I started this week with $54.33 left of my $300 monthly budget including food, household items and toiletries. Each week I crunch the numbers to see where I stand. Today marks the end of week three. You can read about weeks one and two.
Public Service Announcement: If you haven’t noticed, we switched our email newsletter provider. Feedburner hasn’t been sending updates all week so I’m hoping this new provider will be more reliable. If you haven’t checked in yet this week, here’s what you missed:
September Meal Plan – Week 3
Why We Switched to Organic Chicken, Organic Eggs and Organic Butter
{Yummy} Recipe: Italian Pasta Salad and Pasta Salad Dressing
How to Save Money by Carving a Whole Raw Chicken into Parts, Part 1
How to Save Money by Carving a Whole Raw Chicken into Parts, Part 2There may be some more tweaks over the next few days as we adjust to the new system. We appreciate your patience and bearing with us during this transition!
My biggest grocery expenses seem to occur in weeks one (the start of a new month) and three (the half-way point). This month was no exception!
We were low on produce, pizza toppings, water and yogurt (no surprise there). Looking back to all the different fruits we’ve been eating, my shopping trips look like a produce stand!
Here’s how the crumbs were spent:
Target – $14
8pk white washcloths, x4 – 14
I don’t know what happened to the receipt for this so the total is an approximated guess. You may be wondering why the container is labeled “legos”… it’s currently on loan from the toy department. Shh – don’t tell the kids.
Oh wait! Were you curious why there are white washcloths in my grocery budget too? Possibly wondering why I bought 32 of them?!
We’re ditching paper towels!
If you can’t tell, I’m very excited about this! There will be more detail next week on this awesome effort to increase our green efforts, but the washcloths came out of the grocery budget because that’s where the paper towels would have come out of (if I had purchased them).
Savemart – $11.49
bananas – 1.72
raspberries – 3.99
watermelon – 1.47
nectarines – 4.31
blue comb – priceless
The raspberries were on sale, buy one get two free. Great deals on summer berries are nearing an end – strawberries were listed for more than $2.50/lb compared to less than $1/lb less than two months ago. These were a huge treat for the kids. As you can tell by the open container, it was a struggle to get a picture taken before they were inhaled. I thought they’d enjoy a last hurray of putting them on their fingers, pretending to attack each other with raspberries hands and then eating them off one at a time. And I must admit, mommy had a good laugh watching them.
The watermelon was a decent deal for seedless and the nectarines were listed at $.97/lb.
Safeway – $21.74
pepperoni x8 – 19.96
lettuce x2 – 3.98
Even in my high-couponing days, deals on pepperoni were hard to come by. Safeway happened to have a buy one get one free sale, and Hormel issued a coupon, making each 7oz package $2.50 and an excellent price.
And yes, pepperoni needs to be one of the twelve servings when you’re watching nitrates.
The lettuce didn’t seem like a “good” deal at the time – $1.99 each – but a necessity when you’re eating salads every day. As it turns out, those two heads were HUGE and have made at least 10 salads so far – and there’s still 1/2 a head in the fridge! Eating lunch for less than 40 cents isn’t really worth complaining about in my book.
Costco – $42.33
mineral water – 7.89 (not pictured, still sitting in the trunk of the car)
crv – 1.40
organic celery – 2.99
half & half – 3.19
bananas – 2.78
organic carrots – 4.49
pink lady apples – 8.99
fage yogurt – 4.89
bartlett pears – 4.99
This stop was mostly fruits and veggies, which should get us close to the end of next week. We may need bananas, but the celery and carrots will carry over into next month for sure.
This yogurt will provide the starter when I make my own (which is happening soon!). The mineral water is for Mr. Crumbs, half and half for coffee.
Total Month to Date: $335.23
*sigh*
I’m over. I had a sneaky suspicion this was going to happen. Right off the bat I know that making my own yogurt will significantly lower this bill (more quick math puts the yogurt total at $16.76!).
I’m going to look on the bright side though – we’re well stocked on bacon, pepperoni and other pantry staples. The washcloths were a one-time investment. We’ve been eating organic chicken, organic butter, organic eggs and a huge array of fruits and vegetables – our bellies have been full of good-for-us-food.
I do need to be proactive though and see where the budget can be tweaked. In addition to the yogurt, produce was a large chunk of our expenditures. My gut is telling me to A) be better prepared at the start of next month, and B) make two big trips to the farmers market instead of several trips to local stores.
