I did a couple of things different on this trip - some good, some bad - and I think I have a new method to add to my madness.
First Thing: I did an inventory of our freezers. We have a regular freezer in our kitchen and a chest freezer in our garage. In our past few grocery trips I was buying meat for our planned meals, and freezing the extras as we went. Each trip I was also buying frozen veggies here & there. Not because we needed them, but I knew we would use them, at some point.
As it turned out, I ended up with enough extras so that I did not have to buy any meat or frozen veggies for the next two weeks. That's right. NO MEAT. And THAT is the most expensive part of our bill!
Second Thing: Since I didn't have to buy meat and thought it would be a quick & light trip, I decided to head to our local grocery store rather than drive the extra 30 minutes to Wal-Mart, where we've been going since we started this experiment.
So I had my meal plan for two weeks and my "food" list consisted of bread, milk, eggs, juice and some produce. There were a few little things - here & there - but the list was basic, and short. I thought this would be one of the quickest & easiest trips ever! Then I realized I was out of conditioner...and face wash...and hubby needed shaving cream... and the cat was out of food... and I needed dish soap...and if I didn't go shopping for two weeks we would run out of toilet paper...and tissues...and paper towels. Eeek! My list was getting very long - with some very expensive items. I knew it would be close, but I was thinking with so little food that everything would even out and I would hit my goal of $200. (Remember we're trying to spend a total of $400 for the month - $100 per person for the month - and only shop every other week.)
I headed to the store (alone!) and was pretty confident. On the way I remembered that we needed light bulbs, and hubby has been renovating our bathroom so there is a nice coating of sheetrock dust all over the house, so I should get some Swiffers to clean the floors up...and the baby managed to chew through 2 of her remaining 3 pacifiers...and then lost the last one. For all of us to keep our sanity, I knew I had to get more. But I still thought I could make our goal.
At this point, I should mention my Third Thing that I did differently. I went shopping between meals, but it was well past lunch and just before dinner. I was hungry. And at this point, am well into my 6th month of pregnancy. Oops.
The long & short of it - my total at the end of the trip was $222.46. Just shy of $23 over budget, and I figured out where each penny of it went - as follows:
- $5.00 - Cat Food. I bought the bigger bag of cat food, which is $5 more than I normally spend.
- $4.99 - Apple Cider. Oh how I adore cider season!! And since I have to have pasteurized, this was my first chance to get some delicious, local cider this season. (I bought it yesterday and 1/2 the gallon) is gone!
- $2.00 - Kiwi. We have plenty of apples & oranges and I was already planning on buying bananas, but when I saw them I was reminded that the sweetest little 2 year old has been asking for "kee-mee" for the last week, so I caved.
- $2.00 - Tuna. I bought 2 extra cans of tuna than I really needed.
- $3.58 - Cream cheese. I bought 2 extra. (I apparently have this fear that if I don't buy "extra" I may never find food again!)
- $2.99 - Light Bulbs. I bought 2 boxes, even though 1 probably would have been enough. (See. Told ya!) But I have always found that once one or two bulbs go, the rest tend to follow. So this falls under the category of being prepared!!
- $0.79 - Conditioner. I bought 2. (Really. I have a problem.)
- $1.19 - Pineapple. My daughter LOVES pineapple so I usually buy her a few cans. I knew we had 2 on the shelf and...for some reason...I bought her 1 more. Just in case!!
So...I'm over. By $22.54. Now - had I just put these items back, I would have been fine. But I didn't... so there we are. I would also like to think that if I had gone to Wal-Mart the prices on most of these items would have been a lot cheaper, meaning I would have ended up WELL under budget. C'est la vie.
The meal plan for these coming two weeks is posted under the Meal Plans tab and remember - I didn't have to buy any meat for the next two weeks. (Just imagine what I would have spent...or what we would have had to go without!)
For kicks & giggles, I will break down my grocery bill into food, non-food totals.
Taxable Non-Food SubTotal: $71.29
+ 5% Tax: $3.56
Taxable Non-Food Total: $74.85
Taxable Food SubTotal: $9.29
5% Tax Total: $0.47
Taxable Food Total: $9.76
Non-Taxable Food Total: $137.65
Bottle Deposit Total: $0.20
