I just almost FAINTED

[emilys_mom1]

I decided to start tracking our spending to find out where everything is going. I completed last months food and gas bills and I'm up to date on this month. I almost fainted today when I worked on the bill for food (eating out/snacks) and groceries/clean supplies:

28.40Marriott (Alcohol Chris's)
33.74Salsa Fresca (date night)
116.24Costco (6/9)
7.55Mall Food with Chris at JC Penny's
12.00Donuts and Coffee
48.5199 Cent Store (about $15 in other items)
36.66Raley's (6/5) $18 in diapers
223.26Costco (6/5)-Birthday Party food for 40 people and razor
refills for $34. Some cost to weekly eating
8.30Taco Bell (play date with Meyers)
8.12Arco snack for car trip to Hayward
66.10Winco (6/13 ) weekly shoping
7.55Hibachi San- Chris lunch

total:588.43 as of 6/13

We are only half way through the month. Last months bill was $838.54. I was so hoping to keep it under $500 this month. I think I could have done it except for the birthday party.

I talked with DH and he didn't realize how much we were spending on eating out. We are going to sit down each week and look at what we are spending to get DH up to par with the money in our house.

[lmonter]

We had one of those shocking realizations when we finally started budgeting. Yeah, it's rough. It'll get better though as you learn and work on it, despite shopping at Costco.
(Yes, we shop at Costco too, but I'm the freak who remembers or writes down the prices to calculate whether it's a better deal there or the local grocery store.)

[nadia105]

Yeah, I had that same revelation one month. I had it in my head that we usually spent about $400 on food per month. I added it up one month and it was somewhere between $700 and $800! That made us pay attention! We do spend about $450-550 per month now, so a much more reasonable amount.

[quirkylayne]

You might want to sign up for a costco executive membership, if you don't already have one. They refund the cost ($50) if you don't earn at least that much back. And I promise I don't work for them but when I realized how much we were spending there *gasp* it made sense.

[momto l&a]

We did that last year and got some $60 back.

this year we should get a much lager check back being we have spent MUCH more $$$ this year.

[aircantu1]

Early this year when we first discovered Dave Ramsey I sat down and figured out that we between restaurants and grocery stores we have spent $1600 in one month! It was insane! We've really cut back since then -- though we have fallen off the wagon in the couple of weeks since we paid off our credit card debt-- MUST GET BACK ON TRACK!

It's amazing how quickly it all adds up!

[MorganRiley]

stepping out of denial is the first step

good job on keeping track and educating your dh about it too!!

[MissAnnThrope]

This is why I love Quicken. Put what you spend in and then look at a pretty pie chart that tells you when you've spent 75% of your money on eating out

No wonder we didn't have much to eat at home right? I've gotten a lot better at spending out of budget since I've come to terms with the pie charts.

[Mama Dragon]

You gotta give yourself a break this month, and take the Costco trip out of your bill. That doesn't count! But you'll help yourself a lot by packing snacks and lunches and not eating out all that. Picnics by a lake or river or beach are way more romantic then a date at Salsa Fresca (though I've never heard of it so I could be wrong, but I doubt it )

[mhurst]

LALALALALA I don't hear you LALALALALA : Denial sometimes works for me.

DH and I have this talk periodically, but it comes down to the fact that I have to be the enforcer if I want things to change and I am not comfortable in that roll. So, extra trips to the grocery are common.

July is right around the corner, time for a new start...again.

[Eman'smom]

This is the second month I've been tracking "entertainment" and we cound eating out as entertainment not food. It's amazing, I cut our entertainment by 75% just on eating out, and we are still doing it sometimes.

[Stone Fence]

The first time DH and I buckled down and stopped eating out, we lost weight. We also paid off $20,000 in CC debt in 2 years (we had a cheap apartment).

We need to get back on track a bit. If we do go out it's likely to be for something that I can't fix at home (ethnic food).

One New Years Eve I splurged and bought steaks and Shrimp and scallops. we realized that I can cook just as well, if not better for a lot less than going out.