Ahhh, November. I knew you were going to be a money pit. And far be it from you to disappoint.
Edible Groceries: $227.93
Inedible Groceries: $5.70
Health: $75.00
Misc: $697.49
Restaurants: $78.64
Gas: $108.95
Edible groceries was up this month, between Thanksgiving and hosting family for Andrew's birthday party. While this is more than usual, I'm not too upset about this.
Inedible groceries? Andrew needed a new electric toothbrush. I'm so blessed to have a business to pirate toilet paper from, or this number would be higher. ;)
Health was 3 months worth of my prescription.
Misc looks to be almost all between Andrew's birthday party and Christmas shopping (which is very close to being done). Yeah, it's high. But again, it's okay.
And we didn't really eat out this month, either.
Gas is down to $1.50 a gallon here, notice how our gas bill is less than half what it'd previously been? Yay!
All around, this has been an expensive month, but definitely not disappointing. December will be kinder to us.
Showing posts with label Grocery Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Grocery Challenge. Show all posts
11.30.2008
10.31.2008
Grab a Cup of Something and Get Cozy...
Because this is going to be a long one.
Ready.....aim............
That's a BIG tire!
First off, Fulton Farms. Andrew's preschool had a field trip yesterday to our local pumpkin patch. We got to invite a good friend, Amanda, along, which was probably better for me than for him (as soon as he saw his best friend Izaiah, I began to eminate a chopped liver-esque stench. Good thing Amanda didn't mind. :)
"Let's get on the bus...." (dang Doodlebops, that song's STILL stuck in my head!)
Ready.....aim............
That's a BIG tire!
And last night was Andrew's first Halloween. We never let him trick-or-treat before, so this was quite an experience for him. The first 15 minutes was spend goggling at all the other kids in costumes. Then he got the hang of it, and took off running for each door. What fun!
Isn't he ripped? Yowza!
As a side note, I promised him that, when we got home, he could eat as much candy as he wanted tonight only - I know, my friend Christine was looking at me like I needed a lobotomy or something, but I figure every kid needs that story of how he gorged himself on halloween candy till he puked. And you can probably guess what happened...15 minutes into his binge, he was munching on a piece of leftover pizza and watching a DVD. I don't know whether to be proud or chagrinned. That's my little hero. :)
Okay, and it's the end of the month, which means it's time to report the grocery challenge. I'm sad, we didn't meet the goal of $100 in edible food for the month. We were on track until a few days ago, when Yasar mentioned he needed to buy bread (he eats special bread he gets from the Middle Eastern grocery store in Dayton). So that, and some yogurt cheese and dates blew us over our goal. We're going to try again in November, since now we've got the whole rice & beans thing down to a science.
Here's the numbers:
Edible groceries: $129.08
Nonedible groceries - $0
Health - $44.16
Misc - $416.18
Restaurant - $95.55
Gas - $105.28
A note in the Misc catagory - Andrew's birthday is next month, so we bought him some cars. We also took care of Christmas for our family, and Tiger had a pretty expensive vet visit. I'd say I have more hope for next month, but we've still got some birthday party bills coming.
Restaurant has gone up a little, since eating rice & beans all the time gets us a little bored. Another thing we'll be working on next month.
And gas? Whooo-eee! It's $1.99 a gallon here right now! I'm praying that trend continues!
So that's it, guys. October is over. Hunker down and get ready for more expensive heating bills, seasonal depression, and snow shovelling. Uck.
9.30.2008
Grocery Challenge - September
This month has been a bomb. I know better than to shop while hungry, yet I did it (twice) and it's reflected in our spending. Better luck next month (fingers crossed).
Edible Grocery - $308.54
Inedible Grocery - $41.17
Health - $25.49
Miscellaneous - $214.58
Restaurant - $103.87
Gas - $157.84
Our miscellaneous catagory is higher than I'd like, and I can pinpoint it down to Andrew's Thomas the Tank Engine visit and Operation Christmas Child, both of which won't be recurring (whew!). We ate out as a family once this month, and took Andrew and his friend Amanda to Chuck E Cheese (that's expensive, even with a coupon!), and still did our weekly McDonald's meeting-of-the-moms. Gas is about where I expected it to be.
