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How Not to Overspend When Stocking Up for a Home Quarantine

March 30, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

Even if you’re rational, it’s hard not to panic when you go to the grocery store and see empty shelves. You may wonder how not to overspend when stocking up for a home quarantine. That sense of panic can fuel you to spend more than you normally do on groceries because you feel a desperation to just.get.food. But calm down, take a deep breath, and realize there is enough food in the supply chain. You will have food, but perhaps not the food you want.

How Not to Overspend When Stocking Up for a Home Quarantine

Take these steps to keep your budget in line, even during times of crisis.

Do a Pantry and Freezer Inventory

Before you go to the grocery store, take the time to do a complete pantry and freezer inventory. You may be surprised what you find in the depths of your freezer. I had more meat than I thought I did. I even a found a homemade pie crust in a ball that we had made two years ago. You bet that we’re still going to use that.

Likewise, you may have more in your pantry than you think. Plus, taking all of the items out and inventorying them can help you feel less desperate. You DO have food in the house.

See what recipes you can create from what you have on hand. Likely you can come up with many meals than you thought. Don’t forget to use sites like Supercook, a site where you can put in the ingredients you have on hand, and the site produces recipes using those ingredients.

Be Flexible with Food Choices

When you do get to the grocery store or place your order for pick up, don’t be surprised if many of the items you want to buy are unavailable or limited. I’ve placed two orders for pick up now and both times the store couldn’t completely fulfill my order. For instance, the first trip, there were no eggs available. The second trip, we were allowed to buy two dozen—for our family of five.

How Not to Overspend When Preparing for a Home Quarantine — Photo by Semi O on Unsplash

Clearly we won’t be eating eggs for breakfast every day, and that’s okay. Instead, we’ve branched into other breakfast foods that we typically don’t eat like homemade muffins, oatmeal, and even sometimes leftover soup from the previous night’s dinner. Be willing to be as flexible as possible with what you eat and when during this time, and you will be able to keep your budget in check.

Allocate Money from Other Budget Categories

If you still have your regular income coming in and you find that you are overspending in your groceries category, one way you can resolve this is to take money from a different category. For instance, we overspent this month on groceries. I can’t shop many stores for the clearance items as I used to do, so our spending increased. However, we put $140 in our gas category every two weeks, and now, being self-quarantined, we don’t need that money. I simply funnel it to our groceries category.

Of course, if you’re currently unemployed, you’ll want to use as little money as possible for groceries so you’ll be able to meet your other financial responsibilities.

Final Thoughts

We’re living in strange times the likes of which our country hasn’t seen in over 100 years, not since the time of the Spanish Flu. However, rest assured that you can still get the groceries you need without seriously overspending. Just plan ahead with your purchases and be resigned to the fact that you won’t be able to eat the way you can when we’re not under quarantine.

Healthy Foods to Buy When Broke

March 23, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

You’ve cut down on your electricity use, you’ve called all of your credit card companies to reduce your interest rates, you’ve stopped going out with friends. You’ve cut every where you can cut, but money is still tight. Next, you take a look at your grocery money. Luckily, there are many ways to cut corners and still eat good, nutritious food. Consider these healthy foods to buy when broke:

Healthy Foods to Buy When Broke

You’ll want to buy food that costs relatively little but packs a nutritional punch and also fills you up. People tend to go for carbs because they’re the cheapest, but if you’re mostly eating carbs and not rounding out your meal with protein and vegetables, you will feel hungry and you won’t be eating nutritiously. Due to this, it’s great to use a Vitamin C supplement because it is cheap and provides health benefits.

Frugal Protein Sources

There are several inexpensive protein sources.

Eggs

Eggs are cheap, typically running 10 to 20 cents per egg. In addition, they’re versatile and can be used for many different meals. Better yet, each egg has 6 grams of protein, helping to satiate you.

Dry Beans

Dry beans typically cost $1 a pound and can be used in a wide variety of ways. A staple in many cultures, dry beans contain typically 6 to 8 grams of protein per half cup cooked serving. They also supply potassium and many other vitamins and minerals.

Peanut Butter

Healthy Foods to Eat When Broke — Photo by Olia Nayda on Unsplash

Peanut butter is routinely $2 to $4 per jar, and per 2 tablespoon serving, it has 8 grams of protein. It’s also packed with potassium and fiber. Plus, it tastes great!

