May Grocery Shopping Spending and Eating Out Totals

My family budgets $160 per month for the 3 of us 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.  In addition, I have a $40 budget for eating out for the month.  It often is very challenging but I do my best to stay under budget with under $200 total per month for all our food.

I make most of our food from scratch including meals and baked items like our bread, rolls, breakfast treats and desserts which helps stretch foods between trips to the store (or towards the end of the monthly budget).  We like to use everything that comes into the house so stale chips, pretzels and bread turn into bread crumbs.  Ends of veggies go into the freezer to make chicken broth when I get enough chicken bones.  The best is turning leftovers into new meals to make sure that they are all used up.  We try to use all these low prices items from these monthly trips to make lots of yummy meals.

Below are all the trips that I made to the store this month and a picture of what I got in each one.  The pictures at the beginning of the month just have the total because I described them all in this post here.  For the rest of the month, the amounts I spent and breakdown of how much I spent on each item is in the description.  For some reason, I missed a beginning of the month picture and breakdown so I included that as well.

Harris Teeter $9.23

Aldi $2.04

Safeway $0 

Giant $0.29

Harris Teeter $8.87- $4.46 (removing diapers for gift)= 4.41

Harris Teeter $1.88

Harris Teeter $8.36

Harris Teeter -$0.90

Harris Teeter $7.19

Harris Teeter $8.40

Harris Teeter $0.69 

Shoppers $0.08

Harris Teeter $28.18 

Harris Teeter $19.52

Giant $0.32

Harris Teeter $5.19

I went to the store to get the free pineapple and Lindt chocolate bar.  They were out of the other freebie so they gave me a second free chocolate bar.  I had a coupon and clearance on the Old El Paso which made them $0.39 each on yummy taco shells.  I went a little crazy with the olive oil but it was $1.89 and we love to dip bread in seasoned oil in the summer so I decided it was a great price to stock up (saving over $4 each).

Safeway $0

Target $0 (used pay pal)

Harris Teeter $6.38

Harris Teeter $3.41

Harris Teeter $3.41

Harris Teeter $3.41

Aldi $6.32

We were out of milk, butter and shortening so I went to the store to grab the minimum.

Giant $0.37

There was a freebie on the Body Armor Sports drink so I figured that my husband and son would like it so I grabbed it.  I was hoping for overage but I didn't get any but I grabbed two bananas anyway.  My husband enjoyed them the next week for his breakfast and snack.

Trader Joes $3.58

We love our blue cheese and Trader Joes has the most flavorful one so I always grab theirs because the container lasts me months!!  We were totally out so I had to grab some more to restock.

Shoppers $0.08

Another freebie day with Fage yogurt and Power Crunch.  I tried to get the Fage that I loved but they said that I could only get the circle kind like the picture even though the other one was all variety and 5.3 ozs which was all the instructions.  I gave up and ran all the way back to get the circle one and forgot to pay attention to the rebate that I was trying to get so I didn't pick the one that went with the rebate but I will use this so I give up!!

Harris Teeter $3.81

I went a little crazy at the store and got 4 six-packs of soda, Chloe's Popsicle, Ken's Salad Dressing, and LaBrea bread all for free!!  I got three lemonade for $0.50 each and Quaker granola bars for $1.50 per box.  I did a return of a bottle of water that I got before that opened and the credit was put towards this meal.  I turned it in for $3.35 in Ibotta rebates.

Harris Teeter $0.16

I went to get my yummy taste and tell free tea.  I also planned on picking up free bread and free Popsicle so I was super glad to see that they had both! I paid only tax.

Harris Teeter $0.14

Great freebie and paid only tax!!  YEAH!

Shoppers $0.06

I love this candy so I was excited to get it and even shared it with my husband.  YUM!

Giant $31.47

I went a little crazy and grabbed all of the chickens that added up to a little over $30 to get the $5 off coupon with the already great price of $1.99 per pound.  After getting it all, it worked out to $1.69 per pound so we will have plenty of chicken to last the next few months (as soon as I cut and freeze it all).  We also grabbed the two freebies of Chobani yogurt and Happy Baby food.  There was Ocean Spray for $1.88 limit one sale, I never understand those sales but I grabbed our one to put in our stockpile.  I was a little worried with how much I spent but then I realized that I still hadn't subtracted the diapers so I was grateful to still be under budget and keep shopping.