I'm on the fence about next month's goals. I really wanted to try to survive on whatever's in the pantry/freezer, but now I'm rethinking that (see previous post). It would be so great to spend under $100 in groceries in a month - that's my ultimate goal. I know we probably couldn't make that a monthly occurance, but just once I really want to hit that mark.
Edible Grocery - $308.54
Inedible Grocery - $41.17
Health - $25.49
Miscellaneous - $214.58
Restaurant - $103.87
Gas - $157.84
Our miscellaneous catagory is higher than I'd like, and I can pinpoint it down to Andrew's Thomas the Tank Engine visit and Operation Christmas Child, both of which won't be recurring (whew!). We ate out as a family once this month, and took Andrew and his friend Amanda to Chuck E Cheese (that's expensive, even with a coupon!), and still did our weekly McDonald's meeting-of-the-moms. Gas is about where I expected it to be.
I'm on the fence about next month's goals. I really wanted to try to survive on whatever's in the pantry/freezer, but now I'm rethinking that (see previous post). It would be so great to spend under $100 in groceries in a month - that's my ultimate goal. I know we probably couldn't make that a monthly occurance, but just once I really want to hit that mark.
8.31.2008
Grocery Challenge - August
This month it seems like we've struggled for every penny saved. Could it be that the cost of living has gone up even more than the last few months? It's always my goal to do better than the last month, and this month looks as if it's been a success, until you factor in the gift card my wonderful mother sent me when she read my "eating out of the dumpster" post (I thought I made it clear that was an experiment, but maybe she didn't get that).
We've also recently discovered the Salvation Army thrift store, and their 50% Off Wednesdays. This has been very helpful in getting Andrew ready for school (next week!). Last year I was left reeling in sticker-shock, he went from a 3T to a 5T in one year...and since he was "too good" for used clothes, it cost us a bundle! This year, outside of an investment in an LL Bean bookbag (lifetime guarantee, woo-hoo!) and two pairs of new sneakers, we really didn't spend very much on back-to-school shopping.
Side note: the boys' trip to PA...I don't think I ever realized how much it cost to take a road trip. Almost $150 in gas, $24 in Turnpike tolls, and about $10 in treats for Andrew (I packed them a HUGE lunch to see them through round-trip, but that got factored into the grocery budget). I'm glad they got their vacation out of their system, it'll be awhile before we can afford to do that again.
Also new this month is the "cash or credit" category. I was curious just how much we count on our credit card for day-to-day life. I'm pleased with the answer to that question. Aside of the new sneakers and the backpack, and some pay-at-the-pump gas, we really didn't put much on plastic. We could easily go without plastic, and that's the first step to digging ourselves out of the quagmire. Score one for the home team!
Anyway, let's get down to the numbers:
Grocery-Food: $255.34
Grocery-Nonfood: $10.62
Health: $79.76
Misc: $275.83
Restaurant: $55.22
Gas: $275.00
Trimming techniques for September?
It's going to get tough next month. Andrew has some extracurricular activities coming due - he starts dance classes, and visiting Thomas the Tank Engine, and starting AWANAS. In order to pay for this, we need to seriously conserve in other areas.
And, again, we need to limit the amount of times we expose ourselves to "opportunities to spend". We spent money 43 different times this past month. Granted, some of it was getting gas & incidentals on the trips (8 different stops), so this shouldn't be difficult to correct for September.
One last note for the month of September - Andrew will start "working" for his allowance. More on that in a future post. I will be counting paying Andrew as an expense, rather than counting what he chooses to spend his money on.
So that's it, guys. August in a nutshell. Was it a success? Was it a flop? Both, and neither. Chalk it up to another learning experience.
We've also recently discovered the Salvation Army thrift store, and their 50% Off Wednesdays. This has been very helpful in getting Andrew ready for school (next week!). Last year I was left reeling in sticker-shock, he went from a 3T to a 5T in one year...and since he was "too good" for used clothes, it cost us a bundle! This year, outside of an investment in an LL Bean bookbag (lifetime guarantee, woo-hoo!) and two pairs of new sneakers, we really didn't spend very much on back-to-school shopping.
