Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

Groceries from Walmart, BiLo, & Ingles

I didn’t have my act together enough last week to post pictures of my grocery shopping trip so I made a point even though this week was crazy to squeeze it in again.  When I stay on track with posting my grocery budget tends to do better too.  Earlier this week my husband informed me that we no longer had any bacon in the house so I picked up a couple packs for him.  🙂  This week I mainly stocked up on some fresh produce and bacon.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

Walmart Groceries:

• $2.61 at Walmart for 1 pack of Carolina Pride Bacon

BiLo Groceries:

• $6.46 at BiLo for 1 pack Smoked Sausage, 1 pack Southern Home Bacon, and 1 container Southern Home Spread (everything purchased at BiLo was on sale this week.)

Ingles Groceries:

• $18.93 at Ingles for 1bag Laura Lynn Tortilla Corn Chips (sale), 1 bag Laura Lynn Potato Chips (sale), 1 pack Laura Lynn Hamburger Buns , 1 loaf Laura Lynn Sandwich Bread, 1.25 pounds White Grapes, 1.55 pounds Red Grapes, 1 bag Yellow Apples (5 pounds), 1 container fresh Mushrooms, 1 container Idaho Bleu Cheese, 1 container Avocado Dip, 1 container fresh Strawberries, 1 container fresh Tomatoes, and 1 bag Fresh Express Caesar Salad. (Everything I purchased at Ingles was either on sale or marked down.  All the produce was marked down to 99 cents to $1.49 as you can see from the bright green stickers.)
  

This week I spent $28.00  on groceries.   I went under on the budget this week.  I am not sure how I did it but somehow I managed to spend money at three stores and end up with an even amount (that doesn’t happen very often).  Hopefully that is a sign that it will be a good grocery month for us.  I was happy to get some produce deals and stock back up on bacon for my hubby.  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.