Harris Teeter $5.24

I still had ton of money left in my budget ($2.52) so I went to grab more of the freebies for the week with the Chloe's Pops and Sour Dough Bread!!  I decided that I was going to get the Dominos sugar which was on sale for $1.97 limit 4.  I thought that I only had one coupon so I was only going to get two but I found a second coupon so I decided to go crazy and get 4.  I used the $0.75 off 2 coupon so that they were $1.22 each after sale and coupon.  I shot through my budget for the month but I figured it was worth the extra sugar.

Harris Teeter $0.14

I decided that I needed to get a few more boxes of Chloe Popsicles that were $0.01 after sale and coupon on the last day of the sale.  

Total Retail $874.09

Total Savings $711.23

Total OOP $162.86

Overall I think that it was a great month even if over budget $2.86!!  I got a ton of deals and stocked up on a few things that we needed while getting a few rock bottom deals.  I am most excited about the ice cream, Cran Grape juice, McCain frozen potatoes and Cheez Its because we will really enjoy them.  I loved free bread, candy, butter and Frank's sauces.  I know that all of my purchases will go far over the summer to make lots of meals to share with friends and family.  I also have less time to spend at the store in the summer since I have my helper at home so great news that I got lots of great trips to the store to stock up on lots of things.

I went a little crazy this month with the rebates and have gotten $30.35 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 $0.56 has been added so far this month.  I am still waiting on $1 for the Barilla pasta through Saving Star and maybe some more of the smaller rebates.  The even better news is that I finally pressed the button and got my rebate check from Checkout 51 for $73.55.  I also transferred $41.85 from Ibotta to PayPal.

Eating Out

We got a take out pizza from Pizza Hut after spending the whole day out with my son's race and then an event at my husband's school.  We enjoyed our pizza and spent $8.47.  I thought that it was tasty treat with a really low price so we enjoyed it on two aspects. Super low under budget and happy to end the month on that note which makes up a little for my grocery overage.

Menu Plan Monday 5/28

Monday- Chicken fries, Chicken Wraps or Salad and homemade fries and tater tots
Tuesday- Pasta with meatballs
Wednesday-Grilled Chicken Wraps and mac and cheese
Thursday- French Dip Sloppy Joes with white rice
Friday- Homemade Pizza
Saturday- Leftover Family Fun Night
Sunday-Simple Fried Rice, Egg Rolls and Edamame

We had Monday and Tuesday meals as planned. On Wednesday, my friend Amy said that she was going to teach me how to make pasta.  I don't think that I did a great job but I made some pasta with her roller and cutter with the dough she already made.  I didn't do bad but it did clump up again when I cooked it but it was tasty!!  We had it with our grilled buffalo chicken and I added garlic, olive oil, oregano, parmesan and lemon juice to make it super tasty.

We had tacos on Thursday.  We switched Friday and Saturday and had our leftover meal on Friday and made pizza Saturday night.  Sunday we ended up having Fried Rice with the rest of our peas for lunch so I was at a loss for dinner but I decided to have the Sandra's Chicken and white rice because it was easy and it could go in the oven so that we could spent some time as a family and play more games.

I can't believe how fast this month has gone but I am looking forward to starting summer and lots of grilling!!!  We were pretty excited to get a deal on chicken so that the freezer would be fully stocked to have lots of grilled food!! YUM!!!

Buried Secrets Book Review

I was excited to hear that the second book in the Harvest of Hope series was out!  I liked the first book and I was excited to read the second book in the series.  I started reading Buried Secrets (Harvest of Hope) by Barbara Cameron and for the life of me I couldn't figure out what the first book was about!!  This book was basically a stand alone book and although some of the small town and characters are the same, it really wasn't built off the previous book.  The great news for first time readers is that you will enjoy this book just as much as those who have been waiting for the second book in the series!!

Family secrets could get in the way of a second chance at love.  After her husband dies, Rose longs to be near her family—especially her twin sister, Lillian—so she packs up her young son and leaves their life in Ohio to move back to Paradise, Pennsylvania.  Luke Miller is ready to settle down in Paradise. He soon forms a partnership with Rose to help farm her land. He finds that he's enjoying the company of the quiet, modest widow and she may be just the woman he's been waiting for. But is Rose hiding a secret beneath her reserved exterior—one that  could keep her from having a future with Luke? And Rose isn't the only one concealing something. Luke has a secret of his own, and it could threaten their partnership—and their chance at love.

