Running out of food, no money until 6/5/09 :(

We are so with you every other week... but we have kids, so I had to learn NOT to run out of stuff. I set aside some $$ instead of spending it so I can get milk, bread and bananas when we run out. My kids need that stuff, so there's no going without, you know?

Also, why does hubby get to eat and you don't??? If you're both in it together, then he needs to cut down on his eating too...

I agree with previous posters, BIG bags of beans and rice, $20 at Costco (for both) and will last a long time. Get those FIRST. Also, plan your meals so you can budget better. And no, hubby doesn't get to pig out the first few days - when times are tough, everyone (except kids) have to cowboy up. If you plan for 2 weeks worth of food, at 1 cup of rice for dinner, etc. then you can know exactly how long your food will last you. Sure maybe hubby eats 2 cups of rice, but he still has a certain portion to stick to. No chips, no junk food... some fresh fruit and veggies if you can manage to get it in... generic EVERYTHING.. no pop, no beer.

You have to get really serious when you're on such a low budget, and that means planning, planning, planning... shopping the sales, watching the papers, cutting coupons... you can do it. The fact that you don't eat meat means you have to work even harder to get the nutrients you need. I know it's a pain and a hassle - but it seems that it's a necessity for you. I've been known to search the couch cushions for 79 cents to get a box of spaghetti noodles.

If you want help to get started, tell me what you CAN eat and how much your hubby eats at a meal (you can PM me) and I'll put together something for you. I'm not familiar with your diet so if you make me a list it'll be easier for me to put it together. and is hubby on the same diet or can he eat everything? where in wa are you?

And finally, YES, go to a food bank and get a little help if you can. Even call local churches and see if they have an emergency food thing - explain you only can eat certain things so you won't get stuff you can't use...

I would personally cut back on exercise a little bit. It won't kill you for a few days as long as you get back on track when you're eating right again.

As far as learning to save money and preventing this in the future, I signed up for a website called www.thegrocerygame.com for frugal shopping with coupons. I got the hang of matching sales and coupons and don't subscribe to it anymore. The first month is a $1 trial and then you can cancel after that. You can do it on your own but I found it useful to use the website while I figured out how to shop frugally and plan menus all at the same time. I still save 30-50% on each shopping trip. Not sure if you have a Safeway near you but I know you can go on their website before you go to the store and load your coupons on a frequent shopper card and they come off your bill at checkout. You may already use coupons but if you don't, they are like money to me! When I get $5 worth of coupons for items that are staples in my house, I treat it like having $5 in my wallet!

For just my daughter and I , we live off of $300 a month for gas, groceries, diapers, formula, food/entertainment and any needs she has (like sippy cups, occasional outfits, etc). I buy lots of fresh fruit and veggies but try to shop the sales on those. It really helps to look at the sales ads when you're making your menu and I would break up your budget to $60/week to shop once a week. Or maybe $80 for your first week and then save $30 for the second week. Also, I used to only plan out dinners but now I plan out breakfast, lunch and dinner to make sure I have plenty of everything. Shopping at a discount club like Sam's or Costco saves us big when our staple needs aren't on sale anywhere. My daughter's formula is about the same price there as the grocery store but I get TWICE as much.

The angel food ministries is a really good program. If you don't think you'd eat all the stuff in the boxes, see if you have a friend or neighbor that would be willing to split the cost with you and then you can split the goodies! I agree with adopt4. It's alllll about planning!!! Never shop the inside aisles of the store, just the perimeter! All the junk is in the middle. I also agree with previous poster about frozen veggies. If I can catch them on sale and I have a coupon, I have gotten them for FREE before! The Bidseye Steamfresh has a ton of coupons out right now and I've seen them on sale a lot down here.

One last thing. Whenever I cook for my husband and I (when he's home!) I have learned to portion out food. If I cook a meal that should feed four people, I take out at least one portion and put it in the container for either the next day's lunch or for the freezer for a night I'm by myself (or we're broke and we need extra meals for our menu!). He's a really big dude (6'4" and 240lbs!) so he's a really big eater but he's never gone without, even with me doing this.

Sorry if I sound preachy. I say all of this with much respect! It took me a long time of figuring all of this out the hard way to get where I am and I know we can still use some improvement in our own financial situation! Times are rough for a lot of people right now and I don't like knowing that people have to go without so if I can help in some small way of sharing my knowledge, I'm more than happy to do so. Here are a few links that you may find helpful:

http://organizedhome.com/image/view/329/printable - a weekly menu planner you can print (to save on ink, print in black and white and draft/quick print mode and to save on paper, save them & print on the back for the following week - can you tell I'm super cheap?)

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/ - a really good money saving blog, whether you have kids or not

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2008/02/06/little-steps-100-great-tips-for-saving-money-for-those-just-getting-started/ - some good money saving tips and some weird ones, but a decent site none the less!

http://www.5dollardinners.com/ - it's just like it sounds! I'm not sure how much vegetarian she has going on but it seems like you could substitute. Also, I wasn't sure if your hubby eats meat so I thought I'd throw this in there if he did. Meat is one of the most expensive parts of any of my meals that I make.

Good luck and we'll be keeping your family in our prayers!

My grocery budget is $70 for two weeks for my boyfriend and I. Do you have an Aldi near you? That's one of the stores I shop at and it makes a huge difference.

Also planning is key....before I used to just buy what looked good, or mentally plan meals while I shopped which resulted in forgetting the hamburger buns for hamburgers, or buying tuna but forgetting the tuna helper, etc. I also ended up buying stuff that I wouldn't end up eating and it would go to waste.

I now make out a menu for every two weeks and basically just buy the items needed for the menu. The menu is dinner only, so of course I buy a few other things like cereal, milk, eggs, fruit, etc. I also plan to have meals closer to grocery day that requires food that could go bad, leaving stuff like spaghetti or frozen foods for the end of the two weeks.

I don't have much luck with coupons....as far as I know Aldi doesn't take them and I won't use a coupon unless I had already planned to get that item, otherwise you're spending more money to save a little. But it wouldn't hurt to browse the coupon section, you never know what you may find.