Budget Re-Do...

I pulled out my Dave Ramsey Book 

"A Total Money Makeover"

again this past weekend.

We are slowly

working our way through 

his debt snowball plan

And I needed a little extra motivation.

It is EXHILARATING

to pay something off.

The high and uphoria of 

the payoff,

for me,

is more exciting than the purchase itself!

I started quoting from the book

to my husband

"Dave says, blah blah"

"Dave also said, blah blah"

My sweet hubs decided to remind me

that although Dave might be a good resource,

his book was not the gospel.

I know, I know...

Everyone does not fit perfectly

into his mold.

BUT,

his plan is a great one

and

after reading his books,

you get a swift kick in the BUTT!

And MOTIVATION!

I have been attempting to follow a budget

for a few months.

But haven't quite mastered it.

I am still figuring out what works

best for our family.

I seemed to be chasing our money

instead of "telling it where to go".

I would also try to budget for everything

that "might" happen that month:

Doctor's visits

pharmacy visits

haircuts

sports equipment purchases

dinners out

birthday/gifts

etc...

Not all of these things happened

each month,

so I found myself constantly 

and almost daily

making adjustments to our "budget"

in Quicken.

I also had our groceries & household

separate.

But I would sometimes buy household stuff

at the grocery store

but didn't have any desire to go through

the receipts and separate out the purchases

into the correct category.

So I have gotten rid of all but 5 categories:

Bills

Groceries/Household

Laundry

Gas

Blow Money

This is my first month attempting this plan.

Based on what we were doing,

I feel this will work well.

The blow money will include EVERYTHING

not listed under the other categories.

As I have said many times before,

we have NEVER had a budget.

But I really got tired of not knowing 

where our money went each month.

I would constantly sit down 

with a spreadsheet

and the bank statement

and categorize every purchase

then go into shock at how much we spent

at certain places.

When I started the budget,

it was really just for my benefit.

The hubs and I would talk about it

a little

but he really didn't seem to show much

interest in it,

so I wasn't going to force it...

can't make him be interested, right?

I am guessing he was just letting me

figure it out and sort through it all.

Cause now,

he is really encouraging me

and we do discuss it,

Every 2 weeks...

Where do we want our money to go?

What do we have going on the next two weeks?

Any major purchases needed/wanted?

Oil changes - got it.

Missions baseball game - got it.

Now we have it planned out.

And with any luck - 

I will know where almost every penny is going

before it goes!

Another headache with this budgeting 

is the grocery shopping!

I have been racking my brain

trying to figure out how to budget for groceries.

As mentioned before,

back home in NC,

I could sit down at the computer,

do my grocery shopping on-line

and flip through my coupon binder

and match up sales with coupons.

Then I would print off my grocery list

complete with prices

and mark which ones had coupons.

Then I knew within about $10 how

much I would be spending 

when I actually went in

and did my shopping.

That service is not offered down here.

So I have resorted to making my own

database.

I shop at the same store

every 2 week.

And their prices are pretty consistent.

They don't have major sales,

but offer coupons regularly

in the store.

I don't get screaming deals on meat

like I did back home,

I would wait til meats went on 

B1G1

or 

B2G3

or

B1G2

and just do big meat purchases

and stock our freezer.

It worked!!!

Can't do that here.

Even the Costcos &

Sam's Clubs

have similar prices to those

offered at our

ONLY

grocery store chain.

So I sat down with receipts from my 

past 3 shopping trips

and started creating a database

with prices.

Now as I create my two week menu

and then my grocery list,

I can add prices

and get a better idea of what I am going to spend.

This is the best way I know how to 

get a grasp on my grocery budget

and possibly find ways to trim it.

I have already started my menu planning 

for the next two weeks.

I am anxious to put this idea into 

action and see how it works.

Any other ideas 

on how to manage & foreshadow

 grocery spending?