Oklahoma Nesties
Kaylee & Cole 06.14.08
8/6/11 First 5k! OG&E Expo Run 34:47
9/3/11 Brookhaven Run 5k 34:18
9/17/11 Healthy Sooners Fun Run 5k 33:38
10/15/11 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 33:31
10/29/11 Monster Dash 5k 32:06 PR!
11/11/11 Veteran's Day Run 11k in Dallas 1:13:15 Instant PR!
1/28/12 Texas Half Marathon 2:38:03 Instant PR!
3/25/12 Earlywine Dash
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Grocery Budget (clicky)
Sorry, I know this has been talked about before.
How much do you budget per month for groceries? We have finally figured out a budget, but I just went grocery shopping and went way over budget...whoops! I'll make a clicky. But if you're comfortable, please post the amount and how many people in your family!
[poll]
Kaylee & Cole 06.14.08
8/6/11 First 5k! OG&E Expo Run 34:47
9/3/11 Brookhaven Run 5k 34:18
9/17/11 Healthy Sooners Fun Run 5k 33:38
10/15/11 Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 33:31
10/29/11 Monster Dash 5k 32:06 PR!
11/11/11 Veteran's Day Run 11k in Dallas 1:13:15 Instant PR!
1/28/12 Texas Half Marathon 2:38:03 Instant PR!
3/25/12 Earlywine Dash
Re: Grocery Budget (clicky)
I try not to spend more than $350, but it inevitably ends up being closer to $400-$425. It's just me and DH.
If I didn't have such expensive tastes and if I took the time to bargain shop/do coupons I know I could get it lower.
$300
To keep to the budget, I make sure I write down what we're spending as it goes into the basket... then there are no surprises when we get to the register.
Ours is $300 a month for a family of four. I do a bit of couponing, but there usually aren't many coupons for the things we buy regularly.
I do some of my shopping at Aldi, for things like canned beans (which we eat quite a bit of), some frozen veggies, diced tomatoes, etc.
I do the rest of my shopping at Crest and Buy 4 Less. Crest definitely has the better prices, so I shop there on the 15th when I get the bulk of my grocery $, but it's quite a ways from where we live now, so I shop at Buy 4 Less when I need things in between. Our new house is very close to the Crest I currently shop at, so I will be doing most of my shopping there after we move.
Groceries (and food in general) are the one area in which I don't set a budget, so I'm guessing you can figure out which response mine was for the two of us.
We generally only eat out 1 meal a week, and it's usually nothing extravagent- sushi, thai food, Indian. Plus, I use Groupons for many of our meals out. So, I'd estimate that we spend about $150/month at restaurants. When we travel, we like to go to very nice restaurants, but that's maybe once or twice a year.
Groceries, however, are a whole different story. If I had to guess, I'd say we spend about $600/month for the two of us on food and Diet Coke at the grocery store on average. $750ish is the point during which I'd try to eat pantry meals for the rest of the month.
I love trying new recipes, enjoy entertaining, and am really picky about meat. I also rationalize that 1., I'm really good about not wasting food (e.g., the remains of last night's fancy cheese plate will become tomorrow night's home made mac and cheese), 2., it's nearly ALWAYS cheaper to make it myself than buy it at a restaurant (scallops, anyone?), 3., when I have cravings, they're usually for things that are very good for me. I figure my body wants blackberries for a reason, for example. Whether they're on sale or not is kind of secondary, 4.cooking is my hobby--besides reading (which is free via the library,) it's my only hobby. So, I suppose groceries are a part of my entertainment budget, too, and 5. I'm a total tightwad in a lot of other areas.
...
Did I convince any of you with my rationalizations? Maybe they'll work with DH, too! He has serious sticker shock any time he goes to the grocery with me (though the gross prepared foods he "sneaks" into the cart seriously add to the expenses...)
I should have clarified that my grocery budget includes toiletries, paper products, cleaning supplies, etc.
Our budget varies based on summer or school year. We have step kids every other week in the summer and they stay home all day, which means more food needs to be bought. I say on average we spend $350 a month...
BUT, I just started couponing just over a month ago, so we are starting to average out to $200. Which my goal is to get to roughly $100 a month.
I think I spend $40 a month just on milk and juice.
In 2004, when I was single and living in a state with no food tax, I averaged $125 for groceries and toiletries.
I spent about $150 a month on food and toiletries in 2006-2007 when I was single.
I spent about $150 a month on food and toiletries in 2006-2007 when I was single.
I SO miss the days of single girl groceries. Dinner was 1., cereal, fruit, and yogurt or 2., bread, wine, and cheese.
Having a husband is expensive...