January's over, budget check in?

[Karen Bowness]

My grocery budget for January was $325, and I spent $287, yay! 

I ate out for lunch only once, which is a big one for me. I did go over budget by $30 on eating out for dinner, I did not behave myself early in the month. 

How did you guys do? Do you keep track? 

[Jenn Hubbs]

I did really, really well this month - though I'm not sure if I could actually repeat it. According to Mint, I spent $185/300 for my Groceries budget, $97/150 for my Restaurants budget, and $3/10 of my Fast Food budget - though this doesn't include anything I bought with cash (I am pretty sure I spent about $40-50 at cash-only restaurants, which is something my budget assumes and accounts for, loosely). Wonder if I can pull off something like that again this month! I doubt it, since I'm hosting a big brunch next weekend and already have a few lunches/dinners out planned.

[psil...@gmail.com]

Our budget is $150 for 3 (but we get $164 in food assistance to offset the cost of caring for my mother-in-law). We were at $146 and I refused to go to the store until the first!

We always have leftovers, rice, back of the pantry food and breakfast for dinner. My plan for February is to plan all of our breakfasts and lunches, but only do 6 dinners. That way we have a leftovers night and get rid of everything in the fridge. 

[Linda Stewart]

I went a bit over budget. I budget $115 for just me and I spent $133. But I did buy some extra food that I normally wouldn't have because of a potluck last weekend and a Super Bowl party this weekend. So I'm feeling good about next month.