On Budgeting...

Work has become our lives as of late, which hasn't left time for doing much of anything (although we did manage to squeeze a late trip to Lewis last night before they closed to pick up some stuff to get our vegetables/herbs started...but more on that later). However, all the working and paychecks and bills and everything else has spiraled me into the land of budgeting. We've been sticking to one pretty well for the past couple of months, and it really hasn't been too bad (Darrell maybe had to loan me some money at the end of last month because I was out of my allowance and really wanted a few cute shirts that were on mega-sale...but that's beside the point). However, we've found that in one area it is particularly difficult to stick to our budget: Groceries. Try as we might, we always end up just barely scraping by, and as of late have resorted to taking a calculator with us so we return that bag of chips to the shelf because they'll push us over budget aren't surprised by the total at the cash register. What we've realized, though, is that food is an area where we aren't that willing to compromise. We loooove ourselves some fresh produce (although we've gotten better at eating only what's on sale in season, hence the branch into cauliflower), quality meats (but, meatless Mondays have been successful the past two weeks, so we're on a roll with that) and the (occasional) spirited beverage. Plus, we just genuinely enjoy cooking (and eating!) a variety of tasty food, and sometimes that requires purchasing some "not-so-local-or-cheap" ingredients, like coconut milk and pine nuts. I'm also a little bit of a brand whore--the differences between generic brand and name brand peanut butter and yogurt (to name a few items) are noticeably different enough for me to justify forking over the extra dough.


Our solution (and, ultimately, I suppose, the point to this post)? I don't have one. Seriously. We already plan weekly menus to minimize waste (need a small quantity of green onions for one dish? We'll plan another with green onions so we don't have to throw the extras out). We love ourselves some rebates (handle of Bacardi Rum + sale price + $5 rebate = mega deal). We already shop the ads and specials. But just today I looked through the new ones for our local store and complied over a $40 list of the on-sale items that are either regular use items to stock up on (peanut butter, sugar, oatmeal) or items we'll incorporate into our meals this week (peppers, zucchini--although that one might get put in a bread--yum!, sweet potatoes). And I know from experience that once we plan our menu and add the other ingredients that we need that amount will shoot way up--easily over budget if we're not careful. I do need to get better about using coupons, although I do always use the ones in the ads when they are applicable. 


Ultimately, I know that there are things we could cut. But when it boils down to it, we don't want to. We don't want to give up fresh ingredients and flavor and taste and go back to our college days of Zatarans and tacos every week. And if things really start to get dicey (and food prices keep getting higher...) expect to see me on my bike A LOT this summer. Because this girl will gladly cut back on her gas budget in order to be able to fuel herself with quality food.