Nothing seems more insane than trying to commit to cutting your spending in our current economy. But it’s only impossible if you believe it is. So let’s give it a try. Here is my plan for the month of June 2025…
I have been consistently spending well over $1,000 each month for my family of four. Last month alone, I spent a whopping $1,600. We eat pretty basic and scratch cook often, but that budget number seems to just keep creeping higher and higher. So how am I going to do it?
First I figured out what I wanted my budget to be. I decided my goal would be $1,000, which is cutting $600 from last month’s spending. Then I figured out what my budget cap per meal would be. Yes, per meal. I had to boil it down in order to understand where to allocate my money when I’m at the store.
We have a freezer of beef and pork that we buy farm-direct annually, so I factor in about $200 per month that we “spend” using the meat we have available. That leaves $800 remaining in the budget. If I break that down into each day and factor in hosting people over for summer gatherings, snacks for the kids, and fun drinks from time to time, this is what I came up with:
Meals: $450 for the month, which breaks down to about $5 per meal or just over $1 per serving per family member (remember this is excluding beef and pork costs as that was already taken out of the monthly total).
Snacks: $150 for the month for various snacks, which would break down to about 150-250 servings of snacks if they were a dollar or less per serving (I realize that this is a generous amount for snacks, but summertime is a heavy snacking time in my house; plus, factor in extra kids hanging around, so I erred on the side of extra).
Hosting/Drinks/Etc: $200 for literally “everything else”. If we are having a BBQ, I want to grab some fruit and chips.
This will give me a better objective way to look at grocery prices. If I’m buying an item for a meal, will it fit into my price per meal, or will it significantly increase it? If I’m grabbing some snacks, are they $1 per serving? Maybe I’ll consider grabbing a cheaper option to stretch that budget a little more.
Will it work? Time will tell. What are your thoughts? Is this practical or realistic? Do you have any creative grocery budgeting tips? Will I lose my mind trying to achieve this? Check back in at the end of the month, and I will reveal our totals to you.
-Nicoleđź‘‹
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