November Budget Review

I was trying to take it slow this month since I knew that I was going to have to buy a turkey for Christmas but then I went shopping on the first day of the month.  There was a deal on Tide that I couldn't pass up and I got a catalina for $2 from the spaghetti sauce that I bought for free after coupon so I was super excited to spend it on something that I needed to get anyway.  Then by the end of the month, I think that things got a little more crazy.

Harris Teeter $14.51

I got two big Tides and some moneymakers to help pay for them.  I added in the flour which was on sale for $1.97 which is a great price for bread flour.  These are the sales that I use to stock up when they are included at the value price because I know that I can get regular flour for $0.99 at Wegman's starting soon (crossing my fingers).  I also grabbed a special treat for my husband- boxed brownies.  No matter how many homemade treats I make, these are one of his favorites and he barely ever gets them so I we enjoyed one over the weekend...trying to take it slowly but they are yummy!

 Aldi's $26.21

I went to Aldi's because we needed milk and butter.  I had a list of all of the regular items that I normally get.  I wasn't really sure what we needed but I grabbed a bunch of things on the list being cause I figured that if we weren't out, then we would be soon.  I normally only go there once a month so I stocked up and hoped that it would last the month without getting too much in the cupboard.

Giant $13.19 (used $0.15 gift card)

I got a few things that we needed like my husband's lunch meat and Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice which was on sale for $2.50 and I didn't have my gift card yet for the month which came in the mail after I came home but I knew that I would spend it later.

Aldi's $18.02

I went to the store for milk, cheese and oil and ended up with way too much stuff but they had the celery on sale for $0.69 and the potatoes were $1.69 for a 10 pound bag.  I would have gotten three if I thought we could eat them but we have been eating about 10 pounds a month between hash browns, french fries and other potato dishes.  I also got onions because they were $0.69.  I bought them last year at the low price and cut and froze them all but then I got home and looked in the freezer and I have three small bags so it was probably a little more then I can use before we move but a hard to pass up price!!!.  Also grabbed pumpkin at a low $0.89.   Not bad deals but higher then I was thinking when I went in but it was my second time there in the month!!  I guess that I didn't really need them to open a store closer because it means that I go there more often!!

Harris Teeter $4.61

Not my best trip to the store but they were out of most of things that I went for but I got a few things that my son likes and my first stock up on flour of the year with the sale price of $0.77!!!  I can't pass that up and we are just going to have to move lots of flour because I can't hold back.  I also bought the little french bread loaf which was great for dipping in olive oil that night for dinner.

Giant $20.26 (used $10 gift card)

I went to Giant with the two plans- two get a turkey and get some deals including the free Altoids.  It always takes me forever on these deals where I need to spend a certain amount of money because I am not usually looking for highest totals.  I also had some coupons to use so I grabbed lunchmeat, olive oil, brownies, crackers, and peanut butter.  I got free bags of cereal, Altoids, scalloped potatoes, and paper towels (after Giant coupon).  I also used some coupons out of the newest Giant coupon book available at the check out areas to get lots of deals!!!  I put on the cranberry juice because we needed them and I wanted to make sure that I was at the total after coupons and I didn't loose the deal on the turkey when the coupons brought the total down.

I found out some things including that Giants new computer system only lets you use five coupons that are doubled and then stops doubling them automatically although it only seems to be if they are in a row.  I got 27 of them!!  I was about ready to return them all and the manager gave me the additional $10 of doubled coupons so that he didn't have to return everything and take too long for all the people after me in line. The receipt is about 5 feet long (not joking) and I saved over $115.  I also got to use my $10 gift card from being part of the Giant Community Online (invite only) so I only had to pay a little more then $20

Harris Teeter $8.05

I ended up doing this in three transactions to make sure that I didn't screw it up with the promos and coupons and Saving Star rebates.  I got $1.25 back for the pizza and $0.55 on the King Arthur flour on Saving Star so it was really $6.25 after all that but I have already had to use some of the flour!!  I can't believe so much of mine is already gone from my stockpile.

Harris Teeter $1.26

I went to get a few more deals and evaporated milk to make pumpkin pie. Many deals were still not on the shelves but I found that they had the bread that was a money maker and I found a great deal on cornstarch.  I got one jar of cranberry sauce which I thought that I needed for Christmas but when I got home I found one in the pantry so I went back and returned it so the total spent is after the return.

Giant $2.65

We were preparing for our after Thanksgiving shopping so we needed a paper with all of the ads.  There were tons of things on sale so it was worth the newspaper even though we didn't actually read the newspaper.  I had already looked at them online but I like having the paper copy with me in the store because I have to point if something goes wrong.  Do you do the Black Friday fun??

Walmart $16.40

My husband went and bought some top secret Christmas gifts early on Thanksgiving morning while I was gathering everything to pack up the car when he got home and he grabbed a bunch of cranberry juice which he immediately put downstairs since we were in the middle of leaving so I didn't take a picture but he got 8 of these :)

Total Retail $394.18

Total Savings $269.02

Total OOP $125.16

I realize that I am a little late in publishing this but it was the first time that I have had a chance to sit down with everything and even figure out how I ended up the month.  I had a good November which is a surprise when I really didn't know what we spent at the end of the month but super glad that I ended up under my $160 budget by a lot.  I used a lot things that I had on hand.  How was your month??