I spend way to much money on food. Here’s is my idea to control my spending and stick to my food budget:
Gift Cards
Yep, gift cards.
I’ve heard of the envelope method of budgeting before, but it never seemed very practical. Who carries envelopes full of cash around with them? Yeah, no one.
So here’s what I’m thinking:
Replace the envelopes of cash, with small, portable gift cards.
Not only will this force me to spend where I should be spending, it should prevent me from spending where I ought not.
I have a set food budget each month of $250. It’s my most lenient budget item, but frankly, I’m a terrible cook and always in a rush. It’s something I need to work on. Already in Jan. I’m nearly $100 over budget. Mostly $5-7 purchases here and there for lunches/dinners. Not acceptable.
My New Gift Card Food Budget
(just food for now…)
For February
$150 – Safeway
$25 – Subway
$15 – Taco Bell
$15 – Starbucks
$50 – General Food Expense/Entertainment (will use debit card here)
$255 Total.
My grocery spending so far this month has been around $120. I hope that next month I will spend more wisely with regards to my food, and quit eating so much crap!
OK, I’m out the door to go to the post office and buy those gift cards!
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I’d be careful with those, it sounds like a great idea, but say you were to lose a gift card. There goes a months worth of food.
Brandon has a great point. I never really thought about losing a gift card.
That said, I actually plan on getting a gift card to Starbuck’s for next month with a ten dollar balance on it. It isn’t that I spend a LOT of money on Starbuck’s, but that I like the ability to treat myself here and there. It makes me feel a bit less deprived if I can go three times a month.
I do this now…have been for a couple of weeks. It’s working so far…but I had to travel for work this past week, and I ended up spending cash. I’ll be reimbursed, but that’s still a pain.
I find this works REALLY well for me budgeting gas for my car too. I add money to my gift cards each pay day, and then spend whatever I need, whenever I need it. Reloadables are great too, because if you don’t use it all up this week, you can just add your next bit of budget money to the leftover balance. I’m hoping to have a fair bit leftover by the end of next month and then splurge on making myself a fancier dinner.
Good luck! You’re doing great these days–I’ve been watching. And I’m proud of how far you’ve come. (odd how lurking gives you a sense of involvement in someone else’s struggles!) Keep plugging away–you’ll come out on top eventually.
Starbucks is completely unnecessary, get a coffee press and some decent beans and that $15 will stretch a lot longer.
Hey Debt Kid -
I’ve stopped eating fast food and started buying (on sale) frozen dinners – I don’t eat out at all – my food budget has been cut more than half and I’ve lost 15 pounds.
I NEVER do starbucks – just a waste.
I think it’s a great idea. I’ll use it…. thank you!
We stopped doing Starbucks after we found a fantastic micro roaster for coffee beans. (I know, like Kathleen said…) I know there are some in Seattle-I mean come on now!!! The coffee we have at home is now the best ever, no need to pay, and oddly, not even tempted!
Also, for sweet drinks, try Bolthouse Farms Perfectly Protein Vanilla Chai or Mocha Cappuccino at WalMart ($3.29/liter) and then mix it 1/2 & 1/2 with Soy milk (11.00/case from Costco) and it’s yummy! Even if you don’t normally like soy, this is so good. Also, they are juice sweetened and high protein, so hopefully we don’t blow up from them. It works out to about a buck a drink… if that.
I think I’ll end up buying the larger gift card for Safeway in a smaller amount. I can’t exactly spend $150 at the moment anyway. A little safer as well. I wouldn’t carry $150 in cash around, so I shouldn’t carry that much in gift cards. So, next month I’ll buy three throughout the month, or when I have the money.
As for Starbucks, I don’t even drink coffee. It’s actually more for social meetings and I usually have hot chocolate.
@ Smart Girl – I’m a big fan of the frozen dinners as well. Only a small step up from fast food, but cheaper at least! I’ll make sure to buy more of those to curb my bad fast food habits
@ canadian – thanks for the comment. I think I am doing better….still a long way to go, but things are looking up. An extra 10K in the bank and I’d feel alot better….
Uh, *I* carry around wads of cash.
Okay, that’s because I’m a Georger, but still…
It is a novel idea, I’ll give you that, but not exactly practical. And you don’t have to carry envelopes of money around with you, just whatever you plan on using.