Side note: the boys' trip to PA...I don't think I ever realized how much it cost to take a road trip. Almost $150 in gas, $24 in Turnpike tolls, and about $10 in treats for Andrew (I packed them a HUGE lunch to see them through round-trip, but that got factored into the grocery budget). I'm glad they got their vacation out of their system, it'll be awhile before we can afford to do that again.
Also new this month is the "cash or credit" category. I was curious just how much we count on our credit card for day-to-day life. I'm pleased with the answer to that question. Aside of the new sneakers and the backpack, and some pay-at-the-pump gas, we really didn't put much on plastic. We could easily go without plastic, and that's the first step to digging ourselves out of the quagmire. Score one for the home team!
Anyway, let's get down to the numbers:
Grocery-Food: $255.34
Grocery-Nonfood: $10.62
Health: $79.76
Misc: $275.83
Restaurant: $55.22
Gas: $275.00
Trimming techniques for September?
It's going to get tough next month. Andrew has some extracurricular activities coming due - he starts dance classes, and visiting Thomas the Tank Engine, and starting AWANAS. In order to pay for this, we need to seriously conserve in other areas.
And, again, we need to limit the amount of times we expose ourselves to "opportunities to spend". We spent money 43 different times this past month. Granted, some of it was getting gas & incidentals on the trips (8 different stops), so this shouldn't be difficult to correct for September.
One last note for the month of September - Andrew will start "working" for his allowance. More on that in a future post. I will be counting paying Andrew as an expense, rather than counting what he chooses to spend his money on.
So that's it, guys. August in a nutshell. Was it a success? Was it a flop? Both, and neither. Chalk it up to another learning experience.
7.31.2008
Grocery Challenge - July
The Breakdown:
Groceries $306.32
Health $208.19
Misc $146.05
Restaurant $94.64
Gas $216.59
The Skinny:
Groceries are getting more expensive (like...DUH!). We probably could have trimmed this back a little more by not ordering those Dr. Melina protein bars from Amazon.com. But since I'm back working in the nursing home more than I usually do, these are such a God-send when there's no time to hit the breakroom (and that's a daily occurance). We've also spent more money at the farmer's market this month, and have been absolutely making ourselves sick of zucchini! :) Nothin' like a cheap, filling meal - sliced zucchini, sliced onion, a little evoo and some good italian seasoning, fry it together and top with parmesan cheese...mmmm! Anyway, I'm pleased that we've managed to spend less than last month, especially accounting that we had visitors for almost a week. WTG! Next month's going to be even better, too!
Health - poor Yasar is having some major dental issues. This has all been medications and, finally, the extraction of his tooth. RIP.
Misc - You know, looking through the things bought in the misc category, I'm very pleased. Yasar spent $45 at Autozone to get what we needed to change our own oil, and then did both the cars! For some of you, that's not a big to-do, but we've never really made the time to do these types of things (is this time found now that we've divorced DirecTV? Maybe?). And we got a Haynes manual for my car, since she's starting to show her age a little.
Restaurants - Looking back, we did really well with the eating out budget the first two months of this project ($35 and $59 respectively). After that, we started jumping into the triple digits. This month was better, but next month....
Gas - Better than last month's $300+ bill, but still more than I'm comfortable with. In the last week, gas prices have dropped from $3.96 into the $3.50's. So hopefully this trend will continue in the Miami Valley, and will be reflected in next month's report.
Goals for August:
Groceries $306.32
Health $208.19
Misc $146.05
Restaurant $94.64
Gas $216.59
The Skinny:
Groceries are getting more expensive (like...DUH!). We probably could have trimmed this back a little more by not ordering those Dr. Melina protein bars from Amazon.com. But since I'm back working in the nursing home more than I usually do, these are such a God-send when there's no time to hit the breakroom (and that's a daily occurance). We've also spent more money at the farmer's market this month, and have been absolutely making ourselves sick of zucchini! :) Nothin' like a cheap, filling meal - sliced zucchini, sliced onion, a little evoo and some good italian seasoning, fry it together and top with parmesan cheese...mmmm! Anyway, I'm pleased that we've managed to spend less than last month, especially accounting that we had visitors for almost a week. WTG! Next month's going to be even better, too!
Health - poor Yasar is having some major dental issues. This has all been medications and, finally, the extraction of his tooth. RIP.
