$100 Grocery Challenge: Week 3

I did something last week and this week that you should never do when trying to stick to a budget. I sent my husband to the store and then I went to the store hungry!

On Friday, my husband went to the grocery store to get the milk, eggs and sugar. He ended up spending almost $20.

• Regular chips at $0.99 + $0.13 tax
• Other chips for $0.99 + $0.13 tax
• Onion soup mix for $1.49 (to make dip with the sour cream)
• Eggs for $1.97
• Sugar (2 Kg) for $2.03 (Interesting side note, sugar is cheaper at the grocery store than at either of the local bulk stores. It always pays to compare prices!)
• Frozen blackberries (600 g) for $2.99 A good deal, but not as good as the $1.49 I was paying for frozen fruit with my coupon. He saw everyone else grabbing them and fell into the trap of believing it must be a great deal.
• Pickles for $3.89 I have no idea what he was thinking. We have lots of pickles in the cold cellar!
• Milk (4 L) for $3.97
• mini carrots for $0.99
• TOTAL = $19.57

Today I went to the grocery store because we were out of milk, and my bread machine is broken, so we are out of bread. We also needed cat food. Rather than going right after breakfast, we procrastinated and went right before lunch when I was hungry. I was just as bad, spending nearly $20 myself.

• Cat food (1 kg) for $1.59 + $0.21 tax (I bought a small container beause it is a new kind I am testing on the cats)
• Yogurt for $2.89
• Milk (4L) for $3.97
• Cucumber for $0.99
• Ham (300 g) for $3.17
• Artichoke dip (my favourite indulgence!) for $2.99
• Bakery bread for $1.69
• TOTAL = $17.50

Total this week = $37.07

Total spent to date = $99.20

I am SO disappointed! There is no way we are going to make it to the end of the month without buying anything else. I am going to keep on trucking though, and do my best. I am definitely motivated to try again next month. I should be able to buy only milk and eggs next week, but I will probably buy some local asparagus too. It would be a shame to miss out on the short season.

Can I spend only $100 on Groceries in May?

I have decided to try to lower my grocery budget to $100 for the month of May. This shouldn't be too hard. I don't buy much in the way of meat on a weekly basis, because we buy our meat in bulk and my cold cellar and freezer are full of food.

My goal is to continue to stock up when I find good prices, with the idea that maybe I can permanently reduce my monthly grocery budget to $100. Budgeting is one of my weaknesses, and I am looking forward to making it my focus. At the end of the month, I will reassess my budget and decided if $100 a month (plus extra for our yearly meat purchase) is a reasonable budget to feed my family of 2 adults and 2 small children. Can I do this while still cooking healthy and tasty food?

Now, this idea developed as I was out doing my grocery shopping, so I bought a few unusual treats that were a good price. As the plan is that this will be a permanent change, I'm not going to worry about it.

So how did I do? I stuck pretty closely to the deals I had found by reading my flyers and checking my price book.


Foodland

• Clover Leaf Sockeye salmon, Wild red pacific, regular size canned salmon (213 g) on sale 2 for $3 this week. X4 cans = $6.00
• TOTAL = $6.00
  

Food Basics

• Italpasta regular pasta (450 g) for 2 for $0.99, X8 = $3.96
  
• Red Rose Orange Pekoe 36 tea bags for $0.99, X1 = $0.99
• Christie cookies, (550 g) for $1.99, X2 = $3.98
  
• Maxwell House ground coffee, 925 g tin for $4.44, X1 = $4.44
• Brown rice, $1.99
• TOTAL = $15.36
  

No Frills

• Satin Care shave gel for $1.99 - $2.00 from save.ca, X1 = $1.99 + $0.26 tax - $2.00 = $.25 (See, even FREE things aren't free!)
• Delmonte juice boxes for $1.99
• Cucumber for $0.99
• TOTAL = $3.23
  

Walmart

• Yoplait yogurt tubs, 650 g for $1.97 - $1.00 coupon found in last month's Chatelaine magazine. X1 = $0.97
  
• Always pads (18) for $2.66 - $1.00 coupon from newspaper flyer and online source X2 = ($2.66 X 2) + $0.27 tax - ($1.00 X 2) = $3.59
• 4 L of milk = $3.99
• TOTAL = $8.55

Grand Total of $33.14
Coupon Savings = $5.00

Overall, I think I did pretty well. I went over a $25 weekly budget (for 1/4 of my $100), but I find a monthly budget is more practical when stocking up. Depending on sales, I may only buy milk, eggs and yogurt next week!