End of the Month Shopping Update for August and Eating Out

I have worked for many years to maintain a $160 monthly budget for my family of three for all of our household needs including groceries, paper goods, cleaning supplies and more.  I try to shop sales and use coupons to make our budget stretch as far as possible.  I make many of the things that we eat from scratch like rolls, bread and muffins to have fresh food in the house with the best possible ingredients for my family.  I stay accountable by doing a middle and end of the month update on my blog so you can see what I have gotten each month and worked to stay under budget.

I was amazed how fast this month went and school starting but I committed myself to getting a lot of couponing done this month to stock up on a lot of things that we had run out of.  The first half of the month had a lot of trips to the store  because of super doubles at Harris Teeter providing some amazing deals.  They are all detailed here but pictures and amounts of the transactions are listed below.

This month I also worked hard to do lots of rebates through Saving Star, Ibotta, Checkout 51 and Mobi Save.  It looks like Mobi Save is not going to have as many good deals going forward so I didn't get anything from them this month.  I got $18.75 from Saving Star (so far only $12.25 credited and just got everything else!!), $14.75 from Ibotta, and $6.25 from Checkout 51.  That means that I got an extra $39.75 which will eventually make it into PayPal to pay for other things.  I don't count this money off my budget because I don't use it for groceries when it gets transferred to PayPal but it a great bonus with the work that I put in this month. 

Aldi $40.78

Harris Teeter $17.06

Harris Teeter $0.70

Harris Teeter $0.06

Harris Teeter $6.34

Harris Teeter $1.73

Harris Teeter $3.15

Harris Teeter $2.97

Harris Teeter $0.27

Harris Teeter $4.22

Harris Teeter $3.58

Harris Teeter $0.24

Harris Teeter -$5.22

Aldi $0.81

I got a container for the store brand cool whip for my son because he likes it on pancakes instead of syrup and we were totally out.  I don't know if it is any healthier but he likes it.

Harris Teeter $0.05

Harris Teeter $8.02 + $0.06= $8.08

I went to get granola bars and see what free stuff I could get.  There was a deal on the granola bars for $2 each.  If you bought 5, you got $3 off instantly.  I had to buy 6 to use two coupons for $1/3.  I got 6 boxes for $7 which is $1.17 per box.  I got free Hormel Natural Choice Snack, 4 Hormel Rev Wraps, Light and Fit Yogurt, Yoplait Dippers and $0.02 Yoplait Mix-ins.  I decided to splurge on the Pop Tarts for my husband because they were $0.67 and he ate all the ones from Harris Teeter that he bought before.  I also needed a head of lettuce which is cheaper then Aldi at $0.99.  I put in a rebate for $0.25 on Ibotta for any item and $0.75 on Checkout 51 for the Rev Wraps.  I will also get $0.25 for the Yoplait Mix-ins and $0.50 for Yoplait Dippers from Saving Star.

Harris Teeter $ 16.08

I got 6 more boxes of granola bars.  I had to get the disinfecting wipes for my son for school and I haven't gotten a deal so I just bought the store brand which was $1.79.  The Arid was $1.53 which was half priced and I am running out of my crazy stockpile from years ago.  The Cinnamon Toast Crunch was $0.79 after sale and coupon.  The Splenda was $2.67 for both of them after sale and coupon and I did a $2.50 rebate and needed them to get the additional $5 rebate from Saving Star so in all they were money makers in the end but hard for me to spend money on it just to get money back.  I got free yogurt and Hormel Natural Choice.  I found Puffs on clearance for $1.25 and used $0.50 coupons to get them for $0.25 each.  I turned in a Checkout 51 rebate for $0.75 for Puffs and $2.75 for Splenda and Lime from Ibotta.  I will also get $0.75 for the Puffs and $0.25 for the Lime and $0.50 for the Lara Bars and $5 for the Splenda from Saving Star.

Aldi $4.79- $3.06= $1.73

I went to the store to return lunch meat that was supposed to be good until September 8th but my husband said was icky!  I guess I am done with my beginning of the month attempt to stock up because it really only lasts a limited amount of time but I tried.  I grabbed marshmallows, parmesan cheese and an extra salsa.  There was also a free replacement turkey.

