Holy cow! I had a great grocery month in August. I haven't done a big haul this year because
I've been pretty much in econo-mode all this time, but I needed to get stocked
up for the upcoming winter and not only did I accomplish that, but I did it and
stayed within budget too. I began the
month with $104.82 of unspent funds and I added the August budget of $100 to
that for a great amount to get started with.
I also pulled out a $50 Albertson's gift card from my stash so I had a
total of $254.82 to work with.
For the most part I only bought items on
sale or markdown and I downloaded a boatload of digital coupons, both store
offers and manufacturer coupons, onto my store rewards cards. For items that I wanted to get that were not
on sale I shopped at Winco for produce and a few pantry items. I even popped into Wal-Mart just to pick up
their two packs of cream cheese because they have the best price. The grocery outlet and Cash & Carry
helped me out as well as they had some great sales going too.
We made the rounds to the
stores over two sales cycles. On a Sunday
we shopped from one set of sales flyer and then on that Friday we shopped the
new sales flyers picking up everything on our list. The planets aligned and the sales were just what
we needed to top up the freezer, do some canning and meal prepping, and fill
the gaps in the pantry. We couldn't have
planned it any better. And! We still had money left over for extra
produce through to the end of the month which as it turns out we did not need.
Meat prices, well all
prices really, have been higher than usual so taking advantage of special
offers and sales was the only way we were going to get our freezer stocked up
this year. Fortunately chicken and pork
was the deal to buy this month so we were able to do just that. And at the end of the month we scored a
really good deal on three pound chubs of 80% lean ground beef for $7.47
each. Because I had downloaded a digital
store coupon I was able to save another dollar off of that price making each
one only $6.47! I was pretty darn happy
about that. I still have some beef pot
roasts on my wish list so I'll be watching for a sale and pick up a couple when
it happens, hopefully it will, but in the meantime we are pretty much set to
go.
It feels wonderful to be
winter ready and know that we'll be heading into the holidays and colder months
with higher heat bills and no concerns about groceries or blowing the budget
beyond all repair. It also feels really
good that I was able to help my oldest daughter stock up her freezer and pantry
with some meat and staples as well. I
feel very accomplished this month.
My total spent on groceries in August came in at $214.95! I was over budget and will head into September with a deficit of $10.13 but I still have some money left on that gift card so I really don't feel too bad about going over. I was not only able to get my own household winter ready, but to help my oldest to be winter ready too. I am just thrilled.
We are blessed once again with
plenty and I am incredibly grateful for that.
Have you found some good buys lately at your supermarket? What have you stocked up on recently? How are prices where you live?
I love how wonderfully organized you are and what a blessing to be ready for winter. We still have ground deer meat and roast from last year.:) I know not everyone likes deer but our family does.
ReplyDeleteVenison is delicious and so good for you. You can't get more organic than that! :o)
DeleteThats exactly what my husband says to me! :) Hope you are having a great weekend:)
DeleteSmart man! :0)
DeleteWow, you did great! You found some really good deals, and you are stocked up for winter. I'm sure your daughter was glad to have her pantry stocked up too. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI was super happy that we found the bargains we did. My daughter was thrilled. :0)
DeleteHow wonderful to be prepped and ready for winter. Our good deals this week are 18ct eggs and butter for .97 at Safeway (Albertsons affiliate). We went to Costco on Friday and I was very disappointed in the meat prices, I can do better locally watching sales.
ReplyDeleteGreat deal on the eggs & butter! Fred Meyer has butter for $1.88 a pound which is about as low as you get here. I'll probably stock up.
DeleteI found Bell peppers for 50 cents each. I only bought two because I wanted them for stuffed bell peppers. Raisins, 22 ounces, were bogo, so I bought two.
ReplyDeleteGreat work!
DeleteI got free apples and the offer to pick what I want from another friend. I made 8 cups of applesauce and a cup+ of juice/pectin when I let it drain a bit. These will go to the Littles.
ReplyDeleteI also am putting the word out I'll take extra canning tomatoes to make them pasta sauce. We have enough salsa and canned tomatoes from last year but if I have extra tomatoes I'll can those up to deepen that part of the pantry.
We bought more TP. DH didn't believe me that Sam's raises prices depending on the neighborhood. Until I showed him it is $4 cheaper on the less-affluent part of town. Guess which side we'll be shopping from now on. :)
It sounds like you have been very busy. I'm glad you figured out the prices at Sam's. Crazy isn't it?
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