Recently I have failed on my grocery budget. Like a great big fat F fail. It all started about 6 months ago when I really decided the couponing just wasn't worth the time anymore. For the first couple months I just made excuses or thought it would get better, but finally I realized a couple of things about my budget. There are 4 things I learned from my failed budget.
Little Things Add Up
I kept looking at my grocery bill for those big items that was making the bill so high. There wasn't one big-ticket item. Before, I was very careful about what went into my cart. If it wasn't on sale or I had a coupon I didn't buy it. Now I was just tossing everything into the cart that I wanted. Those $2-$3 items really can add up.
Lack of Discipline
Before when I was couponing I would plan my meals around what was on sale. When I stopped, I started planning everything based off of meals I found on Pinterest. I didn't really consider what was in the pantry or on sale. If I saw a pretty meal I wanted to make it. I realized I needed to have some balance between what I wanted to make and what I could make. I now try to pick one or two fun meals a week and the rest keep to what I have at home or on sale at the store.
Underestimating Expenses
I was greatly underestimating my expenses. My grocery budget hasn't changed in 6 years. Not only has the cost of food risen over the last 6 years, I have also gone from a 7-year-old who hardly eats to a teenager who will eat me out of house and home. With all of these changes my grocery expenses were changing too. I realized I might need to up the budget a little.
Not Planning Ahead
I used to have a good deal of convenience meals on hand. Now I have been trying to make a lot more things from scratch. The problem is as soon as I couldn't get something made in time I would just get carry out. Not real great for the budget. I have started to buy some more convenience foods for those nights that reality hits.
Has your budget ever failed? What did you learn from it?
Sharon Rowe says
This is a great article it points out the areas of where things went wrong and that is important in helping address the situation. Popping over from Two Uses Tuesday!
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
All of those are important lessons! Little things do add up! I also think it's important that we adjust our budget periodically. Prices do continue to rise and so we must adjust. I don't always like doing so, but we must adjust.
Janeen says
I can totally relate! Our grocery budget has been ballooning now that we're eating paleo-ish and our kids are growing older. We just switched to shopping at Costco, so I'm hopeful that we'll be able to nip this in the bud. Hope you get a handle on it too!
Stephanie says
So glad I found your blog on the BloggyMom link party. I really love your content. As far as budgets go, my husband has our expenses and savings taken out up front and then the remainder can be used for travel, entertainment or anything else we want to do. We can feel free to use it all since we have everything taken out in the beginning. We also have found it helpful to pay ourselves each an allowance each month. This is money that can be used for anything we want and we don't have to answer to the other person. It's worked really well to eliminate some of the money arguments we would sometimes have when one of us spent on something frivolous.
Julie says
Great Ideas! Thanks for stopping by.
Reelika @Financially Wise On Heels says
Probably once in awhile we all fail. That is how we learn and improve. I am failed many times and now I can better handle my finances. I have found that I always need to write my financial goals down, otherwise it is impossible to keep on track. Discipline is a key as well. Good luck with your budget 🙂