Thursday, March 1, 2012

Well. . .that's embarrassing!

I have to confess, I went over budget this month. I'm embarrassed! Well, I guess it's not too bad I'm only $2.30 over budget. I really thought that I would be under this month. I think I need to work on my math skills!
So, my total was $127.30. But, last month I only spent $122.49. So, my new year-to date total is: $249.79. I'm feeling pretty good about this!
So, I've had a few requests for a menu of what we have been eating. I was going to keep a log for all the things that we ate the entire month but in the beginning of Feb. I was really sick so I wasn't cooking and people brought us meals for a few days. But, for the last few weeks I have been keeping a log. Keep in mind we eat a lot of the same things for breakfast and lunch. So, here is a sample of what we have been eating:
Day1: Breakfast: Eggs, Lunch: Cous Cous, Dinner: Spaghetti
Day 2: Breakfast: Oatmeal, Lunch: Hamburger Sliders (homemade), Dinner: Potatoes with Chili and veggies
Day 3: Breakfast: Pancakes, Lunch: Sandwiches, Dinner: Cheddar and broccoli soup
Day 4: Breakfast: Cereal, Lunch: Homemade mac and cheese, Dinner: made by a friend
Day 5: Breakfast: Cereal, Lunch: Wendy's (reward for girl's chores), Dinner: Homemade Pizza and Salad
Day 6: Breakfast: Eggs, Lunch: Leftover pizza, Dinner: Honey Mustard Chicken, Cous Cous, and veggies

These days were from two weeks (they were mostly in a row). I really like keeping a log of what we have eaten. It is giving me ideas for what to cook in the future. I hope this helps anyone who is looking to save money on groceries and still eat!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

January's Shopping trips

I had high hopes that I would post every week, but life gets in the way so maybe once a month is more realistic. I shopped at 2 different stores, Albertsons and Winco. When I went to Winco (for Cub scout food) I was shocked that I never shop there! Their prices are amazing! I will probably be adding a trip down there once a month or so. Anyway, so my grand total for this month is: $105.61 for groceries plus one Bountiful Basket: $16.50
YTD: $122.49
Under budget! I'm really proud. I hope I can keep this up.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Shopping trip #1

As the second day of the new year dawned (okay, before it dawned) I headed to Albertson's. They had double coupons and there were just a few things that I wanted. Here is the list of things that I purchased:
2 bottles of juice
2 bottles of olive oil
2 gallons of milk
4 packages of hot pocket snackers
My total was: $11.88

Later in the day I headed off to Idaho Falls to go to Target. I only purchased 2 things:
2 Lunchables
Total: $1.00
So my grand total for the first shopping day was: $12.88

Not too bad! I hope I can stay close to this total for every week in 2012!

Sunday, January 1, 2012

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Years!
With the new year I have been thinking about what kinds of things I could resolve to do and actually do it.
Last year on a blog that I read frequently (like almost everyday), Fabulessly Frugal, a woman named Mavis made a goal of only spending $1,200 on groceries for the entire year! Isn't that amazing? She is a couponer (like me) and is obviously experienced. So, I decided to try to spend less on groceries. That is the point of couponing, right?
So, my goal is to spend $1,500 on groceries this year. I'm pretty worried but I really feel like I can do it. That would come out to $125 a month. When I would coupon before Addie was born I would spend about $20-$25 on groceries every week. I really think I can stick to this again.

Here are some ways that I'm planning on achieving my goal:
1. Couponing (was that a given?)
2. Get a bountiful basket possibly once a month (I do want us to eat healthy too)
3. Have a garden, last year's was great, I hope we can do that again
4. This also means eating from our pantry more (which is why we have a pantry right?)
Anyway, I am going to try to blog about my grocery shopping experiences so that I stay on track and I have people to stay accountable to. I can use a lot of encouragement and help so if you have any ideas, I'm willing to hear them!
Tomorrow starts a new year of shopping (luckily there are doublers at Albertson's to kick it off right)!