Month End June Budget for Groceries and Eating Out

I work every month to keep my grocery spending under $160 per month.  I use sales, coupons, and any means that I can to keep expenses as low as possible so that we can enjoy other things in our lives.  I do most of the cooking from scratch which is harder in the summer months but things have gotten a little more complicated recently because I had to shop for my son's school parties and I have been planning a family vacation where I am in charge of all the food.

I normally do a better job of preparing for all these things ahead of time and not counting the right things in my budget but I did include some things over the last few months that shouldn't have been counted now looking back.  Because I included those things, I might not have gotten a get a few things that I needed for the coming months.  I know that things might look a little crazy this month and I am okay with it.  I calculated things that came out of previous months budgets and did some complicated math to say that I had $66.77 extra to spend this month so this months budget is going to seem crazy high to me!

Even with a crazy high budget, I went a little crazy with the quantity of ice cream.  We got 10 gallons of ice cream this month and enjoyed it all.  There are only 3 left for after vacation!!  The great thing is that it was on sale for super cheap and our favorite kind but I was also trying to get as much calcium into my son as possible after all the broken bones.  It means that we don't have to deal with complaints of ice cream at the pool because my son knows that we don't get it and he gets as much as he wants at home.

Below are all the things that we got for the month and the breakdown of the items.

Harris Teeter $12.97

We were really low on breakfast cereals so I went to get a whole bunch of them even though they were still more then I normally pay.  The great news is that the Cheerios and Honey Nut Cheerios were really big boxes so I think that they are going to last longer then the normal boxes so probably worth the added amount.  I also got a deal on the Gerber and my coupons were expiring so I thought it was best to use it.

Safeway $0.33

My husband went to the store to get a free bag of rice and to use up the rest of my gift card so he got a special treat of doughnuts for my son and myself.

Aldi $8.47

I went to Aldi while the rest of my family was playing mini golf and I got some things for my son's party at school and got a few things for us at home.  The Nacho cheese Chips were $0.75 which is way lower then at our stores closer to home and the rest of the items were about the same but I wanted to make some Rice Krispie Treats and we were out of the other things.

Harris Teeter $3.08

I went to try to get some last minute Super Double deals but there weren't many left.  I got the Advil for $0.99 each and then got a $2 saving star rebate back.  The Kool Aid was $1 for all of them.  The bacon bits were free with my remaining coupons.

Giant $2.06

There was a great deal on cereal at Giant that was three days only and I had a coupon that made it a great deal.  I got two boxes of Frosted Flakes and two boxes of Corn Pops.  They ended up being around $0.50 per box which was way better then I got at Harris Teeter.  It was the first stop of my big shopping day.

Safeway $0

I had two freebies on my card so I downloaded them both and stopped at the store to get them on my big shopping day where I hit four stores in one day.

Aldi $1.93

I stopped at Aldi and decided to only grab milk because it was the only thing that we needed at the time.  I looked for a few other things but they still didn't have celery and the potatoes and lettuce were too expensive so I decided to get them at Harris Teeter.

Harris Teeter $12.91

I went to get the deals on the soda $2.47 each and the ice cream $1.97 each.  We were also out of turkey lunch meat and it was on sale and I had a coupon to get it cheaper them Aldi.  I also added the coupon for the A&W because it was free after coupon but I didn't think about it because I would probably be the one to drink it so I should have gotten diet but maybe we will use this for something else like the beach so it will get used.  I got the potatoes and the lettuce because it was cheaper then the Aldi price and was fresher.   The sale pricing didn't work and the customer service people had to fix everything on the receipt which took two tries to get it right.  Forgot to put the lettuce in the picture when I took it...opps!  I was obviously exhausted after the long run of errands that day!

Harris Teeter $17.45

I had to take my son to a birthday party and I stopped at the store and got the soda for $2.47 and the ice cream for $1.97 because it was a great stock up price.  It was a good deal and I totally stocked up on lots for the summer so fingers crossed that it lasts!

Wegman's $50.80

I stopped to get the ground beef because we were totally out of everything and I saw that the chicken was on sale for $1.79 so I grabbed three packages.  I packed up the meat for the beach and for our meals for the coming months.  I also started doing the same with the chicken.  I packed up lots for the beach and some for the coming months in different marinates so we can throw them on the grill.  I have to do a better count to find out what I came up with but I know that we are getting close to ready for the vacation meals.

Aldi $18

I went to the store to get all the things that we were out of including milk, turkey, pepperoni, stick margarine, and bananas.  I also got another bag of Chicken fries because we are down to the end of our bag.  We have been out of celery for awhile so my husband will be excited to have that back in the house for all the fried rice in the coming weeks.

Safeway $0

I went to get my freebie and I ate it for lunch.  I would have eaten it on the drive home if I remembered my spoon!!  It was just as tasty as my normal pick of Key Lime Pie.

Harris Teeter $15.14

I went to the store to get the Dixie Crystal Sugar which was on sale for $1.97 and I used a coupon to get them for $1.17 each.  I got the lunch meat for $2.49 so that we have that for my husband's lunches and the rest will go to the beach for lunches there.  I got the deal on the Nivea where you buy two and get $4 off which makes them $0.12 each!!  We were totally out of popcorn and it was on sale for $1.69 per bag which is the same as Aldi so I was glad to stock up on a few.  The Boomerang Pot Pie was on sale for $1.89 and I had a $1 coupon and there was a Ibotta rebate and any item rebate and bonus so I got $2.25 back in rebates!!

Harris Teeter $0.24

I did a second transaction to get the super cheap Nivea.

Giant $3.33

I know that I broke and bought more ice cream but we were almost out of cookies and cream and my husband wanted chocolate which was amazing!!  They were on sale for $1.99 but there was an electronic $0.75 off coupon that came off so I was even more excited.  Both eaten and gone already!

Harris Teeter $3.98

I realized that I forgot to get the juice boxes that were on sale at Harris Teeter when I went over the weekend.  I didn't add them to the list and I didn't think about anything else when I was there.  I went in and grabbed them and quickly checked out on the way to my appointments.  They will be great to have for vacation and other quick trips out to the pool this summer.

Aldi $6.29

I went to grab a few things we needed before my doctors appointment but they were out of shortening.  I got corn tortillas and another box of sugar cones for vacation.  I got a box of Cocoa Rice cereal for my son because he wanted some different cereal and he used to eat this one.  I grabbed some chips because I know that we will enjoy them this summer and I was at the store where they are $0.75 per bag which is cheaper then the small bags.

Aldi $12.11

I went in only for the shortening and realized that we were running low on milk so I should grab one while I was there so I didn't need another stop and it was a little cheaper then the stores close to us.  I know that I have a lot of baking to do before vacation so whatever doesn't get used will go into the baking.  It is also a lot cheaper on cheese so I grabbed a bunch that we really didn't need but I know won't go to waste.

Harris Teeter $3.00

I had a rain check for the oil and I got the extra tortillas for vacation in case we used up all the ones that I had already purchased.

Harris Teeter $1.99

I had a rain check for my mom's oil so I got those too.

Harris Teeter $44.77

I went to the store to get Cran Grape that was on sale for $2.14 each.  We have been out for a long time so I grabbed some so that we would be stocked up but I don't know how long that will actually last so I might have to buy more.  I also got 10 boxes of Big Chewy Bars because we were almost totally out of our stockpile and they were on sale and there was a coupon so they were $1.17 each.  I got the Cheez-It Snapped Jalapeno ones for vacation for $1 each.  I also got the sour candy for free and put it in the vacation bag.  I got 6 more Kool Aid because they were still on sale for $1.  The Queso Fresco cheese was on sale for $2.77 limit 4 and I had a coupon to get $0.60 off so they were $2.17 less $0.50 Ibotta rebate.  I thought that it would be nice to have one for vacation and the other two for after vacation.  The rebate for Boomerang Pot Pie reset so I got another one for $0.89 and did the rebate for $1 so I had a total of $2.50 in the rebate for this order.

Giant $0.07

I kind of amazed the cashier when the total went down and I he said that he had never seen that happen.  I told him that I would check out with him more often!!  I ate the yogurt for lunch and going to use the baby food in some apple sauce bread this week.

Total Retail $517.78

Total Savings $298.24

Total OOP $219.54

I know that my total was high this month but planning a vacation with dinner for 9 was outside the budget by far.  Although I normally stock up a little each month for vacation and set aside, I am normally only planning for my family and now I was planning for 9 people.  I think that I did a great job staying as low as I did although I am totally pointing at the crazy ice cream, soda and granola bars expenses as the problem. With the extra $66.77 added into the budget, I actually came $7.23 below that new budget amount.  I got a lot of stuff this month but not a lot of deals that saved me over 50%.

I am looking for some deals and hoping to find lots more next month to cut back the spending. I know that I am going to be on vacation during super doubles so 

probably missing it so whether that means more spending to make up for the savings or other deals available, I know that I will get lots of deals next month and use what is already in the house.

Eating Out

I didn't think that this month was too bad but it did add up quickly.  We got Pizza Hut early on in the month for $10.60.  We got another pizza to eat at the pool but we used points instead of money from all the previously purchased pizzas so we got it free!!  We went to Delia's with my in-laws and they paid for the dinner there.  The rest of the family went to mini golf and then ice cream.  My husband paid for ice cream and said that cash was faster then credit so he paid and got no receipt but thinks that he paid $16.  I went out to eat lunch one day when running errands that took way longer then I thought and used a Panera gift card for a half of a sandwich and bagel and only paid $0.25 out of pocket.  We did pizza with friends one night which was $15.90.  The total was $42.75 which is only $2.75 over budget.  Summer is the time for pizzas!!  At least that is how it works out here whether dinner at the pool or rushed because we were doing to much or having dinner with friends, we eat lots of pizza.  I know that I had the overage to use for the month so part of it went to our extreme pizza month.