Strict Budget Experiment-- a partial flop

The next step in my experiment was to try to strictly stick to my grocery budget of $100 for the big weeks and $50 for the mid-cycle shop. I started this about a month ago. The first big shop I did, I chose not to buy a bunch of snack food. Snack food is expensive. It is nearly $4 for a bag of chips which my family can eat in 2 days. No granola bars and no desserts. Instead, I bought more fruit hoping that my boys would eat this instead of junk food.



This was my first flop. By not buying some snack foods for my family, my husband became desperate for junk. So desperate that HE stopped at the gas station and bought a small bag of chips for several dollars. He did this a couple times each week. Suddenly we were spending MORE money on junk food. Lesson learned. I can't be so strict that I cut out all junk food. My family is too addicted.



It was a partial success. My boys are eating more good things. More bananas, apples, apple sauce, grapes, etc. This makes me happy.



Now I buy one bag of chips each week and a bag of pretzels. The pretzels often last me two weeks. They eat the pretzels when the chips are gone. The pretzels are cheaper and healthier.



So, I'm happy with my experiment and the results, even if I had a flop.