As me and my husband are focusing on eating more healthily and reducing our intake of processed foods in exchange for whole, natural foods, I thought I would trial a different way of how we pay for our groceries. After all, when you spend cash rather than use plastic, it seems much more real.
So, for September (to begin with!) I’m going to pay for all of our groceries with cash. This is the September Cash Challenge. For the challenge, all that is included is food and drink that is bought for our household. This includes all food bought for lunches eaten at work (me and husband both take packed lunches to work) and any drinks as well.
What isn’t included in the challenge is the two meals we’ve got planned out at restaurants for birthday celebrations. They are already planned and are not counted in this budget. But, if we get tempted by a sneaky takeaway, then that has to come out of the budget! It’s food after all. I’m hoping that this will mean that I am not tempted by a takeaway after work when I’m tired, as I have been known to do.
Our budget? It is going to be set at £45 per week. If I spend less than this, then that extra amount can be carried on to the next week. I was going to set it at £50 per week but I’m trying to eat healthily on a budget. If I’m finding it ridiculously hard then I will up it to £50 a week, but I’m hoping not. There are only two of us!
So here goes! The September Cash Challenge! Wish me luck.
What do you think? Does anyone want to join me? I’d love to hear about your progress!
P.S do you have twitter? Follow me here!
September Cash Challenge
September Cash Challenge? It seems exciting! I’d like to try it out and not to use my credit card for grocery. I hope I can save money, seeing the cash I give to the counter! Hope the psychological side of this challenge contributes something to my savings.
See if you can do it! I’d love to hear your progress on the challenge 🙂
Challenge accepted. I and my wife will get grocery tomorrow. Let’s see what happens. NO CREDIT CARD. So excited for the results.
Let me know how you get on!
That’s aggressive. I spend that just on lunch every week! Good luck!
Jay
You spend that just on lunch? Wow, what do you have for lunch? Thanks 🙂
Sounds like a great challenge!
Thanks! 🙂
Sounds like a great challenge! Grocery expenses can be so hard to get a handle on 🙂 Good luck!
Thanks! 🙂
Good luck! I am thinking of taking a step back and being more conscious with what we buy at the grocery store. We stay on budget, but I feel like we could get more for our money in some areas.
Thank you! 🙂 I feel like it’s going to help.
Good luck to you September cash challenge! One of my biggest expenses every month is my grocery, I’m trying to low my weekly grocery expenses.
Thank you! Let me know how you get on 🙂
Nicola,
Wishing you guys the best for your challenge this month!
Although, I’d still use credit cards. I get 1-5% cash back on food, depending on the card and month. I can’t forgo that kind of money. 🙂
Best regards.
Never forgo money! If I had a cash back card then I would do the same. Maybe that’s something I need to look at 🙂
This is totally doable! Here’s the key: Spend as little as possible for breakfast and lunch, leaving you budgetary room for dinner.
Oats for breakfast, rice and beans for lunch, and by 6pm you’ve only spent $0.25. This gives you much more flexibility for the final meal.
That’s true! We have relatively low spends for breakfast and lunch, so we indulge at dinner time 🙂