stick within a budget for our food expenses. Since Wednesday is the last day of this month, I guess I should take a good hard look at how I did.
My friends, I give myself a BIG FAT F.
But, I have to give myself a break. Being "Gluten Free" is expensive. And, I didn't go to Whole Foods this month, so I have basically been starving for the past 4 weeks (ok, not that bad, but I've generally been eating the atkins diet b/c of no carbs).
But, there are a lot of things I did learn. People in my neighborhood are CRAZY budgeters. I took a poll at a park earlier this month, and they all said they spent $250-300 a MONTH in SILICON VALLEY for food? This is crazy to me.
(with the caveat that their husbands don't eat with them, or they have a really small appetite?!)
Anyway, we easily double this budget. I won't lie. We like food, and I guess unless you compare budget to budget, you won't really know if everyone is equal. For example, I include diapers, wipes, shampoo, toiletries in my "grocery budget" and some people don't.
And- we hardly EVER eat out. Our eating out consists of "Sweet Tomatoes" when we get the $9.00 coupon for our family in the mail. So, we basically eat in the Leeflang CASA every beautiful day :)
I'm glad I tried this experiment b/c I've definitely reigned in on my splurges, but I think we've both also realized that we just can't say goodbye to some good food that makes our days just that much better.
(Don't you love how I've just justified my expenses?! Ha ha ha)
2 comments:
Those people are crazy, lying, eating bad food, eating the world's tiniest meals, or all of the above.
I swear we drop at least $500 a month on food--eating out, plus my wonderful diet. I will never, ever take money out of my food budget. It's not worth it!
(I will also never take money out of my dry-cleaning bill. I don't iron!)
I look snobby.
You are too funny... and so are you Kaari. I think what I've learned about budgeting is that everyone spends more $$ on what is important to them, so it is hard to compare with/imitate other people. I like to try and compete with myself each month. There are certain things I will sacrifice and others I will not. I think as long as you are in the green each month, it doesn't necessarily matter if more goes towards food or something else.
You make delicious meals. Eating is something that makes you happy and having healthy, nutritious, and creative meals is something that you and Steve do well. I aspire to be like that.
In the meantime... we eat cheaply b/c I'd rather spend my budget money on airfare and vacations :) I could make MUCH better meals with even the small amount I spend on groceries, but that is something I am still not good at.
I think some people exaggerate how little they spend or don't really know what they spend... we are lucky Google pays Kev's tab or we'd have a much higher grocery budget than we do!
I think you are doing great and you are not a failure. Don't starve yourself!! :)
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