I have a problem spending more money on groceries than we allocate for in our budget. We budget $425/month for groceries which to me seems excessive for two people. This is just grocery money, we have a completely different account for eating out (though we rarely eat out). In spite of a generous food budget, I’m negative by about a month. Overall, our other budget items have enough surplus to carry the negative food balance but it’s still distressing.

Part of this negative balance is due to me trying an experiment. I decided to buy a half summer produce share from Monroe Organic Farms. A librarian I use to work with highly recommended them. I had saved up a little bit but not enough to cover the entire costs. If we’re very lucky, I’m hoping that the half share might save us money during the summer months. However, never participating in a program like this before, I don’t want to bet on a summer food budget surplus.

A couple of weeks ago, I looked at the budget and decided that I really needed to start being more frugal. So, I’ve drawn up a “get out of food debt” plan. If I reduce my spending to $75 a week, I’ll be out of grocery debt by the end of August.

The first week, I went over by about ten dollars but last week I met my goal! I’m not sure how sustainable this amount is for our lifestyle but it’ll be an interesting challenge.