I ended
last month at-29¢. I know what you are thinking - Oh, my goodness gracious!
I added
my deficit to my budget and started the month with $124.71 as a beginning
budget. I spent $116.60 and ended the
month with $8.11 left. I'll add this to
next month's budget and then I'll begin all over again.
Our
non-food spending came in at $10.91 (of our allotted $25 budget) for two 20 lb
bags of cat litter, a box of facial tissues and a bottle of laundry detergent. Whatever is leftover each month goes into savings
and I start fresh with $25.
This is
what I bought for groceries this month:
$$$
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|||
Lettuce
(2)
|
1.76
|
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Tortillas
|
1.49
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Rice -
5#
|
2.89
|
||
Black
beans
|
1.49
|
||
Pot
pies (6)
|
4.74
|
||
Frozen
veg (4)
|
2.76
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Olives
(2)
|
1.98
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Bread
(3)
|
4.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Stuffing
mix (2)
|
1.78
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Milk -
1/2 gal (2)
|
2.50
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Orange
juice - 1/2 gal
|
1.25
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Clam
chowder (6)
|
4.69
|
Store
Coupon/Coupon
|
|
Ground
turkey - 3#
|
3.99
|
Markdown
|
|
Lasagna
noodles
|
1.00
|
Dollar
Store
|
|
Green
olives
|
0.99
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Lettuce
|
1.88
|
Sale
|
|
Milk -
1 gal
|
2.08
|
||
Eggs -
18ct
|
1.58
|
Store
Promotion
|
|
Bananas
|
1.02
|
Markdown
|
|
Carrots
|
0.49
|
Sale
|
|
Avocado
|
0.98
|
Sale
|
|
Cereal
|
1.13
|
Sale/Coupon
|
|
Green
beans (4)
|
1.96
|
Sale
|
|
Olives
(2)
|
1.00
|
Sale/Coupon
|
|
Cream
cheese (4)
|
4.00
|
Sale
|
|
Cranberry
juice (2)
|
2.76
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Pasta
(4)
|
3.12
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Cake
mix
|
0.99
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Crackers
(3)
|
5.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Bread
(3)
|
4.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Clam
chowder (2)
|
2.00
|
Sale/Coupon
|
|
Cranberry
juice (2)
|
3.34
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Ground
turkey - 20 oz.
|
2.99
|
Sale
|
|
Cookies
(4)
|
4.00
|
Dollar
Store
|
|
Tortilla
Chips (2)
|
2.00
|
Sale
|
|
Cheese
(2)
|
3.00
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Bagels
(2)
|
1.60
|
Markdown
|
|
English
Muffins
|
0.60
|
Markdown
|
|
Orange
juice - 1/2 gal (2)
|
2.50
|
Store
Coupon
|
|
Breakfast
rolls (2)
|
2.76
|
Sale/Coupon
|
|
Roasted
pepper dip
|
2.49
|
Markdown
|
|
Cheese
(4)
|
6.00
|
Sale
|
|
Bananas
|
0.66
|
Markdown
|
|
Spinach
dip
|
2.04
|
||
Tomato
sauce (8)
|
2.00
|
Markdown
|
|
Bread
|
1.78
|
||
Spinach
|
1.66
|
||
Ground
beef
|
2.23
|
||
Italian
sausage
|
3.65
|
Sale
|
|
Total
|
$ 116.60
|
I so
did not need to buy the four packages of cookies at the dollar store but I
did. I'm not quite sure what on earth
possessed me, especially at Christmas time when there is so much junk around. Oh well.
Do you
set a grocery budget each month? How did
you do? How are some ways you save $$ at
the grocery store?
I would love to only spend $125.00 per month on groceries. Right now we spend $100.00 per week. I have tried to go lower and it seems it wasn't enough but that does also include things like laundry detergent and TP. I would love to get it down to around $50.00 per week. I love your blog and your budget updates! Do you take the whole 125.00 out at the start of the month or do you just use a debit card and keep a tally? I think that's the hardest part for me.
ReplyDeleteHi Jenn,
DeleteI use my debit card and keep a tally. After I put my groceries away I sit down and update my spreadsheet so it's done before I have a chance to lose the receipt. :) How many are in your family?
It's just me, my husband and 2 children under 12.
Delete$50 a week would be doable. I'm putting up a post next week explaining how I do it. The challenge is to get creative and that is the part I like the best. My girls are now hitting that growing teenage phase at 10 & 13. Some days it is hard to fill them up.
DeleteI do have a budget, but am not so great with it. lol! Its expensive feeding a familly of 6 in Canada, especially with all my food allergies. My goal is $180/week and it's tight when I need to order organic meat, buy specialty health food products, etc.. it can be a challenge.
ReplyDeleteI feel very fortunate that we don't have health or diet issues. I'm sure your cost of living is much higher than ours too. We are very fortunate in Idaho to have lower grocery and electric costs. Gas on the other hand....
Delete