Saturday, November 19, 2011

Grocery Budget:: Trial and Error

I continue to think and pray about how to stretch my grocery budget of $200 a month. As food prices continue to climb I find myself searching for new ways to make our money go farther.

So, this month I had a brilliant idea (so I thought!!). I made out a menu for the entire month and then made a shopping list of the non-perishable food items and off I went! I hit several stores so I would get the best deal.

My plan failed. I ended up with only $50 by the second week of the month. The third week I purchased items for our Thanksgiving dinner which dropped my monthly total to less than $25. I panicked!

I didn't set out to worry and fret over this lack of funds but the Lord quickly showed me that I was not trusting Him. Forgive me Lord! So, I began reminding myself of all the years the Lord has taken such good care of us. I rehearsed  the promises of God! I recalled to memory the Exodus and how God fed His people manna through the desert. My faith increased and I began to look to the Lord to multiply the money to reach until the end of the month.


The most awesome (I know.. poor grammar! *Smile*) thing happened a few days later. I found out our church was giving away free turkeys. I knew if I purchased my own turkey then I would run out of money by the end of the month. I emailed to see if I might have one. (It's hard to share this with you... I don't relish the idea of asking for help.. let alone sharing with others that I did). The pantry director set up a time to meet at the church. Before I left they had not only promised me a free turkey but given me many boxes of food. As I came home and unpacked the boxes I lifted my heart in praise to God for His goodness and His abundant provision! I now have more than enough food to last through the end of the month which means that the money I have left can be used for milk, fresh veggies and fruit. God is so amazingly good!

Lesson learned.... I'm going back to my weekly envelope method. I'll place my $50 in each week's envelope and shop for that week with the money in hand!



"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matthew 6:25-26 (ESV)

11 comments:

  1. This is a wonderful testimony on how God always provides for us! :) So glad your family will be well fed for the month!

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  2. You've given a wonderful testimony here of how God provides (really, I didn't read the above comment first, lol). I've just been going over the need to trust in Him for everything and no matter the circumstances. I often need reminders. Thanks and may God continue to bless you.

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  3. I'm so surprised your plan failed! Planning out menu's is how I try to save $. Making many meal plans out of one roast or meatless meals. There was a time in my life when I would read that exact bible verse daily. Some times its just hard to let go, and trust.

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  4. I love that particular scripture......

    God is so good and always faithful.....thanks for this beautiful post.
    Blessings and prayers to you,

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  5. Don't we serve an amazing God? Last year about this time, as we were coming out of a deep financial valley, I found $50 in cash in a plain, unmarked envelope in a slushy parking lot. I knew God had placed that there for us! I was humbled once again (for the umpteenth time) by my lack of faith. It was so good of you to share God's graciousness!

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  6. What a wonderful testimony. The LORD is so good to supply our needs.

    Hugs,
    Carol

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  7. I am glad things are working out for you. Are you still taking care of and living with the older lady?

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  8. What a wonderful story, thanks for sharing your Praise to the Lord with us.

    It's funny that you have better stewardship of your grocery budget if you buy food weekly. I find that I do better if I buy monthly, in the way that failed you. We shop our "big" grocery hauls at the military commissary about 20 miles away, so I go there to buy most of my meat and nonperishables for the whole month. Then I only need to fill in the gaps with fresh produce and dairy items from local grocery stores as needed.

    Isn't it amazing how the Lord works that way?

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  9. I find that shopping every two weeks works best for me. I like the envelope method, but my husband does not, so I used the debit card. I try to spend only around $100.00 every two weeks, at Save a Lot or Wal-Mart. I do pick up specials at other stores in between. I've been tracking our monthly expenses, and we do better on groceries than almost any other area. There are three of us.

    Yes, I have seen God work in miraculous ways in our finances as well!

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  10. Once before when hubby just got a job, which we all know means no money for 2 weeks. I had gone to the cabinet one night and there was not enough to make a meal. I told the Lord, I will have to go to work (we had made a personal decision I would not work while kids were at home-40 years ago.) if I do not have enough food.
    The next morning I went out to the car and on my freezer was 2 boxes of food from our church and I had not told anyone how bad my pantry was.
    The Lord is so good.

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  11. @nanasknoll What an amazing story! Thank you for sharing!

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