The Budget Within the Budget

I began errand day yesterday, as usual, shopping at ALDI.  I stock up on as many staples there as I can buy that do not have artificial coloring or too many artificial ingredients.  My small budget has made me relax somewhat on what I will buy for our family to eat.  I didn't used to buy anything with ingredients I didn't recognize as food or something I knew to be from a truly edible source -- such as vitamin E (tocopherals) or carrageenan (a thickener from seaweed).  I've limited my list of "don't buy's" to artificial colors, partially hydrogenated oils (though I bought some flavored potato chips that contained these yesterday...), and just an extra-long list of ingredients (like their "salted peanuts" which have more than two ingredients... how many ingredients do you need for something called "salted peanuts"?  Oh well...).

Anyway, I added a few things to my cart that weren't on the list, and I decided to buy diapers and wipes here instead of seeing if I could save a few pennies at KMart.  I didn't have the patience for a fourth store yesterday.  I was a little nervous at ALDI from putting some items in the cart that weren't on the list.  And sure enough, the total went over $50, when I've recently been averaging between $30 and $40 there.

My level of anxiety began to rise as I walked around Andy's Fruit Ranch trying to estimate (without actually weighing anything) what the produce in my cart would cost.  It dawned on me that last week's list had been very carefully picked over: I had actually written down estimations of what each item would cost and thought about where I would purchase each item before leaving the house.  And when my price total ventured over $100, I had to stop and cross some things off or alter the dinner plan.  I didn't have the time for this since I waited until the last minute to make my menu and grocery list this week -- and frankly I forgot to do it.  Andy's total turned out to be around $35 as usual, however, since I didn't allow myself to buy anything extra there.

But this left me with $23 in my wallet -- obviously I'd started with more than $100 this week, using our leftover vacation money as well as my budgeted grocery money.  I did make it through Trader Joe's, spending $22.56, but I had to forego those wonderful sprouted noodles I mentioned in my last post, coffee (we have some odds and ends of various blends at home for when we run out of the regular stuff), and the sherry or white wine to add to the stroganoff.  I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that I didn't have the cash for extra alcohol since we are on a limited budget and alcohol is a luxury.  It's just so cheap at Trader Joe's that I forget that occasionally.  I also decided to grab juice boxes for Sunday School as usual, since I like to provide that for the kids staying with their parents during Adult Sunday School, which also contributed to my lack of cash for alcohol.

So, my lessons learned are (1) I need to actually estimate how much the individual items on my list will cost.  I've been grocery shopping long enough that I can do this off the top of my head: it doesn't have to be perfect, but then if one thing turns out to be more, you can balance that with an item that turns out to be cheaper or make some choices while you are shopping.  I know some people like to go to the store and buy the cheapest possible foods while there and then make out a menu, but that stresses me out, and I think the planning would take way to long.  (2) If I'm going to do this, I can't wait until the day of (or even just the day before) to start planning my menu and list.  Not that these things take days to accomplish, but with little ones needing me every 15 minutes or so, it's much more relaxing to start early and finish the menu and basic grocery list one day, add a few staples as I discover we're out the next day, and estimate prices and tweak on the next. 

(3) If I do these things, I won't be anxious while shopping because I will have a budget within the budget.  Does that make sense?  I can have a grocery budget of $100 and know that there isn't any more to spend than that, but if I don't actually plan how much will go to what item within the grocery list, I might come to the end of the money and not have enough for the frozen chicken breasts, discovering that I should have passed up the canned soup earlier in the day.

So, next week, I'll be sure to do the estimating step.  It sounds like a lot of time and thought to put into a grocery list, but if you want to plan your meals and make sure you have everything you need to cook them, while staying under budget, I think it's an essential step.