Loving That Man of Mine: Raising the Grocery Budget

(Borrowing the tagline from Biblical Womanhood)

My husband and I recently sat down and discussed our grocery budget. We've had some recent changes to our finances, so I needed to know what his thoughts were on the budget.

The conclusion: Raise the grocery budget.

Really????

Yup.

See, I have this idea of what the budget should be. And that usually includes a lot of "from-scratch" foods and not very many packaged foods, and meatless meals, and, well, you know what I mean.

And often that works.

But, it's not working for the time that we are in right now.

I have a walking toddler who is demanding all of my energy, as well as a son who is requiring nightly exercises and special attention, not to mention training my daughter to be the young lady God wants her to be. I can barely keep up with the normal chores, much less make all of our snacks and other from scratch.

The two older kids are in school with no access to microwaves. They need good hearty food to eat at school. But, they hate sandwiches. Trying to find a lunch that they will eat is an exercise in futility.

My husband is working now. And, while he's not opposed to it, he prefers to not have to use the microwave. He prefers sandwiches. And chips. And a treat.

Many times around my house I hear "What do we have to eat?" And lately my answer has been "Um, well, I intend to make..." and then when I do make it, it's filled with more guilt and frustration, than with love.

As hard as it was, I gave myself permission to raise the grocery budget. My husband wants to have these types of foods and it's my duty as his wife to provide for him, one way or another. I'm not loving him by keeping the grocery budget down to pennies when there isn't any food prepared to eat.

Don't get me wrong, I do make dinner at home most every night. We rarely eat out. It's the other foods that I'm talking about.

I do plan on trying to utilize more of a OAMC approach, starting with some breakfast foods. But, I'm going to give myself a break, too. Taking care of my children and my house is more important than nickel and diming right now. Loving my husband is more important than a misplaced sense of accomplishment.

And, for the record, we are off of WIC now. Just in case you were wondering.