Misc - You know, looking through the things bought in the misc category, I'm very pleased. Yasar spent $45 at Autozone to get what we needed to change our own oil, and then did both the cars! For some of you, that's not a big to-do, but we've never really made the time to do these types of things (is this time found now that we've divorced DirecTV? Maybe?). And we got a Haynes manual for my car, since she's starting to show her age a little.
Restaurants - Looking back, we did really well with the eating out budget the first two months of this project ($35 and $59 respectively). After that, we started jumping into the triple digits. This month was better, but next month....
Gas - Better than last month's $300+ bill, but still more than I'm comfortable with. In the last week, gas prices have dropped from $3.96 into the $3.50's. So hopefully this trend will continue in the Miami Valley, and will be reflected in next month's report.
Goals for August:
- We are going to knock the restaurant budget back into the $60 range. Period.
- We should be able to continue the decline of groceries, since the tomato plants and cukes are full of big green fruit, and should keep us in good eats all month long.
- We're probably going to have to make a trip to Sam's Club for rice, flour, and some other staples, and my goal is to keep that trip under $75.
6.30.2008
Grocery Challenge - Month 4
Ready for the final numbers?
Groceries - $301.70
HBA - $74.32
Misc. - $575.55
Restaurant - $114.09
Gas - $316.39
Groceries - well, looking back, we seem to be getting better at grocery shopping. From $536 in month 1, $460, then $383, now $301, we seem to be making progress in trimming the grocery budget.
HBA - this category is on it's way out. More and more I'm lumping it in with either "grocery" or "misc". So we're going to label it "Health" from here on out and just use it for medical stuff.
Misc - This was a big one this month. Between the almost-$400 repair of our cooktop, garage sale finds, and other little wallet-leaks, this has and has not been a bad month for us in this department.
Restaurant - A little higher than I'd prefer, but perfectly understandable considering the lack of a cooktop for almost 2 weeks.
Gas - Hoo, boy! Talk about choking! When hubby crashed his car, he got a "guzzler" from Enterprise...to the tune of $95 in gas in 2 weeks. Yowza! We won't be buying a Saturn sedan anytime soon!
Overall, the biggest disappointment here is the sheer amount of spending we did this month. Hubby or I broke out the wallet 49 times this month. You know how they say they just have to get you through the doors, and their marketing department will do the rest? Well, my goal for next month is to NOT cross their thresholds as often. Also, we're going to continue to cut back on groceries. And, hopefully, next month our "misc" category will also reflect the usage of the library as a form of entertainment (seriously, guys, I can't get over how unbelievably COOL it is!).
Groceries - $301.70
HBA - $74.32
Misc. - $575.55
Restaurant - $114.09
Gas - $316.39
Groceries - well, looking back, we seem to be getting better at grocery shopping. From $536 in month 1, $460, then $383, now $301, we seem to be making progress in trimming the grocery budget.
HBA - this category is on it's way out. More and more I'm lumping it in with either "grocery" or "misc". So we're going to label it "Health" from here on out and just use it for medical stuff.
Misc - This was a big one this month. Between the almost-$400 repair of our cooktop, garage sale finds, and other little wallet-leaks, this has and has not been a bad month for us in this department.
Restaurant - A little higher than I'd prefer, but perfectly understandable considering the lack of a cooktop for almost 2 weeks.
Gas - Hoo, boy! Talk about choking! When hubby crashed his car, he got a "guzzler" from Enterprise...to the tune of $95 in gas in 2 weeks. Yowza! We won't be buying a Saturn sedan anytime soon!
Overall, the biggest disappointment here is the sheer amount of spending we did this month. Hubby or I broke out the wallet 49 times this month. You know how they say they just have to get you through the doors, and their marketing department will do the rest? Well, my goal for next month is to NOT cross their thresholds as often. Also, we're going to continue to cut back on groceries. And, hopefully, next month our "misc" category will also reflect the usage of the library as a form of entertainment (seriously, guys, I can't get over how unbelievably COOL it is!).
5.31.2008
Grocery Challenge - Month 3
And I mean "challenge" in every sense of the word. Wow, I cannot get over how expensive just day-to-day living is now! Here's the breakdown:
Groceries - $383.17
HBA - $27.73
Restaurant - $101.18
Gas - $151.37
Misc. - $104.05
As you can see, groceries are down, while restaurant spending has doubled from last month. After looking at the dates, it seems that we've been relying on fast food alot closer to the end of the month. That makes sense, we've been consumed by the system update at the store and have spent very little time at home.
