Those readers who keep track of exactly what is spent on groceries each month will appreciate this quick post more than those who don't. With that being said --- what the heck!?!? Sometimes grocery spending just gets away from me in a way I can't comprehend. We were doing so well for the month of April, all the way up until the 29th or 30th. I did the math; we were actually $20+ under "budget" and all was right.
The I got a stink bug up my patootie and decided I couldn't live without a trip to the produce market. I've sung their praise enough on here, so I'm sure you're familiar. Fresh produce, cheap prices, other crazy ingredients (that aren't labeled in English so I have no clue what they actually are) . . . good stuff.
Trip there would have been fine, in and of itself. But noooooooo. I had to run to Alid too, because, well, I was so close and it's like a 15 minute drive from my house and well, since I was already in the neighborhood, why not?
Because that gets my tush $50+/- over "budget", that's why. It's not like we don't have the money, but I have no clue how month to month can vary so much, especially with a freezer full 'o meat! I mean really people?! I spent about $45 more than April 2010, and about $50 more than March of this year! Sometimes I just shake my head at my ridiculousness, 'cause that's all I can do.
May will be better. I demand it of myself (and Buppy)! There's no reason to spend as much as I we did. Ah well, on the plus side, I still have a stocked pantry and freezer to work from. Wish me luck peeps!
One last note here: how can I be so darn good at getting stuff for free (or at least super cheap-o) at CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid and still overspend on groceries? Who knows. But happy Friday tomorrow!
And what, you might be asking yourself, did Buppy & Bugaboo rock this time around? The budget goal for grocery shopping I set for us at the beginning of the month. With no sacrificing, and even with throwing a birthday party for the littlest tike today [our family of 4 plus 7 guests], we still only spent $179.35 on groceries during the month of February. Yup, we came in $20.65 under my goal of spending no more than $200.There are definitely several factors that played a part here, I must say. I paid attention to sales, which I usually do anyway. It also helps that we have so much meat and seafood in the freezer that we've accumulated when stuff was on sale, plus the quarter cow we purchased. We used items from the pantry and I created meals using mostly ingredients we already had on hand. So there we have it. We rocked it. I'm proud of us. End of story. I'm hoping to stay closer to this amount from now on, since I know it's completely possible.
