Grocery Shopping & the Budget

So, I have a new Budget, and an old system reinstated. Budgets are terribly necessary things, especially with the temptations of Debit Card. The Debit Card allows one to delude oneself that really there IS more money in the checking account than Quicken says...see there is a lot of money listed RIGHT THERE as the "Available Funds"... Er, no. College student checkbook "balancing" regressions are not permitted on one income, sorry.

The depletion of regular stock items such as canned tomatoes necessitates a run to Costco as well as the regular grocery store. So now is my time to check the Grocery Game lists for Albertsons and Safeway, peruse the Fred Meyer ad, and decide who gets my business today. Usually Fred Meyer wins, but occasionally Albertsons has a run on good deals for a lot of stuff we use, so I will go there with my Fred Meyer coupons and they will accept them. Occasionally I will pass through Safeway, which although a more pleasant shopping experience than Albertsons is usually the most expensive. And my total CASH budget for the week is $100. Eeek!!

I lucked out last week and bought 4 gallons of organic nonfat milk for $1.99 each--they were close to the sell-by date and were being clearanced out. Score! Normally we pay $5-$6 per gallon, so that was a big coup! I doubt I will be so lucky this week, so already I can count on $15 going to milk. *gulp* This budgeting stuff gets complicated! But I am trying to be gazelle-intense on debt paydown, and vanquish our credit card, then our HELOC, and finally my student loan. I also need to save up some funds for a trip to visit DH's family, but it will take a while. Automatic transfers to ING are going to be a regular feature, I think, in order to make that one happen.

I suspect my occasional indulgences of take-out lunches for DD & myself are going to go by the wayside. *sigh* That was a really lazy convenience for me, because having one day per week where I didn't have to worry about keeping DD awake long enough to eat after going to run an errand or storytime or whatnot was a nice little luxury. When stores don't open until 10 and your DD likes to go for her nap at 11:30, 12 at the latest, that makes it a bit of a time crunch! I try not to do errands in the late afternoon because the stores are busier and the kids are crankier, which in turn makes me crankier. Far better to stay home and entertain ourselves with a walk or playdate. Far cheaper, too, as I can resist the siren song of Starbucks' iced nonfat sugar-free vanilla latte.

All righty, I'm going to go blow on the coffee now to cool it down for a homemade iced latte, and continue my perusal of grocery ads. Being responsible with our Budget is kind of fun. At least, that's what I'm going to tell myself until I believe it!