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.