Budgeting

I recently had a discussion with a friend about the best ways to budget money. I thought that my advice was just helpful enough that I should blog about it. You know, share the info with others as well! (and, yes, I know that sounded just a bit conceited!)

My first real advice is simply planning. If you want to stay in a specified budget, you must plan ahead. Sometimes very far ahead. In my first 2 years of college I was able to live off of a 10 dollar a week grocery budget. I know, it sounds like I might have starved myself, but I can assure you that I did not. Instead, I would plan out my meals, sometimes weeks in advance. At the beginning of the semester I would spend a one-time fee of about 50 dollars on standard kitchen items that you try to keep in stock (some soups, pasta, peanut butter, etc) and then I would buy certain ingredients that I needed for recipes each week. It usually worked out pretty well. But you have to cook large quantities sometimes and eat off of it for several days a week. Maybe I will post some of the recipes I used at a later date.

Also, if you want to save some money on food, but don't want to go so far as the 10 dollar a week budget, check out Angel Food Ministries. For 30 dollars a month you can purchase a whole box of meats, vegetables, and some dry goods. It is mostly frozen food, and it won't provide the parishable foods like milk and bread, but could be an excellent money solution in the grocery department! (It feeds a single person for a whole month, a family of four for about 2-3weeks)