My Grocery Budget - January Update

I did the bulk of my shopping in the first week of January.  I happened along some great deals and I had a lot of coupons to use on the things I bought.  I got a lot of those coupons in the mail from Fred Meyer and the others I found online and printed on some scrap paper I had.  By pairing coupons up with sales items I was able to buy a lot of stuff for mere pennies.  I also managed to get some great bargains on milk this month.

There were so many great sales I ended up going over budget.  Dang!  Not at all how I wanted to start out the new year.  I know the main reason was because I didn't want to pass up the 5# bag of cheddar that went on sale.  I was actually hoping they'd do it next month, but it didn't happen that way.  And the soup we love went on sale too.  Plus I had a coupon…  Yeah, you know how that is.

Dollar store haul

Although I went over budget with groceries I made up for that with my non food budget.  My non food items budget is $25 a month.  Whatever I don't spend I roll over to the next month to use.

I did really well and bought things like laundry detergent on sale at Walgreens and fabric softener and food storage bags at the dollar store.  I also bought a stick of deodorant on sale for 99¢ less a 50¢ OFF coupon making it only 49¢ and four bottles of dish soap on sale for 99¢ each.  I used four 30¢ OFF coupons making the final price 69¢ each!

I added 4 cans of Science Diet canned cat food to our stock as well for my aging kitty.  My best spend less deal was to buy three bags of kitty litter, use a $1 OFF coupon and the remains of a gift card bringing my total out of pocket to 28¢!  I spent $14.27 of my non food budget leaving $10.73 to roll over and use next month!

Markdown milk and produce made for big budget stretchers

It was definitely my month to stock up on cheese and it worked out perfectly as this was one thing I was running really low on.  I can usually hold out until the cheese I want is on sale at Cash & Carry and in January they ran 5# bags of grated pizza blend - mozzarella, provolone & parmesan on sale the first part of the month and then mid month they ran another one of our favorites.  5# bags of grated cheddar and Monterey jack.  I also bought grated parmesan.  It meant I made three different trips there but I went only when I was in the area so I didn't need to make any special trips and waste fuel.

I stocked up on more rice (50¢ a pound) and found frozen fruits and vegetables and other name brand canned goods at the dollar store.  I am planning to shop more often for groceries at the dollar store as they have expanded the selection and I find quite a few things that are priced lower than the regular grocery store.  The quality is good too.

All packaged up for the freezer

Here is the list of food I bought.  The items highlighted in red are my stock up items:

Groceries		$$$
Pork roast		15.34	Sale
Smoked sausage (2)		3.98	Sale
Italian sausage		2.99	Markdown
Pepperoni (2)		2.00	Dollar Store
Frozen veg - 16 oz (3)		3.00	Dollar Store
Frozen fruit -12 oz (3)		3.00	Dollar Store
Pineapple (2)		2.00	Dollar Store
Lasagna (2)		2.00	Dollar Store
Banana peppers		2.00	Dollar Store
Milk - 1 gal.		1.88	Sale
Eggs - 1 doz. (2)		3.28
Apples - 3#		2.60	Sale
Green onions		0.79	Sale
Avocados (2)		1.76	Sale
Oranges		4.08	Sale
Bananas		0.82	Sale
Smoked sausage  - 2.5#		3.68	Sale/Coupon
Salami		2.00	Sale
Sour cream (2)		1.98	Store Coupon
Milk - 1/2 gal. (2)		1.38	Markdown
Bread		0.99
Flour 5#		1.19	Sale/Coupon
Tortilla chips		0.60	Sale/Coupon
Spinach		1.54	Coupon
Ground beef - 10#		19.50	Cash & Carry
Cheese - 5#		10.48	Cash & Carry
Parmesan - 1#		5.47	Cash & Carry
Tomato sauce - jumbo		3.42	Cash & Carry
Cheese - 5#		10.98	Cash & Carry
Cream - 1 qt.		3.95	Cash & Carry
Lettuce (2)		2.48	Markdown
Veggie tray		3.99	Markdown
Milk - 1 gal.		1.49	Markdown
Milk - 1 gal.		1.89	Sale
Canned soup (5)		3.96	Sale/Coupon
Bagels		0.99	Markdown
Total		$ 133.48

$133.48 ÷ 31 days ÷3 people = $1.44 per person per day!

Next month I will work to get it lower and make up my deficit.  We are so well stocked up now I can't imagine it will be a problem.

My lovely pile of receipts

Did you stock up on anything this month?  Any super deals?

This budget month runs from January 1 through January 31.