I loved the characters and writing in this book as much as I did the first book.  The thing that was different about this book was it was a little more like other Amish fiction titles because it was talking about some of the same topics like farming and raising families.  However, Rose and Lillian are twins and tend to know how the other is thinking and feeling which added an interesting twist.  Rose is starting her life over in her childhood home after loosing her husband.  Rose is trying to bring her family farm back to life with the help with Luke Miller, new to Paradise and making his future in this small town.  I loved watching the family settle in and the slow progress that Rose makes to rebuild her life and how important Luke is in this new life.  It was a great story but you have to pick up the book to find out what happens when Luke leaves Paradise.  It is a great story that has a lot of ups and downs but ends quickly...I probably feel this way of most books because I want another 100 pages to resolve slowly but was a great book that left you waiting for the third book in this series!!  I hope that you check out this book and enjoy it as much as I have.

**I received a copy of this book for my review but all of my opinions here are honest and my own.

Phoebe's Light Book Review

I put a bunch of books on reserve at the library including this one because I have liked the books by Suzanne Woods Fisher in the past. I knew nothing about Phoebe's Light (Nantucket Legacy) by Suzanne Woods Fisher including the series but it is the first book in the series so I got lucky since I like to start at the beginning.  I am not great with historic books all the time because I often get stuck on the historical language so that it doesn't move as quickly as books set in the current time but that was not the case with this book.  I was into the book and finding out what was going to happen with the story and the journal that were both being revealed.

Phoebe Starbuck has always adjusted her sails and rudder to the whims of her father. Now, for the first time, she's doing what she wants to do: marrying Captain Phineas Foulger and sailing far away from Nantucket. As she leaves on her grand adventure, her father gives her two gifts, both of which Phoebe sees little need for. The first is an old sheepskin journal from Great Mary, her highly revered great-grandmother. The other is a "minder" on the whaling ship in the form of cooper Matthew Macy, a man whom she loathes.  Soon Phoebe discovers that life at sea is no easier than life on land. Lonely, seasick, and disillusioned, she turns the pages of Great Mary's journal and finds herself drawn into the life of this noble woman. To Phoebe's shock, her great-grandmother has left a secret behind that carries repercussions for everyone aboard the ship, especially her husband the captain and her shadow the cooper. This story within a story catapults Phoebe into seeing her life in an entirely new way--just in time.

In this brand-new series, bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings her signature twists and turns to bear on a fascinating new faith community: the Quakers of colonial-era Nantucket Island.  This book took a little bit to get into the time period but once I was in with the great chracters, I was pulling for Phoebe to get everything that she deserved.  Although this was a mystery to know what we should root for at some parts in the book, Phoebe was trying to make the most of her life in this small town and decided that marrying Captain Foulger would be the best plan to save her father.  She trusted her new husband to pay her fathers debt before they left together on the boat to go whaling.  Phoebe was married and quickly taken to the boat that was leaving that night where she had constant sea sickness that didn't resolve.  Her saving grace was Silo, the cabin boy, who helped her get anything she needed.  She was also being watched over by Matthew because he loved her and he promised her father that he would.  Between the two of them, she was still near death on the boat from many factors but you have to pick up the book to find out what happens.  I think that you will be amazed with the twists and turns in this book because I certainly was.  It was a great story with great characters that made this book impossible to stop reading.  I hope that you enjoy this book as much as I have.

The Road Home Book Review

I was excited that there was another book out by Beverly Lewis and I didn't even read what it was about or what series it was part of when I decided that I had to read it.  The Road Home by Beverly Lewis was set in the past but still a fairly present book in both Michigan and Pennsylvania.  It was a great story with great characters that I was immediately drawn into so that I couldn't put down the book.

Sent from Michigan to Pennsylvania following the tragic death of her Amish parents, Lena Rose Schwartz grieves her loss and the separation from her nine siblings. Beside the fact that Lena has never been so far from home, she hasn't met the family she will now be living with. But worse than that is having to live apart from her close-knit brothers and sisters. How will they manage without her to care for them--especially six-year-old Chris? And will her new beau, Hans Bontrager, continue to court her despite the many miles between them?  Yet even as Lena Rose holds on to hope for a reunion with those she loves most, she discovers that Lancaster holds charms of its own. Is she willing to open her heart to new possibilities?

