Grocery Budget

OK,

Here it goes. We have never had a grocery budget. Siggghhhh. Oh how I wish we had learned all of this so many years ago. Or that when we learned it last year we had been better about implementing what we learned. I feel very motivated to really buckle down now and be not just a good steward but a great steward of what God has blessed our family with! I have been couponing for over a year but it was more of a game for me and the excitement of the hunt than it was actually trying to meet a budget. Our family is in a position now where it is vital that we set a budget and follow it with conviction. Our last child will graduate from college in 2 months which will free up money that we have been using over the past 6 years to get our 3 children through college debt free. Unfortunately, our debt has increased during this time. Also, we have been sponsoring a young lady in Kazakhstan and she also will be graduating in a few months.

We have 3 adults currently living in our home. For 3 months this summer we will have 7 adults living with us. My sister and her family are missionaries in Kazakhstan and they will be coming home and living with us during their furlough. Yippppeeeee!!!! After that time we will have 4 adults living with us as their son will stay with us to attend college when they return to the mission field. I'm thinking that if I can get a great stockpile going now we will be able to continue our same budget even during the summer while they are here. Also, I am planning on planting a garden which will help with fresh vegies.

I am going to set our monthly budget at $200. I am going set out $40/month of this to use at Walgreen's, RiteAid and Target.

Keep me accountable!!! I would love any encouragement you can send my way. My husband and I both feel that God has a great plan in store for us once we get our debt paid off!!

Paying Down Debt and Saving in 2010

As I enter 2010 I have a burden for my family to pay off debt and start saving for our future. We have accumulated debt through the past 10 years that make our heads spin. A year ago we went through Dave Ramsey's class Financial Peace University at a local church and have used some of his ideas but because of an international adoption that we attempted we did things that put us way over our heads in debt. We are a middle class family and I think that we are typical of many people our age that have reached their late 40's early 50's and feel out of control with our money situations. I want this to be an honest account of our struggles and successes as we wade through this challenge of getting financially healthy again like we were in our 20's and 30's.

I started couponing a little over a year ago and this has become a hobby of mine. I love being able to save and get bargains and free items. I will be documenting all of my deals and steals. I also am trying to figure out how to use the items that our family doesn't use to start a ministry in our town.