As part of our journey to becoming debt free, one of the things our family has implemented is a fairly strict grocery budget (among other budgets). Unlike utilities and mortgage, the grocery budget is something that I feel we have much more control of. We are in charge of the meals we cook, the ingredients we pick, the stores we choose to shop at, and whether or not to coupons, store discounts or take advantage of the promotions that are being offered.In our household (for a family of 6), the grocery budget is set for $150 per week. To maximize our budget and still choose mostly healthy options, I take advantage of store offers for the week and shop at a variety of stores, all of which are in my daily commute (because if you have to drive 10 miles to get to a store and pick up just an item or 2, the savings may not be worth it).
Every Friday (or most of) I will be posting my receipts and sharing with you all how I managed to stay within my budget.
I plan out my weekly menu and the kids lunch menu. Using that as a guide, I make my grocery list using the iPhone app “list ease”. Although there are several apps for grocery list, I prefer using “list ease”, because once you make the purchase, it allows you to move the items into a “pantry” section and store them for future reference. Once I have made my grocery list, I scroll through the pantry section to make sure there aren’t any items that I may have forgotten. These are the items I HAVE to buy that week. In addition to these items, I keep a lookout for deals on items I can stock up on for future use.
∇ = items purchased on sale, promotion or coupon
This week I went to Trader Joe’s, Target, and Costco:
Total spent: $147.39
Here’s what I bought:
DAIRY-
Milk (2) (Trader Joe’s)
Eggs (Target)
Buttermilk (Target)
Butter (Target) ∇
PRODUCE-
Strawberries (Trader Joe’s)
Blueberries (Trader Joe’s)
Apples (Trader Joe’s)
Grapes (Trader Joe’s)
Broccoli (Trader Joe’s)
Green onions (Trader Joe’s)
English Cucumbers (Trader Joe’s)
BREAD/BAKING-
Cornstarch (Target)
Bread (2) (Target)
CANNED GOODS–
Can tuna (Target)
Tomato sauce (Target)
CONDIMENTS/SAUCES–
Ranch dressing (Trader Joe’s)
DRINKS–
Lemonade (Target) ∇
HOUSEHOLD–
Gallon size Storage bags (Target)
Diapers (Costco) ∇
Finish Dishwasher Detergent (Costco)
Promotions, Coupons and Deals:
This week was a rough week since the entire family was getting over the flu. We missed many of this week’s deals, and had neither the opportunity nor the energy to look through the different sales and go to too many stores. However, since we had plenty of leftovers, we were able to stay under budget. Costco was running a sale in which I would’ve saved several dollars on the dishwashing detergent. Normally, this would’ve been the time I would stock up. But, instead since I bought it full price, I only bought one container, and will patiently be waiting for the next sale.
Costco is also running a deal on diapers this month. It was the perfect time, since my stockpile is running low, I bought one box. I don’t usually go through too many diapers and intend on graduating my son off of diapers soon, so I only purchased one box. However, if needed and if budget allows, I can squeeze in another box before the end of the month. This way, I can guarantee I will have enough diapers until the next sale.
Last but not least, butter and lemonade were purchased with a cartwheel coupon and on sale (respectively).
