Due
to a lot of savvy shopping, the better part of a $50 Walmart gift card and a
lot of coupons stacked with coupon doublers I was able to acquire quite a bit
of food this month and stay inside my budget, well I did go over by 47¢, but I
am completely okay with that. Most months
I come in under so it’s a wash. My
non-food total this month came in at $24.28.
The
vast majority of the items I purchased with the gift card and coupons went
toward stocking up my pantry. All my
stock up items are marked in blue. I am
very happy with where we are sitting as we head into a brand new year and a
brand new budget.
This
is what I bought with my December budget of $125.00:
Groceries
|
|
$$$
|
|
||
Breakfast
sausage (16)
|
15.80
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Clam
chowder (10)
|
9.99
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Spaghetti
sauce
|
6.32
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Green
beans (12)
|
6.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Mushroom
soup (4)
|
1.96
|
Store
Coupon/Coupon
|
|||
Stuffing
|
|
1.58
|
Store
Coupon
|
||
Milk -
1/2 gal (4)
|
5.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Orange
juice - 1/2 gal (2)
|
2.50
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Crackers
(2)
|
|
2.98
|
Coupon
|
||
Baking
chips (3)
|
5.64
|
|
|||
Less
Bag Refund
|
(0.15)
|
|
|||
Flour
tortillas (2)
|
3.48
|
|
|||
Pretzels
|
|
1.88
|
|
||
Sugar -
4#
|
|
1.88
|
|
||
Tea
|
|
2.08
|
|
||
Cream
cheese
|
1.28
|
|
|||
Romano
cheese
|
1.98
|
|
|||
Raisins
|
|
1.78
|
|
||
Tater
tots
|
|
1.34
|
|
||
Potatoes
- 5#
|
|
1.28
|
|
||
Red
potatoes - 5#
|
2.78
|
|
|||
Canola
oil
|
|
2.58
|
|
||
Pecans
|
|
2.63
|
|
||
Canned
tomatoes (4)
|
2.32
|
|
|||
Crushed
pineapple
|
0.72
|
|
|||
Asparagus
soup
|
1.44
|
|
|||
Peanut
butter
|
|
3.88
|
|
||
Honey
|
|
2.50
|
|
||
Bean
sprouts
|
|
1.08
|
|
||
Coconut
milk
|
|
1.58
|
|
||
Olives
(2)
|
|
1.56
|
|
||
Spinach
|
|
1.68
|
|
||
Whipped
topping
|
0.74
|
|
|||
Mandarin
oranges (2)
|
1.36
|
|
|||
Corn
dogs -16ct
|
4.48
|
|
|||
Tomato
sauce (2)
|
1.06
|
|
|||
Mayonnaise
|
|
1.98
|
Double
coupon
|
||
Italian
sausage
|
2.78
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Canned
chicken (2)
|
2.56
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Less Gift
Card
|
(7.32)
|
|
|||
Milk -
1 gal
|
|
0.88
|
Double
coupon
|
||
Cranberry
juice
|
0.48
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Chocolate
milk - 1/2 gal
|
1.48
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Less Gift
Card
|
(2.84)
|
|
|||
Mayonnaise
|
|
1.58
|
Double
coupon
|
||
Weiners
(2)
|
|
0.28
|
Double
coupon
|
||
Stuffing
|
|
(0.12)
|
Double
coupon
|
||
Less Gift
Card
|
(1.74)
|
|
|||
Sugar
- 4# (2)
|
|
3.00
|
Store
Coupon/Double coupon
|
||
Pineapple
chunks (3)
|
0.94
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Canned
chicken (2)
|
2.56
|
Double
coupon
|
|||
Cake
mix (2)
|
|
0.98
|
Store
Coupon/Coupon
|
||
Chocolate
chips (3)
|
5.64
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Brown
sugar 2# (2)
|
3.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Soy
sauce
|
|
0.99
|
Coupon
|
||
Less Gift
Card
|
(17.11)
|
|
|||
Milk -
1/2 gal (4)
|
5.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|||
Brachs
chocolate stars
|
2.02
|
|
|||
Sage
|
|
0.21
|
|
||
Carrots
|
|
1.28
|
|
||
Celery
|
|
2.48
|
|
||
Lettuce
|
|
1.98
|
|
||
Dip
|
|
1.79
|
|
||
English
muffins
|
0.78
|
|
|||
Tortilla
chips
|
|
1.18
|
|
||
Half
& half
|
|
0.88
|
|
||
Frozen
spinach
|
0.88
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||
Total
|
|
$ 125.47
|
|
||
So how did I do all year? After tracking my expenses I took the grand total and divided it by twelve for an average monthly amount which came in at $122.33. Amazingly enough, it is $1 less per month than it was in 2011. Not bad for feeding a family of three plus ending the year with a very well stocked pantry and freezer.
I
did some research and the average amounts most families our size spend are
between $500 and $600 per month. Some
were as low as $300 and as high as $1000 (gulp!). They do include their non-food purchases in
these totals, but still, if I had to do that every month we would be in some
serious trouble.
How
did you end the year with your grocery budget?
I'm impressed that your yearly grocery spending went DOWN in 2012, considering the cost of food has skyrocketed! I know my spending increased, but some of that was just due to laziness. :)
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteK