July Month End Budget Shopping and Eating Out

I wasn't sure how this month was going to go because we had vacation planned for the end so I left a little flexibility in case we needed groceries or more eating out while on vacation.  I have been over budget for May and June so I thought it was going to be the new way.  Couponing is hard to impossible to do now but I am doing my best at once a month grocery shopping where I get the majority of my groceries.  Although with the way that everything started, my shopping trip was at the end of the month and vacation was at the same time.  I was interested in seeing how this month went.

Below are all the shopping trips.  I was only out a few times this month but I got all of the things that we needed for the month.  I just didn't get much to stock up for the following month.  Check out the pictures and the totals of everything that I got for the month.

Aldi $29.74

I went to Aldi to get a few things that I thought we were going to need to make it through the month.  I got a few things that we needed like milk, lunch meat and new Jasmine rice.  My son has decided that he doesn't like either of the rices that we had before so we decided to try this kind and we are super excited to report that he likes it.  My son also declared that he would like apple juice so I got him some and he loved it.  I couldn't find the ice cream my son wanted so I got ice pops and cookies and cream.  I got a few things that were on the list for vacation like the cheese, lettuce, oil and a new garlic salt to take with us.  I also grabbed some more margarine to last a little longer.  I bought edamame and bananas because my husband has been enjoying them.

Target $1.68

I got gift cards to get a bunch of things to order online for pick up.  With the vitamins, I needed to add the Tums to get a $5 gift card back.  I wanted the coconut for the granola.  We needed more sunblock because we were running low on ours. It was a great experience for the Target pickup but we couldn't get everything online.  We had to go into the store to get a new swimsuit for my son but we found one that he liked when we sent him pictures.

Harris Teeter $19.54

I got lots of cereal that were all good deals with sales and coupons.  My son's favorite chips are the Sour Cream and Onion Pringles which were on sale for $0.97 so I got him four which brought cheers when he saw them.  I got a bunch of Kool Aid which should last us through the rest of the summer since the sale was ending and it was about half price.  I was excited to get the new Ortega powder that has 4 packages in the container and it was on sale too.  My favorite taco seasoning for ground beef tacos!!  I have tons and tons of Old El Paso but I don't prefer that on beef so excited to have the option back in the pantry.

Harris Teeter $9.13

There was a Turkey Hill ice cream sale so I grabbed four because I thought that was the limit...only I got home to find out that it was 5.  Oops!  There was a sale on Capri Sun for $2 and an evic coupon for $1 off so it was $1 and these are my son's favorite so I got them for vacation. I also wrote a quick message to Turkey Hill on their website and I got a bunch of coupons so I am super excited to say that next time I need to get ice cream, I will have lots of coupons to use.

Weiss $1.99

I went to the store on vacation because I forgot to pack emergency pads which I woke up needing the first morning of vacation!!   Downloaded the app and a coupon so that they were only $2 after the coupon for just about anything on the shelf.  Yeah for fast thinking even though I had poor packing.

Total Retail $159.76

Total Saving $97.68

Total Rebates $3.55

Total OOP $58.53

I had a very low spending month which was a huge change from the past few months.  The great thing is that we have tons of things in the house but I am always guessing on the things that I need to stock up on because they are going to be out of stock the next time I go to the store.  This month I didn't get a lot of stocking up done so I know that I am going to have a lot of things on the list for August so stay tuned to see how I do with once a month shopping next month.  I hope to be under budget again but I can't imagine that I can do it two months in a row.

Eating Out or Take Out

We got one pizza at Pizza Hut at the beginning of the month and used points to get free bread sticks and our summer reading Book It program individual pan pizza.  It was super tasty and we really enjoyed it.  I mostly enjoyed the fact that I didn't have to cook.  It was lot of food and we got to try the hand tossed and pan pizza together.  My son said he preferred the hand tossed.  Spent $10.59 out of our $40 budget so I was well under budget too with lots of leftovers to eat the next day.

July Grocery Shopping and Eating Out

I work to maintain a monthly budget of $160 for all of our household goods including groceries, cleaning supplies and paper goods. This month was vacation month so I did a lot of shopping in the previous months and try to take off time and only get the essentials so that I can spend the summer with my son doing fun activities (so that I don't have to worry about dragging him through the grocery store with me).  Summer is hard for me to look for sales but I try to keep up the best that I can while shopping when I find the time.

Below are the things that I got this month and what I paid for them.  There is the total paid and the breakdown below with the picture of everything that I got.

Harris Teeter $41.92

I grabbed the Ocean Spray because it was on sale for half off so it was $2.14 each.  The granola bars were on sale and I had a coupon so I got them for $1.07 each.  It was a lot to get at once but 20 of each was a great stock up and a great price.

