November Personal Challenge Update

I'm going to bump this post up in case you weren't around over the holiday weekend when I declared my November personal challenge a success!

I have something else to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day. I know November isn't over yet, but I'm going to go ahead and call my challenge complete and a success. I have a fridge, freezer and pantry full of food that will carry us to the end of the month and beyond.

Here's what I've spent this week:

$22.82 at CVS (got 3 packs of Diapers + other items and received $17.99 in ECBs in this transaction! YAY!)
$11.42 at Wal-Greens
Total: $34.34

I had $37.54 left to spend
Minus $34.34
= $3.20 left in the $250 budget!

If you missed out on what the challenge was about, you can catch up on the post here. It was my goal to only spend $250 on groceries this month.

One thing that really helped me meet this goal were the rebates I received. I had sent off for several rebates in September/October and those came in this month. I decided that since the rebates were on grocery items I had bought in months past, I should apply the money to future groceries. So the rebates added over $20 to my grocery budget! So technically, I spent almost $270 this month BUT I didn't take more the $250 out of our budget. See how rebates can help?

Stay tuned over the next few days for my December personal challenge!

November Personal Challenge update

I have $116.47 left in my $250 grocery budget for this month.

I went to Aldi the other day and spent $41.15. I got 2 gallons milk, 2 loaves of bread, 3 meat items and a dozen different canned/dry items. Not too bad.

That left me with $73.52.

I went to Wal-Mart today and spent $37.78.
Pre-coupon price was $61.39 - after coupons was $31.64 and unfortunately in Alabama you have to pay tax on your PRE-coupon price so my tax was $6.14!!! Ridiculous.

Now I have $37.54 left in the grocery budget until the end of the month to stay within my goal of only spending $250 this month!!

I'm excited! I love saving money!!!

November Personal Challenge Update

I just updated my sidebar on my personal challenge. My challenge to myself this month was to feed our family on $250.

What does "our family" consist of?
- 2 adults
- 1 toddler
- 1 cat
- 1 dog

And "feed our family" is slightly incorrect. Because not only is food in the $250 but so is diapers, paper products, health & hygiene products too.

Is it possible for a family of 3 to make it on $25o for groceries? Well, lets see how I'm doing:

$250 budgeted to spend on groceries

Progress:
-20.21 at Aldi
-63.76 at Winn Dixie
+17.78 in rebate checks!
-30.72 at CVS
-11.64 at Wal-Greens
-12.75 at Target
+ 3.49 rebate check!
-15.72 at CVS

= $116.47 left to spend!!!

We are halfway through the month and I still have almost half my budget left to spend.

I think I'm doing pretty good. How about you?

November Personal Challenge Update

Okay, so here's where I stand with three more weeks in November left to go!

(Catch up on all my personal challenge posts here)

I had $166.03 left in my budget

I received $17.78 in rebates this week that I added to what I have to spend.

Unfortunately, we all took up sick with a cold in our household this week so I went to CVS where they were having a sale on select cold medicines (Buy $20, get $10 in ECBs). I also picked up a couple other must have things (all on sale with coupons) I spent $30.72 but I have $10 in RR to use during the rest of the month.

I spent $11.64 at Wal-Greens today.

$166.03
+17.78
-30.72
-11.64
=$141.45 left!

I know it seems like a lot that I've spent over $100 of my budgeted $250 the first week. But this included a massive amount of groceries I got at Winn-Dixie the first of the month. The first of the month is when I make my biggest grocery buy. And of course, $23 worth of cold medicines at CVS was a necessary buy that I hadn't planned on. But for the next couple weeks we will be relying heavily on our stockpile in the pantry and I won't be buying very much.

Check back often to see how I'm doing!

Winn-Dixie & personal challenge update...

I got a steal at Winn-Dixie today! I got $127.67 worth of groceries for $63.76!!!

That's a savings of $63.91!! I basically got a buggy load of groceries for HALF PRICE!

So here's my standing for my personal challenge this month:

$250.00 to spend on groceries
-20.21 at Aldi
-63.76 at Winn Dixie
= $166.03 left to spend on groceries in November.

It doesn't seem like much but I've got a pantry and freezer full of stuff to get us through.

While at Winn-Dixie today, I got a rotisserie chicken from the deli for $4.99.
I got a bag of Birdseye Steamfresh broccoli and rotini w/cheese for free with a coupon.
I got a bag of salad for 50c!
I added a pack of fresh mushrooms (bogo deal at Winn Dixie this week) and grape tomatoes (also bogo) to the salad.
I used all that to make supper tonight.

If you add all that together:
$4.99
+ .00 for broccoli and pasta
+ .50 for salad
+1.00 for mushrooms
+1.00 for tomatoes
= 7.49 for dinner for 2!!

AND we have enough chicken and salad left over that we will have it again tomorrow night. I'll add a different side dish to it. But $7.49 to feed 2 people twice is GREAT in my book!


Have you decided what your personal challenge for November is???

November personal challenge

I mentioned a few days ago that I had a personal challenge for the month of November to only spend $250 on groceries.

So with my Aldi trip of $20.21, I'm at $229.79 left to spend!

Since it's the first day of November it's a good time to decide on money-saving challenge for yourself this month.

Need some help?

• Cut out going through the drive through for breakfast or buying expensive coffee every morning by stocking your pantry with quick breakfast items (Jimmy Dean makes some yummy microwavable sandwiches) or making coffee at home in the morning.
• Try taking a sack lunch or leftovers to work (or preparing one for your spouse to take if you don't work). My husband and I both do this. It's a tremendous money saver when you consider that a fast food lunch is going to cost a minimum of $5 and that's for 2 people 5x a week. That's at least $50 spent every week on lunch! $200/month! Yikes!
• New to couponing? Don't get overwhelemed. Commit to clipping 5 coupons for your next shopping trip, 10 for the next, and so on. Keep up with how much your coupons saved you (most stores will print it right on the receipt!)
• Sign up with a site like Swagbucks.com or InboxDollars and see how much you can earn in a month!

Feel free to leave your ideas below. It's a lot easier to stick to something if we've written it down and told other people. And as I update you on my progress you can update me on yours!

Another Personal Challenge

This blog was started with a personal challenge to myself back in July. Now it's time for another one.

Okay, so the month of November I will really be testing my savings skills. It's going to be a tight month financially for our household for reasons I'm not going to go into. But we are going to have to squeeze pennies out of everywhere.

I mentioned in a previous post about how much I've cut my grocery bill. You can read the post for specifics but in a nutshell I've cut my average monthly grocery spending by $220/month in the last 4 months. My goal has been to keep it at $350 a month. So far, September was the lowest at $377.

My personal challenge to myself this month (November) is to only spend $250 on groceries.

This means I will probably pass on some deals. I plan to only buy what we need this month and rely heavily on things I have stockpiled.

We have 550 diapers (I've found some great deals this month so we've really stocked up!) and since Gavin just turned a year, he's coming off of formula after we finish up what we have. So that's great for the pocket book!

I also took advantage of the deal on Cottonelle toilet paper and Dove soap at Target last week which earned me a $5 gift card and gave me a stockpile of those two items. I also earned a $5 gift card for purchasing Huggies too. So I have $10 in gift cards I can use at Target to get some things this month.

So I'll will update on my progress throughout the month and lets see if I can accomplish my goal of $250 on groceries.

We also will not be eating out, ordering pizza or taking any family excursions that cost us anything this month either. (I think we'll survive one month!)

I also welcome your penny pinching suggestions!