{P:FB} Round One

Does thinking about how much money you spend on food each week make you a little crazy? Do you wish you could stick to a specific budget, but aren’t sure you can do it alone?

Let’s do it together. For the next six months {give or take}. Who knows. We might learn a thing or two in the process.

Edit: The first round of Project: Food Budget has officially ended. You are more than welcome to join in on the new challenge. Good luck and happy budgeting.

The Details:

  1. Write at least one blog post per week about your efforts. You can include your weekly menu, what you plan to spend each week, how many people you are feeding, and even how much each particular meal costs. It’s up to you.
  2. Publish your post every Thursday with a link to Project: Food Budget and a list of participating blogs.
  3. Place a graphic on the top of each post or on your blog’s sidebar {or both} to show that you are a participating blog.

If you have any questions, or would like to take part in the Project: Food Budget challenge, please email me.

The Graphics:

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Sidebar Widget:

{To download the images, simply right click (or control + click for mac) each one and save as.}

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Project: Food Budget {Week 26}

When Project: Food Budget started back in January, I was in desperate need of getting our food spending under control.

Food has always been the black hole of spending for me. I cook at home daily, and believe that good food is a necessary part of our lives. But I also knew the reality of our bank account. And knew that there had to be a way to spend less money while still eating the way we wanted to.

And so began the challenge. For myself.

What I wasn’t expecting, was so much company along the way. The amazing bloggers that have gone on this journey with me — some for a month or two, others the entire journey — have kept me going.

I have learned so much from this process. And gained more than I could have ever imagined through the shared work on this topic.

Some insights:

  1. Budgeting does not mean going without. It simply means becoming more aware of what you need, planning ahead, and sticking to your list.
  2. There are so. many. benefits to eating what’s in season. It’s cheaper, for starters. The food tastes way better. And it helps to keep variety in the menu.
  3. Eating at home is cheaper than eating out. And frankly, it’s much better for you.
  4. Menu’s and shopping lists are necessary. At least, they were for me. Making a menu each week, planning out the food I needed from the store, and sticking to my list saved me at least $25 a trip. And it also helped to get rid of the “what’s for dinner” headache.
  5. We waste less food! This is probably the thing I am most excited about {aside from saving money, of course}. We waste a heck of a lot less food, because we are more intentional about what we buy.
  6. Budgets are a tool, not a decree. My initial budget was seriously low {$50/week}. It took me a while to see where our spending naturally hovered, so I raised it to $75/week. And even then, I felt like a huge failure when I would go over. Even if it was a minimal amount. When I began to think of the budget as a goal, the guilt {and stress of it all} went away. Making it easier to actually stick to the budget. Go figure.
  7. Accountability is key. Having other bloggers on this journey made a world of difference for me. They kept me accountable {even if they didn’t know it}, made it fun, and helped to build my enthusiasm for budgeting {i know, right?!} over the course of the 6 months.

I know that this is something I will continue to work on, and adjust as the year goes on. And I’m kind of excited about that. Really. I am!

Did you follow along with Project: Food Budget? What insights did you gain along the way?

Many thanks to the following bloggers for joining in over the course of the past 26 weeks!

Project: Food Budget {Week 25}

Goal: $85
Actual: $166.96

The Menu:

Father’s Day certainly seemed to put a cramp in my budgeting style. We had family over for dinner and made some special treats. Which, in turn, added some special items to our grocery bill. Things like oranges, more eggs than usual, lots of corn, and a double batch of squash. Those extras added an extra $28.49 to the bill.

Additionally, The Hubster decided that he wanted some fish in the house for him to make. He doesn’t seem to be getting enough protein on beans and legumes, and has recently had to cut out soy from his diet {so no tempeh, tofu, or soy milk}. Fish added another $29.98 to the tab that we don’t normally have.

With all of those mental deductions, we still were over budget by a whopping $23.49. Not sure what happened there. All of those fruits and veggies are super hard to pass up, I suppose. Might need to think about a seasonal budget.

Do you find that your budget changes with the seasons? Do you spend more during certain months than others? How do you navigate through those hurdles?

Project: Food Budget

Can you believe that it’s almost been six month since the project started? I can’t either. Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 24}

Goal: $85
Actual: $78.05

This week was a pretty good week budget wise. Most of our money was spent on fruit {yay!!}, fresh produce {double yay!}, and some basic pantry staples.

We have been eating the fruit like it’s going out of style. Which, honestly. It probably could. Considering mold isn’t exactly in style. Ever.

We have also been eating some strange foods {chili. in 90 degree weather. really?!}. But it seems to work for us.

What have you been putting on the menu now that the weather has been getting warmer?

Our menu:

Project: Food Budget

Can you believe that it’s almost been six month since the project started? I can’t either. Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 23}

Goal: $85
Actual: $91.93

So. I ended up going shopping on Friday of last week. Much earlier than usual for our food shopping. But completely necessary since we had absolutely no food in the house.

