The $30 a Day Rule

Our family has always had a problem with reckless spending on the "necessaries," especially groceries. Part of the blame must be assigned to the "organic-life" snob who shall remain nameless here, but most of the blame rests with both of us, because we never paused to check our eating habits and their costs. We thought that as long as we weren't going to restaurants, we were being appropriately frugal. Luckily, we have developed a new sense of our own extravagance, and the result is the $30 a day rule. $30 a day has to cover all the necessaries: gas, groceries, prescriptions, baby supplies, household supplies. $900 a month would not strike most families as a particularly tight budget, but for spendthrifts like us, the results are great. If I need to buy a prescription that will last a month, for $25, we eat spicy beans and rice for dinner (total price: $1.50 at most). If diapers run out, at $27 (for 80 diapers on sale), we find another delicious cheap meal. Even with a Camry and a Civic, two gas-saving vehicles, we can't fill up a tank on $30 a day. But putting $20 in the tank on strategic days (before the tank is completely empty) buys at least two long commutes. Unfortunately, each of us commutes two hours a day, but we only commute five times a week between the two of us. With all of these expenses falling under the $30 a day rule, it's easier to keep track of "unnecessaries" like haircuts, dog-grooming, and the like.