Aldi $8.15

I went to the store to get a few last minute things for our trip for vacation.

Weiss $5.00

Vacation ice cream purchase after others purchased other grocery items at the beach.  I don't know why the store there is one of the only ones that has my son's favorite extra cookies and cream but it always does so it is a summer treat!

Aldi $13.59 

Back from vacation and we had no food.  I had to make bread and a few other things so I needed the quick supplies to get us started.

Harris Teeter $18.67

I got the deal for Coke for $2.47 each.  The Plant Oat is the freebie through Taste and Tell.  There was $0.99 lettuce and $2.79 for 8 lbs of potatoes which is cheaper then Aldi.  The cereal was $1.12 each and we were out of them so super excited to have more in the cupboard.

Giant $3.08

We were out of ketchup for two days and it turned into a big issue because I kept forgetting to stop at the store.  Lucky for my son, my husband stopped at Giant on the way home and got him a bottle.

Harris Teeter $12.82

We went to Harris Teeter to get the free cottage cheese.  I called home to find out if we needed turkey so we got that too.  Last minute decided to check on the ketchup and it was on sale for $2.50 each.  There was a deal where you spent $10 and got a free Capri Sun so it was a better deal then Giant.  They were still out of toothbrushes and softsoap which were free after bonus discount and this was the forth time checking different places with no luck.

Aldi $4.59

I went to the store because we were totally out of tub butter, chicken fries, bananas and stick pretzels.  It feels like we are out of everything but basically I am having a hard time finding the time to get everything made that I normally do so we are feeling it in the snacks around the house.  We stopped at a different store and the pricing on the pretzels and chicken fries was higher so I decided not to get them.

Trader Joes $3.58

 I have been out of blue cheese since vacation and I finally got to stop at the store and grab our new crumbled blue cheese.

Aldi $8.54

Next trip to get the pretzels and chicken fries at a different store and the pricing is the same there.  I also grabbed some ice cream sandwiches which we tested out on the way home to make sure they were good.  YUM!!

Harris Teeter $10.25

I went back on the last day of the sale to get the $2.50 ketchup and the free Capri Sun.

Harris Teeter $0.15

I went to the store to get a few things on the way to physical therapy because we had only a few minutes and I was worried that things would be cleaned out with super doubles.  My husband loves the new Cheerios so I was happy there were some on an end cap.

Harris Teeter $3.25

My son decided that after all of our fun for the day, he wanted to go back and get a few things for himself.  This was all his transaction and I just made sure he followed the coupon rules because he thought many more would be better.  I told him that this was my expensive trip to the store.

Harris Teeter $0.36

I got some things for me with free everything and I just paid tax.  I was very excited that it was still in stock that I had some coupons for everything.

Harris Teeter $8.43

I went to get these with no coupons but an amazing deal with the added Ibotta.  Fingers crossed that it resets and I get a few more Ibotta rebates.

Harris Teeter $12.17

Last trip to the store to get so many deals that I couldn't pass up!  I got free Cheerios, Cheesecake Pudding, Nivea Shave Cream, and Sweet Tarts.  I got the ground chicken for $1 each package.  I got the Perdue Chicken nuggets and cutlets for $1.09 each.  The Hamburger Helper is $0.50 each box.  The Nature's Own Crafted Bread is $0.50 each and I got $1 back on Ibotta for each so I made $0.50 profit.  The Natures Own Butterbread was $0.69 and I got back $0.55 on Ibotta. 

Total Retail $485.66

Total Savings $331.11

Total OOP $154.55

I was pretty happy with the haul for the month.  I got a lot of things that we needed and stocked up on things like Cran Grape, Quaker Granola Bars, Cheerios, and Ketchup.  I put in a few rebates on Ibotta so I got $4 back from that.  I am hoping for $5 from Saving Star for the General Mills cereal but we will see because those are a little hit or miss and take forever to be credited.

Eating Out

This is vacation month which usually means that we go over the amount of spending in the eating out category because we sort of roll it into vacation expenses.  This year other than gas for the car, eating out was our main vacation expense so I think that this was really low.  We went to Royal Farms and got fried chicken on the drive down which has actually turned into a little ritual because my husband enjoys their fried chicken but it was only $5 and we both ate it for lunch.  We went to Pete's Steak Shop and someone else in the family picked up the tab there because it was ordered before we got there.  We went to Crooked Hammock and my husband had a sandwich and my son had french fries and we paid $29.35.  We went to Grottos and got pizza with our family and my cousin picked up the tab.  We had friends over for dinner that were moving and we bought Pizza Hut for $37.10.  We got enough that both families had enough for lunch the next day.  Total spending for eating out was $71.45.  We normally try to stay under $40 for the month but I thought it was pretty good for vacation month for us.