My Favourite Pastime AKA Food Budgeting

I love to budget. I love mathematical equations. I love Microsoft Excel. So of course I have eleventeen different spreadsheets saved for every aspect of our finances. I have an Airlie Beach budget, an October 2015 budget, an Upgrades budget (for Little FJ and The Retro Van), Fuel/Accommodation budgets for whilst we're travelling, and the start of a Cape York Trip budget. Just because.

For the last few months both Dan and I have both been working and saving. We've been quite liberal with our spending and although I know we have purchased some big ticket items that we will use on our trip, I feel that it's time to reign the finances in for the time being. Most of our bills are fixed, i.e. rent, car payments, phones, health insurance, however there is one weekly expense that can fluctuate hugely. It happens to be one of my other passions - food. Mmmm.

If I love to budget, then I am obsessed with food. Combine the both and I am in own little world of glee. I could (ahem, already do) happily scour the internet for hours, looking for tips to save on grocery budgets, how to eat frugally, ways to stretch meals, healthy meal plans...I could go on. I truly do enjoy the process of putting together a collection of ideas for the week, creating a basic shopping list then therapeutically hitting the shops to search for specials then collect everything we need. Truly.

As of our next grocery shop, I aim to spend no more than $100/week for both of us. I still want to make fresh, healthy food with plenty of variety and I feel confident that we can achieve that on this amount. I'd love to cover the rest of our household needs within this amount, such as cleaners and toiletries, as well as fresh food for the dogs. I have been making a batch of dog food once a week, and it averages out to $10/week for their dinners. We also feed them a small amount of kibble in the morning, to ensure they get plenty of nutrients. This is a purchase from the local pet store so won't count towards our grocery budget.

I don't know when my first weekly shop will be, as I'm trying to use up a lot of the food I have hoarded away already before restocking. It will definitely be sometime this week though, and I'm looking forward to sticking within my $100 budget! I'll share it with you guys after I'm all finished.

Don't be silly, Chicken's don't budget.