End of May Budget Update for Grocery Shopping and Eating Out

I was going crazy with shopping at the beginning of the month and I had to put a halt to it but as things normally work out, I got too busy to shop later in the month so it is a good thing that I went at the beginning because I didn't have enough time later.  I started looking at the sale ads before the holiday weekend that was basically the end of the month so I figured what I could spend the rest of the monthly budget on :)  Then we made another Aldi list and spent another $17 so there was only enough for a few small items left :(  I decided on getting some soda for the summer because it was on sale buy two and get three free at a few different stores.

Aldi $5.29

Aldi $23.12

 Wegman's $10.93

Aldi $18.73

Harris Teeter $46.48

Wegman's $3.99

Aldi $10.80

Aldi $9.35

I went to the store because I started a list and we needed lots of things... and I might have added the ice cream sandwiches but they were yummy!!  I ate one on the car ride home.

Aldi $17.33

Went with the family and got more then was on the list.  I really needed potatoes but they thought chips and salsa would be important because we were almost out.  My son added ice cream sandwiches because we had none!  I added some nacho chips (some one got into them and they were almost gone by the next day) and my husband picked out strawberries. We added turkey just in case we needed it because they are frequently out of the kind my husband prefers!

Safeway $12.30

I looked a all the ads and tried to figure out the cheapest soda.  My first stop was the Safeway because they were on sale for Buy Two, Get Three Free.  They were on the same sale at Harris Teeter and I knew the soda price was $6.99 so as long as they were cheaper then there, it was going to be cheaper then 4/$11 at Giant.  It was a high math morning.  I had loaded a $1 off $10 purchase on my card and a free diaper coupon and went in search of my deals.  They had the soda for $6.49 so it ended up $2.46 including tax per case. 

Harris Teeter $12.93

There was a deal on the Harris Teeter Organic Pasta so I got it for free.  I grabbed a head of lettuce because I thought I was making dinner for 5 people that night so I was going to make salad.  I got the Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch on sale for $1.77 each and I had two coupons and a electronic coupon so they were $1.02 each.  Sadly, the best price I have had in ages.  I got one box of granola bars for $1.74.  The brownies were $0.97.  My best deal was the sugar because I used the sale price of $1.77 and a buy one, get one rain check so I paid $3.79 so they were $0.63 each even without a coupon!!  I knew I was over budget but I couldn't pass up these deals and the rain checks at Harris Teeter expire on May 31st so I figured it was worth using to get the deal.

Giant $3.60

My husband went to Giant to get corn for a BBQ and Turkey Hill Ice Cream on sale for $1.99.  We were going to just have salad but I asked and our guests said they wanted to chip in something for dinner so I told them that they could grab the corn for something special.  Super confused but my husband bought it but it was amazing so worth the stop.

Giant $6.15

There was a sale on ketchup and we just opened our last one.

My son's ketchup usage caught me off guard but I started dating the containers and now know that a 20 oz bottle lasts us about a month so I need to make sure that I have some on hand when this one runs out.  The great news is that this is the cheapest time to buy ketchup.  The bad news is that we are way over budget for the month and still adding things to the buying list.

 Total OOP $181.00

I knew when I set out on my last day of shopping (or so I thought) that I only had a little bit of money left in the budget ($13.98).  I had found a deal on the Coke and a deal on cereal and sugar so I went crazy and went over budget by $11.25 for the month.  Then I needed more things that were on sale so I did two more trips to the store and then I was $21 over budget :(

Rain checks are going to be expiring at Harris Teeter and I am super bummed to be over budget and not have used the rain checks but new deals will come!!!

Eating Out Budget

The great news is that we way under spent with eating out spending because we did a Little Caesar's Pizza for $5.30 each.  We also bought fries when we went out to eat for $2.20 and my mother in law picked up the pizza.  My husband bought popcorn for my son at the Nationals baseball game for $5.  The total take out spending was $17.80.  We budget $40 for monthly take out or eating outside of the house treats so we were $22.20 under budget for that for the month

So my over spending at the grocery store to get soda (certainly not a necessary expense) and the last two trips including corn, ice cream and ketchup will be covered by this excess and we will still come in barely under $200 for the month in both.  I am very excited because I would much rather get good deals on things at the store and eat out less but still enjoy some treats for the month.  I think that we had a good mix and came in $1.20 under our total $200 grocery and take out budget so there really isn't anything else that I could have fit in!!!

I still have olive oil on the list to get and it is expensive so it was moved to next month although I was very tempted to put together a rain check and coupon and run back to Harris Teeter before the end of the month and spend every last cent but I did that without the olive oil.  Here is hoping for great deals in the coming months because we use it on pasta instead of red sauce over the summer months.

How did you do this month for groceries and take out/restaurants?  I am surprised and excited that we ended under budget in total even though over on the grocery shopping.  Here is hoping that we get some good sales and I get to work on making the June money stretch farther.