• Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I took time this week to spend reading, playing and hanging out with my girls.  They will be going back to school soon so I wanted to spend more time with them.   Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from the Sav Mor Sidewalk Box Sale!

    Sav Mor Box Sale Groceries – spent $14.00 at Sav More Sidewalk Box Sale

    • 4 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Salt & Pepper (14 oz each)
    • 2 General Mills Corn Chex Cereal (14 oz each)
    • 2 Enviro Kids Organic Peanut Butter Panda Puffs
    • 1 Laura Lynn Deluxe Moist Yellow Cake Mix
    • 1 Fantastic Vegetarian Chili
    • 1 Milton’s Corn Bread Crackers
    • 3 Milton’s Everything Multi Grain Crackers
    • 2 Milton’s Whole Wheat Graham Crackers
    • 5 Laura Lynn Deep Dish Pizza Crust (each package had 2 pizza at 11.3 oz each)
    • 1 Laura Lynn Thin Pizza Crust (each package had 2 pizza at 7.4 oz each)
    • 2 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Buffalo Bleu (9 oz each)
    • 1 Kettle Krinkle Cut Chips Sweet Onion (9 oz each)
    • 1 Fiber One Complete Pancake Mix
    • 1 Hefty Gallon Bags (13 count)
    • 6 Knorr Pesto Sauce Mix
    • 1 Kraft Mac & Cheese Family Size (14.5 oz)
    • 1  Annie’s Organic Rotini Pasta with 4 Cheese Sauce
    • 1 Late July Organic Bite Size Cheddar Cheese Crackers
    • 1 Sorbee Sugar Free Eat Rite Be Fit Chocolate Syrup (18 oz)
    • 1 Starkist Chunk Light Tuna (5 oz)
    • 1 Bremner Waffer Crackers (4 oz)
    • 1 Thai Kitchen Roasted Garlic and Chili with Jasmine Rice
    • 7 Knorr Four Cheese Sauce Mix
    • 1 Kind Nut Delight Bar
    • 1 Knorr Roasted Pork Gravy
    • 1 Gulden’s Spicy Brown Mustard (12 oz)
    • 3 Wish Bone House Italian Dressing
    • 1 Glutino Gluten Free Organic Chocolate & Peanut Bars (16 oz)
    • 1 Organic Ville Sun Dried Tomato
    • 1 Kellogg’s Special K Double Chocolate Bar
    • 1 Crosset Blackwell Cocktail Crackers
    • 1 Duncan Hines Creamy Lemon Supreme Frostings
    • 1 Kool Aid Fun Fizz Partyin Punch
    • 2 Quaker Oatmeal to Go Maple Breakfast Bars
    • 1 Jiffy Golden Yellow Cake Mix
    • 1 Stewart Peppermint Candies (5 oz)
    • 5 Little Hugs Drinks
    • 4 McCormick Seafood Garlic Butter Steamers and Steam Bags
    • 1 pack Cupcake Liners
    • 1 Laura Lynn Straws (50 Count)
    • 1 Jello Vanilla Pudding
    • 1 Solo Mint Mania Bar
    • 4 boxes Band Aids plus Antibiotic (20 count each)
    • 2 SoyJoy Berry Bars
    • 3 boxes Band Aids Assorted Sizes
    • 1 box Russell Stover Fine Chocolates
    • 2 Nestle Juicy Juice Apple Raspberry Juice (64 oz each)
    • 1 Duncan Hines Double Fudge Brownies
    • 5 Fiber One Chocolate Bars
    • 24 Slim Fast Chew Chocolate Crisp Bars

    For more information on the Sav More Sidewalk Box Sale check out my post about the details on the sale.

    Groceries from Ingles!

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $25.84 at Ingles for 1 container diced Yellow Onions, 5 bags Sugar Snap Peas, 1 bag Pepperoni, 8 bags Shredded Cheese, 1 container Zuchinni and Summer Squash, 1 bag Potatoes, 1 bag Bananas and 4 packs of Activia Yogurt.  (all the items were marked down on clearance or on sale except the pepperoni)

    This week I spent $39.84 on groceries.  Even though I barely squeaked under my budgeted amount again for the week I was able to do it and stock up on several items on clearance.  I hope to have an even better week for my next update since it has been hard going under budget as we stock up for upcoming events with family in town for several days.  Thankful for an opportunity to stay within the budget for my family.  I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come way under budget for the week.  We had a gallon of frozen milk in the freezer we used up this week so that helped save us a little bit too.

    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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    This week was a little different doing our Groceries $40 for 4 because we were on the road for part of the week.   It was a great road trip with the family, we traveled over 40 hours in a week and were able to spend time with family during our trip.  Thankfully the girls travel well and slept well in the van.  I packed a lot of fun activities and snack food for the trip.  We came home to a house that was 90 degrees inside, clean, and had an empty fridge since we had eaten or packed pretty much all our perishables.  This week I spent most of the grocery budget on restocking items in our fridge and pantry.

    Groceries from Walgreens, Ingles, and BiLo

    Walgreen Groceries:

    • $4.07 at Walgreen’s for A & W Root Beer (2 liter), Domino Sugar, Betty Crocker Yellow Cake Mix, Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, Frito Lay Stax BBQ, Frito Lay Stax Original, Frito Lay Stax Sour Cream & Onion, Daisy Sour Cream, Cream Cheese, 4 packs of Ranch Flavored Sunflower Seeds (on clearance for $0.89 each, usually the best price I can get is $1.00 so stocked up on a these for upcoming road trips).   I used $10 in Register Rewards that were expiring this week to bring this total down to $4.

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $4.13 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread (on sale for $0.98), 30 packs Wylers Cherry Drink, 5 packs of Strawberry Cheesecake Yogurts (on clearance for $1.00 each), 1 package of Pork (reduced for quick sale), 1 box of Pretzel Lean Pockets (free with coupon), 6.5 pound bag of banana’s (clearance for $1.49),  4 packs of Raspberry Yogurt Covered Pretzel (on clearance for $0.99 each, normally $6.83 per pound), 1 package of Strawberries (on clearance), 1 package of sliced Mushrooms (on clearance), 1 package of whole Mushrooms (on clearance.  I used a gift card I had been given a few months ago for part of the amount and paid for the rest.  All of the items were on sale or clearance so it really was a great shopping trip to Ingles.

    BiLo Groceries:

    • $12.92 at BiLo for 1 gallon of Skim Milk, 1 gallon of 2% Milk, 1 bag of splenda Sugar (store brand and on sale), 1 bottle International Delight Coffee Creamer (free after coupon), 2 boxes of Banquet Pasta Carbonara (on closeout for $0.50 each). 

    I am excited to be back doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget again after our big road trip for the summer.  I was surprised to see the milk prices spike even more since I bought it last, however, I was pleased to get some great clearance items this week in my shopping trips, (especially at Ingles).   This week I spent $21.12 on groceries.  Even though I was under budget on my amount for the week  I was still able to stock up on several items.  Thankfully I was able to keep the amount within reason so I had little extra left over for those weeks when I find a really good deal or go a little over.  We were out of town for a part of this grocery week so it was a little different from our usual events.

    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.