Where are my penny pinchers? Budget time

[WyoBowhunter21]

My wife are huge penny pinchers. We actually had the conversation today regarding adding more to our grocery budget. We have three in our family. Two adults and a 3 year old. We budget $200/month on groceries, excluding eating out. If we include that, I would add another $100/$200. I travel for work and am gone 3/5 weeks a month so that probably helps. We don't have much for snacks (adult), very little sides to go with meals, buy beef from local friends and mostly wild game. This has gotten to be pretty crazy so we are going to up our budget a little bit. I can tell you that snacks and trash food is what gets the bill higher. We try to stay away from those things and just because it is "organic" doesn't mean it is better for you.

 

[Elite7]

For what it is worth my family of 4 budget is around 850. That’s not counting the elk or deer meat that is in the freezer for most meals

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

What do you do for work? Is it something that you could do you want to side as well to make a little extra money? Maybe fill out the job market see if you can get a significant raise? I know that’s not exactly what you asked but we were to the point that there was no more budgeting to be done. We had to increase the income.

I'm self employed as a farrier. I make pretty good money, so it's not a matter of not being able to afford it if I need to. More so thinking about how I can work less if I spend less. My goal is to take Fridays off year round to be with family more. It's doable if we're disciplined.

 

[menhaden_man]

Don’t want to sound like a jackass, but making more money is sometimes easier than making cuts.

I’ve got a neighbor that would be a multimillionaire if he spent as much time working as he did pinching pennies

Good luck, my three kids are hitting middle school and the fridge empties quicker each month.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Don’t want to sound like a jackass, but making more money is sometimes easier than making cuts.

I’ve got a neighbor that would be a multimillionaire if he spent as much time working as he did pinching pennies

Good luck, my three kids are hitting middle school and the fridge empties quicker each month.

I hear ya. We don't want to get crazy about it. But I can't buy anymore time, and I'm happy to work my tail off 4 days a week if I can have an extra day at home with my family every week. Life's too short to work it all away.

 

[menhaden_man]

I hear ya. We don't want to get crazy about it. But I can't buy anymore time, and I'm happy to work my tail off 4 days a week if I can have an extra day at home with my family every week. Life's too short to work it all away.

Much to be said about that!

 

[MTtrout]

I hear you. We have a good household income but the groceries are always a beating. We don’t buy meat besides occasionally stocking up on chicken at Costco. We have a freezer full of game, coop full of egg laying chickens and huge gardens with fruits and vegetables. We do most of our big shopping trips at Winco and my jaw every time the clerk says that will be $250! I don’t get it and can’t imagine what our bill would be if we had to buy meat for every dinner and the vegetable/fruit we didn’t grow and store. I really don’t see where we can cut cost other than fresh fruit we purchase when we don’t have any, which isn’t happening. It’s crazy when we get home from the store and watch our kids eat $5 of fruit and snacks before we finish unloading our bags. I guess grocery bill are what they are. Good luck in cutting cost and if you find the golden ticket please share!

 

[Customweld]

I'm self employed as a farrier. I make pretty good money, so it's not a matter of not being able to afford it if I need to. More so thinking about how I can work less if I spend less. My goal is to take Fridays off year round to be with family more. It's doable if we're disciplined.

We all learn to live on what we make. Shaving a day off to spend with the fam is way worth making a cut somewhere to make it happen.

 

[tony]

You had me at 5 kids! LoL

You have a sams or costo, BJs around you?

Not to sound like a dick, but you and mom control what the kids eat.
Junk food costs money, I'd echo what everyone is saying about cutting those down.
Maybe start a garden, We used to buy a 1/2 of beef and obvious wild game that was harvested.

Edit: I see you farm so you have the above covered!

One thing, I don't food bills getting any cheaper.

 

[svivian]

You had me at 5 kids! LoL

You have a sams or costo, BJs around you?

Not to sound like a dick, but you and mom control what the kids eat.
Junk food costs money, I'd echo what everyone is saying about cutting those down.
Maybe start a garden, We used to buy a 1/2 of beef and obvious wild game that was harvested.

Edit: I see you farm so you have the above covered!

One thing, I don't food bills getting any cheaper.

BJs probably would have helped…. Oh wait that’s not what you meant

 

[Team4LongGun]

Someone said eat out twice a week...damn! Our take out bill is $80 each meal, so for us it's every other week tops.
I like the suggestions, makes me want to dial in our grocery bills.

I'm in for a bar recipe, my 3 kids are die hard snackers and it drives me nuts.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

You had me at 5 kids! LoL

You have a sams or costo, BJs around you?

Not to sound like a dick, but you and mom control what the kids eat.
Junk food costs money, I'd echo what everyone is saying about cutting those down.
Maybe start a garden, We used to buy a 1/2 of beef and obvious wild game that was harvested.

