The last month of the year! How has your budget been this year? Did you finish where you wanted?
I would say that my hubby and I are happy with where we ended the year. We don’t have exactly the amount of savings we were hoping for, but if you check out November’s One Income Family Budget Updateyou will know that we made a decision (on purpose) that we knew would leave our budget where it currently sits.
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There is ALWAYS a way to save at Target. Doesn’t matter what department you are in, you can always save some moo-la!
Doesn’t that just make you completely have a Jerry Maguire type crush on Target… “You complete me!” or “You had me at hello!” That is exactly how I feel every time I walk into this blessed store!
With the holidays here and all the shopping you are going to be doing, it’s even more important to save. THOUGH, all of these tips will help max out your savings at Target ALL YEAR long!
When you are really good friends with someone, you want to do nice things for them. Which is why… ta-da! I have put together this meal planning on a budget toolkit for you, my Pearls!
This is the exact method our family uses for meal planning on a budget that has saved us over $6,000 this last year! That is based off of an already frugal lifestyle. If your family is in the beginning stages of cutting your expenses, I am sure you will be able to save even more money then we have!
That first time you open your bank statement in the New Year and realize you really went overboard on your spending… That pit in your stomach with the thought, “What was I thinking? What is wrong with me? Don’t I have any self-control?”
Parties, gifts, travel, cooking and baking, are some of the highlights of the holiday season! Every single time you swipe that card this season, it adds up. Real quick!
That’s why finding easy ways to cut your spending should be at the top of your priority list right now!
Raise your hand if you have debt… Don’t by shy because there is a good chance that pretty much everyone reading this article is right there with ya!
That nagging payment you have to make every, single, month! It is so irritating to be paying someone else money and not getting anything in return! Right?!
Not only are you paying back money that you have already spent, but you are actually paying back more money than you borrowed because of the crazy amount of interest you are paying. Blah!
You know how they talk about the many many MANY hats of a mom. The chef, the chauffer, the nurse, the teacher, the counselor, the doctor, and the list really is endless.
Well, who has the cash to pay for all those outfits? Not this girl! That’s for sure!
The good news is that there is a simple solution to help you dress the part of carpool in the morning and flawlessly transition for a hot hubby date night! All with making a few simple tweaks to a must have closet staple.
This post contains affiliate links at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my links to help support Pennies Into Pearls.
Nah! I don’t need a few extra hundred dollars this month. I am SO loaded that I really don’t care about those hundreds of dollars that could be sitting in my bank account right now!
Yeah right! Are you kidding me!?! I don’t know a single person, poor or well off, that would EVER say this!
Even if I could save just $100 a month I would totally do whatever it took. Wouldn’t you? Do you want to know why? Because that is $1,200 a year my friend! Talk about cutting expenses!
How Much Could I Really Save?
That is exactly what monthly meal planning has done for our family! We used to spend close to $900 each month on food. Now we are down to less than $400 each month for our family of 5.
If you combine that savings over a one year period, that’s around $6,000 we are saving each year! Simply by sticking to a meal plan!
YOU can totally do this too! Most families in the USA spend more that $900 a month on food. How much money could you be saving?
Think about what you could do with that hard earned cash!
So every month over on my YouTube channel, (which you should totally subscribe to because it’s pretty fun over there) I give you guys a behind the scenes look at our monthly grocery haul.
Would you guys be interested in seeing exactly what we I put on our menu every month?
Are we Going to be Eating Boring Foods on Such a Small Budget?
I do like to mix it up a lot. I don’t repeat any meals within the month and I like to keep the cuisine types fresh and new. We aren’t eating mac and cheese every night, if you know what I mean.
Mexican, Italian, American, and maybe Mediterranean. I find ways to make delicious meals five times a week, all within our $400 monthly grocery budget! I can share the details with you guys if you would like?
Leave a comment below if that’s something that you would be interested in!
It’s More Than Just a Grocery Haul!
In each of my grocery haul videos on my YouTube channel, I do a lot more than just walk you through what we bought that day. We are better friends than that!
I LOVE to share with you price points that I look for while I’m doing my grocery shopping. One of the best things about shopping for a month’s supply of food, is that you can shop in bulk on more things, which usually gets you a really great price!
Within each video I also share my quick and easy tips with you to save even more money. I’m talking, saving MORE money then what you are already going to be saving by meal planning.
This month I am sharing with you my very favorite rebate app called Ibotta. You will have to watch the video to get more detail but the main reason it’s my favorite right now is because you can get rebates on off-brand items. So look for the product with the lowest price, and then get a rebate on top of that!
I just bought several new fall outfits using the money I have earned through using Ibotta! Seriously! Okay, I’ll do a video to prove it to you! Stay tuned for that!
October Grocery Haul
Without further adieu, here is a look at what our MONTHLY grocery shopping looks like! Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel so you don’t miss out on the fun!
What do you think about once a week, we get together, eat something super tasty, pretend like we don’t care how many calories we are devouring, and all the while we have some heavy (in a fun way!) girl talk going on!?
The chitchat will all be centered on a few chapters taken from the current book that we are obsessing over.
Doesn’t that sound super fun! I’m a lot excited about it! What a great way for us to better get to know each other?
Our first book is THE PERFECT read for someone who needs a heavy dose of shopaholic’s anonymous! It’s for someone whose desire to spend is borderline addiction.
