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!}
