We’re wayyyy over in the last week!  Current spending today ( Tuesday; the 4 weeks finishes up this Sunday) is -$12.80.  We think we’ve got all of this weeks groceries other than bread so should only spend another $5 max. this week, unless we decide to do a fruit shop visit.

Why are we so over?  Specials!  And stocking up.  We’ve always bought groceries from the big supermarkets when they are on significant specials, e.g half price. We’ve got yogurt sachets and Salmon within the last week.   The Salmon was $15.50 at Coles for a bag of 6 frozen pieces (half price).  As we enjoy Salmon occasionally we snapped up a bag. I mentioned the yogurt sachets in the last post.

Today we bought lots of meat at Aldi.  1 kg Beef Mince, approx 1 kg rump, about 800g of Casserole Beef and Beef Sausages.  This is 12 meals for 2! This meat cost us approx $41 making it approx $3.40 per meal of meat ($1.70 per person).  This is over 2 weeks of beef for us, so the spending today takes us well into the next week.

As I said, we’ve always stocked up on groceries when we see specials.  I know for many this is simply not possible as their budget is so rigid.  We also have a lot of shops close to us (most within walking distance) so we can also easily go out whenever we want something rather than having to pay more to avoid going out more (which can be costly if you are using public transport).

Where could I do better?

Planning!  This is a great time of year to not spend additional money (I hate when not spending money is referred to as saving money) but a shocking time to try and implement new organisation.  In fact my current organisation is a bit out the window with getting orders out and trying to wrap up work (it’s impossible!) Ideally I should be sitting down Sunday afternoon and planning the weeks meals around my schedule as well as making sure my week is nutritionally balanced.

Incorporating more beans, lentils and chickpeas etc into my meals.  Nutritionally I should be doing this but I’m only really just starting to eat these foods and I’m still learning how and where I can use them.  I don’t love beans so figuring out how to disguise them is what I’m working on 😉

I can’t say we buy much junk food at all.  I was gifted chocolate for my Birthday which is still in the cupboard and we don’t often buy biscuits or chips.  When we do it’s a good special or a special occasion.  I sometimes pick up shortbread from Aldi (they’re $1.70) but as I go in to shops with a clear shopping list I don’t often vary from it and when I do it’ll be cheese or chocolate (headache makers!)

Knowing I’m doing this food challenge has really stopped me buying impulse items and I think it has really impacted both of us in so far as we’ve made changes to the quality of food we eat-FOR THE BETTER! We make sure we’re eating nutritious food as there is no point spending money on rubbish foods!

I’m keen to continue with the $70 challenge again after this 4 weeks is up but not straight away-first thing in the new year. Let’s get that pesky Xmas out of the way first.