My brother called my grocery budget 'sad lettuce money' and it actually helped
I was showing my brother my budget spreadsheet last month, proud of my $75 a week grocery goal. He looked at it, then at my fridge full of wilted greens and said, 'Dude, that's just sad lettuce money. You're buying stuff because it's cheap, not because you'll eat it.' It hit me hard. I was throwing away $15 worth of produce every week trying to stick to my number. So I changed my plan. Now I budget $90 a week but I plan three specific meals before I shop. I buy the exact veggies for those meals, even if bell peppers cost more than a bag of spinach I'll ignore. I've wasted almost nothing for three weeks! Has anyone else had a friend point out a dumb budget habit that actually saved you cash?