• Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    I didn’t get a post up last week with birthday celebrations and Thanksgiving taking up extra time.  I sent Jake to the store with a list of items to pick up and he came home with a few “extras” and I was told that they were for my birthday so they shouldn’t count in the normal weekly budget.  He did get everything on the list and the few extra items were delicious (shrimp, corn on the cob, etc….) .  I am back to a more regular routine this week.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Walmart and Ingles

    Walmart Groceries:

    • $21.40 at Walmart for 2 packs Yeast, 1 gallon of milk, 1 bag Purple Grapes, 1 bag Apples, 2 bottles Ocean Spray Juice, 2 bags Bread, and 1 bag Chicken.

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $7.74 at Ingles for 2 containers Strawberries, 1 box Wholly Guacamole, 1 container Mushrooms (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance except the strawberries because they were for a new Mom’s dinner I was delivering this week.)
    Groceries from BiLo and Walgreens

     BiLo Groceries:

    • $3.27 at BiLo for 1 gallon of milk. (Somehow my family managed to drink a whole gallon in a day this week so I had to go back and get some more!)

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $0.18 at Walgreens for 2 boxes of Brown Sugar after coupons.

    This week I spent $32.59 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 and to recover a little bit from last weeks birthday and Thanksgiving celebrations.  This week I had the privilege of taking meals to two new Moms and meet their little ones, what a blessing children are in our lives!  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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    The week packed full to the point of over flowing on most days.  I was trying to mainly just keep my head above water most days this week.  Thankfully I was able to find some deals early in the week and was able to stock up on some items for upcoming Holiday celebrations.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $32.88 at Ingles for 1 bag Laura Lynn Bread, 3 bags Laura Lynn Shredded Cheese, 4 blocks Laura Lynn Sharp Cheddar, 1 box Go Gurt Yogurt Tubes (8 count), 1 bag Laura Lynn Splenda Sweetener, 1 can Canola Cooking Spray, 1 bag Laura Lynn Mini Marshmallows, 4 boxes Blue Bonnet Margarine, 2 bags Idahoan Bake Potatoes, 1 can Heavy Whip Cream, 2 containers Planters Creamy Peanut Butter, 2 boxes Laura Lynn Cream Cheese, 1 bag Celery, 1 can Laura Lynn Pumpkin, 1 bag All Purpose Flour, 1 bag Dixie Granulated Sugar, 1 box Powdered Sugar, 1 box Brown Sugar, 1 box Pilsbury Funfetti Cake Mix, 1 container Cool Whip, 2 cans Rotel Diced Tomatoes with Chili Peppers, 1 bag Red Delicious Apples, and 1 Yellow Sweet Onion. (Everything I bought this week at Ingles was on sale, marked down, or on clearance including the diary and produce!  I used several coupons to help bring down the total on this shopping trip and it was still a little higher than I like it to be, but with all the Holiday Celebrations we needed to stock up on some items.)
    Groceries from Walgreens

    Walgreens Groceries:

    • $3.93 at Wlagreens for 2 packs Austin Peanut Butter Crackers (8 count), 1 pack Austin Cheddar Cheese Crackers (8 count), 1 jar Lindsey Green Olives, 2 gallons Milk, 1 can Wasabi Almonds, 1 can Butter Toffee Peanuts, and 1 can Peanuts. (I used a $3 off 10 coupon since it was a new location, a couple Register Rewards, and coupons to help pay for these items).

    This week I spent $36.81 on groceries.  Even though I only a little under on my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items.  The items at the new Walgreens new us were pretty good it was worth it to stock up the pantry at those prices.  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.

  • Living on a Budget: Groceries $40 for 4

    We were back to traveling again for part of the week so it was more of a challenge getting the grocery shopping trip into the schedule.  It was our last family trip before the kids go back to school which included some work, exploring the area and going to the beach.  Here is my weekly update on our Groceries $40 for 4.

    Groceries from Ingles and BiLo

    Ingles Groceries:

    • $13.37 at Ingles for 4 boxes Fiber One Strawberry Yogurt (4 count each), 4 boxes Danimals Yogurt Strawberry / Vanilla / Peach (6 count each), 1 Broccoflower (part Broccoli and part Cauliflower), 2 bags of Sugar Snow Peas, 1 container of Grapefruit Juice, 2 bags Broccoli Coleslaw and 2 chunky mild Guacamole Dips.  (all the items were marked down on clearance for $0.50 to $0.99 or on sale plus I used a couple coupons from the yogurt boxes)

    BiLo Groceries:

    • $3.52 at BiLo for 1 gallon of Milk.  (BiLo has the best prices in our area for milk, plus if you bring your own bag they will give you 5 cents off per bag you use, of course I forgot my bag in the van when I ran into get the milk real quick).

    This week I spent $16.89 on groceries.  Even though I was under my budgeted amount for the week I was able to stock up on several items on clearance plus I will have a little extra left over for upcoming weeks.    I hope that next week is an even better week and we can come under budget for the week even though we will have out of town guests staying with us for a few days.

    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

    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.