Another week of doing Groceries $40 for 4.  It was a busy week but I was able to stock up on some items for our pantry. I mainly stocked up on non-perishable products this week.  Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

Groceries from Sav-Mor’s Sidewalk Box Sale:

• $14.00 at Sav-Mor for the following items
• 4 – Rustic Crust Thin Pizza Crusts
• 3 – Maxwell House Coffees (11 oz each)
• 2 – General Mills Whole Grain Total Cranberry Crunch Cereal (15 oz each)
• 4 – Organic Seeds of Change Rice
• 3 – General Mills Yogurt Burst Whole Grain Strawberry Cheerios Cereal (12.2 oz each)
• 1 – Kelloggs Fruit Loops Cereal (8.7 oz)
• 2 – Post Cupcake Pebbles Cereal (11 oz each)
• 4 – Lipton Soup Secrets – Chicken Noodle Soup
• 2 – Malt O Meal Cereals (18 oz) Frosted Mini Spooners
• 1 – Vanilla Almond Flax Plus Granola Cereal (11.5 oz)
• 1 – Philsbury Sugar Free Vanilla Frosting (15 oz)
• 2 – Philsbury Sugar Free Chocolate Frosting (15 oz each)
• 2 – Enjoy Life Double Chocolate Brownie Cookies
• 1 – Kraft Macroni & Chesse Homestyle
• 1 – Philsbury Easy Frosting (13.5 oz) Velvety Cream Cheese
• 1 – Laura Lynn Strawberry Syrup
• 1 – Playtex Coolster Kids Cup
• 1 – Grey Poupon Mustard
• 1 – Vegetarian Chili
• 1 – French’s Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
• 2 – Sugar Free Peep Packs (3 Peeps per pack)
• 1 – A1 Marinade New Orleans Cajon (16 oz)
• 3 – Reese Sour Cocktail Onions (8 oz each)
• 3 – Paas Easter Egg Decorating Kits
• 17 – Easter Window Clings (14 to 29 pieces each)
• 1  – General Mills Fiber One Frosted Shredded Wheat (15.1 oz)
• 1 – Barbara’s Puffins Cereal (10 oz)
• 1 – Kellogg’s Special K Blueberry (11.4 oz)
• 1 – General Mills Total Blueberry Pomegranate (15 oz)
• 2 – Kellog’s Whole Grain Strawberry Poptarts (14.1 oz / 8 count each)
• 2 – Woven Wheats (9.5 oz)
• 5 – Lindsay Black Olives (6.5 oz each)
• 3 – Nestle Nesquick Chocolate Milk (4 count each)
• 1 – Vivarin
• 3 – DeBoles Rice Spaghetti Pasta
• 2 – Smuckers Toppings – Caramel
• 2 – Smuckers Toppings – Hot Fudge
• 1 – Smuckers Toppings – Apple Cinnamon
• 1 – Smuckers Mix Fruit Jelly
• 3 – Enjoy Life Cocoa Chewy Bars (5 count each)
• 1 – Cascadian Farms Organic Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (6 count each)
• 2 – Cascadian Farms Organic Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Granola Bars (6 count each)
• 1 – Tabasco Habanero Hot Sauce
• 2 – David’s Sunflower Seeds (6 count each)
• 1 – David’s Sunflower Seeds (14.5 oz)
• 1 – David’s Sunflower Seeds (5.25 oz)
• 6 – Easy Kraft Mac n Cheese
• 1 – Zatarain’s Horse Radish (5.25 oz)
• 5 – Atkins Smores Bars
• 2 – Zone Perfect Dark Chocolate Cookies n Cream Bars
• 1 – Luna Nutz Over Chocolate Bar
• 1 – Ortega Taco Seasoning Mix
• 2 – Old Bay Crab Cake Mix
• 1 – Lemon Pepper Seafood Mix
• 1 – Grilling Seasons Mesquite Barbecue Marinade
• 4 – Grilling Seasons Stead Marinade
• 7 – Mayacamas Skillet Toss Miss
• 1 – Knorr Roasted Pork Gravy
• 1 – Knorr Cream of Spinach Mix

At Sav-Mor I spent $14.00 for 133 items making the cost 10 cents per item.  Considering only a few of these items put together are worth $14 I am excited to get some of these to help restock our pantry.  The Sav-Mor sale is an adventure but you can really get your money’s worth in a matter of minutes.  You can learn more information about this sale at Living on a Budget: Sav-Mor Sidewalk Box Sale.  It really does help stretch your budget when you have a store in the area that does great sales.

Groceries from Publix:

• $19.08 at Publix for 6 ears of Fresh Corn, 1 Fresh Cantelope, Hotdog Buns, Hamburger Buns, Teddy Grahams, 2 containers of Cottage Cheese, 4 sets of Idaho Potatoes, Lasagne Noodles, Planters Nut Mix, 2 packs of McCormick Enchilada Mix, Publix Ice Cream, Nabisco Snack Pack, and Zesty Herb Marinade. Plus since I spent $25 in groceries (it was $27 before using coupons and taking discounts) I was able to get a $50 Shell Gas Card for $40, saving me $10 the next time I fill up the van.

Groceries from WalMart:

• $11.41 at WalMart for Fresh Tomatoes, Fresh Cucumber, Ground Hamburger (1 lb), Fresh Mushrooms, Asiago Cheese Bread, Whole Wheat French Bread, and Italian Sesame Bread (all the breads were on clearance).

I am excited to be back doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget again.  This week I spent $44.49 on groceries.  Even though I went over the budget by $4.49 I was still able to stock up on several items.  Thankfully I had a little bit left over from previous weeks to cover the extra amount.  The box sale helped us restock our pantry plus we had several extra meals we were doing this week which resulted in some more food.  Hopefully next week I will do better and keep it under $40.

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.