My grocery envelope system

May 6, 2012 by pearsonsprogress    No Comments    Posted under: food, Grocery Challenge, saving money

  We’re not the only ones who get paid once a month and I like so many others have had to learn how to stretch the budget. This month will be a particular challenge but I took stock of what I already have in the pantry and freezer and did my marketing for the rest of the month. I have about 2,00€ (that’s about $2.64 USA) until the beginning of June.  I doubt I will even need to spend that because I feel I have enough food to last the month and have guests over. I keep all my grocery money in this pouch and add the receipts. At the end of the month I review the receipts so I am able to know the best prices and then throw them away and start fresh for the following month. Any money leftover is rolled to the next month.  I use CASH ONLY for marketing.

For May I bought:

plenty of fresh vegetables; potatoes, onions, carrots, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, cherry tomatoes, regular tomatoes, lettuce, mixed bag of lettuce, fresh spinach, zucchini, cucumber, parsnips, turnips, celery, limes… and probably something else  I forgot.

frozen vegetables (to use toward the end of the month) … Brussels sprouts, spinach etc.

2 packages of frozen fish – salmon & monk fish

1 package of ground beef

milk, cheese (several kinds including , Machego, Roquefort, Emmantal ), yogurt, butter, etc.

walnuts & almonds

dishwasher tabs, toilet paper, toothpaste, soap, napkins, etc

I did buy an  ‘extra treat’ that was not on my list:  goat cheese (at our house it’s really a necessity) & 1 avocado and my total grocery shopping bill came to around 70,00€ or $92.40 USD… for the month of May.  I had only budgeted 50,00€ so I used  20,00€ from my personal allowance.  What else could I do? Today I baked bread because the baguette I purchased on my marketing day is now gone. Speaking of bread… You have to try this olive bread I baked…really… I will post the recipe and photos tomorrow.

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