"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1:9
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9 Great Tips to Pay Yourself
By Rick J. Henderson
Getting started with a food budget is not really that hard. Pick a day even today and say to your self We are now on a food budget. Feeding a family of four on a $100 a week is simply a multiple of $25 per person. If you have three people in your family the budget is $75 budget if you have 5 people in your family the budget is $125 a week.
There are a couple hard and fast rules you should know if you have not done a food budget before.
1. Only buy food with your budget. I know this sounds simple but you would be amazed at what people consider food.
2. Cleaning supplies, toiletries, and tissue paper are not items yo can eat, therefore they are not part of the food budget. If you need to purchase these items while grocery shopping pay for them separately.
3. Never use your food budget cash to buy other things as a convenience with a promise to pay back later. The budget is not meant to be a lending facility for other household items. Your receipts will go into your grocery budget container after each shopping trip.
4. Do not bring your whole budget with you when you go shopping. The temptation to buy stuff you do not need is great and will destroy your budget.
5. You do not have to throw out any of the packaged foods you have in your home, that would be very wasteful. Learn to add them to your meal plan.
6. If you do not have a slow cooker go out to the store and buy one. This tool will make staying within budget easy.
7. Do not take any family members with you the first couple times you shop for food. They will try to fill your basket with stuff they see and like. The first time we all shopped together their items of stuff were more than my items. Essentially doubling the cost of the grocery trip. I made them pay for it themselves and we talked about this after.
8. Do a couple weeks as a dry run to work out all the bugs. Three weeks should do the trick. Let the family know that you are no longer doing a dry run and it is for real and yo need their help.
9. Never buy anything while waiting in line to pay for your food. That stuff is strategically placed there to increase the amount of money you will pay your grocery store.
These 9 tips will help create a successful grocery budget that will save your family hundreds of dollars every month.
Rick and his wife have been able to reduce their grocery budget by almost 50% since they started this challenge in 2010. Their 15 years of grocery shopping for the family has led them to start a blog that includes money saving tips, meal planning, cooking utensils, recipes, and grocery lists. You can follow their blog and post comments at http://feed4forunder100week.blogspot.com
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