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| End of April Groceries |
I ordered more groceries on Saturday and now, my April grocery budget has run over and spilled into May! I have no excuses. I had truly thought I had finished with buying groceries in April, when I did my shopping last week. I even looked at the weekly grocery ads and decided that I didn't really need anything and I honestly didn't.
But, then, the clever strategists hired by the grocery stores to tempt mere mortals such as me, myself, and I, sent me an email reminding me that I had digital coupons I had not clipped yet and I was lured into opening the email to take another look at the offers. Ooh, stock up prices on various items and treats! Add the current uncertainty over rising prices and the availability of certain items due to supply chain issues as a result of tariffs and climate change, and the urge to stock up on items when I could was too strong! I wanted to take advantage of the offers when I could.
So, I went ahead and ordered more groceries and a few household items. Never mind if the budget runs over into May. I will deal with that, later.
I bought:
Order Summary
Item Details
14 Items
I paid a total of $41.12, including sales tax.
The grocery (food) portion of it came to: $26.93
Almost everything I bought were stock up items and went into the pantry or the freezer. I baked the pizza, however, and had one quarter of it for my lunch on Saturday. I kept another quarter in the fridge for another meal and froze the other half of the pizza.
Now comes the fun part of going over my spending!
I started out April with a grocery budget of $108,54 ($8.54 carried over from March).
I spent $55.03 during the first week of April, leaving me with a balance of $53.47
Ten days later, I shopped for groceries at the Armenian store and spent $23.68, leaving me with a balance of $29.79.
Just two days later, I picked up more groceries, including 5 lbs. butter and a ham, and spent $38.97, going over the budget by $9.18.
At that point in time, I decided to increase the April grocery budget by $25 (using unspent money from the month's car fuel budget).
The very next day, I went back to the Armenian grocery store to buy the 10 lb. bag of potatoes that was on sale and while I was there, I picked up a head of lettuce, a can of coconut water, and a pound of shrimp (at $4.99/lb). I spent $8.82, leaving me with $8.36 in the budget.
If I had stopped there, as I fully intended to, I would have been fine. But, no, I was tempted by digital coupon offers!
So, on Saturday, I ordered and picked up the above groceries, spending $26.93 on groceries! I overspent by $18.57.
$108.54 - $55.03 - $23.68 - $38.97 + $25 - $8.82 - $26.93 = - $18.57
I have the option of deducting that from the May grocery budget or I can use the balance remaining $25 in my car gas budget. I budget $50 per month for gas and I haven't had to put any gas to the car so far in April. I have just under half a tank of gas left and while I like to fill up when I get down to half a tank, I can hold off for another three days until May to fill up the tank. So, that is what I have decided to do.
Whew!
I am grateful for being able to tap into the car gas budget to cover my April grocery spending!
That is some neat juggling of finances!
ReplyDeleteCreative bookkeeping! In fact, when I set up the budget for this year, I realized that last year, I had been putting gas to the car every other month for the most part and I had wondered if I should adjust the budget down to $25 per month, but, decided to keep it at $50 just in case gas prices went up, or I needed to drive more, and because it provided me with a bit of a buffer in the budget. It has come in handy!
DeleteI was really worried in the bathroom that my gums were bleeding, then I realise the new toothpaste (bought because it was on offer) had a red stripe in it, thus making the foam pink!
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm sure it was a relief when you figured out what was causing the pink foam and it was not because your gums were bleeding!
DeleteI guess it really doesn’t matter what category the money comes from as long as you have it. Sounds like you are going to be doing some good eating.
DeleteThank you, June. The majority of what I bought during this grocery shopping trip will be used in May, anyway.
DeleteYou are doing well to find lots of specials. I've given up sticking to my grocery budget. There are some products that I have just refused to purchase at the new higher price & I now buy a lot more of the store brands. Of course shopping now is like an Olympic sport - trying to find alternative suppliers for some fresh fruit & veg increases the time I'm actually in the grocery store :(
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mary-Lou. We do have to change our shopping habits to accommodate the price increases, don't we? I am shopping the sales and I find that, sometimes, with coupons, the brand name items are cheaper than store brand.
