April Challenge

Hi! So, I'm ready for another challenge. March was my re-entry into life without doing no-buy. I still haven't gone to a nail salon and only went to the hair salon once. I haven't bought one article of clothing. However, food is my problem area. I cooked couscous and chicken last night. I need to do more of that.

Since I launched The Frugalista Files, I've made a lot of friends in the blogsphere. Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks paid off $17,000 in debts in a year. This woman sold her car and drives a scooter! Anyway, she started an April challenge asking people to set a budget for their problem areas. Food is my weakness. Here's the link for the challenge. I will spend only $200 in April on food.

I'm starting to prepare for this food challenge. FF reader Chic not Cheap sent me this link from the NY Times about finding food at $.99 stores. I don't really trust those dollar stores, but I must figure out a way to ration meal spending.

Where do you need to tighten up your budget? Food, clothing, shelter? Entertainment? And would you eat a meal made with ingredients from the dollar store?

Comments

[Product Junkie Diva]

HI
No dollar store ingredients....just say no Frugalista. I know that the ingredients that you will find in the dollar store are probably the same that you would find at a regular store but something about those .99 stores give me the hee bee jee bees. Can you imagine picking out a box or Rice a Roni right next to a .99 sewing kit? ...no thanks.
If I need to tighten up in any area it would have to be my never ending product purchases.
I think I need a program of some sort..lol I will try to spend less in that area during the month of April....yay I love challenges.
Product Junkie Diva

[Tianna]

I have an addictive personality. So whatever I give up or limit, the energy is transferred. So, I have listed the last five things that have been problem areas - eating out, high end grocery shopping, clothes, shoes, and wine/alcohol. I am on a low buy for eating and no buy on the latter items. I was watching Jon and Kate plus eight and she shops for 10 people (2 adults and eight kids) spending less than I do for one! And she doesn't buy "dead" food in the boxes that have been sitting on the shelf for years and could continue to do so without hitting an expiration date. So, I am about healthy eating but not expensive eating. Long story short, tighten spending on all things Tianna and just do better in general. Tall order? I say yes. But, drastic times call for drastic measures.

[Jasmine]

Here's my advice: Buy only what's on sale. Get the buy one, get one free and bring out the scissors and clip those coupons on Sunday. I love it when I clip a coupon for something that's on sale at the supermarket. In some cases, I end up paying $3.50 for two boxes of cereal. That's when I walk out of the market with a smile on my face. Also, always check your Publix receipts. They offer what they call a Publix promise: If they overcharge you for an item advertised for less they will refund your money for that item. I've gotten free cakes and stuff thanks to that.

[SavingDiva]

Food is my big problem area too! For January and February, I was able to spend under $150 on food (groceries and eating out). I really cut back on eating out. To keep my grocery bills down, I avoided processed foods (think stuff that's super easy) and bought a lot of fresh produce (tried to stick with stuff that was in season and frequented the local farmers markets) and unprocessed ingredients. I will admit my diet did improve, but I also got creative (I have a great no-bake cookie recipe that costs only a few dollars to make a bunch of chocolately delicious cookies).

I also agree with Jasmine, coupons are king! Look for free coupons. They're a little bit more difficult to find, but check on websites...usually they're mailed to your house. I've gotten yogurt, tampons, pads, cleaning products, fruit leather (my favorite), all-natural peanut butter and more for free.

[Mary Sue]

You need to find your local hippie co-op natural food store, or the nearest place with bulk bins. I betcha that couscous you cooked last night came from a $3 box. In those bins, the same amount of couscous will probably run you $1.

[Maresydoats]

Saving Diva and Jasmine have it right: Coupons are the best - when I remember to use them. I feel so righteous on Sunday mornings when I'm clipping coupons from the Sunday paper. So I put my stack of coupons in my purse and there they sit. I need to get one of those organizing things that will categorize them for me. And I rarely clip a coupon for less than 50 cents, because it doesn't seem worth making the effort to find the item in the store for less.
Aside from that, my problem areas are expensive food stores (easy to shop, wonderful food, but too pricey!) and stuff for my house that I do not need. More bed linens? N-O. Chotchkes and photo frames and wall art? NYET. Sometimes I think I need shopping intervention! My best solution so far is to sleep on it. Wait a day or two and see if I still want it so badly. Usually, I don't. But it's still something I need to work on.
Good luck, folks!

