There’s a lot of conflicting information surrounding the coronavirus. But one thing we can agree on is this: we don’t know for sure what will happen as the virus spreads across the US, and the world.
Last week, someone in our state (about an hour away) tested positive for coronavirus. Then in Washington, someone died, then another person… then more.
We’re in Oregon, we have a handful of confirmed cases here and a bunch to the north and south of us.
The virus is most definitely spreading.
While I certainly don’t want to get sick (who does). I realize that death is not likely for me, or any of my immediate family members, for that matter.
However,
Schools are getting cancelled (maybe in a town near you).
Large gatherings are being cancelled.
People are calling in sick to work.
I think the potential is there for things to go sideways. As we’ve seen in China, large companies are unable to deliver goods because so many employees are suddenly out sick.
So, my husband and I thought long and hard about how to proceed. Were we overreacting for stocking up on groceries/personal supplies for potential coronavirus quarantine? We decided the answer was no.
If you are like me, you don’t grocery shop for groceries for more than one week at a time. Yes, we have staples that we buy in large quantities, that we know we will consume within the next couple months, but I don’t normally stock up on enough groceries to feed us for more than roughly 7-10 days. In fact, you can get my weekly grocery list planner here.
Our grocery budget is $700/month, we typically spend $100 – $165 each week, just depending on what we need to stock up on.
But this month? We have spent $412 by the first DAY of the month.
We decided that we wanted to stock up on enough groceries in case we couldn’t get to the store for 3 weeks.
Why three weeks and not two or four? Honestly, it just felt like the right amount, there was no real reason behind it.
So how did we do it?
We were strategic.
I sat down and loosely planned out our menu. This is similar to my normal Sunday morning routine (where I plan out the menu for the week), but this time, was a little different because I was specifically planning out meals that required little to no FRESH ingredients. I didn’t do a day-to-day plan of what we would be eating for three weeks. Instead I listed out 7 meals that included frozen veggies, or just plain-old shelf stable items.
- 8-Minute Pantry Dal
- Lo Mein
- Split Pea Soup – from the book The Way of the Happy Woman
- Mung Bean Kitchari – also from The Way of the Happy Woman
- Pumpkin Pasta
- Red Pepper Pasta
- Red Lentil Soup (I leave out some of the spice on this one
Then I listed out the ingredients we would need to stock up on to make those items.
The grocery list included things like: canned beans (for some reason I haven’t gotten into the habit of soaking my beans ahead of time), lentils, rice, vegetable bouillion, noodles, tofu, frozen veggies, dried berries, frozen fruits, cereal, boxed plant-based milk, coffee, beer, wine, etc.
Then we hit Costco after work on Friday (thank goodness because is sounds like the weekend was insanity) and Winco/Fred Meyer on Saturday.
But the reason I’m writing all of this to you is not because I’m a coronavirus expert. I am not giving you advice on what to do about the coronavirus. But should you decide to stock up on some groceries, know that it IS going to affect your monthly grocery budget.
Spending all of this grocery money up front is not normal for us. We both had to do a gut check several times over the weekend. But we made our decision and stuck with it.
The largest reason we decided to spend all that money to stock up on groceries is because we know that we aren’t wasting any money. Nothing that we bought in bulk will wind up getting thrown out.
I have planned this weeks worth of meals (which includes plenty of fresh vegetables, fruits, etc) just like normal. Then if everything is still operating as normal come this weekend, I’ll plan out a menu for next week. I expect the grocery list to be lighter because we won’t be getting many things besides fresh foods.
I expect that each week for the rest of this month we will be spending less than $100 on groceries. And since we have $288 left in our grocery budget cash envelope, we will mostly likely be able to make it the rest of the way through the month without having to transfer anything from another budget or from our savings account.
If you would like to get your food budget under control, join us in the next Back to the Kitchen Challenge.
I am all about having a budget that WORKS FOR YOU. A budget should not feel restricting. If it does, you are doing it wrong.
If you are interested in learning how to use my Abundant Money Method to create a budget that feels right for your family and can help you get out of debt, let me help you get your money on track.
Whether you’re ready to create a budget that you can stick to month after month, stop stressing about money, get in control of your spending or get out of debt, I am here to help you.
