July Budget Review

This month we had the vacation in the middle of the month so it was a little hard because there was no grocery shopping while we were gone but obviously there was a little bit more money spent on other things.  There was also a little bit of a break before the vacation while I was packing and trying to get everything else ready to go.  I am still pretty set on most of the basics in the cupboards and I have been working on only buying what we need because there is still the hope that we are going to move (sometime if we ever find a house) and the less stockpile that I have to move the better.  I am sure we could live off what we have but there were some basics that we needed like milk, lunch meat, rice, ketchup, corn tortillas and a few other things (as seen in the last picture).

Check out what I got this month and how I stayed under my $160 per month budget!

Harris Teeter $1.53

I got a bunch of things at the end of super doubles and splurged on a bunch of things that I didn't get during the rest of the sale.  I used a rain check for the L'Oreal and made a little money on it with the coupons and evic zvr coupon.  I got free Domino Sugar, So Delicious Coconut Milk, Weber Seasonings and Whole Grain Nuggets.  We really wanted to try to the ice cream deal so I was excited to see that there was still some in stock by the time that I got around to it.  Great news is that it was also free..I think.  I grabbed the Cabot cheese which were $0.50 each.  I got the Simply Land O' Lakes Roast Beef (normally priced $5.99) to make some yummy sandwiches and it had a meat discount on it for $3 and I had a $1 coupon which doubled so I paid $0.99!!  It made two meals with homemade rolls and some of the melted cheese!  I knew that the overage was going to be a little bit crazy so I grabbed a container of baking powder which ended up being a good thing because the subtotal before tax was only $0.62.

Giant $0 OOP 

($3.53 on gift card)

We needed milk so I went to the store and grabbed some and got to use my gift card from my credit that didn't come off from the previous month.  I was glad to have it to use because it is hard to get a good deal on milk.

Harris Teeter $20.82

I had a coupon for $5 off of $25 in groceries so I went to the store prepared to use some rain checks and get some deals so that I could stock the fridge and the cupboards while saving as much money as possible.  First stop was for the white vinegar and I had a rain check for Buy one, get one free.  I also used the rain check for the Dixie Crystal Sugar.  I grabbed a bag of discounted bananas to make bread.  I got soda and free House Autry products and Mahatma Rice.  When I got all of the deals I could find, I went to the meat counter and grabbed chicken for $1.99 per pound until I was at the dollar amount to spend.  I got lots of stuff and was super excited by the haul even though it is more then I would normally spend.

Harris Teeter $2.08

I got my two six packs of Coke for our trip to the beach and my free cornbread and rice.  It was a great to have the soda at the beach and the freebies when we got home!

Harris Teeter $2.44

We needed lunch meat and I decided to get the free House Autry biscuits and Mahatma Rice.  It is always good to stock up on freebies because they always come in handy.

Harris Teeter $0.09

There was a deal on saffron rice and House Autry products after coupon so I went back to get a few more so I think that it was well worth the trip to spend only a few cents.

Aldi's $3.07 

We went to the store after we got back from vacation with the whole family which is always a bad idea.  My mom threw in 4 boxes of ice cream cones.  We were obviously getting way too much since we went with a list for butter, milk, lettuce and a few other things but our cart ended up being way more full.  The total was $43.07 and my parents paid $40 and we paid the rest.  I didn't take a picture of the items because we came home and my mom starting putting them all away.  Although I tell her that we always take pictures, it wasn't worth the fight.

CVS $0.00

Great deal on paper towels and we were totally out of them.  I got one on my card and one on my husbands so we should be set for a few months...plus or minus visitors that tend to use them all up :)

Giant $0 OOP
($2.08 gift card + $10 Giant Community Credit)

I went to spend my community credit for the month since it was coming close to the end and we had a few things we needed.  I made a list of all of the things that we were out of and I went in search for the best deal.  I grabbed a bunch of things that were on sale and used only one coupon.  After my bag credit, coupon, and $10 credit, and gift card, I didn't have a balance left!  I still have a little left on the card for next month but I think that it is only $0.70.  Woo Hoo!!!

Aldi's $3.68

We ran out of milk so I ran over to the store while we were out at the library to grab another gallon but the price at Aldi's wasn't much below the grocery store so it probably wasn't worth the trouble but at least we got it.

Harris Teeter $1.57

I went to the store to get a bunch of freebies before the sale was over and I grabbed 6 packages of Mahatma rice and they had a new kind so I grabbed it.  I also got the two Kraft salad dressings which were free after coupon and zvr.  The Jif cereal and the Rice Krispies were supposed to be $0.09 after all of the savings but it turns out that the evic zvr coupon expired on the 27th and I went on the 29th!  UGH!!  I dislike losing money over something so silly but we really wanted the cereal so I kept it.  I was going to get the House Autry corn bread mix but the customer service person had to ring the coupons and decided to manually override the coupon to not double so I didn't get those this time.  Overall, I left a little sad but I think that I got a lot for my $1.57 so I am glad that I made it to the store...just wish I did it this weekend when I made the list!

Total Retail $273.44
Total Savings $238.16
Total OOP $35.28

We are over half way through the year and we have been mostly using things that we already have on hand which has made the budget really low for every month.  It has also cleaned out of a lot of the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry.  After seven months, I spent $582.35 for the year and this month was keeping me on track to stay low.  The monthly average is about half of my budget at $83.19. 

  

I know that most families spend my yearly total on a monthly basis. I work hard to spend as little as possible so I am pretty proud of the total that I have worked towards.  Although I don't know how much longer these really low months will be able to last for much longer based on the stockpile remaining unless we only eat pasta cause we might have enough to last a lifetime!  Here is hoping for some great sales to keep the progress going and get some more great food for our family.

How have you done so far this year?  
Are you on target for your yearly budget?
Trying to save a little more at the end of the year to make up for the beginning of the year?