Tuesday, December 18, 2018

Middle of the December Budget Update

I work every month to save money through our grocery shopping.  I budget $160 for groceries and $40 for eating out so that we are under $200 every month.  I shop sales, use coupons and as many deals as I can find to meet my budget.  We cook almost all of my meals at home from scratch and use all the groceries to spread the deals as far as possible.  We have tons of stuff in the pantry, fridge and freezer to use for the coming months.

Below is what I got so far for the month.  Each shopping trip is broken down below with details about how much things cost and how I used my budget.

Harris Teeter $0.06

I got these on sale and used a coupon so that I only had to pay tax.



Harris Teeter $10.28

The chips, yeast, bacon, Crest, band aids, and mug cakes were free.  The Vital Wheat Gluten was in the clearance rack so I got it for $0.49 which was better then sale and coupon I paid before but I think that they were clearing out stock so I won't be able to get it there next time.  The sugar was on sale for $0.97 each.  The Ortega was on sale for $1.25 so they were $0.25 after sale and coupon.  There was an additional rebate for $0.75 each from Ibotta so they were money makers.  The Energier batteries were on sale for $3.49 and I had a $1 printable coupon to make them $1.49 each and there was a rebate for $1.00 from Ibotta. Bonus was I got $0.25 any item rebate.



Harris Teeter $4.29

The chips, yeast and lotion were free after sale and coupons.  The beef jerky was my splurge for my husband at $2.49 each but I got some overage because the coupons fully doubled so I got $1.13 extra off.



Harris Teeter $0.06

I got these on sale and used a coupon so that I only had to pay tax. 



Harris Teeter $11.10

I got free yeast, chips, toothpaste, olives and tea bags.  The oatmeal was on special and my son's favorite and my friend gave me coupon that made them free so it was my best find.  The  beef jerky was because my husband ate a whole bag when I brought them home the other day so they were $2.49 each.  The Tide was $2.47 each which I was going to pass on because I had so many but my friend talked me into it.  The super glue was a need but got them on sale with a coupon for $0.99 each.  We have already used it for a bunch of projects.



Harris Teeter $0.06

I got these on sale and used a coupon so that I only had to pay tax. 



Harris Teeter $0.06

I got these on sale and used a coupon so that I only had to pay tax. 



Harris Teeter $0.04

I got these on sale and used a coupon so that I only had to pay tax. 



Harris Teeter $2.30

I got free lotion, bacon, yeast, spices, chips, tea and meat balls.  The Cheez Its were $0.49 per box with the coupon from Kelloggs Family Rewards.



Harris Teeter $0.13

These were all free so I only paid tax.



Harris Teeter $9.87

I got lots more freebies with the ranch seasoning, bacon, noodles, soup, sweet chili sauce, and biscotti.  The corn was on sale for $0.88.  The Dimatapp was $6.99 so I paid $2.99 after coupon but there was $2 Saving Star, $2 Ibotta and $0.25 any cough syrup so it was a money maker.  The batteries were an even better deal because I found a coupon for $1.25 so it doubled to $2.50 so they were $1 each and then I got back $1 from Ibotta and I got an any item $0.20 too.



Harris Teeter $6.45

Free band aids, spice packets, bacon, noodles, and biscotti.  The Cabot cheese was $0.99 each and the Nutella was $1 each.



Harris Teeter $0.18

Free after coupons and sales so I only paid tax.



Harris Teeter $1.76

I got free ranch seasoning, iced tea, noodles, meatballs and cheese raviolis.  The cranberry sauce was $1.49 which I grabbed because I thought I needed it for Christmas dinner but turns out that I am not cooking this year so I guess we will have a big meal eventually.  This was a crazy trip to the store with amazing meat clearances for sausage for $0.49 each.  I came home and cooked it all and froze it to use later. Some coupon was over doubled because it should have been more like $3.50 but I don't know what happened even after looking at the receipt.



