What I Learned From My $50 Weekly Grocery Budget

Back in November I tried a little experiment,  I only allowed myself to spend $50 a week on groceries.  Here are 5 things I learned that month!

1.  I have gotten lazy in my meal planning.  Once I started cooking from the freezer/pantry I remembered why -  it takes so much more time.  Going through the freezers, cabinets and refrigerator to see what I could already make from whatever we had,  then basing my shopping around that took over an hour each week.  This has made me think I need to have a master list on the freezers to remind myself what is in there.  Some weeks I just don't have the extra hour to add to the time it already takes me to meal plan and shop.

2.  I am a food hoarder.  Once I started seeing how much food I keep stored in the house, I realized I might have a problem.  I have always bought things when they are on sale.  I just used to be better about using them once they were in the house.  I'll still be buying my meat on sale and sticking it in the freezer.  I'll do a better job of checking on what we already have before I stock up.  Groceries like everything else go on sale on a cycle.

3.  My children have become spoiled.  It was not uncommon that they would ask for something every time we went to the grocery store.  I realized they had become accustomed to me saying yes.  A month of no led to some really big fits.  Honestly, how do I say no when my kids want me to buy brussel sprouts?

4.  We ate very little fresh fruit and vegetables.  I know some people only eat what is in season which means less fresh option this time of year.  My family loves vegetables and fruit,  not being able to serve it to them for a month was hard.  We ate the corn and green beans from the freezer. 

5.  Our grocery budget is not that bad.  We budget $150 a week for anything I buy at the grocery store.  Food, paper products, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and pet food.  We eat one meal a week out and one meal a week at my parents.  When I break down that amount per person it is roughly $1.32 per meal for each person.  When I look at that number is looks amazing.

There were years in our marriage where $50 was all we had to buy groceries with.  I'm so thankful that I have more wiggle room in our budget now.  It was a good experiment to see where I am wasting food.  We have a couple of no spend months planned this year.  I think our budget those weeks will be $50 or maybe a little more so I can buy fruit and veggies!