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Saturday, January 9, 2010

Market Day - Back to Cash Envelopes

As we sat down earlier in the week to make our financial goals for 2010, my husband expressed a desire to return to using the cash envelope system for our groceries.  We first started cash envelopes a few years ago as we began Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.  But over time, we fell out of the habit.  We didn't go crazy with our grocery spending, but we haven't been as disciplined with our money in this area as we should be.  After all we want to be the ones telling our money where it should go!

With cash in hand, we made our usual grocery stops today.  Between Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and the State Farmer's Market, we picked up the following:

3 loaves sprouted bread
sourdough bread boule
organic bananas
2pks probiotic cheddar cheese snacks
2 gallons organic whole milk (FREE with coupon at Whole Foods)
1 can Wild Alaskan salmon
ginger root
garlic
1 organic, vegetable broth
1 jar organic peanut butter
1 container organic plain yogurt (starter for homemade yogurt)
1 organic tomato paste
3 cans organic tomato sauce
3 organic green bell peppers
1 bag shredded mozzarella
5lb bag of organic russet potatoes
1/2lb organic Thompson raisins (bulk)
1lb organic popcorn (bulk)
1lb organic yellow split peas (bulk)
1lb organic rolled oats (bulk)
1lb organic long grain, brown rice (bulk)
5lbs organic green lentils (bulk - I'm building a stockpile of dried goods) 
2 dozen pastured eggs (local)
2lbs pastured pork sausage (local)

For the first time in a long while, we actually had money leftover!  Eighteen dollars which we will carry over into next week.

Cash IS King! 

I'd love to hear from you!  Do cash envelopes work for you?

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6 comments:

  1. AndreaJanuary 9, 2010 at 6:53 PM

    I "love" whole foods. The closest one to me is almost an hour away. We have to plan trips there, but I find I don't spend as much when I am more focused on HEALTH and not the extra stuff.
    Great post!
    andrea

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  2. Mary AnnJanuary 9, 2010 at 7:18 PM

    Yes, we love our cash envelopes! I always spend more with a debit card. We've gotten lazy and are starting the New Year with a new and stronger resolve to stick to the cash envelopes and just be more disciplined in spending and saving our money. So far, so good!

    I always love reading your Market posts. We went to the Charlotte Regional Market today and got some grass-fed beef and pastured eggs!

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  3. Wendy PJanuary 9, 2010 at 7:56 PM

    Ok, I totally missed free milk at Whole Foods - where did you get that coupon?

    Yes, cash envelopes all the way. We do SO much better when I'm disciplined with them.

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  4. Mary EllenJanuary 9, 2010 at 8:01 PM

    Mary Ann, that's awesome! I love getting eggs fresh from the farm. They are so flavorful!

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  5. Mary EllenJanuary 9, 2010 at 8:04 PM

    Wendy, we got the free milk coupons a couple of weeks ago. Every once in awhile, I'll WF will have 4 weeks of savings coupons. This week was a free gallon of regular or organic milk. Which definitely goes quick around here!

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  6. Manuela@A Cultivated NestJanuary 10, 2010 at 6:28 PM

    That's fantastic that you had money leftover! I used to use envelopes all the time for groceries and then got lazy and out of the habit. Like you I didn't go crazy, but I was consistantly spending at least $20 more each shop than I should have. We can use that money for other things!

    Manuela

    ReplyDelete