We've set a rather ambitious "out of college debt" goal date. November 2014.
It's slightly more ambitious if you think we have 11 years of college between us, and we're also financing an adoption currently. Maybe someday when I'm feeling a little more victorious about our debt reduction I'll actually post concrete numbers.
This pay period (Michael gets paid every other Tuesday), I cut our grocery bill nearly in half by sucking it up and menu-planning some less-than-glamorous meals (actually, Glamor wouldn't even touch these meals with a 10-foot pole). Of course, I realize that's not sustainable savings, and I'll run out of staples and need to stock up every now and then. But I'm hoping it averages out to at least 35% savings.
So far, I've come up with two savings techniques for us that seem to be working.
- portion sizing. (a.k.a. rationing...but it sounds healthier and less WWII when I say "portion sizing")
- buying whole fryer chickens instead of chicken breasts. (yes. I'm aware that typing out "breasts" might increase the odd people stumbling on my blog, but "adult plastic panties" continues to be one of the most popular search stumbles...and that still makes me laugh every time.)
There is one money saving tip I'm just not ready to embrace yet. Family cloth. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
I love to cook. But we are a fairly large family (currently 9 of us at home), and have a grocery budget to stick to. Therefore, I understand how you feel about your "less-than-glamorous" meals. We do not have the "luxury" of purchasing the many ingredients to experiment with new recipes, or with more "elaborate" ones either.
ReplyDeleteIt is more economical for us to stick with some very simple dinners...homemade pizza, roast & potatoes, baked chicken, and pasta to name a few. Nothing fancy, but healthy and enjoyed by most.
We were purchasing WAY too many processed foods, which is also quite expensive, and extremely unhealthy. I am really trying to focus on buying foods as close to "natural" as possible!
Good luck with the financial goal planning!
How about cloth just for, ya' know...#1 type stuff.
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