@ blogspot

Since I’m a newbie to this whole blogging thing, I’m going to try out a blogger site first…seems a little easier to manage.

Find me here: Hobby:Saving Money

PS – I reserve the right to switch my mind and come back here.

July Recap

For the month of July our food and household spending breaks down like this:
18% – household (includes prescriptions)
53% – grocery
29% – dining out

Overall, we were $21 over budget.

What we did well: stocked up on household goods (50% of the expense was water filters that will last us 6 months), bought free after rebate items

What we need to do better: not overbuy groceries (our pantry is plenty full), re-evaluate dining out strategy

August goals:
Stay within budget!
Buy only groceries that are needed for the given week
Only purchase household goods that are FAR or needed immediately (ie toilet paper)

 
On a positive note, our current budget is only 38% more than my personal budget was when I was single. Considering that I married a 6′ 3″ amateur chef, I’d say we’re doing pretty good. And our monthly spending is down about 20% from what it was 6 months ago. If we have reduced spending hat much during a time of inflation, I’d say we’ve done a good job (especially considering how stocked our pantry currently is). Now I just need to actually cook from the stockpile.