This month I began my extreme budget grocery shopping at Fred Meyer where I was able to pick
up two packages (just over 5 pounds each) of bone in chicken breasts on sale
for 99¢ a pound as well as a big head of cabbage on sale for 49¢ a pound which
I paired with a 40¢ OFF digital coupon.
I also had a digital coupon for a FREE bottle of Kraft salad dressing
which I will most likely donate to the high school food pantry. Along with my little shopping haul at Fred
Meyer I picked up a dozen eggs and a bag of carrots at Wal-Mart as they had the
best price that week and I needed to go there anyway.
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| First haul of 2024! |
Full disclosure,
in addition to my well stocked deep freezer and pantry I also had a drawer full
of fresh produce, a few bread products, quite a bit of dairy, loads of
condiments, half a pound of butter and a variety of beverages in my
refrigerator. In the freezer portion of
my refrigerator I had a lot of partial bags of frozen fruits and vegetables,
some leftovers, some ground beef patties, two containers of frozen whole milk,
quite a bit of cheese and a pound of butter.
Needless to say I had a good starting point for the new year and my new grocery budget challenge.
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| I wrapped each on of these individually and placed them in my upright deep freezer to use in future meals |
My goal this
year is to save money, use up some items that I no longer wish to stock in my
home (I don’t want to waste anything) as well as maintain a good food supply in
my deep freezer and pantry as well as my long term food storage.
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| I picked up the eggs & carrots at Wal-Mart The chicken, cabbage & FREE salad dressing came from Fred Meyer |
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| I was given these at work one day |
Later in the month
I stopped in at Winco for another dozen eggs and some cream for my coffee. Much to my surprise their cream was on sale
for $2.98 a quart so at that price I decided to pick up two of them.
.JPG) |
| My 2nd & final trip to the grocery store this month |
My total spent
on nonfood items came in at $0 so my total budget of $50 for the entire year remains intact. I currently have plenty of toothpaste &
toothbrushes, razors, shampoo & conditioner, laundry detergent, dish soap,
shower gel, bar soap, lotions & body
creams, as well as cleaning supplies, tissues and toilet paper. After last year’s decluttering projects and my year long pantry challenge I’ve amassed a nice little stack of Ziploc bags
that I’ve washed out and can now reuse for future food storage.
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| I definitely did not go hungry this month! |
This month my
total food bill came to $20.54 (66¢ per day - 31 days) leaving me with $29.46
left to rollover and add to February’s $50.00 budget. I will be starting with a total of $79.46 to
use for food purchases and stocking up next month. Not too shabby, I’d say!
How are you
doing with your food bills this month?
Did you do a pantry challenge or low spend January?
I did a self-imposed $50 a week budget, then realized that $55 would be more like it. That feeds me at home for all but one or two meals, and includes my sons for dinner on 4 nights out of 7. I'm not including paper products or cleaning supplies in that budget and I just buy them as needed. I think I was very close to my target for January. We'll see how long I can keep this up!
ReplyDeleteGina, I'm impressed -- especially when feeding extra people! Good for you.
DeleteMe too! Sometimes you have to make adjustments for it to work and you recognized it. I think you are going to do great!
DeleteNot too shabby indeed! Well done
ReplyDeleteThank you Lee Ann :)
DeleteGreat job!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Lori :)
DeleteI did not do a low or no spend January, but I am impressed with what you did. I'm trying to be more intentional about my purchases.
ReplyDeleteBlessings from Harvest Lane Cottage,
Laura
Thank you Laura :)
DeleteYou are doing such a great job! I love this post! January was awful for us in terms of grocery spending. We needed to replenish a lot of things, etc. Hopefully I will do better in February.
ReplyDeleteAfter the holidays I used to have to do a big restock. I get it. You will have a great February. :o)
DeleteI budgeted 500.00 spent 365.00. No soda was bought but I see its on Chris' list for this week. At least its on sale for 3.99.
ReplyDeleteWow! Great work!
Deleteit. Budgeted $200 for the 2 of us, for the month. However, I had lots of freezer stuff, and pantry items, so I stayed clear of grocery stores minus produce,fruit, and a few stock up meats. Had right at $100 left. Yea!!! I will put this aside , for things needed down the road.
ReplyDeleteWell done Judy!
Delete