Target $20.27- $0.42= $19.85

Well, sickness has hit our house and my son and husband are both dealing with stuffy noses and coughs.  I swear my son is dealing with allergies but my husband swears that he caught it from my son so it has to be a cold.  My husband's is totally different then my son's but I got Tums for my husband and the Allegra and Dimetapp for my son.  I turned in the receipt to Saving Star for $1 back on the Dimetapp.  I turned it in for $0.25 Any Item Rebate on Ibotta which should get me closer to the August $1 Bonus but I am not sure because I have never gotten $10 in rebates in one month!  I actually still have to turn in one more rebate to get it because the any rebate doesn't work towards the one part so hoping to do that this month!

Harris Teeter $1.70

I skipped the first day of super doubles this time so I went after my physical therapy on Monday.  I left half of my coupons at home and was totally not organized but I was glad to get a few deals.  The Whole Fruit Juice Pops (free after sale and coupon) are missing from the picture because I forgot that I threw them in the freezer because I had to go for pick up of my son right after.  I did two transactions to get the shampoo deal because there was an instant $2 off and $4 coupon to get them free.  The Nutella was free after sale and coupon... wish I had more coupons.  The Smithfield was $3.99 and there was a $2 meat clearance and I used two printables that I still had for fresh Smithfield which doubled so they were free.  The expensive item on this trip was the Werther's Candies which were $2.00 less $1.60 coupon so they were $0.40 each. After I was done, I turned in rebates on Ibotta so I got $4.50 for this shopping trip!  I got $2.25 for Werther's Candies, $1.00 Whole Fruit Juice Pops, $0.25 for any item and $1.00 Bonus for August so a total of $4.50 for Ibotta.

Wegman's $34.23

I realized that I was really close to  Wegman's and I had planned on putting this off until September because of the second super doubles at Harris Teeter but I decided to run in since I was near the store so I wouldn't have to go out to especially since it is normally the store that I have to go out of my way to get to.  I had Arrowhead Mills coupons so I grabbed three of my vital wheat gluten for $2.59 for each bag since it is the only place that I can get it now.

Harris Teeter $0.29

I got two Dole Mixations and two Garnier with the $2 instant savings and $4 coupon so all was free and I just had to pay tax.

Harris Teeter $0.24

I used the instant savings and $5 coupon to get them free and only paid tax.

Harris Teeter $8.46

 I knew that I was going to go a little over budget with this transaction but I was having a really hard time passing up these deals.  The Garnier Shampoo, Tetley Tea, Listerine Floss, Dole Mixations, Whole Fruit Juice Pops and So Delicious Yogurt were free.  The Kahiki egg rolls were $1 per box.  The Honey Nut Cheerios were manager's special for $0.80 each after sale and coupon.  The Vicks Dayquil was $3.99 after sale and coupon but I knew that my husband needed something for his sickness.

Total Retail $838.86

Total Savings $671.21

Total OOP $167.65

I am pretty happy with the hard work and couponing that I did this month to get lots of things for my family and save lots of money.  I hope that I can continue to do this in months to come and get lots of freebies to stretch the budget.  I am a little disappointed that I went over after all my hard work but I know that I got a ton of value for my money!

My parents also came this month and brought a ton of junk food that we have been splurging on and really need to stop.  I know that they have added more food that weren't counted into our budget so hoping some of that follows through to September.  

I made bread, rolls,cinnamon rolls, berry muffins, chocolate chip cookies and more through the month.  I know that the baking will increase in the winter months so I hope that I can get lots of freebies to put into my baking.  I hope that you have had a great month too!

August Eating Out

My monthly budget for eating out is $40 so we try to get food and bring it home to save costs and still enjoy the food not cooked by me.  We had a pretty good month for eating out.  We got pizza with friends at the beginning of the month which was $16.29.  We got one Little Caesar's Pizza for $5.30 to eat at the pool and my husband got the meal at the pool with two sodas $8.  The total spent for the month was $29.59.  My mom took us all to my son's favorite restaurant which was a great treat for him and she picked up the check.  My dad came into town and took us to my son's other favorite restaurant and he picked up the check.  We got to eat out a lot this month and spent very little money.  Luckily that was $10.41 under budget which makes up for the overage in the grocery budget ;)  I would rather have the money spent well towards lots of food for next month and we have ton!!