First Day on a Budget

We went grocery shopping tonight - whoo hoo! After building a list for weeks, clipping coupons for days, and spending hours choosing which things we absolutely needed and which ones we could live without, we finally bought some food. It took longer than usual because I'm not used to standing in the aisle debating different brands and making last minute changes to fit a spending limit. Don't get me wrong, we never blew money at the store as though we were rich, but I definitely have some brand loyalty issues I need to work out if I'm going to make this budget thing work.

So we went in with $100. I went a little over since we were out of so many pantry staples after the ban. And we actually got quite a bit of food. Here's the breakdown:

$116.07 got us...

• 5 lbs. ground beef
• 2 lbs. salmon
• 3/4 lb. shrimp
• 2 lbs. tilapia
• 5 lbs. chicken breast
• 3 lbs. pork chops
• 10 lbs. potatoes
• 1 bunch of 8 bananas
• 1 jar salsa
• 2 18-packs eggs
• 1 bag chocolate chips
• 1 box of chamomile tea
• 1 lb. brown sugar
• 5 lbs. white sugar
• 2 boxes rice
• 3 cans pumpkin
• 5 cans crushed tomatoes
• 4 cans diced tomatoes
• 3 cans pineapple slices
• 1 can apple pie filling
• 1/2 gallon almond milk
• 2 tubs pumpkin pie spice
• 1 bottle vanilla extract
• 1/2 gallon canola oil

All in all, I don't think we did too bad. We went in planning to shop for one week of food - the meat alone will cover us for 22 meals. I still have a bunch of canned veggies that I can use to round out any meal with the potatoes or rice I bought, plus I have some quinoa and orzo to throw in the mix. Aside from milk and bread, I shouldn't need to go back for a while. I may be able to handle this budget stuff after all.

Do you use a budget in your house? What are your secrets for making it work?