Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

Groceries from Walgreens, Kmart & Ingles

I was able to make a quite trip to the grocery store the early half of the week and pick up a few deals.  Then I went back later in the week to get a couple more items and ended up going over our weekly budget.  I need to clean out our pantry, fridge and freezer and coordinating the meals around what we already have in the house.    Here is our $40 for 4 grocery budget for this week.

Walgreens Groceries:

• $2.99 at Walgreens for 1 (24 pack) Water and 4 boxes Sugar Free Jello.

KMart Groceries:

• $2.00 at Walgreens for 2 bags Festive Red & Blue Chips (clearance)

Ingles Groceries:

• $23.65 at Ingles for 2 cans Enchilada Sauce, 2 bags Laura Lynn Bread (sale), 2 gallons Milk (sale), 1 package Lenders Bagels, 1 package Eckrich Polish Sausage (sale), Pork Roast (marked down), Crab Dip (marked down), 1 package Peaches & Apples (marked down), 1 Sweet Onion, and 1 bag Lettuce (marked down).

Groceries from Walmart & Walgreens

Walmart Groceries:

• $21.82 at Walmart for 2 cans Black Beans, 2 cans Diced Tomatoes with Chilies, 1 can Refried Black Beans, 1 jar Kosher Baby Dill Pickles, 1 container Mixed Berry Cream Cheese, 1 container Regular Cream Cheese, 1 bag Blueberry Bagels, 4 boxes Coke (12 packs, priced matched for $2.75 each) My husband likes to have an occasional soda so I like to restock when I can get 12 packs for under $3 that way we have some on hand for the evenings and weekends when he is home.

Walgreens Groceries:

• $2.99 at Walgreens for 1 gallon Milk.

This week I spent $53.45  on groceries.   I went over budget again this week.  Some of the items that I picked up this week will last us for a few weeks which will help with next weeks grocery trips.   The remaining amount in our grocery budget for next week is pretty low so I need to make sure to stay under budget and only purchase those items that we really need as well as eat items from our stock pile.   Hopefully next week we can come under budget and September will be a better month for us!

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.