200 Challenge: July

Oh my, it is August! Can you believe it? This year is just not slowing down one bit! I can safely say that The 200 Challenge has been going quite well. We are really saving money and that is a big deal! Being a one income family these days can be tough, but we are committed to making it work for us. It is not so much for my husband and I as it is for our kids (and future kids). God has led us to this place in life, and we feel as though this is our path He has laid out. We truly feel like we are doing what He wants us to do, and that feels amazing. July went well, but not as good as some of the previous months. We spent more of the budget than normal, but that is ok. We still stayed on budget. At the end of the month that is what counts. Now, onto the grocery total for July! I do not have the break down of my trips this month (opps!) but our grand total for the month was $197.51. That means we were under by $2.49. We may not have been under by much, but we were still under!

For those of you who are new to my blog (and this challenge) the goal is to spend less on groceries in 2010. Everyone has their own method to this madness. Sarah, who is hosting this challenge at Clay In His Hands, uses her $200 each month to buy food, paper products, hygiene products, etc. I, on the other hand, have a separate budget category for all the other items and just use my $200 on our food.

I tired shopping every week in July. I have to say, I really hated it. I do much better if I just stay out of the store. I thought I could save better doing weekly shopping, but I was oh so wrong. So I am back to making a 2 week menu plan and shopping on the 1st and 15th of every month. We are learning to waste less with this challenge. I am very grateful for that. I hope that this month we can do just was good on the challenge, but I am not so sure. I have already done our first trip and it seems like we have spent more than usual. I guess we will just have to see! If I can stay out of the store and really eat out of the pantry we should be fine. Wish me luck!