Although this books had many things in common with other Beverly Lewis because of the great writing and wonderful characters, I thought it was really unique because Lena Rose had to move all the way to Pennsylvania to live with a family member because there was no where for her to fit in the small town in Michigan where she grew up after her parents died.  I was thinking that life wouldn't change for this family of 10 children because the community would come together to have someone live with them to make the only change the loss of their parents but that didn't happen.  It took awhile to believe that this was happening for me but all of the children were shipped off to different houses so that they would have to grow up by themselves.  Lean Rose makes the most of her new situation living in a new town away from her whole family and she makes a new life with many new friends.  She prays every day to move home with her family but still makes the most of each day in Pennsylvania.  When she gets word of a job and a place to live, she has to make a hard decision to leave behind her new life and go back to her old life.  You have to pick up the book and find out what she does because it has me amazed!!  I hope that you check out this book for yourself and enjoy it as much as I did!!

**I received a copy of the book for my review but all opinions here are honest and my own.

April Reading Review

I try to read lots of books every month and I never know where they are going to come from.  When I started this journey, I kept a running list of the books that I was going to read for the year which was a mix of books from the library and books from home.  After awhile, I realized that I follow the author through the series so it is hard to say what I am going to be reading because it is totally dependent on new releases and what the library carries.  I have made an effort this month to stop getting books from the library and read through those on my shelf because the books not read and the books read are getting confused and I want to make sure that I don't miss any because I have put them off for so long.  I also realized that in the busy weeks that I had at the beginning of the month, I forgot to post this so sorry this is late!!

Here are all the books that I have read for the month of April and if you click on the title it will bring you back to my original post with the summary and my review of the book.  I have enjoyed a variety throughout the year and set a goal to read at least 100 but trying for over 150.  Here is hoping that I stay on track!!

Red Sky Over America
by Tamera Lynn Kraft

The Wedding Quilt Bride
by Marta Perry

The Rancher's Secret Child

by Brenda Child

The Heart of Grace
by Linda Goodnight

His Winter Rose

by Lois Richer



Apple Blossom Bride

by Lois Richer



Talking After Midnight

by Dakota Cassidy

Pregnant with the Rancher's Baby

by Kathie DeNosky

The Family Gathering

by Robyn Carr

The First Kiss of Spring
by Emily March

The Marriage Bargain
by Jennifer Probst

Total Books 2018

January   8
February  10
 March    10
April     11

Total Read   39

Currently Reading:

 

Menu Plan Monday 5/21

Monday- Chicken fries, Chicken Wraps or Salad and homemade fries and tater tots
Tuesday- Pasta with meatballs
Wednesday-Grilled Buffalo Chicken and mac and cheese
Thursday- Tacos or French Dip Sloppy Joes with white rice
Friday- Homemade Pizza
Saturday- Leftover Family Fun Night
Sunday-Simple Fried Rice, Egg Rolls and Edamame

We got our dinner on the table and the power went out on Monday night and we went with chicken salads instead of wraps because we were having tacos this week.  Super glad that we got our meal made but I still hadn't finished re-packing the freezer so there was a fast shoving that happened where I got to fit a lot of the food into the freezer even though there wasn't piles of ice on it like last power outage.  We got power back that night right as we crawled into bed so we got up and turned off lights and other things that were on.  I was very excited for our pork chops after I found them in the store for $0.99 for the package.  I made our last pouch of herb rice and our last corn on the cob which we really enjoyed.  Then, the power went out!!!  AGAIN!  Glad to have dinner done even though I was still cleaning up and putting things away but another night without power.  We were supposed to have tacos on Wednesday but I shoved the frozen ground beef back into the freezer so we decided to mix up the week a little and have the homemade pizzas that my son made.  On Thursday we did spaghetti with garlic salt for my son, sauce and meatballs for my husband and garlic bread for all.  Friday was leftover family fun night where we watched Because of Winn Dixie which was good but not as good as the book.  We enjoyed dinner off a TV trays by watching the movie.  Saturday brought a busy morning and we bought a pizza hut pizza for lunch after my son's race and a STEM event which ran really long.  We were all so full that we had leftovers for dinner and I made my son some waffles too.  Sunday was leftover pizza for lunch and quick dinner before work so I made Fried Rice with peas and steak egg rolls.  Super tasty and super easy to throw together while my son worked on homework.

I am hoping for an easy week this week but I guess we will see how it turns out.  I am not sure what this weekend brings since the pool is going to be opening up on Saturday.  I know that we will be there this weekend but I am not sure how long we will stay there.  I think that I have most of the groceries in the house that we need for the week so I am hoping that we won't need too much for the rest of the month.  I think that we will use up the rest of the ground beef with the meals planned for the month so I will have to look into getting some if there is money left in the budget for the month.  How is your month going??