Lets talk……….Budgets.
I always get asked how I can only spend $25 a week on Food & Necessities for my kiddos & I. Folks – let me begin by reminding you that my husband is deployed – he’s overseas. Therefore, with myself & two little birds, we do eat considerably less than your family may. What works for me will not, and may not, work for you! 
I’m a Dave Ramsey fan – have been the last few years. I was introduced to him one day on my way home from a late night work session when I worked in Army Recruiting. I believe I had flown in from El Paso that night and flipped through the car channels to 92.3 – THAT and 100.7 are my ‘go-to stations’. Can’t live without them. I listed to his radio show. I was intrigued…..if you haven’t taken the opportunity to hear him, you need to review his show online, or visit his archived shows = good stuff folks.
Soon thereafter, I rented the book “Total Money Makeover” from the library – hubby and I did have considerable debt. I did, and still do, however, pride myself on saving for retirement & my kiddos college – but in the area of budgeting we just weren’t there at all.
I started the envelope system for our budget – now, hubby is not here, so it makes it easier for me to stick to it Don’t’ tell him I told you that though……… ha! David gets paid twice a month; his paychecks are allocated even before they arrive – our budget is based on his pay period.
Here’s what I do to budget:
1. I write down all the bills – Electric, Insurance (auto, life & home), Water, Mortgage, etc – everything that is a regular recurring payment. Whatever is left, I allocate GAS, FOOD, Clothing, and (sometimes) entertainment. Usually – I use FREE Blockbuster codes 
Extra money goes into the debt snowball.
2. After I allocate my bills, then I toss $25.00 in 4 different envelopes. One for each week in the month. That is my grocery budget.
3. If I go over my budget one week for food, then the next week is shorted – if I run out, I make NO more trips to the ATM. That’s it……I’m done. I don’t use my debit card; I don’t own any credit cards, nor does David. I rely strictly and pay strictly on cash. Cash hurts more (in my opinion) – so it enables me to budget better.
What is leftover, if any, from the grocery budget goes into my kids college fund along with their regular monthly contribution that I make.
Is it hard to manage on $25?
Definitely – at first it was. I will be honest – I really really think long & hard about what I am buying when I have only so much to cover. I am less likely to toss anything in the cart. I plan meals, I plan my purchase, etc. I rarely go in to the store on a whim to make a purchase. We DO eat produce, in fact, I purchase it at Pro’s Ranch for a few bucks each week – or if I’m in a pinch I’ll price match at Wal Mart. I have enough chicken in my freezer to last a lifetime.
How much do I have in my clothing envelope?
Well, for the last 4 months I haven’t put anything in there. My kids wear hand-me-downs, and I am definitely happy with the items I have in my closet. Besides, I’m prego so no need to get new stuff when I’ll soon be too fat to fit!
How much do I have in my eating out envelope?
NOTHING! Hah I use free coupons from Sonic, surveys on the end of drinks…….etc to get me through. My kids don’t usually ask for anything and if they do, my answer is “well you can have ice cream when you get home. That’s final.” Our treat to eat out will resume when we get our debt paid off. Until then, we’re on a budget, and unless it’s a dire emergency, no trips to TGI Friday.
Folks – can you give me some insight on how YOU budget your money?
What helps you the most?
What keeps you from keeping to your budget?
WOW! I am very proud of you!!!!!! If I were single, I’m not sure I could do the $25 a week for groceries let alone have kids to feed so you are definitely my role model. Our household makes considerably more than that of those put in Harms Way and yet we still struggle month to month. Thank you for giving your children a plan to model after and thank you for giving us your savings direction. It is appreciated and shared with my clients.
Wow! I really want to get our food budget down! Thank you for all of your dedication to this site. You are doing an amazing service for people!
LOVE Dave Ramsey. I followed his program years ago and thank God I did or I would have been beyond screwed when I got laid off from my $70K a year position and now am working for basically nothing.
We have been using the envelope system for a while now…if we continue to budget the way we have and STICK to it…we will have nearly $20,000 in savings in 4 1/2 years. OMG!!! It really works when you stick to it!!
