Creative Idea: buy yourself a gift card

Not for a present, but to track your grocery spending.

I don't know about you, but I have always had a hard time keeping track of our grocery spending. We've tried the cash envelope system with little success. It was hard to carry all that money around and I often forgot to bring it with me. My mom told me about this idea and it has really helped.

If you tend to do most of your grocery shopping at one store, try buying a gift card to that store. For example, at the beginning of May I bought a Walmart gift card and put $200 on it (we spend more than that, but I was nervous starting with a larger amount). I put it in my wallet with my regular credit/debit cards. Each time I've shopped I've paid with the gift card. At the bottom of the receipt it shows me the remaining balance which is so helpful. I think next month I will get a card for Trader Joe's and Home Depot as well because it is so easy to overspend at those two stores.