May First Half Shopping and Eating Out Totals

We budget $160 per month for my family of 3 to purchase all of our household goods including groceries, paper goods and personal care items.  I shop sales, use coupons and do the best that I can to stretch that budget as far as I can through the month by paying the least for items that I can.  I bake items like our bread, rolls, breakfast treats and desserts which helps stretch foods between trips to the store.  We try to cook all of our meals at home to enjoy great food at low prices.  In addition, I have a $40 budget for eating out for the month.

Below are all the trips that I made to the store and a picture of what I got in each one.  The amounts are what I spent and there is a breakdown of how much I spent on each item.

Harris Teeter $9.23

I went to use the rain check for the Big Chewy bars for my son.  The Chilly Cow was a great deal because it was on sale for $2.89 and I had $2 coupons for each one.  The electronic coupon came off too and there was a rebate to make it an even better deal.  I got the Sweet Tart ropes for $0.09 after coupon. I got $5.25 in rebates.

Aldi $2.04

We were out of milk and I had gone at the end of last month but it was a higher price with a fast expiration date so I had to go back and get it at another store.

Safeway $0 

I got a freebie at Safeway that I saved to my card and went in and got these free.

Giant $0.29

I got some freebies on my card for dog food which ended up having overage.  I also for the free taco powder for a little more overage to pay for the bananas and the lemon so I paid mostly only tax and there was a rebate for $0.25 back on the bananas from Ibotta.

Harris Teeter $8.87

I went for the first day of super doubles and got free Special K cereal and Ortega seasoning.  I bought some Cheez It coupons online and they were on sale so I got 5 boxes for $1.98 or $0.40 per box.  I also bought some Pringles coupons so they were $0.25 each after coupon.  I got the Whole Fruit Bars and Tubes for $0.50 each and then turned them in for $1.00 rebates each.  I got the Van's waffles for $0.79 after sale and coupons and turned in a rebate for $1 for each box.  I got the Kahiki egg rolls for $1.50 per box with a coupon that was expiring that day.  Although it was an expense that I didn't need to spent, I thought that they would be easy to use for quick dinners this summer.  I got two packages of diapers for $1.99 for my cousin.

Harris Teeter $1.88

I got free Tasty Bite rice and $0.09 Sweet Tart Ropes.  I paid $0.50 for each bag of McCain's and turned in a $1 rebate to Checkout 51.

Harris Teeter $8.36

I got free water, olives, Barilla ready pasta, Frank's hot sauce, and three Franks Honey Garlic sauce.  I got the Cheez Its for $0.40 each after sale and coupon.  The Mahatma Organic rice was $1.49 after coupon.  The Furmano Tomatoes were supposed to be on sale for buy one, get one but they rang up $1.50 each so they ended up being $0.83 each after coupon and sale.   The McCain's potatoes are $0.50 each.  I got two boxes of Van's waffles for $0.79 each and turned in for $1 rebate each. I got $1 rebate from Ibotta for Ready Pasta and should get $1 back from Saving Star.

Harris Teeter -$0.90

I finally saw that the Franks deal was still active and all I had to do was buy $12 of Franks and get $3 off my whole order.  I got six bottles free and additional $3 off to pay for my hot dogs which were $1.14 per package.  I got the Furmano's tomatoes which ended up being $0.83 each but it didn't ring up right and the customer service desk gave me back $3.08 so the total was negative after the amount of the return.

Harris Teeter $7.19

I got free shaving cream.  The Pringles were $0.25 each.  The McCains were $0.50 each.  The Cottonelle was $3.99.  I got $0.50 rebate back for the Cottonelle and the $3 bonus.

Harris Teeter $8.40

I got the free Franks sauce which also gave me a $3 promotion off.  The rice was $1.49 per bag.  The string cheese was $0.34 each.  The block cheese was $1.36 each which is better then Aldi so I decided to grab it.  I turned this in for $0.25 cheese rebate.

Harris Teeter $0.69 

The Barilla ready pasta, Yakisoba noodles and Asian Noodle Bowls were all free.  I think that one coupon gave me a little overage because the McCain potatoes were $0.50 each.  I turned this in for lots of rebates including $0.25 any item, $1.50 ready pasta, and $1 McCain from Checkout 51.

