It was a busy week but in between appointments I was able to make it to a couple stores.  I was able to stay under budget and stock up on some goodies, including produce and diary products!  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

Ingles Groceries:

• $10.03 at Ingles for 1 fresh Coconut, 1 container fresh Celery, 1 container fresh Mushrooms, 1 container fresh Cherry Tomatoes, 1 bag fresh Oranges (4 lbs), 1 package Summer Sausage (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance except the summer sausage which was a special treat I bought for my husband this week.  All the produce including the bag of oranges were marked down to 99 cents!)

Save A Lot | RiteAid Groceries:

• $22.74 at Save A Lot | RiteAid for 1 bag Bagels, 1 box Poptarts, 1 container Country Crock Spread, 1 box Mrs Freshley Chocolate Cupcakes, 1 container Cool Whip, 1 box Tropical Jr Pops, 2 boxes Yogurt Tubes, 4 cans Cream of Mushroom, 1 container Parmesan Grated Cheese, 1 can Pinneapple Chunks, 1 jar Salsa, 1 two liter Orange Crisp, 1 gallon Milk, 1 bag Carrots, 1 bag Grapefruit (3 lb), and 1 box Cream Cheese.  (All the items were on sale or clearance plus I used a couple of coupons!  The bagels, Mrs. Freshley Cupcakes, Tropical Jr Pops, and Yogurt Tubes were marked down to clearance “special today” prices.)

Walgreens Groceries:

• $0.49 at Walgreens for the grocery items – 4 boxes Baking Soda and 3 bags Chewy Spree Candy.  (The total for this entire purchase was $2.06 including tax for 30 items making it $0.07 per item which is how the 7 groceries items cost $0.49 at Walgreens this week.)

Kmart Groceries:

• $1.50 at Kmart for 1 box Saltines, 1 pack Orange Gatorade, and 1 box Ritz Crackers.  (Jake ended up getting sick this week so on my way home from a work appointment I stopped by Kmart to pick up some stuff for him.  Thankfully, I had a $5 Kmart Gift Card and all the items were on sale this week at Kmart).

CVS Groceries:

• $0.21 at CVS for the grocery items – 1 loaf Sara Lee Whole Wheat Bread, 1 loaf Sara Lee White Bread, and 1 box Candy Canes.  (The total for this entire purchase was $3.16 including tax for 42 items making it $0.07 per item which is how the 3 groceries items cost $0.21 at CVS this week.)

This week I spent $34.97 on groceries.  Even though I was only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on some items at the same time.  I did not anticipate my husband being sick but we had enough flex in the budget and hit the sales to cover the extra expense.  I hope that next week is better week and we can come under budget!

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.