Gas? That was 2 fill-ups for each of our cars. Yowza!
And, if our spending wasn't disturbing enough, we now have a new hurtle to cross. The ceramic cooktop on our stove broke this morning, and the appliance guy said it would take almost 2 weeks to order the part in (and I'm not even gonna go into how much it's going to cost). So I'm limited to a crockpot, oven, toaster oven, and the grill for the next few weeks. And rather than complaining while I order up a pizza, I'm rising to this challenge, AND adding the Zone diet to the mix. It's gonna be interesting.
Goals for next month:
- Find a way to make healthful meals out of the pantry.
- Inventory-ing the pantry & freezers to maximize efficiency.
- Seek out and test 3 new crockpot recipes and posting their result.
4.30.2008
Grocery Woes - Month 2
Well, Wasouf consumer spending this month was down in some areas, and up in others. Unlike last month, in April I kept track of all expenditures, instead of just groceries. Here's the breakdown:
Edible Groceries $460.23
Paper $2.49
HBA $163.53
Other $578.15
Restaurant $59.25
Gas $114.84
Okay, edible groceries are down 14.2% from last month, which was a personal goal of mine. I'd have liked it to be down a little more, but now we have more room for improvement next month. There is some solace that we took advantage of some great loss-leaders at Meijer and have some large, cheap cuts of meat stashed in the freezer.
Paper and HBA were also down as expected.
The "Other"catagory is a new one. This encompassed all of our miscellaneous purchases. The reason this is so high is that Yasar put quite a bit of money into getting the garden going. Between plants and peat moss, the garden this year has already put us behind around $100. Fingers crossed that it will produce at least that dollar amount of fresh tomatoes, cukes, radishes, carrots, and onions.
Also in the "Other" catagory was doctor's copays, some summer clothes, and gifts. And, hold on to your hats - we actually bought $140 worth of PAINT! Yes, everyone, we're finally getting rid of the boring white walls!
As for the "Gas" catagory, this was the one that made my eyes widen. I had no idea we spent so much on fuel, especially since we only live about 3 miles away from the business! Hopefully this will also remain steady for the month, with gas prices here currently at $3.69/gallon, and $4/gallon on the horizon, we are looking for ways to consolidate errands and conserve gas.
Goals for the month of May:
Edible Groceries $460.23
Paper $2.49
HBA $163.53
Other $578.15
Restaurant $59.25
Gas $114.84
Okay, edible groceries are down 14.2% from last month, which was a personal goal of mine. I'd have liked it to be down a little more, but now we have more room for improvement next month. There is some solace that we took advantage of some great loss-leaders at Meijer and have some large, cheap cuts of meat stashed in the freezer.
Paper and HBA were also down as expected.
The "Other"catagory is a new one. This encompassed all of our miscellaneous purchases. The reason this is so high is that Yasar put quite a bit of money into getting the garden going. Between plants and peat moss, the garden this year has already put us behind around $100. Fingers crossed that it will produce at least that dollar amount of fresh tomatoes, cukes, radishes, carrots, and onions.
Also in the "Other" catagory was doctor's copays, some summer clothes, and gifts. And, hold on to your hats - we actually bought $140 worth of PAINT! Yes, everyone, we're finally getting rid of the boring white walls!
As for the "Gas" catagory, this was the one that made my eyes widen. I had no idea we spent so much on fuel, especially since we only live about 3 miles away from the business! Hopefully this will also remain steady for the month, with gas prices here currently at $3.69/gallon, and $4/gallon on the horizon, we are looking for ways to consolidate errands and conserve gas.
Goals for the month of May:
- Seek out cheaper ways to "eat clean".
- Grocery shop once per week, no more.
- Take advantage of the beautiful summer season, picking berries and visiting the farmer's market.
- Eat out no more than twice.
