HisHersMoney

Last month we moved from our apartment in a high rise into a townhouse that we are renting. Overall the new place is larger and includes a third bedroom which allows both both of us to have our own home office space but the storage in the kitchen is definitely much smaller, especially the pantry. As a result we definitely need to reduce our pantry size. My plan is just to skip the grocery shopping trip and work through the fridge, freezer and pantry. This week’s grocery trip will cover just some basics, bread, creamer and a couple other perishables.

So, how does this relate to personal finance and living frugally? By skipping the grocery trip pretty much all together you actually free up some immediate cash. We usually spend about $75-$100 a week at the food store which covers three meals a day for two people combined with eating out usually for one lunch and one dinner a week.

Last week’s grocery food budget was around $15 and this week caps out at $50 while I work though what we already have. Though out the week I will post about what we come up with for meals to give you some ideas for your own money saving pantry clean out.  

Right now we have about $17,000 in savings. Some of this money is already spoken for, ski trips this winter, money towards our Roth IRAs, etc. I have to say it wasn’t as hard to get here as I thought it would be. I can’t tell you the last time I went clothes shopping like I used to, or the last time His went crazy buying electronics or video games.

The biggest enabler for us was learning to live on one paycheck so that the second one goes right in savings. We still have two checking accounts. His paycheck goes in the main account and Hers still goes in Her credit union. We live on His to pay all the household bills and insurance and the only things that comes out of Hers is one car payment and the ski condo expenses.

This is currently allowing us allocate $1850 from His paycheck towards debt repayment / savings and about $3500-$4000 from Hers paycheck each month into savings. Our goal is to reach $5000 a month in savings outside of our 401k and Roth IRa contributions.

I think it is completely in our reach!