Middle of the Month Budget Update for November

WHAT?!  I swear the month just started so I am not sure how we are here already.  It is going to be Thanksgiving right around the corner and it seems to have come out of no where! Of course when I added up my spending for the month, I was super glad that it was the middle of the month because I am already over halfway through my $160 budget for my family of three.

I love to use sales, coupons and other things to stretch my budget as far as possible.  It is always hard in November because my main goal is to get two turkeys.  Normally the turkey deals in this area require you to buy a certain amount of stuff to get the price per pound on the turkey.  This year was no different and I found $0.47 per lb was the cheapest price around.  I always get stressed about those deals because I don't want to be a little shy of the amount and end up having to scramble at the cash register to get the pricing.

This month has gotten lots of free stuff and here is the breakdown of everything that I got below and what I spent.  How is your month going so far??

Giant $3.99

I got these three freebies in my electronic $1 off 4 Gerber coupon that I couldn't pass up so I headed out to Giant to get my deals.  I had my son with me and they offer a free piece of fruit for the kids to have but my son decided that he wanted a banana to bring home for Dad because he doesn't like them.  I also grabbed the tic tacs at the last minute because my little helper wanted to get a special treat and I just happened to have coupons (even though I had to run to the car to get them while we were in the checkout lane).  They weren't labeled but they were on sale for $1.25 so $0.25 after coupon and I turned them in for $0.25 rebate from Ibotta.

Harris Teeter $34.11

I mostly went to get the Harris Teeter Taste and Tell which was the Yoplait Oui yogurt which was really tasty.  I also went to get the Cranberry Juice that was on sale because we have been out for months and my husband has been super patient waiting for the sales so that I could get them at $2.  I decided after running out soda last time and no sale coming for a long time that I would grab the buy two, get three free Cokes even though it was a large purchase to start a busy month.  There was a evic special on Pillsbury flour which I got but the sale price didn't come off so I had to go to customer service and they refunded the difference.

Giant $39.24

I got another freebie in my Giant account for Organic Spice Packet but they didn't have a lot of choices (see the 6 in the picture below) so I went with rosemary because it would be the most useful for us.  I decided to go because I needed to get the turkey deal and it turned out that the sale was ending that night so I got up after dinner and headed to the store.  The first store was out of chicken but they had the brownies that were on special.  I decided to go to another Giant and the second Giant had the chicken and not the brownies!  I decided to not risk going to a third one so I grabbed three things of chicken to make the minimum $25 purchase and grabbed two 14 pound turkeys and my free spice!

Giant $2.60

The deal on the brownies were that they were on sale for 10 for $10 and there was a $5 off coupon when you bought $10 worth.  I also used two printable coupons that I had to save an additional $2 and an electronic $0.50 coupon also came off.  The $5 coupon didn't come off but the cashier added it manually so this is the best deal on brownies since I got the freebies a long time ago.  My husband loves package brownie mix so much more then homemade so this won't go to waste

Harris Teeter $11.10

I was not looking to go this crazy at the store this week but I started looking at the list of deals and I just kept adding more to my list including the freebies which are the Puffs tissues, College Inn Broth, Fleschiman's Yeast, Betty Crocker Potatoes, Pillsbury Rolls, and Arla Cream Cheese.  I knew that I had to get to the store to get those.  I decided to add the Roast Beef because we love the sandwiches and I had one coupon left in my folder for it.  The Jimmy Dean Sausage was on sale for $1.97 limit 4 and I had two $0.75 printable coupons which doubled and $1 coupons from the insert to make them an amazing deal at $2.88 or $0.72 each.  To make the deal even better there was a deal to get $0.80 rebate back on three through Ibotta.  I got the Corn Pops which were on sale for $1.97 and I had coupons for $1 off in my printed folder so they were $0.97 which was more then I normally pay but we were low on cereal again.  The HT Canola Oil was on sale for $1.49 which is cheaper then I have been paying at Aldi so I grabbed the limit of 4.  My last find was the Barilla Protein Pasta which was on my list and the Barilla Collezione Pasta which were both on sale for $1.67 each and I had $0.75 printable coupons which would make them $0.17 each.  I got everything that I could because it is hard to find pasta for free anymore.

Harris Teeter $0.27

I got the last coupon that I had for the Barilla Collezione pasta and two more boxes for Puffs.

Harris Teeter $0.19

I was super glad to see that there were still some freebies on the shelves because it seems that they are having a hard time restocking during the sales anymore.  The great news is that I had two different College Inn Broth coupons and customer service said that I could use them to get 4.

Harris Teeter $0.17

I just couldn't pass up more of these great freebies.  It really makes me wonder how anyone would want to spend $18 on this when I can get it for the change out of my wallet.  My son was with me so he took all the pennies in the bottom of my wallet and counted them...we had $0.18 so he was ready to pay (I was holding the dime and the nickel just in case we needed them).  Turned out we didn't so he handed me a penny and the cashier the rest to pay for our shopping trip.

Harris Teeter $0.17

Did another trip to the store and got the amazing freebies!!

Harris Teeter $0.17

More freebies!!

Harris Teeter $0.17

More freebies!!!

Harris Teeter $0.17

More freebies but running low on coupons.

Harris Teeter $0.44

Went to the store and grabbed the freebies and added the cereal which I forgot to realize that it would be a money maker because of the sale and coupon but I checked out with a grumpy cashier and he wasn't patient with me trying to figure out what to do.  I should have run and grabbed lettuce or something but I tried to get something from the candy area and the lady behind me in wouldn't really let me look so I was super grumpy at the end of it all because I knew that I should have been more ready.

Harris Teeter $4.08

We were almost out of turkey again so I grabbed two that were on sale for $2.99 with a coupon for $0.55 which doubled so they were $1.89 each.  The cashier didn't scan one of my coupons so I had to go to the customer service counter to get the money back from the coupon but he changed something to take away the tax from it but at least I got the money back.

     

 Total Retail $439.04
Total Savings $342.17
Total OOP $96.87

I think that I did well this month so far even though I am above half of my budget but I got a ton and stuff and I am for sure ready for the holidays!!  I cut all the chicken and I am not sure how many meals it is going to make but I can tell you that there are a ton of bags of chicken in the freezer and it took two trips to carry them to the freezer.  I also got a pumpkin from a thing at school for I roasted the pumpkin and made tons of pumpkin puree which I used some to make two loaves of pumpkin bread.  There is some in the freezer for later!!