How are you counting your crumbs?
Oh, and don’t forget! The first installment of Friday Finances starts next week!
I love these posts. Thank you for sharing; it’s really nice to see how another family who eats like ours does it. Also, it’s an encouragement for me to start keeping closer tabs on what I spend. It’s kind of all in my head, but I really need to get it down on paper.
You’re welcome Cathie! I’ll be the first to admit that when it’s “in my head,” it’s all wrong, lol. I forget, I underestimate and my addition button doesn’t work! Writing it down is the only way I can truly keep it straight!
I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of this before, but we do the Bountiful Baskets coop for all of our produce. It is available in many areas nationwide now so check it out and see if there is a site nearby you. Participation is optional week to week and when you do buy a basket, you get a TON of produce for only $15! It’s been a budget saver for us as we’ve moved to more healthy eating habits and tried lots of new veggies and fruits that we never would have before.
Thanks Jennifer! Unfortunately, Bountiful Baskets is not available in my area, but that’s an excellent resource for those who are nearby!
Nice ! While over your budget by $35 – you won’t be buying napkins/paper towels again, and the pepperoni should last you a while : )
Dig the blue comb !
I hope the pepperoni lasts a while, but it ultimately depends on how much the pizza-chef puts on the pies (which is Mr. Crumbs’ department).
Great job! You are inspiring me to keep track of my grocery budget. Just a tip, of you have a $.99 only store by you, they sell hormel pepperoni on occasion. I picked up a few packages earlier this week (expiration date is March 2013).
Thank you for the tip Stephanie, and congrats on keeping track of your grocery budget! The accountability is amazing!
Just came to your blog from Money Saving Mom and had to let you know that I read through all 30 pages and LOVED all the posts. You’ve really got me thinking of going more organic and trying my hand at home made bread. I will definitely be reading your blog from now on.
Wow, Carrie! Thank for reading all those posts! (And now I’m tempted to go review some of my earlier work, lol.
) Thanks for joining us all for the adventure – I look forward to interacting with you!
That’s so awesome you’re giving up using paper towels! I’ve been thinking of doing the same thing, but afraid to take the plunge. I can’t wait to read your update next week.
P.S. Found your blog through Money Saving Mom and LOVING it
Thanks for coming by Rebecca! As a sneak peek, the plunge is the hardest part!
I am wondering what your family size is and what the ages of your kids are. We are a family of 9, so it helps me to help compare. Thanks! Love the blog.
Hi Katie! We’re a family of four – kids are (almost) 5 and 3.
Oh, I forgot to mention, we have been doing un-paper towel for years. I do buy some paper towel, only for vomit and animal poop and pee. (We do cloth diapers, but when the dog and cat have accidents in the house, they are usually sick, and um, just not that crunchy and gonna use paper towel and pitch it in the trash. We do cloth diapers so we are not germaphobes. Just know that is my hard limit and that is where spending money on paper towels is worth it to me. We also use paper towel for draining fried items. Also we have found that it helps to have un-paper towels color coded. We use microfiber washcloths. (We originally bought them in the auto aisle at Sams and Costco and got them as diaper stuffers, but found we prefered using prefolds as stuffers or using fitted diapers with wool covers) anyhow, We have one color that is used for noxious cleaning chemicals or dirt (anything that we clean with that we wouldn’t eat, we use homemade natural cleaners, but sometimes you need something more.) Then we have another color for anything that could touch our dishes and food, like counters. Then we have a third category for nasty jobs (usually I use my raggedy and stained looking cloths)
Color-coding – I hadn’t thought of that! I think I have a similar system, just not quite so organized, lol. These particular cloths are limited to napkin-uses only. I have a set for regular kitchen duty and then a nasty set for the heavy duty jobs. I can understand the need for organization though with the large family!
Found you via Money Saving Mom, and just read this first post. I, too, have been trying to save money on groceries. My thoughts, on first impression, are this: why do you need pepperoni? Processed meats are very expensive…I would cut them out entirely. Not mention, they contain added nitrates, a preservative which is VERY bad for you (linked to cancer). I found it easiest on my health and pocketbook to just not buy lunch meats or other processed meat (vs something like raw chicken or ground beef, only meats we really buy).
