I ordered and picked up more groceries on Saturday. I needed bread, half and half for daughter's coffee, a cucumber, and some fruit.
I had also been waiting for ground turkey and cheese to go on sale, with $4 being the new "sale" price for ground turkey, as well as potato chips (which was a definite want).
The mac & cheese was a pantry stock up item as I had used up the last box of mac & cheese I had in the pantry. Individual boxes were priced at $1.50, but, the pack of 5, at $5.49 worked out to $1.10 per box and was cheaper. I generally make mac & cheese about once a month, with a can of tuna and some frozen green peas added to it to make a relatively quick and easy, if somewhat processed, meal; so a pack of 5 will not spoil before we use it.
Before I submitted the grocery order, I knew that I had $44.72 left in my August grocery budget and I was very careful to keep my order total to just under that. Did I succeed?
Here is the receipt:
Rewards
Order Summary
Item Details
23 Items
Other Fees
$0.30
My total came to $43.91.
According to the receipt, had I paid full price for the items I bought, it would have cost me $68.94.
By waiting until the items I wanted went on sale and shopping the sales as well as using digital coupons where available, I saved $25.33 or 36.7% on my groceries. I am quite pleased with that.
My August grocery budget = $250
Spent to date = $38.17 + $15.24 + $44.18 + $54.94 + $52.75 + $43.91 = $249.19
Balance remaining in August grocery budget = $0.81
Yay! I managed to keep to my budget this month!
My September grocery budget will be $250, again, for my daughter and me (and this is only for food, including snacks and treats; it does not cover toiletries and other household products).
As always, I am grateful for:
- The availability of groceries
- Being able to order groceries online
- The availability of free pick up with a minimum purchase of $36
- Weekly sales
- Digital coupons
How did you do with your grocery spending in August? Did you have a budget? If so, were you able to stay within your budget? Does your grocery budget include household products, toiletries, pet supplies, etc.? Or is it just for food for the humans in your household?
Great job! It definitely pays to wait for those sales.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mandy. I try as much as possible to shop the sales.
DeleteWell done on keeping to budget. Visitors , family and friends, have meant my plans have been abandoned. September should get me back on track
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. Visitors, family and friends, sound like very good reasons to abandon plans. 😊Hope September will see you back on track.
DeleteThose are some great deals! Though it is hard when the 'sale' price looks a lot like 'more than full price' from not so long ago.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lyssa. Yes, today's 'sale' prices are often more than the full price from just a short time ago. But, I'm not complaining; at least things are available for purchase.
DeleteI love potato chips, but I usually just buy an individual bag as a snack when I'm out. If not, I will eat a big bag too fast. My husband likes chips, but not that much, so it's mainly me eating a big bag in a couple of days. Not much self control here when it comes to chips.
ReplyDeleteThe smaller bags are good for portion control, aren't they? I do try to limit myself when it comes to chips, but, it's hard!
Deletegreat job and good prices. With the prices just shooting up here in Canada, I am at a buy when I see the best price at the time as you never know what it's going to be from one week to the next!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Gill. It's what I do, too - I buy things I know I will use when it is on a good sale and stock up. Later, I cook from the freezer and pantry (unless it is fresh produce).
DeleteYeah!
ReplyDeleteI will admit to scrolling to the bottom to see the amount before going back to peruse the receipt. lol
You've done a good job staying within your very admirable budget for 2 people.
I had yet another month of being over my budget of $340. By a lot too as I spent a shocking $493. I have no idea what is going on with me. Just buying whatever pleases me evidently. lol
I need to punch that amount into my yearly spread sheet and see what my average is. I think I've only been under 2 months of the entire year.
Oh gosh.
Thank you, Debra. I'd tease you about scrolling to read the total first, but, I've been known to do that with books, sometimes, so, I understand. :D
DeleteI thought your budget was $400? Did you lower it? Or, is it $340 for food and $60 for non-food items? I don't think it is you buying what you please. I know you are a careful shopper, buying mostly sale items, etc. Prices have gone up and keeping to a budget is a challenge.
OMGosh I think you are right! I did say I was raising it didn't I ?
ReplyDeleteI don't feel so bad. hahahahaha
I'm averaging out at $441 a month through August.
So I'm going to try and lower that average.
I hope you are able to lower the average. What would be the ideal average for you? $400/mo.? $425?
DeleteI don't know - I was pretty comfortable spending that $493 last month.
ReplyDeletehahahahahahaha
Seriously, I cook all our meals pretty much and eat little meat. You'd think what I spend would be lower.
We do like a few things that are a bit pricey but it's not like we're over here splashing out as the Brits say.
I should be able to stay under $400 which includes a few non food items that are bought at the grocery store. As I've said before, I don't break it out. It's not a great deal of non food though. Most of my non-food is bought at other places. Those are not included in the $400 - on the things bought at the grocery store - so I really can't blame it on that if I'm being honest.
I just plugged in $400 a month for the remaining 4 months into my spread sheet and it only lowered my average to $427.
It appears I can only spend $318.75 per month for the remaining 4 months to lower the yearly avg to $400.
Good thing I don't do that yearly budget thing Lol
Still my goal is to lower it from it's current avg of $441
Good luck with keeping the grocery spending low for the rest of the year. Maybe aim for a monthly average of $425. This is a hard time of the year to keep grocery spending low with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up. On the other hand, the holidays might be a good time to stock up on things to help with next year's spending. :)
Delete