Wednesday, May 2, 2012

May grocery challenge

Over the last few months I have been trying to save money at the grocery store. So far, my out of pocket expenses haven't come down TOO much, but by using coupons and price matching, I have been able to spend (roughly) the same amount of money but get MORE product.

Yesterday, May 1st I gave myself a challenge. I am going to try and spend $400.00 or LESS in the month of May on groceries. This is for a family of 4, with 1 child in diapers.  I will not be breaking it to a weekly amount as I will be doing a costco run for our meat and that can add up.

I have started an excel spreadsheet to keep track of everything - and will be updating weekly - please wish me luck!



20 comments:

  1. Good luck! I've been trying to put together a household budget but I'm still not there. You're my inspiration though to track my grocery spending.

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    1. I don't have a household budget - I have tried a few times and it just never works out...Good luck!

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  2. Good luck!! I always try and plan but then make so many quick stops during the week I wreck the budget

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    1. that used to be my downfall too. Now, I make out my list - I usually go twice (the 2nd is to pick up more fruit as it either doesn't last or goes bad)

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  3. Oh good luck! It's so hard to save $$ with the cost of living these days especially food which IMO should be way cheaper at least for the basic food groups. Coupons are great every cent counts!

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    1. I agree about every cent counts - it really does add up - and a few cents here and there don't seem like a big deal - but when you add that over 1 year it could sometimes pay a bill

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  4. Oh my! Good luck m'dere. I think we stay $150/week and we do pretty good. That's also including gas so, it's quite possible. :)

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    1. If that includes your gas then that is awesome!

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  5. Good luck! I spend about $200 a week with my family of four and a bit less if I did a Costco run earlier in the month!

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    1. If you figure costco in - our weekly used to be approx $170.00. I did manage to get that down a bit by PM and coupons - but the money was going a lot further than before - like 7-10 extra products I wouldn't normally buy

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  6. Yes good luck! I need some serious tips on lowering our bill!

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    1. Check back on Mondays - I am writing a series called "money saving mondays"

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  7. Wishing you luck! I wish we could learn to spend less. DH does the grocery shopping though and always buys extras, especially if stuff is on sale.

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    1. don't get me started on DH and grocery shopping - the odd time he does it he comes home $200-$250 spent and half the food never gets eaten

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  8. Good luck! Let us know what works! Though for the diapers... I'd recommend taking that $400 you save and buying cloth diapers. We used diapers for 3 years (wore them out, actually) and I can't believe how expensive diapers are! I hate buying disposables, but I don't want to buy a new set of cloth diapers when my daughter is 2 and almost potty training. :)

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  9. We're a family of 4 and 'make do' on less than $400..you can do it!

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  10. Oh you've inspired me! I even attended a couponing seminar and learned all the tricks to saving money, but haven't put them to use yet - I think it's time I did!

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    1. Good luck - it is a little addicting at seeing how much you can save!

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