Comments on: 31 Days to a Better Grocery Budget: Shop With Cash

By: Nicole

Nicole — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:06:06 +0000

We don’t do cash only, but something very similar. My husband and I are on food stamps at the moment, so that’s an extremely strict budget right there. and yet, I can’t seem to feed the two of us for a month on what we get! Which is why I’m here, of course.

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Wed, 17 Mar 2010 15:20:01 +0000

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By: maura

maura — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:40:10 +0000

I have never tried cash only but I did start last month on a new grocery budget. I am cutting my grocery bill by 25% and so far so good. I am a little over this month (week 3) but I did buy a large amount of meets and froze them for the next few weeks so now I wont need to buy that next week. I am still way under what I used to spend and I am feeling great about that . I may need to give the cash only thing a try. Right now I have an envelope in my purse and every time I buy I put the receipt in the envelope and right a running total on the outside for that week.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:14:48 +0000

@Erin,
We just started enforcing this with our son who will be 7 at the end of the month. My daughter who is 3 does not do this, but I reward her with letting her pick out a dollar item at Target or something like that. For our son, I have a chore chart. It has a morning list…make up your bed, brush your teeth, be happy…and an evening list…put your backpack and shoes up, do your homework (with a smile), put your plate away, etc. He earns 10c for everything he does (without too much complaining), and 50c for every A he brings home on his report card and tests…not daily worksheets. I also have an extra chore in there a week like windex the mirrors, or dust. If he does it he earns the money, if not…he doesn’t. Then I dont find myself nagging him as much and it gets done either way. This works for us, and believe me when I say Ive tried lots of different things! Good luck in the future!

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:06:18 +0000

@Shelly, That would be tough to monitor gas money - we just put this on the credit card since it can be so variable!

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:05:20 +0000

@debby, We've thought about doing this as well, but I just can't give up the flexibility to be able to shop where I want! I wish you could get a universal gift card that isn't attached with fees, etc.

By: Erin

Erin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:04:27 +0000

@Shelly, That’s a great idea, Shelly – we don’t have kids yet, but I am definitely going to keep that in mind for when we do. I love that he can spend half of his jar, and keep half, great way to teach kids how to spend but also that they get a reward from their hard work. We already have a spare change jar, so this will be easy to implement!

Mind if I ask how soon kids should start to receive money for chores? *Clueless* here!

By: Shelly

Shelly — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:03:47 +0000

@Erin, We also put our extra change into a jar and use that to pay our kids for their chores. My son has a change jar and when it is full we take it to the bank where he puts half in his account, and half he can keep to spend as he wishes.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 21:00:40 +0000

We have been doing Dave Ramsey for about 3 years and I dont have a debit/atm card. I pay cash for everything. Our bills go directly to our bank which we then authorize payment. I use a prepaid fuel card, which saves me 10c per gallon at our gas station (and saves me from walking inside to prepay when my baby’s asleep). And I set aside a certain amount for groceries, and allowance for other things. I am much more aware of what I am spending, and have learned to live without. My husband was laid off last year, and the extra “cush” in the bank was a comfort I could never buy in a store. Highly recommend it!

By: Aleta

Aleta — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:44:23 +0000

@Elizabeth, Gift cards sounds like a great idea. We like accruing rewards with our credit card, so I haven't been open to buying with cash before. But with gift cards I could purchase them with my credit card, and still only have the exact amount on hand each shopping trip to keep me in budget!

By: Crystal Brothers

Crystal Brothers — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:18:33 +0000

This is what we have been doing and it has been great! The only thing I found to help my DH visualize the goal and get him excited about our budget.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:01:41 +0000

@Alison, we do the same thing with our change. It's so fun to empty it out when it's full and see how much we've saved!

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:58:14 +0000

@debby, What a great idea!

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:57:25 +0000

I have used the cash only system. Last year I experimented with it and yes, it worked! Then the kids and I went out of state to visit family for 6 weeks and I just got out of the habit. I think this is definitely something I need to implement to shave down that budget. Simple concept. Common sense. And yet it takes so much self control. Thanks so much for this series. I really need it right now!

By: lauren

lauren — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 17:42:29 +0000

I have tons of trouble with the whole keeping the grocery bill down. If I have a debit card I can sometimes spend twice what I would with cash! Even with cash, I still can’t seem to skip some of the great deals that week to always be under my budgeted amount. For times where there is no wiggle room in my bank account I always use cash only!

By: Sara

Sara — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:58:02 +0000

Thanks!! This is a great suggestion that I never gave much thought. I am bringing cash next time to see how I can do!!

By: Jill

Jill — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:05:03 +0000

I would love to do the envelope system for groceries and more but my husband is leary about keeping all that cash around the house. I like the idea of taking cash out for the month and when it is gone it is gone. Any ideas.

By: debby

debby — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:53:36 +0000

I don’t do cash, but I do gift cards. I buy a gift card to my grocery store of choice at the beginning of the month and charge it down. At the bottom of my receipt it tells me how much is left on the card. If I have $90 and 3 Mondays left in the month, I’d better dig through the freezer and pantry to see how creative I can be!

By: Ranee @ Arabian Knits

Ranee @ Arabian Knits — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:20:21 +0000

@Jennifer, Us, too. The idea of paying interest on our credit card is what holds us back. Since we now put just about everything on our credit card, we track a lot more closely how we spend

By: Christina

Christina — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:57:52 +0000

@Katie, We did the cruise thing. My husband was a residential builder until about a year ago. When he built our house, we used a Royal Caribbean credit card to pay for EVERYTHING for the house - but only for the house. Then we turned around and used the construction loan to pay the credit card. By the time we were finished (and converted our construction loan to our mortgage), we had earned a free 7-day cruise for the two of us. Nice little perk! Incidentally, we cancelled the Royal Caribbean card after the cruise . . . our son was born and we thought it would be more difficult to use cruise points, so now we have a hotel rewards card and a cashback card.