Friday, January 29, 2021

January $100 Grocery Budget 2021

 


I will admit that going into January 2021 with a miniscule grocery budget did make me slightly apprehensive.  For several years we have done quite nicely with a $150 a month budget, which is still miniscule by today's standards, but with one kiddo away at college and becoming much more self sufficient I figured I could cut back in this area and use that extra $50 elsewhere.

 

Loss leader sales and great coupons made this a very thrifty haul

At the beginning of the month I was very fortunate in that we didn't have any immediate needs.  I had a fully stocked pantry and both freezers were loaded to capacity.  Plus a lot of odds and ends leftover from the holidays.  I also had a $50 Albertsons gift card that I had ordered using my credit card rewards points as a little bonus to get me started off in 2021.  I am always looking for ways to get free groceries.

 

I was able to stock up on peanut butter

At the end of the year I added a few fresh produce items, all of which I found on markdown, and a half gallon of milk on sale for 77¢ (loss leader item that week).  I spent less than $15 and we were good to go for a couple of weeks.  My first official grocery shopping trip was on the 9th of the month.  I checked the ads, loaded a gob of digital coupons to my store rewards cards, made a list and checked the ads again.  Then I went over my list again.

 


With a firm plan in place my first stop was at Albertsons (with my gift card) to pick up loss leader items on sale, many of which I had amazing digital coupons for.  I picked up 4 jars of peanut butter on sale for 99¢ a jar and used a coupon I had for $2 OFF a purchase of three.  A large tub of mixed nuts (great for Keto) on sale for $11.99 and I used a 50% OFF digital coupon.  That was a super great deal.  I used my Albertson's gift card to make this purchase so no money out of pocket was required.

 

I was also able to stock up on butter

Fred Meyer had butter on sale for $1.77 with a downloaded digital coupon, limit of five.  I stopped by on the way home and picked up five plus a loaf of whole wheat bread on markdown for 69¢.  At checkout I used a $2 OFF any purchase coupon to shave even more off the total.  We should now be good on butter for the year.

 


The next loss leader item Albertson's had going a week later was canned soup for 49¢ a can.  My youngest has been on a canned soup kick lately as it makes super easy meals for her when online schooling as well as before she heads out the door to work so I decided to get some for the pantry.  I also picked up some frozen shrimp on sale for $3.99 a pound.  The only non food items I've purchased so far this year were some food storage bags on sale, buy 1 get 1 free.  I now have a year supply on hand.  I once again use my Albertson's gift card and skated out of there with no out of pocket spending.

 


Markdown produce was a huge part of our shopping and kept us quite nicely in fresh fruit and vegetables.  I always check it over real well and it is usually just fine.  We always seem to eat it up fast enough and it saves me a bundle of money too.  I will dehydrate apples, peppers, onions and any other extras I find in the markdown bin from time to time as well.  The peppers and onions work very well in recipes I cook and the apples are great for snacking.

 


NON FOOD ITEMS: Of my $25 a month budget I spent $24.11.  I picked up food storage bags on sale buy one get one free, a bottle of shampoo and a bottle of hair conditioner for $1 each at Dollar Tree, dish soap for $6.99, a four pack of canned cat food for $1.58 and a 22# bag of dry cat food.  The shampoo, conditioner and cat food all went into our long term storage.

 

A trip to Winco to fill in some pantry gaps at low prices

More loss leaders and markdown produce buys

TOTAL SPENT ON GROCERIES:  Of my $100 budgeted amount I spent $101.13, which I feel pretty good about, especially as I managed to get a lot of food this month.  I have a deficit of $1.13 to carry over in February.  I also still have $12.61 left on my Albertson's gift card to use next month.  I feel really good about my efforts to stay within budget.

 

 

15 comments:

  1. You do get some amazing deals! I'm happy for you.

    I'm thankful that we have a small grocery store that is well stocked in our little town, otherwise we'd have to travel 120 miles round trip for groceries.

    God's been very good to us ... we are totally out of debt and we have the money to get what we need/want now plus we garden and can. We are blessed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. God has been very good to us as well. We are very blessed as well. :)

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  2. You did really well! Nicely done. I've been trying to use gift cards (I have Target gift cards) to fill in gaps for items we can't get at Costco - our primary grocery store shop. It's definitely helped the budget. We are nowhere near your level, but working on improvements to our budget.

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    1. I am always amazed how much I can find on sale or in the markdown bin.

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  3. WOW, you got some nice buys. And I thought I was doing good with 59 cents/lb roast chicken and two 18-cent jars of pasta sauce...

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  4. I'm finding harder and harder to find cat food all the shelves are empty,what's going on

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've noticed that too. I see empty spots on the shelves from time to time.

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  5. Great job! I'm going to track my groceries starting in Feb. Farmer doesn't like the feel skimpy but I know we have more than enough food in our pantry and freezers to last us a long time. Since we get our grain checks in January we both feel a bit flush now, but the month is over and time to look ahead to the farm year and it's bills. Time to reduce and save. You are an inspiration.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Kay. I do find tracking my expenses helps me stay on budget.

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  6. Is the $100 each month or just January?

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    Replies
    1. I am trying to stick with $100 a month this year. You can find out more about it here: https://thriftymominboise.blogspot.com/2021/01/100-month-grocery-budget-in-2021.html

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