Budgeting

Danny and I are on the verge of buying a new car. Long story but basically I want a bigger car.

Anyway, we finally signed the papers and then did the sums of what we could afford (not too smart I know...)

We have a seperate account that Danny and I transfer money into each week to cover our bills - the "Bill Account". This is where all our bill payments come from including when I pay for groceries.

We worked out that the money we put in there more than covers all of our expenses - the issue is there is never any money in the bill account. Sometimes we use it for trips and other little things that crop up. Soon the little thing that crops up will be our baby.....

So we have decided to get serious - well semi serious anyway. I have decided that I need to keep track of what I spend on groceries each week. This is something that I have never done - just buying what we need each week and meat each day. No longer.

I am going to try the envelope system - at the beginning of the week I will put money in the envelope and then try to only use that amount. I am thinking $150 to start with. Not knowing how much I spend now I have just plucked that figure out of mid-air. I'll keep all the receipts and compare from week to week. Then if there is money left in the envelope, this can roll over into the next week.

The thought of it is actually exciting for me - a bit of a challenge. This will really show how resourceful I am and also how good a cook I can be. They say the best cooks can whip up something out of nothing - my very own Masterchef mystery box challenge.

So for the upcoming weeks there may be few blogs on how my grocery budgeting is going as I learn a more frugal way to feed my little family. Any tips would definitely be welcome....