Each week our family of four attempts to maintain a $125 grocery budget. Generally speaking, this includes as much organic dairy and produce as our budget will allow and the stores carry. I try to buy our meat from a local grocer who is supplied by an Amish community in Ohio. Although it is not organic meat, I think it is pretty close, without being outrageously priced. When our budget and grocery list allow I try to stockpile as much as I can. Items stockpiled are highlighted in yellow below. We rarely eat out and I am learning to cook from scratch (it's an on-going process :), you could say cooking is not one of my talents.
What a week of grocery shopping. Somehow by Tuesday my husband was complaining because we were out of milk and salad and we had also run out of fruit for all of our lunches. So on Wednesday, I already had to grocery shopping. Never a good sign.
I just finished reading "No Impact Man", which I highly recommend, and was more determined than ever to attempt to get our food as local as possible. For example, I just can't understand why right now Meijer is stocking red, green & yellow peppers from Holland when we can get them from our local farmers. That blows my mind.
So my first stop on Wednesday was a local market where I got some tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes. Then I ran off to Meijer where I found more potatoes on sale and I had to buy them up. They were on clearance, but they didn't appear to be going bad so I bought 3 bags of organic potatoes for under $6. I also got my free organic carrots (thanks Recyclebank!!!) and they had raspberries for $1 a pint. Yum, Yum!!!! I really didn't buy much at Meijer and somehow my total was close to $50 - my second bad sign! My third bad sign was when I forgot to use my $25 giftcard that I bought last week for $22. So this coming week I must do that!
At Kroger I spent $114, which was appalling to me considering I just spent $50 at Meijer and some more (I forgot how much) at the farmer's market. I did buy soccer snacks which amounted $17, but I really didn't buy that much overall and I was totally shocked when I saw the total. I recently lost my calculator that I used to track my spending as I shopped. Boy do I need that calculator!
But, I wasn't done spending yet, there was still the local meat store, CVS, Walgreens & another farmer's market to go to. All told I am $89 over budget this week and I don't have a lot to show for it. I was thinking of increasing our budget to $150 if I am going to shop at the Farmer's Market. It is more expensive, but the truth is I don't mind. If I am supporting something that I believe in I am willing to pay a bit more. We will also be getting our first CSA purchase this week. It totals $64 and from memory it includes veggies, milk, cheese, wheat berries, meat and some other things I can't remember right now. Well, after actually seeing (rereading) what I just wrote I do believe a jump in our budget is appropriate. It is times like this when I really don't understand how some people are able to maintain such a tight budget and buy quality foods. It obviously requires restraint that I don't have :(.
Here is the breakdown of the shop. Warning: It is a L.O.N.G. list!!!!
| 3-Sep | | |
| CVS | | |
| 4-3 packs of gum | $6.00 | |
| 5 cans olives | $5.00 | |
| Dawn | $0.99 | .75 coupon |
| | $6 in ExtraCare Bucks |
| Total Spent | $5.62 | |
| Total Saved | $17.14 | |
| Total Coupons | $6.75 | |
| | |
| Walgreens | | |
| 6 cans Mand. Org. | $3.00 | |
| | |
| Total Spent | $3.00 | |
| Total Saved | 6.98 | |
| Total Coupons | 6.98 | |
| | |
| Local Meat Store | | |
| 2+ lbs Chicken | | |
| 1 lb. bacon | | |
| .25 lbs. cheese | | |
| .75 lbs. ground chuck | | |
| .75 lbs. ground sirloin | | |
| | |
| Total Spent | $19.22 | |
| | |
| Meijer | | |
| PingPong balls | $1.46 | |
| Shin guards | $7.49 | |
| 3 bags Org. Pot. | $5.57 | Marked down :) |
| 2.34 lbs. grapes | $4.66 | |
| 2-16oz org. Carrots | $2.00 | $2 coupon |
| Org. Yog. | $3.56 | |
| Org. Spinach | $4.99 | $2 coupon |
| 2 Goldfish | $2.39 | .55 coupon |
| 2 Org. Romaine | $5.98 | $2 coupon |
| Watermelon | $3.49 | |
| 2lbs. Org. Carrots | $1.00 | |
| 5-8oz Raspberries | $5.00 | $1 each AMAZING!!!! |
| 2-16oz Blueberries | $5.00 | |
| | |
| Total Spent | $46.58 | |
| Total Saved | $27.86 | |
| Total Coupons | $6.55 | |
| | |
| Kroger | | |
| 5 reusable bags | $4.00 | |
| 2-6 packs soda | $6.00 | |
| 2 Org. Eggs | $7.98 | 2-$1coupons |
| 4 Capt. Crunch Cereal | $8.00 | 2-$1 coupons |
| String Cheese | $3.99 | $1 coupon |
| 1 box Capri Sun | $1.99 | For Soccer |
| Olive Oil | $3.59 | Marked down |
| 6 cont. Peanut Butter | $10.00 | |
| 3 Org. Garb. Beans | $2.67 | |
| 3 2 liters soda | $2.37 | |
| Capri Sun | $3.98 | Soccer |
| Nabisco Snacks | $7.98 | $1 coupon for soccer |
| 2 Pudding | $1.00 | $1 coupon |
| Flour | $3.99 | |
| 2 Pretzels | $2.00 | |
| Org. Milk | $5.49 | |
| 3 cans Spinach | $2.37 | |
| Pickles | $2.07 | |
| 2 Bologna | $2.00 | |
| Cinn Rolls | $1.25 | |
| 2 Hot Dogs | $6.00 | .75 coupon |
| 2 Org. Cereal | $4.50 | $1 coupon |
| Oreo Snacks | $3.99 | Soccer |
| Bagged Salad | $1.99 | Forgot to use my coupon!!!!! |
| Chips | $2.25 | Forgot to use my coupon!!! |
| 3 strawberries | $6.47 | |
| 2 Guacamole | $5.00 | |
| 3.56 lbs bananas | $1.96 | |
| 2.13 lbs. org. Bananas | $1.47 | |
| | .25 coup. Eggs |
| | .4 coup. Cereal |
| Total Spent | $114.35 | |
| Total Saved | $42.30 | |
| Total Coupons | $9.15 | |
| | |
| Farmer's Market | | |
| Tomatoes | | |
| Eggplant | | |
| Garlic | | |
| Peaches | | |
| Cucumbers | | |
| Potatoes | | |
| Plums | | |
| Pears | | |
| Apples | | |
| I can't remember how much I spent | |
| Guess | $25.00 | |
| | |
| | |
| Total Weekly Spending | $213.77 | |
| Total Savings | $94.28 | |
| Total Coupons | $29.43 | |
| | |
| Total for September | $214.00 | |
| Budget | over by $89 | |
| Monthly budget | over by $89 | |
| Yearly Spending | $3,065.50 | |