Shoppers $0.08

I got a freebie for the chips that I got to load on my card.  I grabbed the tic tacs which were free after coupon.  I messed up a little because there was another electronic coupon so I could have had another $0.50 credit towards other food but I didn't know ahead and didn't plan well.  Best part was that I turned it in for $0.50 rebate which also prompted a $0.50 bonus for all my rebates.

Harris Teeter $28.18 

I got free bread, think thin bars and pineapple.  My husband finished his turkey so I grabbed two which were on sale and I used a coupon to get them for $3.49.  I got the Cran Grape on sale for buy one, get one free so they worked out to $1.99 each.  I got the Gatorade for my husband for $0.67 each and turned in for $0.25 rebate.  The Blue Bunny was the best deal at a shelf price of $5.29, they were on sale half off and there was a $2 coupon so they were $0.64 each.  I turned them in for $1 rebate on Ibotta so they were $0.14 per box.  We enjoyed them for dinner.  These rebates also got me a $2 bonus!!!

Harris Teeter $19.52

I went to the store to get more Cran Grape since the other store was out of stock so they were $1.99 each.  I also wanted to get the Big Chewy Bars because they were out of stock in the other store too so they were $1.49 each limit 2.  I also got another loaf of free bread, free pineapple and $0.09 Sweet Tart candy.

Giant $0.32

I went to the store to get the Friday Freebies which was the candy and the yogurt.  I decided to get the tomato and bananas for the overage if there was any.  I was walking through the aisles and I saw clearance Finlandia butter so I walked back to the car and got my coupons....yup I was planning on not couponing.  I grabbed four butters which were money makers after the coupons were entered so I paid $0.21 plus tax.  I turned in the Ibotta rebate for $0.25 for the tomato.

Safeway $0

I got a coupon for a free item from the Monopoly game so I went in to grab a gravy packet.

Target $0 (used pay pal)

I used pay pal from my rebates to buy my son's vitamin which I ordered at home and they were ready to pick up in less then 30 minutes.

Harris Teeter $6.38

I went to get more of the Blue Bunny ice cream.  My son really enjoyed the caramel cones so I was glad to see that they had more on the shelf although that was all that they had.  I got an amazing deal on pork for $0.99 so we will be eating that soon.  I also grabbed one more of the olive oil which was $1.89 after sale and coupon.  It was an amazing deal which I should have passed up because I didn't need it but it was a great price that was hard to pass up!! I turned in a rebate for $1 from Ibotta.

Harris Teeter $3.41

I got these on a separate transaction so that I could do a second rebate if it came back.

Harris Teeter $3.41

I went to a second store because the first was out of the Bunny snacks and the Just Crack An Egg for the Taste and Tell that I wanted.  The second store had everything that I wanted after I asked someone to go to the back to get the All American Just Crack an Egg.  Super excited to get everything and better that I packed ice packs so that I could do all my stops including Safeway, Gas Station, Target, Harris Teeter and Second Harris Teeter. I turned in the rebate for $1 on Ibotta.

Harris Teeter $3.41

I think that I went a little crazy with the Blue Bunny deal but they were $1.14 each after sale and coupon instead of $5.29 shelf price.  My son really enjoyed the special treat and there was a rebate so I was hopeful to get the great deal more then once with a rebate reset!!  Sadly, I forgot to use the electronic coupon because I didn't save it so I used all my printed coupons instead.

Total Retail $640.46

Total Savings $524.51

Total OOP $115.95

Not necessarily the best first half of the month because I spent way too much but I got a ton of deals that will carry me through the rest of the month.  We really needed the Cran Grape and we will enjoy the ice cream now that it has gotten hot out.  I have $44.05 left for the month to buy the items that we need.  I know that we will need some milk but I don't think that there will be a lot of other expensive items (at least I am hoping).  At the end of the month, I might try to figure out the price of the diapers and take them out of the budget since they are for a gift and not something for us but I don't know the total cost so I haven't take them out yet.

I went a little crazy this month with the rebates and so far have already gotten $28.00 in rebates and bonuses.  I will also get some for the Cheez It and Pringle purchases through Saving Star through my 1% bonus but it is so slow that only $0.31 has been added so far this month.

Eating Out

We haven't eaten out at the beginning of the month because we are saving our budget for the rest of the month with the holiday weekend and other things going on so we will be out and about and might need a treat out for all of us!!  My son is already talking about ice cream and mini golf so we might be doing that to pretend that summer is already here!!!