Ok, this post has been in the works for 2 weeks now! I wanted to come up with a witty way to title it (yeah, nope, went for brutally honest) and a way to discuss my tight budget that would make sense to others. Then I realized that without receipts to cover the prices of what I pay for things, people in other areas just wouldn't get it! So I dug up my receipts, and here we go!
First off let me say that we go shopping ONCE A MONTH for groceries and that my budget is UNDER $200! When you figure the math for 4 people you might think that it is IMPOSSIBLE, but it is NOT! $200/4 weeks in a month, is $50 per week. $50/7 days in a week is $7.14 per day. $7.14/3 meals a day $2.38 per meal. $2.38/ 4 people is $0.60 per serving! Keep in mind that we do have some game meat in the freezer, deer & moose. We also will purchase meat with extra cash if we have it & if there is a great price (like getting boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.19/lb one day) & we will put it in the freezer. I only buy meat on sale, so what is on sale is what we eat! Now what you see below is our actual receipts, & I will go into the details of them in a moment. I went to Save A Lot and Shop n Save this month, sometimes I end up going to Walmart too, but not often, because it is a 75 mile round trip to get there!
First off let me say that we go shopping ONCE A MONTH for groceries and that my budget is UNDER $200! When you figure the math for 4 people you might think that it is IMPOSSIBLE, but it is NOT! $200/4 weeks in a month, is $50 per week. $50/7 days in a week is $7.14 per day. $7.14/3 meals a day $2.38 per meal. $2.38/ 4 people is $0.60 per serving! Keep in mind that we do have some game meat in the freezer, deer & moose. We also will purchase meat with extra cash if we have it & if there is a great price (like getting boneless skinless chicken breast for $1.19/lb one day) & we will put it in the freezer. I only buy meat on sale, so what is on sale is what we eat! Now what you see below is our actual receipts, & I will go into the details of them in a moment. I went to Save A Lot and Shop n Save this month, sometimes I end up going to Walmart too, but not often, because it is a 75 mile round trip to get there!
I spent $141.32 at Save A Lot and $40.13 at Shop n Save.
I will start with Shop n Save because it is a smaller amount, but this is stuff that I couldn't find at Save A Lot. (the babyfood is for a baby that I watch sometimes, wanted to make sure she had some snacks/meals here too!)
Gerber Graduates Chicken Noodle $1.29
Gerber Graduates Mac and Cheese $1.29
Gerber Graduates Blueberry and Cream 2 @1.59/e $3.18*COUPON*
Newmans Own Sockaroni Sauce $1.99
Hannafords Parm/Romano Cheese $2.99
International Delights Iced Coffee $3.69*COUPON*
MIO Strawberry Watermelon $3.99*COUPON*
CoffeeMate Coffee Creamer $3.49
Yoplait Yogurts 6@$0.67/e $4.02-COUPON*
Hannafords Shredded Mozzarella (4cup bag) $4.69
Hannafords Little Muchers baby snacks $1.89
Granny Smith Apples (3lb bag) $4.49
Navel Oranges (4lb bag) $4.99
Acai/chocolate protein drink $2.99*COUPON*
Bottle Deposit $0.05
**COUPONS**
Mio $1.00 off
Gerber $0.50 off
International delights iced coffee $1.00 off
Yoplait $0.40 off
Acai/chocolate drink $2.00 off
TOTAL $40.13
Coupon savings $4.90 which is a savings of 12.21%
Now for Save A Lot, now they are backward and the coupon amounts are at the TOP of the receipt!
**COUPONS**
$5.00 off total purchase (store coupon from their email newsletter)
$0.50 off 2 Fruit Roll Ups
$1.00 off 2 Starbucks Frappacinos
Chocolate Chip Granola bars 10 pack 2 @ $2.50/e $5.00
Bananas 2.19lbs @ $0.52/lb $1.14
Boneless pork loin, whole 3.98lbs @ $2.29/lb $9.11
Banquet Chicken Nuggets $4.00
Banquet Chicken Patties $3.99
Chocolate Fudge Frosting $1.39
Shredded Cheddar Cheese 3 bags @$0.99/e $2.97
Kraft Easy Mac 2 boxes @ $2.59/e $5.18
Starbucks Frappacino 2 @$1.99/e $3.98 *COUPON*
Bottle Deposit $0.10
Fresh Strawberries $3.99
Fruit Roll ups, 2 @ $1.99/e $3.98 *COUPON*
Store Brand Fruity Cereal $2.99
Canned Green Beans 10 @ $0.59/e $5.90
Cottage Cheese $2.19
Sour Cream $1.59
Green Peppers 3 @ 2/$1.49 $2.24
Store brand Poptarts 2 @ $0.99/e $1.98
Taco Bell Taco Kits 2 @1.89/e $3.78
Honey Ham Sandwich meat $2.49
Carnation Instant Breakfast $5.49
Lemons 2 for 99cents $0.99
Limes 3 for 99cents $0.99
Shredded Mozzarella 2 @ $0.99/e $1.98
Neapolitan ice cream $2.49
Turkey Sandwich meat $2.49
Bowtie pasta $1.19
Pepperoni Pizza Lunchables 4 @ $1.00/e $4.00
Sliced Pepperoni $2.69
Ramen Noodles 2 12pks @ $1.88/e $3.76
Reddi Whip $1.99
Roma Tomatoes 0.98lbs @ $1.69/lb $1.65
Salmon $5.99
Salt $0.45
Curly Fries $2.59
Store Brand Poptarts 2 @ $0.99/e $1.98
Ritz Crackers $1.99
Spaghetti 3 @ $.88/e $2.64
Strawberry Life Water 3 @ $0.99/e $2.97
Bottle Deposit $0.15
Sugar $2.29
Canned Tomato Sauce 24 @$0.29/e $6.96
Blade Steaks 1.84lbs @ $3.56/lb $7.16
Turkey Bacon $2.49
Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing 3 @ $0.88/e $2.64
Total: $141.32
Coupons: $6.50 which is 4.6% savings
Now sure there are some "guilty pleasures" in there, the Starbucks drinks (I drank one while I was out shopping and one the next day) and the Iced Coffee (lasted almost 2 weeks!) but, if we dont treat ourselves and our families than we suffer for it. The fruit roll ups and granola bars go to school with the kids for snack. And the Ramen noodles... while generally frowned upon are currently 5yr old Melly-Beans favorite quick lunch after school... so.... we will take what works! The Easy Mac and lunchables also a quick lunch for those days when there isn't time for a "real" lunch. The Carnation Instant Breakfast is my between meal snack some days because it is rather filling. Oh and the Frosting and Ice Cream were for a birthday party!
From this trip I have enough to feed my family for the entire month, because last month I got a deal on chicken and hamburger so that is already in the freezer. Also you will notice that some things like green beans and tomato sauce I bought a lot of, those will last a couple months.