• Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    Another week of doing Groceries $40 for 4. I was able to stock up on some items for our pantry so we should be good for awhile now. Most of the items I stocked up were non-perishable products this week.  A lot of the items we picked up will be great for the upcoming road trips we have this summer!  Below are my grocery shopping adventures for the week!

    Walgreens Grocery Deals!

    Groceries from Walgreens:

    • $2.71 at Walgreens for 2 Pure Bottle Water Packages (24 count each), 4 Sugar Free Strawberry Jello, 1 Sugar Free Orange Jello, 1 Walgreens Cashew Halves, 1 Celsius Ice Tea, 1 Arizona Tea with Blueberry, 1 Arizona Tea with Pomegranate, 1 Arizona Tea with Raspberry, 1 Arizona Tea with Lemon, and 1 Illy Cappucino Coffee Drink.   With upcoming road trips and hot months these will come in handy.  I spent $2.71 but received $5 in Register Rewards back to use on future purchases.

    Walmart, Dollar Tree, and Save A Lot | Riteaid Groceries

    Groceries from Walmart:

    • $0.90 at Walmart for French Bread on Clearance

    Groceries from Dollar Tree:

    • $1.01 at Dollar Tree for 1 loaf of Nature’s Own Whole Wheat Bread

    Groceries from Save A Lot | Riteaid:

    • $21.64 at Save A Lot | Riteaid for 1 Whole Chicken on clearance, 5 packs of Hotdogs ($0.69 each), 1 bag of Carrots, 1 package String Cheese, 1 block of Sharp Cheddar Cheese, 1 can Pringles, 1 package of fresh Mushrooms (on clearance), 2 Ham Lunchables, 1 bag Red Delicious Apples, 1 bag Granny Smith Apples

    I am excited to be doing our Groceries $40 for 4 budget.  This week I spent $26.26 on groceries.  Even though I was under budget I was still able to stock up on a couple items.  Thankfully I was able to keep the amount within reason and I was able to have a extra left over for those weeks when I find a really good deal or go a little over.  I am grateful for the coupons and Register Rewards I was able to use this week on the few items I purchased.

    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.

  • Walgreens: Spent $5 and Got $1.50 Back

     

    Deals at Walgreens!

    I went to Walgreens to stock up on some of their deals this week.  I spent $5.85 including tax at Walgreens this week for health and beauty purchases and received $1.50 Register Rewards back from that visit to use towards my next purchase at Walgreens.  For those of you who haven’t used Walgreens Register Rewards or Rebates here’s what I got.

    • 2 – Walgreens Pantiliners for $0.50 each (total of $1.00)
    • 1 – Walgreens Gallon Storage Bags with Zipper (20 count) for $1.89
    • 1 – Walgreens Quart Freezer Bags with Zipper (20 Count) for $1.89
    • 1 – Walgreens Sandwich Bags with Zipper (50 Count) for $1.89
    • 1 – Goody’s Extra Strength Headache Medicine (6 count) for $1.50

    The total was over $5 with tax before using discounts & coupons.  Here are the coupons I used on the five items.

    • Used $2.40 Walgreens Bag Coupon for the 3 Boxes
    • Used $0.98 Walgreens Pantyliner Coupon for the 2 Bags

    I received $1.50 ECB’s and Rebates back today:

    • $1.50 Register Rewards for Goody’s Product

    Walgreen’s Register Rewards will expire two weeks from the date they are printed so you will need to make sure to use them before their expiration date.  I always keep the ones that are expiring the soonest on top of the stack to make sure to use them first.

    Another important fact regarding Walgreen’s Register Rewards you will need to know if you haven’t used them before is you can only use 1 coupon per item.  If you use a manufacturer’s coupon for every item you are purchasing you will not be able to use any Register Reward for that transaction.   If you do have a coupon for each item then check Walgreen’s weekly ad because they will have items on sale each week for pennies up to $1 that you can use as “filler” items but they won’t raise your total too much.  Once you get started using coupons and rewards you may discover, like I did, how to purchase many of your health and beauty items for nothing or very little.  Since using coupons and reward programs I rarely pay full price for any of our health and beauty items plus I usually have extra to share with guests visiting us or to give away.

    For those of you who shop regularly at Walgreens I encourage you to share how you were able to save this week!  Although the weekly ad sales are similar every family and situation is different so you may have found items better suited to your household.  In your comment please feel free to share a link to your blog article showing us how you were able to save at Walgreens.