I am a divorced mom of 2 on disability so I have a set income per month, for the last 2 years. I get my disability payment once a month. Although on paper I should be able to pay bills each month with some extra, I inevitably find myself stretching to make it to the end if the month. From what I have heard this is common when trying to live off disability. Part of this is because on days I am not feeling well, and I don't have energy to go grocery shopping or even cook food, we tend to eat out. Obviously this is bad for our health and wallet! So this month I am trying something new to stick to a budget.
My solution was that when I got my check, I went to the grocery store I normally go to and bought 4 gift cards for X dollars. They each have my weekly allowance for gas and groceries. I numbered them 1-4. This is what I have to spend on my groceries each week. I then had a big shopping trip where I stocked up on a lot of staples. And that's it for the week. If I want to eat out, I don't have excuses, I have plenty of food for the week. Next week I will start over with card #2, and so forth. I shouldn't be stretching for groceries at the end of the month. I will have my gift card.
Now, you are asking, why gift cards? Well, besides making me be more disciplined, it saves me money. I bought the gift cards and used my store's club card. Since I bought such a high amount, I earned store bonus points that will earn me the max of $1.00 off per gallon at the store's affiliated gas station. So extra savings there too!
So far this week, we have eaten out only one time, and that was a $5 meal for the 3 of us when we were out.
Edit: spelling
September 30, 2017 at 01:58AM