Total Dave Ramsey followers here! Totally changed how we dealt with our money! We have so much peace about the past (no debt), the present (we have enough for all current expenses), and future (we are saving for our future and our kids’ futures.) We’ll never turn back. :)
Since couponing, I have been able to get my budget $40 a week for groceries/dog food. I have the Dave Ramsey book but have not yet read it. I know I can do better and always want to learn others secrets. Can’t wait to get that number down even more. Thanks for your inspiration!
I read the Total Money Makeover years ago. My hubby is finally reading it and just sold his car with car payments attached and paid cash for a nice, low-mileage used car. He’s been buying a new car every year for the last five years. I’m so glad that he is taking this to heart.
That’s what i am in the process of getting my husband to do. Any suggestions on getting him there more quickly? ;)
MacKenzie – lots of prayer
Sheryl,
Kudo’s to you and your hubby for staying the course. My hubby and I are do our end by keeping the food bill around $40 a week which is great compared to over $400 I would spend a month on food and other necessities (thanks to your blog). Actually, by using our coupons we have been able to buy more things for our kids (16, 13, and 9 all boys who eat us out of house and home) better stock the cupboards, help their sport teams with snacks/drinks and save some $ to send them to sport camps. Your site and helpful hints have been a blessing to us.
Thank you.
I also write our bills down for the month and the exact date they are due. I plan out our budget at the 1st of the month giving us and estimated amount for my husbands check. Anything extra that he may have in his check is used for savings. But 9/10 it doesn’t get saved and something comes up. Will have to try this envelope system and look into this Dave Ramsey. Thanks so much for the insight!
Hi..I love your blog and inspire to be like you..my family of four was going through money on groceries like there was no tomorow ..we were up to five hundred a month..and I had enough of spending everything on just junk food (most of it was) Now I use coupons, get freebies, and try to stay on budget. I am not where I want to be but 50 per week for food, necessities, dog, cleaning supplies ( I am totally clean freak so I go through a lot) is okay for now. in addition we are really trying to do our best to stick with cash only policy. I will also check out that book..thank you again
All I have to say is Good for you! :) I did the Dave Ramsey “Financial University” this past year. My husband and I have been married 8 years. Out of that 8 years I’ve been a stay at home mom for 7 years. And let’s just say I have quite the shopping addiction! Before I stopped working our income combined was close to six figures. So when I stopped working it definitely impacted our lifestyle, but we could very comfortably still live and afford our bills, off of his salary alone. God has blessed us beyond measure and increased his salary over these past 8 years to get us back to almost close to what we made when both working. During the past 8 years I went shopping almost daily, buying tons of stuff. Never anything expensive, just random clothing, household items, or stuff for the kids. Spending probably close to $300 a week (not including groceries)! Yikes right! So when our church started this program I was scared! I have tried budgets before, and always failed. We have NEVER owned a credit card, and NEVER will! We have NEVER had any car loans, and probably won’t for many more years, if ever then even! We thrive on paying cash as well. It’s the only way. Once I started “Financial Peace” (best $100 ever spent) I was so mortified by the $100/bi-weekly allowance I was being put on for personal spending. It took me a few months, but I finally realized how much it hurt to spend my money! Yes I usually spend that $100 over a 2 week period on miscellanious things, or clothing for myself or the kids, or household decor. Let’s be real though….going from spending as much as I did to spending only $100 every 2 weeks…I’m super proud of myself. We use our debit cards still for doctors visits, which we have frequently with 2 asthmatic boys, and the miscellanious gift purchase and special events. Other than that everything else is cash. Groceries are $150/week, Gas is $100/bi-weekly, and we each get the $100 allowance/bi-weekly. The grocery budget is high in comparrison to yours, but I purchase lot’s of extra stock pile stuff usually that I can donate to church or shelters and troops. I’m so proud that we have never had any other debt other than our mortgage. We have always had savings, my husband luckily is super good about this area and I’m always the one who thinks…what if something happens and we don’t have that money. We’ve always been able to buy cars with cash, decent ones too. 2005 camry (top model), and 2002 xterra. I have my own little side business that I do at my own leisure to bring in money, not a ton YET….but none the less it’s extra money and it just usually goes in extra spending or something we really want to fix up around the house. All I have to say is everyone should invest in Dave Ramsey and listen to his realistic – EASY to follow plan.