Why did you remove the ability to read entire posts through a RSS reader? It is highly annoying to be able to catch up on all other sites in one place but to have to click through to Debt Kid. Was there some thought behind this?
I think it’s a great idea. If you plan on sticking with it for any length of time, and you want to do some good for others too, there is a program called Scrip (http://www.glscrip.com) -that website is just one example. Basically you can choose a school or non-profit program that is trying to raise money and when you buy a gift card (for the same price, not more expensive) a % of what you pay gets donated from the company the gift card is for, to the school or nonprofit. Example: Kroger has a reusable gift card that contributes about 3%. Some companies give more, for example American Airlines gives like 11%. I know that’s one more thing to worry about, but hey, it’s a feel good activitity, and it doesn’t cost you anything.
the rookie mistake you’re making is that “controlling cash” isn’t the same as “controlling yourself.”
i.e. i’d try this process:
1: sit down at the table and write down a list of everything you want to eat for the next two weeks;
2: using that list, figure out the price difference between your wants and your needs;
3: over time, try to figure out a way to reduce the wanted but not needed items;
I used this method and lost nearly 80 lbs and, because I eat a lot less, I now eat organic foods without spending more!
my “biggest recommedation” would be to only buy 6″ subs at safeway and drink water. that was how I started my diet; i.e. I cut out the soda, chips and cookies; so, not only did I lose weight, I saved a lot of money too.
my opinion: you’re life will be much better without “empty calorie” foods like soda!
you should look into buying the gift cards online at exchange sites. you will instantly get a 10% discount.
I just use a credit card for all my expenses, which I pay off in full each month. If doesn’t cost me any interest, earns some rewards points, and provides a monthly record of all my spending which I use to reconcile what I’ve recorded into Quicken during the month.Using envelopes or gift cards to control total spending by category seems pretty useless as you can still overspend each week and then just “run out” before the end of the month. All you really need is a rough mental plan of what you intend to spend, and stick to it. For example, when grocery shopping, use a list of what you plan to buy and don’t buy anything that’s not on your list. After a while you don’t even need the list, as you’ve trained yourself to not buy any “extras”.
Gift cards have too many negatives for me to count on them for everyday use; Loss, Stores not taking them (for some reason), amounts stuck on card (or having to spend ‘a little more’ to get all the amount).
Just get a debit card, put the money in an account, and you’ve got the same effect. Plus, you might get a little interest, and can pull cash out for that ONE TIME that they don’t take plastic or won’t sell for under $10.
At the begining of the month, I put $200 in a checking account….it’s my food budget…if I go over, I have nothing left to spend.
I carry around cash as well… so there’e at least two people!
And again, you don’t take the envelopes with you, nor do you take the entire amount of cash… just what you intend to spend.
As far a loosing it… when is the last time you lost some cash or even a card? I can’t recall the last time it happened to me.
Concerning that hot chocolate at Starbucks: you might want to take a look at the nutrition statistics on their website. I quit going after I realized just how many liquid calories I was consuming there.
A grande Hot Chocolate (16 oz)
made with 2% milk with whipped cream on top has
370 calories, 140 of which are from fat
(16 grams total fat, 9 grams of which are staurated)
49 grams carbs
40 grams sugar
I don’t know about you, but I want more to eat for 370 calories.
A grande White Hot Chocolate
(same size, same 2% milk and , same dollup of whipped cream)
490 calories, 170 of which are from fat
(19 grams fat, 13 of which are saturated)
63 carbs
62 grams sugar
And I *definately* want more for 490 calories.
Something to think about…
I carry both cash and a debit card. Then I save my receipts, to remind me what I spent my money on…unhealthy stuff like gum…and if I get something that doesn’t work like it is suppose to, I can return it. I didn’t know you could reuse gift cards, so to speak, I thought after you used it up, you tossed it. Thanks for the information. Now I can do that with the few I have now. I have a wallet that has those places some put pictures, I put my cards, this way they stay in my wallet all the time. In college they use to let you punch a hole in the card that you used to get in the dorm, like the cards they use for hotels and motels now. Can you do that with cards? You can with your library card.
Again, thanks for the info. And hang in there, you will make it.