If you are following along on my $50 a month grocery challenge, here are the stats for January: I started the month with $50 cash. I spent $34.69 cash out of pocket. I now have $38.31 left ($15.31 in cash and $23 in Rite Aid UPS Rewards).I'm very satisfied with the results.
What I didn't spend in January I will carry over into February, which will give me a nice reserve. I am thankful for this reserve because I already know of at least two times in the next two months when I need to go out to dinner, and that will certainly impact my budget.
I believe I bought a good assortment of food, a lot of it was even healthy. I got lucky this month with some great Rite Aid deals, too (like the 30 boxes of nearly free cereal). Below is all the food I bought this month. I am including restaurant food that I paid for, either directly or with a coupon; I am not including restaurant meals that others bought me.
• whole rotisserie chicken
• 1 lb bacon
• 2 tins of sardines
• 1 pound of hamburger meat
• 1 dozen eggs
• 5 lbs potatoes
• 1.85 lbs bananas
• 2 lbs pears
• 1 lb broccoli
• 2 lbs Roma tomatoes
• 2 heads lettuce
• 1.85 lbs bananas
• 2 lbs pears
• 1 lb broccoli
• 2 lbs Roma tomatoes
• 2 heads lettuce
• 1 can green beans
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 can of sliced mushrooms
• 1 32 oz. jug of apple juice
• 2 gallons of skim milk
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese
• 8 oz. mozzarella cheese
• 1 container of sour cream
• 1 big jar of Mayo• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 2 cans of tomato soup
• 2 cans of tomato soup
• 30 boxes of Special K cereal (I kept 12, and donated 18)
• 2 bags of pretzels
• 1 can of almonds
• 1 package flour tortillas
• 1 jar Italian seasoning
• 1 jar Italian seasoning
• 1 Hormel meal
• 1 box of mac and cheese
• 1 box of mac and cheese
• 1 jar of Ketchup
• 5 Cadbury Cream Eggs (I love these things!)
• 1 container of Edy's chocolate PB chunk ice cream
• spicy chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A (free with coupon)
• spicy chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A (free with coupon)
• Jamocha shake from Arby's (free with coupon)
• Coldstone Creamery ice cream (free with coupon)
• Coldstone Creamery ice cream (free with coupon)
How much did you spend on food this month? Do you want to join me in February for another $50 (per person) grocery challenge?
Looks good! We recently adjusted our grocery budget up, so I now have $340 a month to work with, for a family of five :) I just got a Costco membership, so that's really going to help!
ReplyDeleteI am totally impressed with everything you bought this month on your limited budget. I so wish I only spent $50.00 a month on groceries.
ReplyDeleteCount me as impressed as well - less than $50 AND you donated food! And I also envy your Cadbury Creme Eggs. They are my favorite Easter candy, but haven't had one in a couple of years.
ReplyDeleteI spent under $200 for a family of 6 budget shopping.
ReplyDeleteWe did a $50 grocery budget too. We made it with $2.98 to spare. It was a fun challenge and I used up a lot of stuff in the freezer that might have gone to waste otherwise.
ReplyDeleteGreat shopping trip. My goal has been to cut back on my weekly grocery trip. trying for $20.00 less spent. Have not made the $20.00 but have spent about $13.00 less a week this goes into the savings account.
ReplyDeleteThat's impressive, to spend so little on food in a month. We won't need to discuss my expenditures, only to say that they're quite a bit higher:) Nevertheless, I had a few good moves this past month.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteI would like to know how you only spend $39 a month for groceries. I have a family of 7; my husband and I and 5 boys between the ages of 20 and 12. We are trying to live on a budge of $300-$350 a month. I thought that was good for our large family.
ReplyDeleteCan you give me any suggestions on how to slim my budget even more? I have 2 kids that don't like cheese so that makes it a little harder at times to make cheaper meals. Email - klbeck1@ptd.net
Mine like rice and that is cheap!
DeleteI am doing a $50 grocery challenge for my family of 4. Come on over and link up at www.spendwise.org if you are interested.
ReplyDeleteThere are 2 full-time members in my house plus 2 dogs. The kids come only on weekends (Friday after school thru Sunday night). I knew we were overspending when we spent over $90 when they came over. Kids don't eat a lot, they just want to eat what they like.. I'm not sure if I can do this $50/per person a month thing if they are not always here. It would be $200 a month if they were here full time...and right now we are at $340. It used to be $1,000... b/c we were buying name brand stuff... but now we quit. We are still working to reduce our expenses considering we also pay child support and mortgage and bills. Would you say $200/mo would be ideal or no?
ReplyDelete