Harris Teeter $9.59

I got free ranch seasoning and meatballs.  I thought that the cheese raviolis were free too but they were  $0.24 each because the price at this store was different...oops!  The cube steak was on sale for $2.35 so that was a tasty dinner.  The batteries were $1.50 for two packages and $1.00 for one package and then I did rebates for $1 back each. The Neutogena face wash was $6.99 shelf price and sale and coupon brought it down to $1.59 each bottle.  There was a rebate for $2 each so it was a money maker.  Two electronic coupons came off of the meatballs so I think that this came in cheaper then expected too.



Harris Teeter $2.15

I got the beef raviolis for $0.99 per bag and the ranch seasoning for free.



Harris Teeter $0.89

This is when I finally realized that the pricing wasn't the same at my normal Harris Teeter but I got the ranch seasoning for free and the ravioli were $0.24 each.



Harris Teeter $15.83

It was the end of super doubles and I went a little crazy.  I am still not sure what happened but I got free noodles, soup, bacon, and meatballs. I got the beef ravioli for $0.99 and the cheese manicotti for $0.99.  The All Detergent was on sale and I had two coupons left so they were $1 per bottle.  The eggs were on sale for $0.87 a dozen so I grabbed two to stock up for baking.  My last items were the Aveeno lotion was $3.19 after sale and coupon.  There was $2 Ibotta rebate.  The other was the expensive Neutogena face lotion which was $6.15 after sale and coupon but the price was different on the app so I went to customer service and they gave me around $0.78 cash back.  There was an Ibotta rebate for $4 back.  I also got $0.25 any item rebate and $1 Aveeno/Neutogena bonus.  Super happy to have my SPF lotion that I need for every day.



Harris Teeter $6.16

My husband was out of lunch meat so I grabbed two packs with the coupons that I printed from the website so they were $2.49 each.  We were totally out of of lettuce too so I grabbed a head for $0.99.



Aldi $28.89

I went to Aldi in Manassas after a doctors appointment.  I got $0.59 pretzels, $0.75 nacho chips, $0.99 salsa, $1.69 skim milk, $0.85 margarine, $2.29 Parmesan cheese, $1.25 corn tortillas, $1.55 cookies, $0.89 corn starch, $0.89 mini marshmallows and $1.45 blocks of cheese.  The chicken was on clearance but the scanner didn't work so it should have been $13.81 less $2 but they charged me $8.72.  In addition, there was a coupon for $5 off a $30 purchase so I got lots of great deals!




Aldi $30.28

I went to the store to stock up on frozen chicken with my $5 off coupon to use.  I also grabbed popcorn kernels because we were running low.  My husband also wanted hamburger rolls for the hamburgers he just got for Christmas.  My husband also picked the special kettle corn.  We also grabbed a big mad libs for my son for Christmas so I might have to figure out if I have to subtract $5 at the end of the month.



Trader Joes $4.09 

We went shopping for new furniture and my husband decided to get this treat after shopping.



Harris Teeter $4.08

My son needed a can of frosting for a school project and the rest is for my son's birthday party since he loves store bought frosting. They were $0.99 each after sale and coupon.



 Harris Teeter $5.21

They were on sale for $1.27 so I got the limit and stocked the cupboard.



Total Retail $803.27
Total Savings $649.46
Total OOP $153.81

I went a little crazy at the beginning of this month with some splurges including laundry detergent, beef jerky, lotion, and cookies but I have $6.19 left for the month to spend but I don't think that we are going to need much of anything.  I know that I got a ton of great values and stocked up on a lot of things so hoping that I made some good choices to get through the month even though I spent almost all my budget for the whole month in half the time.

Eating Out


We got Pizza Hut at the beginning of the month for $10.60.  I had a gift card for $5 for Chik-Fila and I stopped and used it to get a sandwich which was a tasty treat in a busy day of running around and no money out of pocket.  We had a gift card which we used to go to lunch after furniture searching and we only left an extra $3 tip beyond the gift card.  We have left some money to eat out again during the holidays in case we have too many things going on and need to fit in a meal on the go.  I have $26.40 left for the rest of the month.

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