[Luvadeal]

A cheap fast food lunch is a small chili from Wendy's. It's not a carby lunch either. Beans and ground beef.

[savvy]

I wouldn't trust food from the 99 cent store. That said, forget the coupons because they're generally for name-brand products that are way marked up anyway. Buy generics/store brand when you can and only buy whatever cuts of meat are on sale. Supplement that with fresh fruits and veggies from a local farmer's market or co-op. There are places like Angel Food Ministries (no requirement to be low-income) where you can get two weeks' worth of food for $30. You may want to see if it's in your area.

[Natalie]

Ewww, food from the .99 store? You're frugal but you have dignity! j/k do whatever, but I second the coupons. I wasn't a huge fan until my friend started helping me (or try moneysavingmom.com) -- I plan my meals around what's on sale and what coupons I have, so I don't buy extra. And my grocery store (Vons and Ralphs) doubles my coupons, so it's almost always worth it.

[Frugalista]

PJD- Um, hun, it's bad for business if you stop buying products. Whose site will I visit to find out about all the cool stuff I can buy when I get my financials in order?

Tianna-So happy to have you back!

Jasmine- You have to give me a coupon clipping lesson.

Saving Diva- Processed food is evil, right?

Mary Sue- Couscous was three for five dollars. Full disclosure: my coworker bought it for me because she knows I love it.

Maresydoats - I think waiting to purchase the little things can save you a lot. Impulse buying is a killer.

Luvadeal-Hmm. Wendy's. Hmm. Me no likey beans.

Savvy-Angel's Ministries? Learn something new everyday.

Namesake-Down with the $.99. It would kill all of my fabulosity! Frugal but Fabulous for LIFE!

[Lou]

I keep a list of food that must be on hand at all times (milk, half and half, sour cream, yogurt, COFFEE, etc.) and clip coupons to it. Coupons for other items go in a pocket on a soft sided cooler I keep in the trunk. On Thursday I add incidentals and on-sale items to the list (by store, price). When you pass the store on the list, pull in, get the other coupons from the cooler and shop. If the store is out of the way, skip it, it's not a bargain at today's fuel price. Of course, I have forgotten the cooler at home. LOL!

[josh w]

"That said, forget the coupons because they're generally for name-brand products that are way marked up anyway."

That's false. While it is true that usually it is the larger more expensive brand names which have coupons, they are typically paired to coincide with store sales, or the coupons may appear several weeks before store sales. When grocery stores have items on sale for B1G1, you can use 2 coupons, even though the second item will be free. For example, I used a 75 cent coupon (only had 1) to buy 2 bottles of Kraft salad dressing which were on sale B1G1 1 week ago (normal price $2.89/bottle). So I paid an avg price of $1.07/bottle.

Also, there are tons of internet coupons even for free products (although some stores such as Albertsons will not accept internet coupons for free products). www.coupons.com and www.wow-coupons.com are two examples. This week Cheerios is on sale @ Winn Dixie $2.50 for 14.2 oz box. Buy 4 of them; total = $10. There is an instant $4 discount so that means 4 boxes = $6. There's also a coupon for 50 cents off (I can't find the site at the moment) which means the total final price = $1/box.

"Supplement that with fresh fruits and veggies from a local farmer's market "

Those usually are not cheap and a lot of times the selection isn't as great as at the supermarket. It's much cheaper to buy fruits & vegetables on sale at Sedano's, Bravo, Publix, etc..

[Anita]

I've seen things at the dollar store that would only cost sixty or seventy-nine cents at other stores, so don't feel bad about your aversion to food from the dollar store. Find a discount grocery store such as Aldi and you may find yourself spending twenty bucks a week!