I just calculated that so far THIS MONTH -as in during the past NINE DAYS- we have spent $288 in groceries plus $136 on eating out. This has got to stop!!!!!

How many People is this for?

*hands head in shame*
That's for 2 adults, 1 preschooler, and 1 toddler. There were a few times we bought dinner or lunch for my parents and sister as well.

I used to buy my groceries at the beginning of each month, so $288 would be great for me. I guess you can stretch the groceries out as far as possible so that you don't have to go back to the store for awhile. What sort of things did you buy? What do you like to cook?

Eating out is an absolute killer. It had been awhile since we have gone out, so when we treated DH's dad to lunch last week, I about had a heart attack when I saw the prices of hamburgers (at Red Robin). Our bill was close to $40! I started adding up what was in my sandwich and I was like "yeah, if I made this at home, it would have been $2.50." It's sad that I can't even enjoy a nice meal out w/o worrying about money.

But don't be too hard on yourself. Just try really hard to do better today, next week, next month. We all have our moments, I promise!

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Michele

Mommy to Jack (06/01/06) &
^Bernadette^ (entered heaven at 37 wks on 10/17/07)

http://myobaby.blogspot.com

Even though the figures are wild you now know. All you have to do is find a way to fix it. Don't think for a moment this just happends to you. This was my family last year. We have managed to bring it down and I know you can too. Good luck.

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It's not that we can't afford it-as in it won't cause any problems with bills this month ya know? I just don't WANT to afford it!! That's just crazy. We've been out in town a lot and I know that contributes to it, but geez!

I found that we were spending way more money on groceries than we needed because we were going to the store every other day to get something we had forgotten and that would add up because I can't go shopping just to get one thing.... Now I go grocery shopping once every 2 weeks. I plan our meals in advance and write out my list. The only time I will go back to the store is if we need milk, bread, or bananas. As for eating out, we are trying to cut back on that too. It is not easy to do because DH and I are both addicted and DD's favorite word (at 16 months old) is "Donalds". THat is pretty bad. We are trying to go just once a week. I have been once this week with DH, and DD and I stopped at Wendy's coming home from work at lunch time because I just didn't want to cook.

It is hard to change. But we have to just strive to change and work at it and maybe one day we will be where we want to be.