Good morning all! Today I’d like to give a little physics lesson. Yes, in case you didn’t know, I’m a closet physicist. Sit back and prepare to be amazed.
I’d like to discuss momentum, which by definition is mass times velocity. In this case the mass is me and the velocity is equal to how busy I am.
When I am not busy at all, and thus have zero velocity, I have zero momentum. Meaning that when I’m not busy, I am a lazy ass. Before I got my second job, and before my real job picked up to its current hectic state, I had no momentum. I just went through the motions and did what needed to be done to get by – with work, exercise and my social life.
However, since becoming busier (and thus increasing my velocity) I’ve noticed a huge increase in my momentum.
Case in point, last night my allergies were on the fritz (still are, and I’m not happy about it). Normally, my lack of velocity would result in me deciding that a night on the couch would be the answer to not feeling good and that a run would be a bad idea.
But instead, I decided to clean my house, including vacuuming (which I loathe more than I loathe my allergies) and go out on my scheduled 3.0 mile training run. Before doing so I snacked on some baby carrots and some POM juice that I mixed with water post photo.
That run absolutely kicked my butt. I couldn’t breathe out of my nose, so my throat was crazy dry from inhaling Oklahoma winds. And speaking of the winds, at one point I was blown completely off the sidewalk and onto a very busy street. My body ached, making every step quite painful. But… I stuck it out and ran/walked for 3.26 miles. That was a victory my friends. You could say it was momentous even.
So that’s my physics lesson, you can thank me anytime for how much smarter you are after having read that. 
When I got home from my hellish run, I was upset to my stomach and didn’t feel like eating anything. But I knew I needed to get something into my system to I had a peanut butter and banana sandwich on a whole wheat bagel thin.
So about that April Goal of only spending $200 on groceries this month… I’ve actually decided to amend the goal and make it even more challenging! I’m aiming to only spend $150 on groceries this month, while still eating fun and interesting meals.
And I’ve already spent $43.80 this month, so I only have $106.20 to last me the next 23 days of the month. This could get really interesting, really quickly.
A few items on that list were not groceries, which is why I deducted them from the total.
My usual budget for groceries is a whopping $275 a month. I know that a lot of couples and families spend less than that, but what can I say… I like food and I like shopping, so I tend to go a bit overboard. In fact, last month I spent almost $400 on food. Holy moly! That’s ridiculous, right?! Hence my decision to make this my April Goal.
I don’t really have any crazy or innovative ways that I intend to accomplish this goal, just the tried and true methods.
- Meal plan! I’ve made one up for this week, but since the week is more than halfway over and I’m feeling like poo and have no appetite I don’t think I’ll start posting those until next week.
- Use coupons. My adorable mother sends me coupons ever week that are already cut out and everything. I use them when I remember, but not as often as I should.
- Base meals off of items already in my pantry. My pantry is pretty empty, but I’m still going to work with what I’ve got.
- Base meals around things that are on sale/that I have coupons for.
I’ll post pictures of my receipts throughout the month in order to stay accountable. I am really curious to see if I can do this, and if it’s something I can maintain over time or not. So here goes nothing!
How much, on average, do you spend on groceries per month?
Ahhh you don’t even want to KNOW how much we spend on groceries! And the worst part is that my husband eats ALL of it. We budget about $750 a month for groceries – yes I know it’s insane, but you have never seen HOW MUCH HE EATS. Plus, everything is fresh and a bit more expensive. I recently tried to spend about $75/wk on them…massive fail.
I spend about $350-$400 per month for 3 of us. I buy only organic everything too. Not bad considering we eat 95% of our meals at home. Especially me! I don’t really make a specific meal plan but I do have an idea in my head of what I’m going to make each week and grocery shop based on that. I am also the queen of freezing leftovers. I hate to throw food out!
Oooh another Okie blogger!
We spend anywhere from $400 – $500 a month for a family of 4. That includes going out to eat occasionally. Both The Lover and I pack lunches every day (and I also pack brekkie) so that seems to help w/ the budget.
I’m totally with you on the allergies. This gal is SUFFERING big time. I’ve been trying to keep my runs on the dreadmill on super windy days and be a mouth breather on not-so-windy days. Love Oklahoma, not so much the allergies!
Super cute lesson. And I totally agree! SO much more productive when I’m busy.
Ugh. We spend too much. Usually like $450-$500 for two of us? Admittedly, we NEVER eat out. Meaning MAYBE DH will have 2 lunches out and we’ll do 1 dinner or so a month. And that’s not included in the grocery budget. Always meaning to get better.
I try to spend around 50 dollars a week which is 200 a month! YOU CAN DO IT!
and oh i saw the wind for the redbud—the weather will be gorgeous but the wind—30 mph! SHOOT ME!
im with lisa…i try to aim for about 50 a week…more or less someweeks depending on staples that I need. I love grocery shopping so so much, its hard to not splurge all the time when i go!
awesome job on that run!!! SWEET VICTORY!
I applaud your grocery greediness. I’M DANG PROUD OF YOU, GIRL!!!!
I don’t know Kacy, but I think you can do it! I spend about $60-80 a week, but that includes about 50% of my boyfriend’s eating. We are about to move in together, so I actually just opened up a Mint.com account. I’m pretty obsessed with it, and had to stop since I’m at work! But I am going to try and combine our finances on there, since we won’t be doing so in real life (for good reason!) to make sure we’ve got a good handle on everything!
i love your grocery $ challenge. and i spend way more than i should, i dont even want to total it up.
ahh girl i need to budget too! being a college student-IM POOR! haha
Oh goodness, Andrew and I probably spend at least $400 a month on groceries. I’m scared what it’ll be like when we have kids!! Maybe we need a grocery challenge too!!
