Wow! Holy cow what a great grocery month this has been for us! I was determined heading into May to try my best to keep our expenses as low as possible and I think we managed to accomplish that, especially in the area of our grocery spending. Most importantly I stayed within budget.
I began my $100 grocery budget with an
extra $5.65 leftover from the previous month.
I spent $98.53 leaving me with $7.12 to roll over and use next
month. Of our $25 nonfood budget I spent
$10.56 on a few toiletry items that I plan to use as stocking stuffers
including toothpaste I picked up for only 79¢ a tube.
Stocking stuffers for $1 each
At the beginning of the
month I did a small shop at Fred Meyer to pick up only items that were on sale
or marked down and I came away with quite a bit for not a lot of coin which
made me very happy. Then the young one
and I did that great shopping haul at Albertson's which I paid for with one
dollar and a penny that has been floating around in my wallet for
months. We worked off of those two
shopping trips the better part of the month.
Our fantastic Albertson's freebie haul
Mid month I supplemented
what we had on hand with a half gallon of whole milk I purchased on sale for 77¢
(loss leader) at Fred Meyer plus a couple nice markdown items and we kept on
trucking. I stopped in at Cash &
Carry (or whatever they call themselves lately) and picked up a half gallon
container of cream and a five pound bag of grated cheese to round out our
current stock. That cream and the cheese
will last us for a good long time.
Near the end of the month
I shopped once again for loss leaders and sales items which included chicken
breasts for 99¢ a pound, sliced cheese for $1.49 per package as well as
strawberries and mandarin oranges on sale to supplement our existing produce.
I did do quite a few
small shopping trips this month, but when you add up the totals and see how
much I didn't have to spend it makes the effort well worth it. We got an awful lot for the money I spent.
I have to chuckle at the deodorant. I put things like deodorant and toothbrushes in stockings as well. Eldest can only stand Sensodyne (it's expensive) and always gets a costco box of it every Christmas. If I find it on deep markdown, I pick it up, and will tuck it in his Easter basket. On my grocery shopping trips, I always scour aisles for closeout HBA's for gifts, particularly now that DD has challenged us to go cruelty free as much as possible. I guess the point of my response is that, like you, when I do go shopping, since I don't go that frequently, I spend lots of time walking the aisles looking for deep markdowns and closeouts, and then plan my meals around those. I know you're supposed to meal plan then shop, but I seriously can't remember the last time I went to the store to get a specific item other than a prescription.
ReplyDeleteLove that you cruise the aisles looking for opportunities. I meal plan completely backwards. I shop and then meal plan off of what I have on hand. Saves me a ton of $$.
DeleteVery, very well done!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about your successes. I live in AK & food is never as inexpensive as your area so I live vicariously by reading your posts.
I love your blog!
Alaska and Canada do have much higher food prices. I'm pretty lucky as far as that goes.
DeleteYour deals just amaze me - we don't get anything like that here - we have a choice of 2 grocery stores (Safeway & Raley's, so on the expensive side) and Sam's or Costco...the deals have been terrible - I can't find bone-in chicken less than 99 cents/lb and normally, this time of year I can get it for 69 or 79 cents....very discouraging!!!
ReplyDeleteGrocery prices have been crazy since the start of this pandemic.
DeleteAnd, what was your total for the month? You did well on shopping. I buy things like deodorant on sale for stocking stuffers. I also find what is in the store on sale or cheap and plan meals from that.
ReplyDelete$98.53
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