I split the bill in half and put part on last week’s budget and part on this weeks. You know why? It’s my budget and I can do what I want with it. That’s why.

It also makes me feel better about spending $183.87 in one trip. I kind of got a little grumpy about the spending. And then realized that we really hadn’t cooked in a long, long time. And that helped a little bit.

This week didn’t really have much meaningful in terms of full on meals. It was full of salads, and more lunchable items than dinner. But it has been super hot {high 80s and 90s} here. And all thoughts of cooking sort of melted away in that heat.

What I did make:

Project: Food Budget

Can you believe that it’s almost been six month since the project started? I can’t either. Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 22}

Goal: $85
Actual: $0 {Update: Spending ended up being around $91.93 for the week. Went shopping on Friday}

Aaaand. Things are back to being wonky. We are still busy with cleaning out The Momster’s house, spending time with family {dinner for 10 tonight!} and celebrating our wedding anniversary {post coming soon}.

We were also supposed to be going to Chautauqua, but that got cancelled. Oh well.

Looks like a little grocery shopping will be on the agenda for tomorrow. What’s on your agenda for the weekend? Any good meals on the menu? Please share! I certainly need some inspiration STAT.

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 21}

Goal: $85
Actual: $97.14

With the lack of shopping and eating IN over the past few weeks, I had a need to restock the pantry {and refrigerator} a little bit. That included stocking up on juice, fruits, peanut butter, and lots and lots of yummy fruits.

I am happy to report that green grapes have officially made their way back to the grocery store, into our house, and {most importantly} into my belly. Fist pumps all around.

Our menu is still full of basic, easy to make meals. And I’m okay with that. I’ll get back to the experimentation when things slow down. It feels good to give myself permission to just be where we are.

Thanks to everyone for your kind words, emails, and virtual hugs. They have been incredible. Just like you. So, thank you.

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 20}

Goal: $85
Actual: $63.06

Another week of zero cooking, minimal eating at home, and grab and go kind of food. I’ll be posting about what’s been going on soon, but suffice to say it’s been a tough week.

I wasn’t sure what I was really grabbing at the store. I was really looking more for convenience than actual foods since I knew we wouldn’t be around to eat anything. At least, not in our own house.

I look forward to being able to get back into the kitchen {camera or not}. And to be eating real, healthy, nourishing food.

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 19}

Goal: $85
Actual: $0

I wish I could say that this lack of spending was something good. The reality is, it’s not. We’ve been back and forth from the hospital, and now the hospice facility, as we watch someone we love die.

We’ve been eating out almost every meal. And the times where we are home, it’s been more about eating something quick than cooking.

On top of everything else, my camera has been in the shop. Turns out we need a new one. And who knows how long that will take. It’s sad, but my motivation to cook got put on the shelf along with the camera. Who knew that one of the things that motivates me to continue cooking is the photographing and sharing of the food with you.

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 18}

Goal: $85
Actual: $95.20

Apparently food budgets are meant to be broken in our house. Sigh.

This week is a little strange for us. We have a lot going on, and have been getting ready for a house guest. Obviously, with another person to feed, we needed some new foods in the house. A budgetary adjustment might be in order, but hopefully we can get a feel for what the food situation is going to be like.

Until then, I’m okay with how we did for the week.

Side note: did something happen to the green grapes in this world? They haven’t had any in the grocery store for over 2 weeks now. I think I might be going through withdrawal. That, and blueberries were MIA this week too. What the heck, man?!

In any case, Happy Cinco de Mayo! Have a margarita for me.

Menu for the week:

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

Project: Food Budget {Week 17}

Goal: $85
Actual: $68.77

I kind of can’t believe that it’s been 4 MONTHS since this little old project started. Do you know what that means?! We are more than half way through with the project. Crazy.

Know what else is crazy? This week. Our shopping list was minimal. The grocery story had minimal food {I’ve never seen it so empty}. And there were minimal people actually in the store shopping. {I guess that’s what when you go during Game 7 of the playoffs and the Penguins are playing. Heh.}

I am also surprised by how much under budget we are. I had gotten some Britta filters while I was there and it kind of skewed our bill {by $23.53}. Making it seem like I was seriously over budget for the seemingly small amount of stuff I had purchased.

This trip to the store also saw some stocking up on items like flour {unbleached and whole wheat}, non-stick spray, balsamic vinegar, and more Earth Balance {it’s on sale again!}.

Menu for the week:

Project: Food Budget

Read about how Project: Food Budget got started here. You can also follow along with my progress here.

I’m excited to report that I have some great company on my Project: Food Budget challenge. Please check out these wonderful blogs, and give them support as they take on this challenge.

Participating blogs:

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