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I am thankful for a weekly grocery budget on weeks like this past one.  Not only was it a busy week but I went over on my budget.  Looking back over the last several months I am amazed at how many groceries I am able to get for my family for a reasonable amount of money.  I used to think that having a $100 grocery bill was pretty good for our family, now if the grocery bill is above $20 or $30 that is a lot.  One of the main reason I do the weekly budget and update is to keep me accountable.  Like any goal in life some weeks you do well and other weeks…..well they just don’t go as planned.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

CVS Groceries:

• $0.09 at CVS for 1 bag of individual Teddy Grahams snacks (18 count), 2 bags of individual Pretzels snacks (24 count each), 3 bags of individual Rice Krispy Treats.  (All the items were on clearance after the Halloween Holiday and will come in handy for school and work lunches.  The Extra Care Bucks were a huge savings help and I only had to pay the tax amount.)

Ingles Groceries:

• $14.50 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 2 jugs Lemon Sweet Tea, 5 containers Cherry Chocolate Covered Pretzels, 2 containers Banana Split Mix, 3 containers California Dried Fruit Mix, 1 container Spicy Buffalo Nut Mix, and 1 bag Mini Pumpkins and Paint for Craft / Cooking.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance!)

Family Dollar Groceries:

• $0.50 at Family Dollar for 1 bag of individual Pretzel Snacks (8 count).  (These individual pretzel bags are perfect for school and work lunches, plus it saves on not having to buy baggies to put chips / pretzels into.  I was able to get these on clearance after Halloween.)

Save A Lot Groceries:

• $8.74 at Save A Lot for 1 bag Cinnamon Bagels, 1 bag Plain Bagels, 1 gallon Milk, and 1 family pack Cube Steaks.  (All the items I picked up at Save A Lot were on clearance, the milk was marked down to 99 cents.)

• $26.77 at Walmart for 1 bag Pepperoni, 2 Smithfields Ham Steaks, 1 block Borden Cheese, 1 block Cabot Cheese, 1 box Blue Bonnet Margarine, 1 bag Great Value Sugar, 1 bag Splenda Sugar Alternate, 1 box Little Hug Drink Barrels (This trip was taken with my family, we originally went into the store for black tights for the girls which they were sold out of.  Even though we did need some of these items it is amazing how quickly the total adds up when the items are not gotten on sale or clearance or with coupons.)

This week I spent $50.60 on groceries.  Even though I went over on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  It is weeks like these that make me even more grateful for the budget I have in place to help guide me.  I had a little extra in the wallet to cover the overage, but I really want to get back under the budgeted amount next week.  The Halloween Sales were amazing and the items I picked up on will be beneficial for our family for several months so it was worth a few dollars to stock up the pantry.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget.   Thankful for an opportunity to stock up on several items even though I was over this week!

It is my goal to give you regular updates on this budget section so you can celebrate the good weeks with me and thump me on the bad weeks!  As always you are welcomed to join the journey with me.  I would love to hear your story and how you are doing too.  The purpose of our family doing this it to watch our grocery spending while allowing us to feed our family, enjoy life, share with others, and yet stay on track with our budget.

Living on a Budget is a series of ways our family uses a budget to help keep us accountable with our finances.  Life doesn’t always go as planned.  We have used some of the ideas I will be sharing for years while others are ones we are just starting to implement as we continue finding ways to be creative and have fun with what we have been given.  Having a plan in place allows us the freedom to be smart with what we have been given, get more creative when it is a tight (week, month, year or a season) and when necessary live a much more simplified life.  A budget helps us stay on track so we have more opportunities to enjoy the many blessings we have been given as well as share what we have with others.  There is so much more to life than having all the stuff.  We may not have the newest or greatest items in our house, we drive used cars, and wear hand-me-down clothing…..however, if our family is taken care of and have love for each other and others we have more than all the riches in the world.