Why should I set a grocery budget,anyway?

If you've been following us on Instagram @littlesandspice at all you know we have been fine tuning our grocery budget for quite some time now. As a busy mom of three I find meal planning, crock pot cooking and shopping online through pcexpress have been the best tangible ways to stick to a budget for us.

Lets start with my why....

To be honest I thought I was doing pretty good until about 18 months ago my husband decided to become a spreadsheet monster and track where we spend money. Obviously his real motive was because he wanted to build a shop to fix things in but wanted to see where we really were at every month on the spending. I'll be honest it was a V RUDE awakening. I actually feel anxious typing this LOL. Basically I was just buying whatever I felt we needed and was dreaming up meal ideas as I was walking through the aisle of Superstore, or Safeway or Sobeys...you'll learn really soon that those last two places are amazing but also sometimes double the cost, yikes! I have three girls who are complete fresh fruit monsters and was basically picking up stuff 2-3 times a week which you will also learn isn't doable on a strict budget! haha. Sounding scary yet? Well, it is a bit intimidating at first fo sho.

Enough about me though, let talk about the why. YOUR why.

There will be so many reasons why you are reading this post. Perhaps out of curiosity. Perhaps out of necessity. Ultimately time is money. In this case if you give yourself an hour to prep your week/meal plan/ order groceries you WILL save money. If you really don't have a "need" to budget you probably wont follow through. The goal here is to set a monthly budget that is tangible and right for you and your family. (I'll be posting the HOW to set a monthly budget in the next day or two. I know a lot of you are eager to get started in JAN! If you are used to spending $2000 a month and want to bring it down to $1700 then you really should take that $300 you saved and put it somewhere FUN! Orrrr maybe you need that money to pay other bills, but the reward to yourself is to keep that money in a fun bank. Perhaps to pay for a family vacation? Maybe its a few nights away with your hubby at a hotel, lodge or ski trip. Maybe its paying a sitter and going for a walk with your significant other. YOU get to decide. We are creatures who need rewards though- so think about what you would like to do with the extra money you are saving every month and enjoy it (if finances allow)

I could ramble forever and we are definitely still sorting through our budget journey but I will explain more specifics in another post. Can't wait to do this with you all!

Bye for now,

xo

Sarah