I know it’s hard to make a lot of changes at once. I would just do diced red bell pepper instead, if you are using it on pizza, and add extra cheese, something flavorful like parmesan. You’d probably save money.
I have cut out butter, because it’s quite pricey. Some Weston A. Price people say “butter is healthy” etc etc, but honestly, not worth it. And I don’t believe the hype that it’s healthy, by the way. We keep it around on the rare instances we do bagels. Otherwise, I use an oil I buy in bulk, or as a spread, I mash up avocado and add a squeeze of lemon. You can put that on toast. You can use it on bagels too.
You could also use flavored chicken, shredded, in place of pepperoni, or flavored beef. Stop giving all your money to Hormel!
Also, what’s up with the mineral water? You can buy one of those Pur faucet filters, or the pitcher, at Bed Bath Beyond. I actually get the Pur filters with “minerals added for taste.” Just trying to help save you money!!!
For my dairy fix, I use sliced cheese (from a generic Albertsons brand block) instead of yogurt. Yes, it has more fat, but I don’t eat it everyday. I couldn’t imagine spending money on yogurt, it’s pricey and you consume a lot more volume-wise, so the transportation costs are more, etc. I also take probiotic capsules for that element. So butter-no, yogurt-no, cheese-yes. That’s how we are saving money!!!!
Welcome Bobcat! Thanks for all your input on our budget – a fresh perspective is always welcome!
Pepperoni – we make our own pizza on Fridays. My husband is from the Northeast where pizza are affectionately called “pies” and everyone has their favorite toppings; his is pepperoni. We make our own dough, our own sauce and use fresh mozzarella. After taste testing several brands of pepperoni, we enjoy Hormel the most. I am aware of the nitrates (there’s a write up here), but this is considered in our meal planning and budget. We often use peppers and chicken as well, but I could not pass up an opportunity to stock up on something we enjoy and use often.
Butter is used often for baking and since it’s something we enjoy, we switched to organic (more info on that topic here).
We currently use a Brita water pitcher for our drinking water. The mineral water is fizzy, like soda, and we use to make Italian sodas.
This was the first month we bought so much yogrut. It’s used for snacking, but also for smoothies and making our own salad dressings. Next month will consist of homemade yogurt, which will be merely pennies per serving compared to shelf prices. Coupled with homemade kefir, our probiotics are covered!
I think everyone’s grocery budget needs to work for their own family. When one is as careful as Tiffany I’m sure that she takes many things into consideration while shopping. You may not have read her recent post on nitrates….butter (especially organic) may be pricey, but it is worth it in my family’s opinion. And as much as I like avocado, I’ll pass on spreading it on my morning toast -once again, personal choice. We use a Brita, but still buy water on occasion. My grocery budget reflects the needs of my own family. I could NEVER give up yogurt – I eat it every day, and plan on making my own in the near future.
Very good points Cathie!
i tried using dish towels about four years ago and gave up on it; probably because i didn’t like to fold the towels! plus i never had a dedicated area to put the towels in the kitchen. we recently added more counter space so now may be a really good time to find those dish towels and start using them again! not to mention that i am down to my last roll of paper towels! how has making the change affected your laundry duties? when i stop to think about it, one extra load of laundry a week doesn’t seem so bad! i liked the comment about having some paper towels in the house for messy cleanups. i keep a package of viva (aka. expensive, nice paper towels) that i use only for cleaning.
So far there hasn’t been much of an impact on our laundry. I do one load of laundry each day and since there’s 32 napkins, I can go a few days without running out. I’ve been throwing them in with towels or other dirty rags since those have to be washed anyway, so I’m not really doing “more” laundry, if that makes sense? I also like the idea of having a roll ready for greasy foods and I may continue that, but that’s only a $1 every few months or so and much more budget friendly. Not sure if it would help, but I have the kids fold them, lol. Doesn’t really matter to me if they’re neat or not and the kids like to feel important!
lol. my kids were too young when we tried this before, but they are just the right age to learn the art of folding laundry (might need to get the husband in on that too, he needs the practice
). oh, love your blog, btw!
Thank you!
Wow this is what I called budgeting haha, very nice post
Do you usually plan what you’re going to cook for the week too? that’s what my wife does and it really help keep us from going shopping more
Hi Aaron! Yes, I plan what we eat for one month at a time. You can see some of my past planning for months here, and particular weeks here.