Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

It has been a busy week and I realized that when the entire family makes a “quick” trip to the grocery store after church on Sunday the items add up much quicker.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

 Ingles Groceries:

• $16.37 at Ingles for 2 containers Sour Cream, 2 bags Mini Bagels, 2 bags Corn Tortilla’s, 5 boxes Yogurt (4 count each), 1 container 93% Lean Ground Beef, 1 container 86% Lean Ground Beef, 1 bag Red Potatoes, 1 bag Golden Apples, and 1 bag Fresh Snow Peas.  (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down or on clearance including the produce, meat and diary!)

BiLo Groceries:

• $22.29 at BiLo for 1 can Del Monte Tomatoes, 2 cans Blackeye Peas, 2 cans Northern Beans, 1 gallon Milk, 1 family pack Cube Steak, 1 gallon Apple Cider, and 1 bag Kaiser Rolls. (Received $0.15 in bag credit for bringing reusable bags to BiLo)

Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:

• $1.00 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 1 bag Hamburger Buns (8 count).

This week I spent $39.66 on groceries.  Even though I was barely under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come under budget.  The whole family went with me on my trip to BiLo so we got a few “extra” items.  Thankful for an opportunity to stock up on several items even though I was cutting it really close 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.