Deletethe big grocery chains have huge departments full of marketeers and psychologists with endless questionnaires and panels feeding in all sorts of strange and seemingly irrelevant information that combines with fiendish mathematics and probability to part the shopper from their cash. Us mere mortals can only do so much in the face off all that science.
ReplyDeleteYes they do, Lyssa. I will only buy something if I think I can use it and it's on a deep discount. Or, if I really, really want it (like the ice cream, which is definitely a want and not a need!) Most of what I bought will be used in May or even June; I only bought it now because I am not sure what the prices will be, later on.
DeleteThose coupons really helped! It's hard not to stock up when prices are good.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mandy. The coupons were too good to pass up (at least, that's what I told myself!) But, I think I'm pretty well stocked up, now, so, May will be a month for mostly perishables like milk, bread, fresh produce, etc.
DeleteThose are all very good reductions and it makes sense to take advantage. There's a lot of uncertainty at the moment, but you are now stocked up with lovely, useful things and that foresight will pay dividends in the coming weeks and months.
ReplyDeleteElla
PS I'm interested in the "taxable" note on the receipt. Is this yours or done by the store? I assume the price shown includes said tax, as per the total spent? If I've understood it right, it's interesting that some of the other food items are not taxed. (eg. ice cream is taxed here ... but I'm not sure that I have interpreted the receipt correctly.)
Thank you, Ella. I've tried to take advantage of the sales to build up a little stock and some of these items will be shared with my daughter.
DeleteThe notes about taxable items in blue in parentheses are what I wrote. Partly because I don't usually include non-food items in my grocery budget. I deducted those items and the taxes I paid on them from the total I spent. In California, food from the grocery store is not taxed; I'm not sure if there is a tax on prepared food from the deli inside the store - I usually don't buy anything from the deli (cold cuts, fried chicken, salads, etc.) Often, the receipt will put a T next to taxable items, but, this store doesn't seem to do that.
I am not 100% sure, but, I think that some other states do tax food.
Sometimes if something is on sale that I know I'm going to buy at a later time (food), I buy it when it's on sale. Groceries are so expensive now you have to save when you can!
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking, too, Sharon. Better buy now and stock up to save a few pennies later on, when the prices go up or the items might not be available. Of course, if I had a very rigid budget, then that would not be possible, but, luckily, I have a little flexibility.
DeleteIt's almost May ;)
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank goodness for that! LOL.
DeleteI hate when they put tempting things right there to temp you. I can't tell you how often I have fallen for their evil ploys.
ReplyDeleteI do not have a strict grocery budget, but I usually spend about the same amount each month, unless there is a great stock up sale. When those happen I dive in head first.
They are very clever, aren't they? I can imagine myself saying, "The grocery store ads, they tempted me with apples on sale!" LOL. I don't even shop in person to be tempted with their "end of the aisles" goodies.
DeleteI'm glad that you are able to keep the grocery spending to about the same each month and stock up when there is a great sale. :)
Ahhhh- High Finance at its best! Great job taking advantage of the deals.
ReplyDeleteThose burgers, 2lbs 100% beef all formed and patted up for you? At $3.50 a pound is good. And it will be easy to reach in the freezer and just pull out 1 or 2 to make something not in a burger form.
I have never bought them but now I will keep my eye open for them on sale. Possibly on the summer weekend holiday sales.
I think you did a good job in April buying a nice amount of food at good price levels.
Thank you Debra. Yes, high finance indeed! LOL.
DeleteFresh ground beef rarely goes on sale for less than $4.99/lb. so, I thought the preformed frozen burgers were a good deal. These were 73/27 lean to fat; there was a leaner version (80/20) but, that was not on sale. I have bought them before and they do shrink a bit when cooked, but, they are good to have on hand and can be broken up if you don't want a burger patty.
April worked out well because I had the gas money to add to the budget. :)