Edit: I see you farm so you have the above covered!

One thing, I don't food bills getting any cheaper.

Farrier not farmer.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Jasmine rice,potatoes,roasted carrots and a freezer of meat are a staple at my house,they go with everything.We are frugal,fit and have 3 kids.
Start by learning to love good simple food.It needs to be easy Whole Foods.Eating isnt a party,not something that has to be wild and different.Are you eating to fill your gut?if so you will broke and fat like most.Are you eating to fuel your body,lifestyle,hobbies,sex life,and longevity.
Same with vehicles,i do like a decent 4x4 but I don’t need a 50000 and up truck and neither does my wife.Might have to go up to 35 on the next because of inflation etc but still may find something around 20 if I take my time.Pay cash.
Food and vehicles is a major problem and if you get those under control you can go out a few times a month.Maybe once with just the wife for a nice dinner and then take the kids for a burger and ice cream a few times a month,something like braums,they really don’t care.
Automate all your bills and savings,open a account for vacation,vehicles and repairs,retirement,general savings etc.

 

[bozeman]

If you elk hunt for food. So the math. Pretty expensive. (Tags, gas, lodging, gear, etc)

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Lots of good responses on here! Thanks to everyone that took the time. A bit more context- in general we are pretty good with the rest of our budget, just trying to dial in groceries specifically. We don't have debt besides a mortgage, and have a goal to get rid of that soon as well. We also try to have our kids eat healthy and we put boundaries on number of snacks and time of snacks. We are of the opinion that our time is our most valuable asset, so most of our decisions are filtered through that lens. Being budget conscious with our groceries can help me work less and get rid of our mortgage faster, which will help me work less as well.

However with food there is a fine balance because it is what fuels us, and is a gift to be enjoyed! So it's more complicated than just buying the cheapest food, and never eating out in my opinion.

Also, the vasectomy and BJ's comments

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

If you elk hunt for food. So the math. Pretty expensive. (Tags, gas, lodging, gear, etc)

Hunting is for my sanity and mental health. I enjoy eating wild game too, but it's definitely not saving me any money.

 

[gabenzeke]

I only (only....ha) have three kids. 10, 5, and 2. But they all snack like crazy. The 10 year old plays a TON of hockey and doctors say he will be 6'5" when full grown. So feeding him alone isn't exactly cheap. But something that saves us a little money in the summer is the garden. I plant a lot of cherry tomatoes, strawberries, melons, etc. My kids help me in the evenings in the garden and the vast majority of what is picked is eaten on the spot. I figure this is healthier and cheaper than all the granola bars and garbage they'd be eating in the house. Plus you can teach kids a lot about nature in a garden. We're building a new house and the yard will be bigger. So the new garden will have even more stuff that can be eaten on the spot. Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, kiwi berries, an apple tree, peach tree. This sounds dumb, but I'm telling you, it's noticeable in the summer how much less your family is eating in snacks from the pantry.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

 

[Loper]

Over a period of 2-3 years I quit adding sweetener to my coffee, then about a year later I stopped putting milk or creamer, then about a year later I realized I was only drinking coffee out of habit. A couple of years ago I pretty much stopped drinking alcohol.

Last June, I gave myself a challenge to see if I could go a whole year only drinking water just to see if I could get healthier. I’ve stuck to it and don’t mind it at all.

It wasn’t intentional, but a biproduct of only drinking water is that I’ve saved a ton of money. Water is free (mostly). I no longer buy coffee or booze at the store or when I’m out and it’s been a really long time since I’ve drank soda. I know it sounds extreme and it’s probably not for most people, but all those times you buy a 12 pack, a glass of wine at dinner or even a $2 coffee add up.

 

[fngTony]

Since you’re self employed have you looked into increasing your margins of raising your prices? Also I agree with you on the food challenge. Healthy doesn’t last and is expensive. Cheap food can cost more in the long run due to not being healthy. Buying in bulk can cost you if you don’t use it before expiring.

 

[Lil-Rokslider]

Over a period of 2-3 years I quit adding sweetener to my coffee, then about a year later I stopped putting milk or creamer, then about a year later I realized I was only drinking coffee out of habit. A couple of years ago I pretty much stopped drinking alcohol.

Last June, I gave myself a challenge to see if I could go a whole year only drinking water just to see if I could get healthier. I’ve stuck to it and don’t mind it at all.

It wasn’t intentional, but a biproduct of only drinking water is that I’ve saved a ton of money. Water is free (mostly). I no longer buy coffee or booze at the store or when I’m out and it’s been a really long time since I’ve drank soda. I know it sounds extreme and it’s probably not for most people, but all those times you buy a 12 pack, a glass of wine at dinner or even a $2 coffee add up.

I dig it. I've actually thought about giving up those two things as well. Alcohol would be easy, coffee..... not as easy.