Cheap, Nutritious Vegetables

Greens

Most greens are cheap. Usually the cheapest one is kale. Kale is full of fiber and packed with Vitamin C and K. You can use it in any recipe as a replacement for spinach.

Spinach is a bit more pricey to buy fresh, but if you buy it frozen, you’re likely to find it for $1 to $2. Keep in mind, frozen spinach is already cooked, and cooked spinach is much more dense than fresh. Frozen is the way to go when your budget is tight.

Carrots

Healthy Foods to Buy When Broke — Photo by Harshal S. Hirve on Unsplash

Carrots are full of beta-carotene, and you can usually buy them for less than $1 a pound. Eat them raw, in soups, or spiralize them in place of noodles.

Cabbage

Cabbage is one of the most frugal vegetables in the store, typically selling for .39 to .99 cents a pound. Like kale, it’s full of Vitamins K and C and fiber.

Healthy Starches

Rice

Brown rice typically costs around $1 to $2 a pound, but one pound can make many servings. It can be served with almost any meal, and it has a healthy serving of fiber and B vitamins.

Potatoes

Potatoes are typically a frugal choice as they run .50 to $1 a pound. While Russet potatoes are full of Vitamins B & C (if you eat them with the skin on), sweet potatoes are even more beneficial. Like carrots, they are packed with beta-carotene and other vitamins, and they are full of fiber. We love them roasted in the oven.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal contains many vitamins and fiber and tends to fill people up more than other grains. It makes a perfect hot breakfast, or you can mix one part oats, one part milk, and a dash of maple syrup for a breakfast muesli. Just refrigerate overnight and seve cold in the morning.

Final Thoughts

If you’re on a tight budget or looking to cut costs, rest assured that these healthy foods to buy when broke are nutritious and will keep you satiated and satisfied.

Make Sure You Set Aside Money for These March Expenses

March 12, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

One of the hardest parts of trying to develop and maintain a budget is the irregular expenses. You might have a $600 car insurance payment that is only due twice a year. Some people budget for these by setting aside a little money each month for each irregular expense, while others choose to face them as they come. If you use the latter strategy, make sure you set aside money for these March expenses.

Bookkeeper and Accountant

Ah, tax time. The procrastinators among us have less than a month to get our taxes filed. If you own your own business, you will likely have bookkeeping expenses. Then, you’ll need to pay the accountant to file your taxes. This can quickly add up to several hundred dollars. Many people forget to budget for this expense because it only happens once a year. (And let’s face it, for the rest of the year, many of us want to forget all about filing income taxes.)

Taxes

And then there are the taxes themselves. Sure, many individuals break even or get a refund, but for those of us who don’t, we’ll need to pony up and pay anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars to the federal government. As tax situations vary yearly, there’s really no way to adequately estimate how much these taxes will be ahead of time.

Easter

Make Sure You Set Aside Money for These March — Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

Easter is in April this year, and it brings with it many small expenses. You may need to buy new clothes for the Easter religious service, and then, of course, there’s all the candy to fill the Easter baskets. Although Easter never seems like it should be an expensive holiday to me, I’m always surprised by how much we spend on this holiday.

High School Special Expenses

Spring brings so many expenses for high school students, especially upper classmen.

Prom

Prom will be fast approaching. Now is a good time to determine how much money you will contribute to your child’s prom. Will you buy the tickets? Buy the dress or rent the tux? Pay for the dinner out? How much do you expect your child to pay for, or will you pay for everything?

ACTs and SATs

If your child is college bound, she will likely be taking either the ACT, SAT or PSAT this spring. You’ll likely be paying between $20 and $60 for each of these tests. You’ll want to have money set aside for these expenses.

College Visits

If your child is a senior, he has likely received his college acceptance letters, and if you haven’t already done so, you may want to take a trip to visit the college to see if it’s a good fit. That’s fairly inexpensive to do if the college is within a few hours of your home, but if it’s farther, it will likely cost a couple hundred dollars at least.

Final Thoughts

To make sure your budget stays balanced, make sure you set aside money for these March expenses. You’ll be glad that you did, and you’ll head into April with a healthy budget.