$35 Budget Update- Week 4

Okay so, at the end of my 3rd weekly update I was over budget. But thats okay, this is all a work in progress, right?

Trying to find out how low I can go -not because I’m trying to be “cheap”- but to keep or expenses down is the challenge. Part of my challenge is to get the most I can from by utilizing all or as many of the money saving ways available to me: sales, coupons, rebates, etc..

January 23rd (Monday):

Walmart: Spent aprx $12.00 (photo pages for son’s homeschool book, 2 boxes of ziplock bags, bagels, 2 bags of cheese, spaghetti sauce, Italian grain bread- used coupons and the bread was from the bakery/reduced price).

January 25th (Tuesday):

Bueher’s: Milk .79cents per half gallon ($3.16 for 2.5 gallons total), about 3 #s of onions (.99 cents), grapes ($1.99/#- not a super deal).

Total spent: $9.66

January 26th (Wednesday):

Walgreens: 7 boxes of 110ct Kleenex (used 2 coupons and received a $2 Register Reward to use at next trip) spent out of pocket $5.60 (but remember I have that $2 coupon to use yet). Also bought 3 half off Sunday newspapers (for the coupons) for $2.25.

Total spent: $7.85

Giant Eagle: I did 2 separate transactions at the Self-Checkout.

(#1) 10 cans of Contadina tomato sauce & puree for $1 each AND received a $3 off coupon to use on next order.

(#2) Bought 2 jars of Smart Balance Peanut Butter (w/ .75cent coupons that doubled to $1.50 off each) $1.49 each, 1 box of Land O’Lakes margarine $1 on sale (and used a .35 cent coupon that doubled to .70 cents off)- after coupon was .30 cents, 1 bottle of Kraft Sandwich Shop Mayo on sale and after coupon cost .50 cents. THEN I used my $3 off coupon from the transaction #1 and my #2 transaction cost .77 cents!

Total spent: $10.77

January 29th (Saturday):

Rite Aid: The toilet paper was FREE (except for .12 tax) with the $2 Up Reward coupon at Rite Aid. I had to use that coupon by today and it was from the Stayfree deal earlier this month.

My goal was to keep our grocery/household budget spending to $35/week average (for our family of 4 plus pets). That meant I had $140 total allowed for January.

Total Spent (aprx) :

Week 1 …. $74

plus found a receipt I missed ;( for aprx $14.00

Week 2 …. $41

Week 3 …. $66

Week 4 …. $40

Total: $ 235 (over budget by $95)

Summary: Well, I didn’t stick to a $35/week- average budget. (Click those blue links for each week to see what I was buying). My average per week was like $58.75 but that included not just our food, but pet food, toilet paper, toothpaste, and other household/hygiene items. AND I was able to stockpile some of those items so that I won’t have to buy them for awhile.

Well, here’s hoping February looks better 😉 If you want to be sure not to miss my updates on this experiment you can subscribe here to have them delivered to you by email. {Giveaways coming up soon too!}

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Tracy Zdelar

Owner/Editor at Hall of Fame Moms

Tracy writes about homeschooling and just about anything related to family life in Ohio here on the blog. Strong honest views will surface from time to time on topics related to truth, faith and freedom. **Check out my notebooks and Bible Memory Coloring Notebook workbooks for Adults & Teens by clicking my name.