Our $100-A-Month Challenge

Over the past several months, I have written blog posts about what we spend on groceries per month. But I realized that my posting what we buy and when we buy it doesn't really challenge me, and it really does nothing for you either. Instead, I'm going to challenge myself and my readers to set a monthly budget for ourselves and, together, we can see if we can reach our goals throughout the year. Call it a resolution. If you've been doing once-a-month shopping and meal planning, chances are that you already have some food in your pantry. My question is: do you actually use it?  Or do you still buy all of your groceries for the month and save what you have on hand for when you're in a pinch?  Do you even know what you'll find in the dark back corners or your cupboards and pantries?  Are you storing things that have expired?  It might be time to clear out the old stuff and get some inspiration from what we have on hand.  That's what I'm going to do for this $100-a-month challenge in our household.

I hope to be able to share some tips that I have learned with you that you can really use to keep a handle on your grocery budget.  The size of your family will have a lot to do with your budget, but I have read other blogs and learned from two amazing women with large families (one is a family of 9) who do it for $100 a month or less. Check out "The Prudent Homemaker Blog" and "$100 a Month Mom." Here's the kicker for our house- if our daughter comes home from Ghana this year (please, God!), I'm not going to add any money to our grocery budget.  Oh, and I have also started eating eggs again.  Due to my low protein and vitamin B12 levels, my husband and I decided it would be best. I don't like adding new expenses into our monthly groceries, but it will add to the challenge.

So here's where we can start doing together:

Find out what's actually occupying that space in your kitchen and pantry.  Get rid of old or expired items.

Take out cash for your first trip.  This will help keep us on track- when it's gone it's gone!  Remember that you can roll over what you don't use into the next month(s).

Start getting resourceful- look up new recipes that use what you already have, and try hard to cut down on food waste.  Think soup! :)

Don't make yourself crazy.  If you have extra money, treat yourself to something that you'll enjoy for the month.  For us this month, it was smoked salmon, which cost nearly $16.

Research the best deals in your area for the items on your list. It may be helpful to keep a list of which items are cheaper at which stores. But don't drive too far out of your way either and defeat the purpose by wasting your time and gas. Also, keep in mind that there is some inflation in prices going on right now- beef and chocolate are just a couple that I've heard of.

Plan your garden and canning adventures now so you'll be prepared to grow and preserve your own food.

Here's a tougher one: ask around about gleaning and trading opportunities. My husband traded the deer meat he bow-hunted this year for duck and pork. He's now set for meat for the year.

Don't include household goods or toiletries in this challenge- keep a separate line for those items.

And check in- I'd love to hear what you're planning and how it's going. I am already so excited for the end of the year to see how we all do.

Will you join me?

Here's the tally for January- we spent $84.90 this month on food.