In early June of 2008, my newborn daughter was six weeks old, my maternity leave was coming to an end, and I was struck with the impending dread of routinely feeding five people after a long day of work.
I panicked.
I took to my cookbooks and soothed myself with favorites — The New Basics, Madhur Jaffrey’s lushly photographed Indian cookbooks, The Best Recipe, even Rachel Ray’s quick recipes.
I earmarked recipes during nursing sessions and made grocery lists on the back of receipts, trying to decipher what Nat Med Flr might have been from my last shopping trip a few days ago.
I unloaded cart after cart of groceries. I chopped, sauteed, steamed and baked. I roasted and rinsed and minced and cooked. I froze meals. I containered whatever I thought might help my family (and me) transition to being a two-income family again.
In July, I was back at work but hardly working. The pace was slow. I was stuck at my desk for eight dreary hours a day, trying to appear busy. I spent a lot of time surfing the Web, learning about random things like sewing underwear. (Because, you know, that’s exactly what I wanted to do with my free time: Sew my own undies.)
That’s when I started reading up on personal finance. I had a budget, but I hadn’t really updated it in months, if not years. So I added up my latest month’s worth of grocery receipts from my credit card’s online statements, just to see where I stood.
I panicked.
In June alone, I had spent roughly $1,000 on groceries for two adults, two young children and a nursing infant. My official budget had been $500/month.
The turning point
From personal finance blogs, I graduated to frugality blogs. From there, I hit up the forums on sites like Hot Coupon World. That August, I seriously clipped coupons for the very first time. I tracked my spending. I got a paper subscription for the coupons. I limited shopping trips to once a week on double coupon day. I learned the tricks to get free toothpaste, and I stocked up too much on laundry detergent. But most of all, I saved.
That was a year ago, and I have come even further since then. I haven’t bought toothpaste or detergent in months because I don’t need to. I’ve budgeted for organic milk and almost all organic produce (and locally grown when it’s around). I still buy my “splurges”: artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, pies from the Amish bakery, fancy cheese. Yet my budget rarely exceeds $600/month and usually hovers around $500/month — nearly half of what I spent last June.
Then and now
This July was surely the biggest month I’ve had in the stores since starting this journey, but at least I know where I stand. And I know how to cut back in other areas so a larger grocery bill doesn’t threaten our financial security.
We also carved out larger chunks from our budget, like refinancing our house in October, saving us over $400/month. But grocery shopping remains one of my favorite places to save — and certainly spend — money. Every month, it’s an easy gauge to see how well I’m doing with my budget.
Even though America, and the world, is in a tough financial spot right now, I am grateful that I have some control over our finances — especially the part that helps me feed my kids.
I think part of this gratitude for having enough to feed my kids is fueled by the book I’m reading right now, Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (http://www.amazon.com/Random-Family-Drugs-Trouble-Coming/dp/0743254430/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249276608&sr=8-1). The children in the book are loved (if you want to call it that), but deeply neglected and often abused. Food is a constant source of worry for the mothers, and I am grateful I don’t have that kind of stress in my life.