Huge Dave Ramsey fan.Been listening for the last two years. He always talks about getting on a budget with Gazelle intensity,getting on a diet of rice and beans,beans and rice but now thanks to qponing,we can save even more on grocery bills and we are eating well rounded meals. Thanks Sheryl for everything you do to help families save money and live frugal. You are truly amazing. Keep the faith.
Wow …. im sooo impressed I wish I could do better on a budget . I have tried many times and I suck at it . We are a fam of 4 with 2 older teens. They truely eat me out of house and home…lol . My mom is a teacher and she is on a tight budget like you and sticks to it . I really want to try to save more money I put $200. each month away into saving we do not touch it . I have just now gotten a credit card this yr when I lost my job and have already paid that off and it will stay at $0.00. I will have to watch Dave Ramsey now . You think you would do a video class on saving money and how to do it? I sooo would watch ….
thanks for the insight has gotten me thinking where and how I can cut …..
LOL….I was just writing out a talk on budgeting that I’m doing for a moms group and it is astoundingly similar to yours! I’ve been on the envelope system for several years now and it’s the best way I’ve found to stick to a budget. There was definitely some adjustment at first when I opened my envelope and thought hey…I just had $40 in here, what happened???? But now its pretty easy to keep to the budget- I spend $80 for a family of 5 with one meal out a week- basically we eat out every Friday so I pull our weekly $$ that morning and whatever is left from our meal out is what I have for groceries that week- usually ends up being about $40…something to think about- nearly 1/3 of the average American’s spending is towards food. I’d say that with couponing we all are spending significantly less :-)
I like your out to eat plan. That is definitely our budget buster every month. It’s not on TGI Fridays, but quick stops when we are out during mealtime and snacks at work. It adds up fast!!
with clothes as of late. I have started going to goodwills on their half price day.
I have found kids clothes brand new with tags on them. I love my mens shirts
that i wear all the time. much cheaper then womans shirts. and there again I have found
brand new name brand shirts for 2bucks. Clearance items at walmart. are awesome.
found lots of socks and white shirts for a buck for 3 shirts. I tie dye them for the
grand kids and kids i watch. Have had to change the brand of dog food for my 3 dogs.
still get a decent brand but at less cost and more to the bag then even costco prices.
My hubbys job after 30 years closed down last summer. he has a job but makes half of what he made. now paying bills is hard and with the electricity bill going higher in this next couple months the couponing and saving that way has been a awesome thing. I am so greatful for Sheryl and this site. helps my hubby to be less stressed out about money when he sees how much i can get without breaking the bank. He had a stroke 6 years ago at the age of 47 because of stress,so cutting his stress is necessary.. My 2 grown kids who live at home while going to school and work, help out lots. I give thanks every day to them.
I shop lots of clearances. .
