momstheword-
I’ve thought about the powdered milk thing. That is my highest expense when I grocery shop, and I’ve cut us down because of the price twice already. Is it really that much cheaper though. And what about nutrition…is it equilvalent?
A “frugal planning” list? OOhhh..do tell. I’m all about saving money!

Thank you everyone for your input/comments!

When I budget I tend to overbudget in all areas (I would rather end up with savings, then end up short). Its sorta like a game to me.. I know that if I can spend less than I budget then I will get to put more into savings each month (I’m a dork, I know!)

Maybe keep your numbers the same, but think to yourself if you don’t spend all of it then you can pay off the truck faster!

Thanks to the wonderful world of coupons opening its doors to me I feel like I’m spending less now and getting twice as much! We have made changes in spending in some areas (though I don’t know how much is due to the economy, b/c I feel like I probably would have done it anyway, but now it is easier to get DH on board!) for ex. i refuse to turn on the heat, even though my toes are frozen and its 56 degrees in here. I will wait as long as humanly possible so to put off a ridiculous gas bill.

ooh..and Aldi’s. Favorite store next to Wags. It’ll take ya a bit to get in the groove of your budget…but you will. And then, when you see your debt shrink, you’ll be so far in..you won’t ever look back!

Great news, Kristina! I’m so excited for you guys!

And dinner….alright, but only if it’s frugal!
Off to take a looky at your blog….

I’m not that great but I’m loving Walgreens. I can’t wait for ours to open.

My grocery budget is the same as yours. I went over this month by about 164.00 – but I plan on making that last for 2 months (gotta love aldi’s, get more for your money).

I started a new blog to keep track of it all.

http://smartshoppingfrugalspending.blogspot.com/

I already made my coupon book and I’m just waiting to get them organized (i need my card sheets to put them in.)

So when we get a lot paid off, Chris and I owe you guys a dinner.

Have you tried listing stuff on Craigslist? Ebay and Paypal take so much out anymore in fees.

Congrats on coming under on your grocery budget!

Gas and our budget… “way back when” before gas decided it was a mountain climber, DH was able to stop driving his personal truck to work. So since it was only my car doing most of the driving I waited a couple months, looked to see what we were kinda spending on gas, and lowered the auto budget accordingly. Then I was working and driving to work every day… we were able to stay close to the budget, but I had to put some of my paycheck towards it once in a while, esp if we made an extra trip. Then I stayed at home again, and gas hit the roof. If we didn’t go ANYwhere extra, we were ok, but if we did make any extra trips, we were always over budget. I didn’t change the budget, I just added what we needed each month and we were careful to make trips count. Hopefully we’ll be back to under budget next month with the lower gas prices. I always liked it when we had lots left over in the gas budget, ’cause I would take most of it and put it on the mortgage

Isn’t the “light’ great! Such a great feeling. WTG to you all too! You’ll be debt free before you know it!