Oh, one more thing. As a bonus from a Living On A Dime purchase, I received an e-book from http://www.menuplanningcentral.com/. They have this novel idea to reduce grocery spending that we'll be trying this month. What this website advises is to write out a week's worth of meals your family enjoys (breakfast/lunch/dinner/2 snacks per day), detail the total ingredients needed, and go through your supplies to see what you already have. From there you make your shopping list. Yeah, I'm with you....DUHHHHH! But I've always been building meals off the grocery ads, and maybe this idea will make our trip cheaper, as well as reduce the overflowing pantry to which I'm genetically predisposed (chuckle here, you'd understand if you saw my parent's basement).
Wish me luck!
3.31.2008
Grocery Woes
My level-headed husband, Yasar, is having a hissy fit. Why, you ask? Let's start at the beginning of the story...
Late in February, I got one of my favorite ezines, Counting the Cost (www.countingthecost.com). They were polling their readers about how much they spent on groceries. Now, in my head, I'm thinking "$200, maybe $300 in a bad month". My husband is from the Middle East, and doesn't really enjoy eating out, we tend to eat a more Mediterranean diet here, Andrew still enjoys pizza, and I rarely buy name-brand food, so I'm thinking we tend to be more on the frugal side. But I didn't have that proof-positive in my hands to answer the poll, and it bugged me.
So I set up a spreadsheet, outlining date, place, description, and a few catagories (food, HBA, paper, restaurant, misc, and bonuses - pizza from the shop, and using the butcher gift certificate my mom got us for Christmas). What an eye-opener! The good news is we only ate a total of $35.66 in restaurants, which was 4.2% of our total dollars spent. Now, don't break out the calculator, I'll give you the totals.
Drum roll please.....
We spent $536.40 in edible food
$20.80 in paper products
$249.20 in HBA (including $206 on prescriptions)
$17.78 in miscellaneous catagory (Easter basket for Andrew, ramekins to freeze mac & cheese)
$116.22 in bonuses (pizza, butcher gift certificate)
For a total of $859.84
That means we're paying an average of $286.61 per person ($214.96 if we include the cat, LOL!)
So, Yasar has a legitimate reason to be hollering, doesn't he?
I'd recommend this exercise to everyone. It's hard to see the final numbers in black & white, but knowledge is power. I've promised Yasar we will halve that next month.
So, my question to you is, how much do YOU drop at the grocery store every month? Are you making the payments for Sam Walton's Ferrari? Is Giant saying "Fee, Fi, Foe, Fum, I smell a wallet that's not quite done!"? Does Aldi's see you pull in the parking lot, and start breaking out the $0.10 bags in anticipation?
Late in February, I got one of my favorite ezines, Counting the Cost (www.countingthecost.com). They were polling their readers about how much they spent on groceries. Now, in my head, I'm thinking "$200, maybe $300 in a bad month". My husband is from the Middle East, and doesn't really enjoy eating out, we tend to eat a more Mediterranean diet here, Andrew still enjoys pizza, and I rarely buy name-brand food, so I'm thinking we tend to be more on the frugal side. But I didn't have that proof-positive in my hands to answer the poll, and it bugged me.
So I set up a spreadsheet, outlining date, place, description, and a few catagories (food, HBA, paper, restaurant, misc, and bonuses - pizza from the shop, and using the butcher gift certificate my mom got us for Christmas). What an eye-opener! The good news is we only ate a total of $35.66 in restaurants, which was 4.2% of our total dollars spent. Now, don't break out the calculator, I'll give you the totals.
Drum roll please.....
We spent $536.40 in edible food
$20.80 in paper products
$249.20 in HBA (including $206 on prescriptions)
$17.78 in miscellaneous catagory (Easter basket for Andrew, ramekins to freeze mac & cheese)
$116.22 in bonuses (pizza, butcher gift certificate)
For a total of $859.84
That means we're paying an average of $286.61 per person ($214.96 if we include the cat, LOL!)
So, Yasar has a legitimate reason to be hollering, doesn't he?
I'd recommend this exercise to everyone. It's hard to see the final numbers in black & white, but knowledge is power. I've promised Yasar we will halve that next month.
So, my question to you is, how much do YOU drop at the grocery store every month? Are you making the payments for Sam Walton's Ferrari? Is Giant saying "Fee, Fi, Foe, Fum, I smell a wallet that's not quite done!"? Does Aldi's see you pull in the parking lot, and start breaking out the $0.10 bags in anticipation?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)