Grocery Budget 101

Another week, another grocery trip.  This week I lucked out and was otherwise occupied, therefore Alex was all alone for this week's shopping.  On Saturday we planned our meals and grocery list together.  But after church on Sunday I escaped to my baby shower, and Alex tackled Wal-Mart all on his own.

Don't forget to check out my Pinterest page for this week's recipes.

After deciding what meals we would eat each night, we compiled our list of groceries based on what we had on hand, and what ingredients each recipe called for.

I was nervous this week.  Our list was quite long, and we are hosting a party on Saturday, so I wasn't sure how we would make out.  Not to mention I went way over budget last week.  Immediately after writing my budget post on Thursday, I ran out to Earthfare to grab Tempeh and Seitan and wound up spending close to $50!  This is why we shop at Wal-Mart!  Earthfare adds up fast, but to be fair, I picked up the ingredients to make homemade deodorant and it got pretty pricey!

Needless to say I was very anxious to find out what our damage was the minute Alex picked me up from the baby shower.  And the verdict is...$55!  Yup, just $55 for all of that.  The only items he wasn't able to find at Wal-Mart were carob chips and chile peppers.  So for $55 we will eat well every single day and host a party for many of our friends on Saturday.  I call that a budget success.  If we can keep this up for two more weeks we might still come in under budget for October!

If you are working on your own grocery budget and have considered using Wal-Mart to price match here is our little tip:

Bring a pen and stack of Post-its with you to Wal-Mart.  When you pick up an item that will be price matched, on the Post-it write the amount and the store where you found the deal and stick it to that item.  As you are checking out, save all your price matches to the end of the conveyer belt.  This will make your checker's job much quicker and smoother as you check out.  Trust me, those behind you in line will also appreciate this!  Remember, you do not have to bring the sale flyer, you just need to know the prices and what store they came from.  Also, Buy One Get One deals do not work for price matching unless the sale add specifically says how much each item costs.

Happy budgeting! Happy shopping!

By the way, if you are keeping track, so far we have spent $181 this month.  That means we only have $119 left to spend.  Wish us luck for the next two weeks!