Whew, Friends.  It is a BUSY week.  I’m in charge of 3 Christmas concerts and the doc temporarily increased my allergy medication which makes me slightly more functional than a zombie.  Two concerts are complete and the 3rd is tonight.  The rest of the weekend we are scheduled up to the minute with basketball games, church activities, and rehearsals/performances.  I’m not in charge of the rest of that (yippee!) I get to play taxi, read books, and cheer.  My favorite stuff.

I want you to know that we raised our food budget $50 for a total of $550 this month.  I thought we were doing ok on the old budget.  It was tough, but no one ever went hungry.  Then my 10 year old tried to give me $30 from his piggy bank (all he had.)  He noticed the cupboards were getting bare towards the end of the month and it concerned him.

I’m not ok with my kids worrying about family finances, or feeling the burden to provide themselves.  It was a no brainer for me to raise the budget enough to keep bread and milk in stock for his peace of mind.  At our new budget, counting 30 days in the month and 4 meals a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack) it averages $.57 per serving per meal.  When you break it down like that it still looks like a crazy low number.

If you are new here, we are a family of 8 with 2 teenagers, 2 tweens, and 2 younger kids that EAT. I’m on a special diet for health concerns, and my husband eats and eats and never gains weight.  I’m sure you can relate. (I mean all except that last one—I’ll never understand how he does that.) In this season of life, I’m working 3 jobs and am not as available in the kitchen as I once was.  Our finances haven’t changed, so my desire to raise the food budget means we reduced other budget categories until we can increase our income.

You can read past posts about our food budget here: How to blow your budget and end up eating stuff like “Ox Tail” but not starve; December’s $400 challenge week 1; Eating $400 in December; $400 a month to feed 8; New Food Budget Recommendations

p.s. January is grocery budget makeover month.  You’ll get step by step support and real solutions to spending less, especially when you’re busy–right here.  You can click the green bar at the top to sign up for free if you aren’t already subscribed to get blog posts to your inbox.