Almost Middle of the Month Budget Update

I am doing my almost middle of the month budget update because I know that if I don't do it now, it won't get done because my son's birthday is in the middle of the month.  There are a lot of things going on around his birthday so I am working on trying to get ready as soon as possible.

$3.18 Harris Teeter

I went to the store with my son at a store that wasn't our normal store.  There was an issue with the Hormel labels and what was ringing up so I had to run back to the fridge section and grab some more in an attempt to get four of the sale items.  The cashier was nicely going to scan the sale ones and give me whatever I wanted but I wanted to make sure that I had the right ones.  There was an evic coupon on the Quaker oatmeal so my son picked out his oatmeal.  My son also picked out this box of juice for his birthday party at school. I did also get some of the BIC pens but they wouldn't override the coupon not doubling so I didn't get them.

$31.25 Aldi

I went to Aldi because we needed milk and eggs but I did check online and there was chicken on sale for $1.49 so I waited until that sale started.  I also grabbed a butter because we were down to the bottom of the spreadable butter.  My son determined that we also needed to get pepperoni so I let him get that.

$15.83 + $0.08 Harris Teeter

I had all of the things in the cart and my son decided that he needed to get some of the tea too in his own check out.  Often times he decides this at the beginning of the trip that he needs to pick out a few but I think that he was distracted by cookies for awhile. These seasonal teas were in the freezer section so he picked up three of them.  He puts them on the shelf, gives them "his" Harris Teeter card, then his coupons and then he gives them cash.  I used to just let him do it on a credit card but I think that if we are teaching money, we should use the actual cash so that he learns to give them the right amount.  Sadly, this is usually spur of the moment so I didn't have a ton of change for him to pay his $0.08.

The rest of the items were mine.  I splurged on the chicken noodle soup because we are totally out and my husband loves them when he starts to feel a cold coming on.  I also grabbed some of the Pagoda egg rolls and pot stickers which we love for convenience freezer food.  They are super easy to throw in for dinner with a little green beans or fried rice to make a complete meal and were a bargain at $1.75 per box (way cheaper then take out).  I added a oatmeal which had the evic zvr coupon and was on sale.  I used a rain check on the burritos which saved an additional $1.16 and got them for free.  The soy sauce was free for the big bottle and so were the teas and BIC pens.  The batteries we were in super need and they were $0.99 per package and there is a rebate that I will figure out soon.  I added the Bayer Low Dose Aspirin for my Dad and the Tums for my husband.  It was a little bit more then I was thinking that I was going to spend but they were out of all of the items that I went to the store for so there were lots of other things I added instead!

$0.18 Harris Teeter

We had a family trip to Harris Teeter with my son and husband which I can't tell you the last time that we were all at the store.  I grabbed some of the items for me and some for my husband.  We even went to the same check out because the lines were sort of long.  This was my check out.

$0.18 Harris Teeter

This was my husband's check out and my son helped him because he thought that he was an expert.  He showed Daddy where to put the stuff and where to stand.  It was kind of funny because he wouldn't let my husband do anything by himself.

$3.23 Harris Teeter

I remembered that I also needed to the Quaker Perfect Portions Oatmeal which is on clearance half off.  It is my husband's favorite breakfast and he eats it 5 days a week so it won't go to waste but I am a little worried that they aren't going to carry it anymore.  He is really picky with his oatmeal and he doesn't like the plain oatmeal with added flavor nor the flavored packages so this is the only one that he will eat.  If they discontinue, he will be miserable.

$0.05 Harris Teeter

My son decided that he wanted to get these teas because he liked the bears and thought that candy cane sounded fun.  He checked out and paid with a $5 bill because I still didn't have any change (have I not learned anything?).  Of course, he said that he wanted to put all the change in his piggy bank and I told him that it was the money to pay for my check out.  He wasn't happy with that answer but got over it quickly.

$13.98 Harris Teeter

The shelf was stocked again and I grabbed 6 more of the Cinnamon Perfect Portions Oatmeal and two lunch meat because we were close to out.  Although all of the items were on sale, I only used one coupon and didn't save a ton of money but at least I got a bunch of things that we need for the rest of the month.

$0.04 CVS

 My husband took me to the dentist and then to CVS to get my medicine.  While we were waiting for it to be ready, we picked out our candy bar (one on each of our cards).  My husband picked out Twix and you might be looking at the picture wondering if I am confused.  Nope, we bought twix and my husband came home and opened one.  It was mostly broken with hard carmel and it was disgusting.  I put it in a plastic bag and didn't open the other one.  I took them back to the store and they let me trade it for good candy.  Most of the Twix boxes had dust in them and grossed me out even more so I went with the milky ways so we got these two for $0.04 (actually $0.05 because my husband decided to keep putting in the same penny and it took it and didn't count it off his total).

Total Retail $288.56

Total Savings $220.56

Total OOP $68.00

I thought that I was much lower then I was for the month but I still have a $10 Giant credit, $5 CVS ECB, and a free milk coupon at Harris Teeter.  I think that those different credits will get me through a lot of the other month's expenses so that I stay under my $160 monthly budget.  We still have a few things on the list but most are probably going to be for February:

Windex (or Glass Plus)

Tide Free HE

Toilet Paper

Spaghetti

Cheddar Cheese

Butter/Margarine

Cranberry Grape Juice

Lettuce 

Cheese Its

Mac and Cheese (from Wegman's)

Ground Beef (from Wegman's)

Dry Milk Powder

Paper Towels (but we still have 4 left so we should be good for 4 months)

Here is hoping that I can do all of this with the $92 and credits left for the month.  I think lots are going to be put on February list but I am hoping for a great end of the month.  Cross your fingers and hope for the best!