Week 1 of the Challenge

We live on a budget. Have for years. We adhere pretty closely to it and if, say, groceries (which include all incidentals) are higher than what's budgeted this week, that category is decreased the following week by the amount I overspent. On the plus side, if I go under budget, the extra is mine to spend on whatever. I like the plus side, although more often, I roll that extra into next week's grocery budget.

So, for the challenge. It occurred to me while watching these college girls blow their money in the grocery store that my kids kind of hang on the periphery of how dh and I handle our money. I decided it was time to bring them right into the whole of it...grocery-wise. They occasionally grocery shop with me, so they know how to read labels and compare prices; they know I use coupons and (if they're paying attention at the time) how much I spend each week. However, while they contributed their preferences for menues and added whatever toiletries they needed to my shopping list, they haven't been involved in the nuts and bolts of making it happen from menu-creating all the way through to putting the groceries away once we brought them home.

So, the challenge began 4 weeks ago and week 1 went like this:

$100. Cash. Create a grocery list based on two things, girls. One, begin your menu with whatever we have in the pantry or freezer you can build a meal around. Two, check to see what items are on sale in the stores. Here's the snag. Not only do food and toiletries come out of the money, but any incidentals do, too. A, who works part-time no longer receives an allowance, but M does and it comes out of what category? Yep, groceries. That'll be $15 off the top. Remaining budget: $85. Reward: If you come in under budget, you get to keep the remainder or, better, save it to roll into next week's grocery money. Can you do it? "Pshaw," they say, "Piece of cake. And we'll be keeping anything left over." "Uh huh. You might be surprised," I think to myself.

So Saturday afternoon, they sit down to make their first list. I'm nearby, browsing my magazine and sipping my piping hot hazelnut decaf. I note the girls are feeling pretty confident because Mom stockpiles and there appears to be little lacking for the the upcoming week. They decide milk and produce are all we need. They're gonna make a nice profit this week, they decide, as they figure they'll need to spend less than $20 of their remaining $85, leaving them with about $65 to split after all is said and done. And then, out of nowhere, comes an unexpected sneeze. They don't know it yet, but one solitary cat has begun what will be an enormous drain on their resources. They complete their menu, finalize their shopping list, mark what items will come from which stores, collect their coupons and put it all aside for tomorrow's shopping. We then gather in the den for our regular Saturday night family movie.

As the evening wears on, that single cat sneeze turns into multiple cats sneezing and hacking and losing energy quickly. Illness is among us. We isolate sick animals from healthy ones. We've been here before. (We have a wonderful relationship with our vet, who gladly sells us what medications we need without charging us office visits for our animals, provided nothing life threatening is going on.) Around eight that evening, I call our vet and tell him we need drugs. The respiratory infection our newly rescued kitty brought in, which he treated a week prior, has manifested in some of our other animals. He tells us he's planning to be in the clinic before church in the morning to check on a patient and we can stop by to pick up the antibiotics for everybody then. My girls spoke in unison, kind of weakly, as I recall: "This isn't considered an incidental, right?" Wrong. It is.

Sunday morning: Leaving the vet's office with meds in hand, my girls looked a little bummed, but not defeated. The cost for a 10 day round of antibiotics for 4 cats of varying weights? $58. Remaining monies after meds and M's allowance: $27. They only planned to spend about $20 for groceries, so they still expect a minimal profit of $7. Better than nothing, they decide.

After church and lunch, my girls head to the grocery store. On their list: lettuce (1), tomatoes (4), avocadoes (4), cucumbers (3), baking potatoes (4 large), apples (6), white grapes (1 large bunch), bananas, (1 large bunch) and 1 gallon 1% milk.

What they came home with: everything on their list and $2.27. Not much reward in $2.27, but are pleased they were able to get everything on their list. They decide to roll that into next week's budget.

Lesson from Week 1: I remind the girls this was a light grocery week because I still had enough things stock-piled to make their list small. Next week will be a larger list as some of my stockpile is running low, so I will be inflating their grocery allowance by $25. That, combined with their $2.27 remaining from this week will give them a budget of $127.27. Their only comment: "We handled sick cats and still made our budget. If we could do that, we can do anything. No problem."

Part 3 - Week 2 coming later. Plan to join us as the girls' best laid plans take yet another dive.