Colleen asked, " P.S. Can you share how much cash you put in each category? I really want to implement this, but would like a general idea of what to spend per month..."
Colleen, I don't know what your budget will allow, but here's what we do every two weeks. Please remember that this is after doing a 2 week grocery shop. In the random order I found them in the lock box:
- After Mass donuts $15
- gas for the cars (after payday fill-up) $40
- milk $30
- allowances $45 (allowances are per week as follows: 13 year old $10, 9 & 10 year olds $5 each, 6 year old $2.50)
- eating out $40
- fresh produce for week 2 $30
- Misc. stuff $100
- toiletries (diapers, wipes, razors, soap, laundry det, etc.) $80 This gets an envelope because I look for sales and bargains and don't buy it all at once.
7 comments:
Wow, thanks!
So when you do your grocery shopping for 2 weeks, do you have a budget, or do you just buy what you need and don't worry about the total?
I found out we have an Aldi's but it about 30 minutes away...still, it might be worth it.
I never go over $200. Anything I save from that is ours for date night or eating out.
Okay, you definitely need to do more posts on this! How do you shop for two weeks for eight people and only spend 200? How do you get by on 40.00 of gas (even after a payday fill up) per month? How do you manage to eat out on 40.00 with eight people? Curious minds want to know...Thanks for sharing an inside look at your budget!
We could never do $40 in gas as my van needs to be filled about once a week ($70) and dh's car about once a week ($40).
And that is OK!! The Mom is living within her budget, means and need. She has great ideas but the amounts are going to vary WILDLY depending on where you live and your lifestyle.
K- You are right. We use much less gas than most people do.
We purposely moves less than 10 minutes from my husband's job and smack dab in the middle of my children's activities. We very rarely drive my car more than 10-15 minutes from the house. We simply don't need to do so.
Because we are close to his job, my husband comes home for lunch most days instead of eating out. It has the added bonus of giving him time with the children(and me.)
If you drive further, then adjust your envelopes accordingly. THe hard part is when you run out of gas money and really want to go somewhere and you just have to wait or say no. (Emergencies are different, always get gas for an emergency. Trips to the zoo don't count.)
Eating out on $40? So easy. That sounds like another post!
Unless we lived in downtown SA we need a lot of gas money. It's either a 60 minute commute within 15-20 miles of work or a 40 minute commute, 35 miles from work. Activities range from 10 miles to 40 miles round trip-we finally have a grocery store closer than 20 miles YIPPEE!!. It's the price we pay,literally, for living in the boonies, which we love. BUT, we almost never eat out, why? there isn't anywhere nearby to eat out. :D
same with impulse buys/stops. There just aren't any when you live somewhere where livestock outnumbers people 10-1.
Keeping gas in our cars in non-negotiable. I have to at least be able to make it to 'town'. Our EMS is volunteer and the Sheriff takes forever. It took the fire dept 40 minutes to show at my friends house when her hay bales were on fire and Sheriff took a good 10+ minutes to show up here after I called 911 this spring. We have to be able to get ourselves where we need to go since we can't rely on services.
I understand that everyone's envelope amounts will be different and I'll probably never get to 40 for gas. But I love hearing about the tips and tricks of how people skim down to their lowest amount. And I'm looking forward to the post about eating out for less than 40 - is that only once a month?
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