I love using coupons!! In fact, I think I’m going to do a post on it soon!!
We’re 3 people here at home and we like good, whole, healthy food so we do tend to spend quite a bit every week. I’ve read some people saying then spend less in a month than we do in a week… crazy!
We spend anywhere from $400 to $500 a month of groceries. I think it’s too bad for 4, although two of them are little people but they eat lots of veggies and fruits and I buy organic.
wow – i am ashamed to say how much i spend!! i should probably try to reduce it…problem is that i food is one area that i just dont skimp…i dont buy clothes or anything..food is my guilty pleasure…but i really spend ridiculously
I don’t like thinking about how much I spend on groceries, but I’m sure it’s a lot! Last month I counted back a couple weeks up to $280 and then I had to just close my browser and stop looking at my bank statement! haha! But this month I think I’ll be good on my grocery budger. 1. Because my mom was in town this past weekend and bought me food and 2. I’ll be traveling next week for work and living off per diem so I won’t have to buy groceries till April 19th!! That will seriously help my budget this month!
That´s a great challange, girl!
Good Luck!
Thanks for the physics lesson, by the way – I feel so much smarter now
Hahahahaha.
Delicious eats – specially that banana and PB bagel. YUUUM-O.
Have a great night!
Brazilian XOXO´s,
Gabriela
I find trips to the grocery store more relaxing than trips to the mall. True story.
I try to be as frugal as possible and love coupons- but rarely have them for what food items I buy… not alot out there for fresh produce… lame! :p
Now that I think about it we spend about $400 a month on groceries and it’s two of us. When I go I know I look at saving us money and look for specials. But when my bf goes he just throws things in the cart. Lol. When we actually take the time to see how much we spend we see how much little things add up.
I’m spending about $100 a month on groceries. But then I’m not eating anything too fancy. This past month has been smoothies all the time it seems. Keep up the momentum Kacy!
I have absolutely no idea how much I spend on groceries a month, but I’m guessing it would be a lot. I’m guilty of going through and just throwing anything in the cart that looks yummy.
I feel your pain, girl!! We spend easily 500-700 a month on groceries for 2 of us. But we do eat 9-% of all meals at home. And that also is not including the costs for alcohol on the weekends. HA! Not sure if I should be embarassed about that, or proud???
Oh wow, good luck! I don’t think I could ever do it. I love to shop, love food, and love organic. Not to mention I do all of my shopping at whole foods. I spend close to what you spend on food, and that’s just on my regular grocery trips, not counting little stops here and there for random things I’m craving.
The Man and I spend about $400 to $500 a month on groceries (includes beer/wine, which let’s face it, happens haha) which are the majority of our meals, with 1 dinner and 1 lunch out per week each. But I also buy alot of organic/natural products where I feel the health benefits outweigh the cost and I refuse to cut down on that. We are usually very good about using everything up and not letting anything go to waste (he makes fun of me at times about how crazy I am with this haha!)
I can’t wait to see how your challenge goes! And I hope you start feelign better too with your allergies
I think I need more velocity in my life… now that I’m finished studying, I don’t know what to do next! I can definitely relate to the bad allergies & wanting to sit on the couch.
I spend $150-175/month on groceries. I realized that I was spending way too much, so what has been working for me is only going to the store twice per month. No random stops unless I really want/need something.
Wow, the momentum thing really appeals to the nerdy engineering student in me. haha
Gahhh…grocery prices, I am working on my thoughts surrounding this very soon.
It’s impossible for me to go to the grocery store (ANY one, no matter how deep the discount) and not spend $50. I’d say I spend anywhere from $150 to $250 a month, depending on if my roommate and I go in at it together. Having meals planned out around what’s on sale and clipping those coupons does help – especially if you find a market that does double coupons or has reward points (like for gas). Good luck!!
I’m the same way with a busy schedule. It kicks my butt into being productive all the time…momentum, I like it.
My husband and I spend about $50 a week (we go once a week)…so that is about $200 a month. We don’t really eat at restaurants (except when his parents take us out..hah) so that is our total food budget. We used to spend AN ENORMOUS amount, but the hubby got laid off a few months ago (he now has a new job) – but that lay off was the kick in the pants we needed to re-evaluate our food budget. Honestly, I can’t even tell the difference between $400 a month and $200 a month. Weird, huh?
I am the exact same way- the more I have to do, the more I get done. Then when I have less to do, I get lazy and nothing gets done!
The grocery challenge sounds great! I have been doing something similar the past couple of weeks- not a set amount, but definite cutbacks on spending and making an effort to use what I have. It’s a great feeling to have a little bit extra cash leftover
I probably spend about $60 a week right now- mostly on produce and dairy. I stock up big time on staples when they are on special offer so some months I spend a small fortune, but it lasts a while.
I spend on average between $30 and $40 each week on groceries. So if there’s four weeks in a month that’s between $120 and $160. I don’t buy a lot though and for dinners some nights I will just eat a bowl of cereal or smoothies or something. I try to cook occasionally, but with it just being me to feed I don’t always have the motivation to do it. That’s probably why my bill stays rather low.
Ummmmmm … maybe things are more expensive in Canada, because my hubby and I spend around 500 a month on groceries! We spend another hundred or 2 if we are having a dinner party that month, or for going out etc..
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