I’ve been home for 4 years now. It was extremely hard on our budget when I stopped working:( It was a 40% decrease in funds… but my kids were more important than having a job that took me away from them. I’ve had several budgets over the years but my New Year’s Resolution this year was to go back to coupons, make a budget and stick with it! I just started the envelope system and it is working great! I don’t have credit cards so we have to pay cash for everything! We don’t have any cc debt only a mortgage and car payment. The car will be paid off in Nov 2012:) I pay most of our bills on line. I broke down our bills to be paid twice a month. My husband gets paid every other week. That leaves us two pay checks a year to use on extras! I have it arranged that by Black Friday all his pay check will be available to use for Christmas… I won’t use it all but it’s nice to know I could:) I have an envelope for gas, food, misc car (oil changes/repairs/emissions/tags) and misc kids (entertainment/school/clothes/eating out/medical). I have four kids and two dogs so I have $300 twice a month that goes into the food envelope. I put $350 per month into the gas envelope (my husband works 30 miles away one way:( so gas is a big expense), $100 for car misc per month and 300 per month into the kid misc. If anything is left in the envelopes at the beginning of the next payment it goes into a special envelope:) That special envelope is our savings for Disneyland October 2012! The second extra pay check for the year will come in July 2012 that will go to the Disney fund as well:) I do work 3 days a month in Phoenix. Our new budget does not account for this money so it all goes to the Disney fund. Our goal is to hit $5,000 by next Fall! Now, as long as my husband doesn’t find his debit card we can stay on track! LOL
i asked my husband if he knew who Dave Ramsey was and he asked “does he talk to dead people?” Bahaha…I cannot stop laughing!
But it got us talking about budgeting and saving :) I hope we can do good !
I am fortunate that I have been brought up in a way so Dave Ramsey to me is just common
sense. My parents never owned a credit card and I learned from a young age that you have
to save up for stuff you want and the only thing where debt is remotely ok is a mortgage
(with a high downpayment of course). An emergency fund is a must and so is a six month expense padding, in case something unexpected happens.
And we did have rainy days more than once, where these things came in really handy.
When I listened to DR the first time, I thought he was quoting my Mum and Grandma, who told me this stuff almost 40 years ago, LOL!!!
Hubby and I have CC’s but these are paid off in full every month and we try to live below
our means as much as possible.
Any increase in income over the last few years went into savings instead of into a higher
expense lifestyle. People sometimes look at us strangely because of that.
When we bought our house, we could have gotten a much higher mortgage, but I did not
want MORE house and sacrifice my financial independance for that. Neither our realtor nor our mortgage guy got it!
Of course hubby would have loved a game room and a gazillion of little extras etc….but to me seperating the needs from the wants from the nice to haves, is even more important than budgeting.
When we were on one income for a while last year, this habit helped us get through without
having to cut too much.
There are certain things on which I also prefer to ‘splurge’ and then others, where I try to save as much as I can.
Your site has been extremely helpful in saving on so many things! I am beyond grateful, Sheryl!!!
Now that hubby has a job again, most of the money we save thanks to your help goes into donations and towards paying off a little extra on the mortgage each month. Every little bit helps shave a tiny bit off those 360 months. LOL
It will take looong to be completely debt free though!
But the best thing is to be able to donate more to the causes that are dear and near to me with less out of pocket!
Thank you Sheryl!!!
Same thing you do. DAVE!
We are Dave Ramsey fans as well. My husband just read his book Total Money Make Over, I have yet to read it. It is on my to do list. Since I started using coupons 4 months ago our grocery bill is slowly going down from $400.00 a month. I am proud to say that this pay day I have spent under $100.00 for the 4 of us, that is for 2 weeks of groceries and other necessities. Before I was always going over my $200.00 bi-weekly grocery budget . I really don’t need to go to the store for anything now but I am working on my stockpile. I have told myself I will only spend $30.00 a week now for groceries. I just started using an envelopes and paying cash for everything last week. It is hard, but I am determined to save money now instead of just blowing it. It is rewarding to me to save money for my family since I am a stay home mom with teenager’s, I am lucky I don’t have to work outside the home so all the money I save is like having a part time job. ;)
Thank you Sheryl for all you hard work! We appreciate everything you do! :)
I swear by this site. love it! all your hard work is appreciated.
The Christy Family.
Another Dave Ramsey follower hear. I can’t wait to call in and do our debt-free yell!! :)
Sheryl, I want to say thank you for all you do for us shoppers. I need to be better on my weekly grocery budget, but we do follow Dave Ramsey 7 months. It is amazing between you and him we are almost debt free… Thank You…
My husband was out of work for 3 years. He finally got a job in February. I always used Excel to make a budget spreadsheet with all the recurring bills, and had a tab for those weird annual items like dog vaccinations and AAA membership fee, so I wouldn’t forget to put them in the monthly budget tab. This has always been helpful. I don’t go out to get pedicures, I paint my own toenails (with the free Sally Hansens polish from Target, thanks to the coupons!). I keep my hair straight, one length, so I don’t have to get hair cuts as often, and when I do, I go to Supercuts and use the coupon from signing up with their newsletter. I never pay for things like deoderant, toothpaste or toothbrushes. I never pay more than $1 for cereal. I ALWAYS buy my meat on manager special/clearance or if I have a coupon. Most of our clothes are from yard sales.
We weren’t as careful with spending when he first lost his job because we figured he’d get one soon enough. So, we put things on the credit card. And then we had a few emergencies come up like a dog vet bill, a transmission repair on the car, etc. He still didn’t find work. I found your blog and learned about couponing and started our frugal lifestyle. But by then, we were in considerable debt.
By this January, we were about $9,000 in debt. When my hubby finally got a job in late February, we both agreed to keep up our new frugal lifestyle and act like we were still a 1 income family. And we took every one of his paychecks and made payments on the Visa. We are currently only about $1,000 in debt. We have paid over $8k in about 5 months. But we have been diligent.
We are both allowed $25 per week in allowance to do whatever we want with it. I have chosen to take my 93 year old grandpa to bingo every week because that is important to me to spend time with him. And there are a few times I’ve won. And you know what I’ve done with my winnings? Made an extra payment on the Visa. I am determined to be a cash & carry kid of gal!
My hubby and I “splurge” on eating out once a month…..but…..we ONLY go to a restaurant that we have a Restaurant.com coupon/gift certificate. That way, we are splurging, but still being frugal!
Oh, and the other key is to swallow your pride and tell your family and friends that you are currently on a frugal lifestyle, and that if they invite you out and you decline, that they need to be respectful of that and not offended. Surround yourself with like-minded frugal people. Otherwise, your week of saving on your grocery bills, could be blown away by that night out with the girls for drinks!
Thanks for all your hard work and tips that make all of us able to save and live a happier life!
Tammy, I couldn’t agree more with what you said at the end about being honest with friends and family. Before I started couponing and making a real effort to be frugal, I found that it was a dinner or concert here and there that really did me in and found me stretching my paycheck down to the last penny. But now all my friends know how important it is for me to save and why, and not only are they more respectful, but I feel like we have a lot more fun doing things that don’t cost a lot of money. Although I’m only 26, I’m proud of the fact that I have money in savings for the first time in my life.
Thanks for all the continued help Sheryl!
Ours is another family who is greatly benefitting from both Dave Ramsey’s advice and your blog, Sheryl. We are FINALLY learning to budget so we can get out the debt hole, and I’m learning how to reduce my weekly grocery/household budget. Thank you so much for your advice and all the hard work you do to help your readers save money.
When we were first married, DH was in the Navy, and we got stationed in San Diego….way expensive for an E-3!!…w/a wife and small dog! We had two cars, one paid for and one with a low payment, lived in an RV (ah, the joys of watching SeaWorld’s almost nightly fireworks!) and used envelopes for our budget allowances as well. Since then, though, we have fallen away from it, gotten into debt, went through BK, and are starting anew last year. I went to work for the first time since getting married, and DH had a MUCH lower paying job than before. But we made it work in the toughest times, and we are now blessed to have a decent job, and just recently TWO paid off cars :D !!! Sometimes I get a little carried away with being at home and “bored” and go shopping….NOT GOOD (as mentioned by someone else)….I spend way too much on “nothing”, really. So I need to get back into the envelope and cash system and STICK with it!!! :) DH drives 55 miles each way to work 5 days a week, with his car, and his fuel alone is $100/wk./mo. :-( Finding couponing, and especially this site has helped me start saving money on pretty much everything, and it’s great. I’m building a little stockpile of toiletries, laundry det., snacks and cereals, and am able to save money on pet foods/litter and everything else! It’s great! Thank you for all you (and your husband) do!!!