August grocery savings

I am finally getting closer to reaching my monthly grocery budget! I have spent much of the summer stockpiling and spending a little bit more than my average budget in order to build up the pantry again. Now that I have built up my stockpile in order to meet my monthly goal, I have to be more conscious of my weekly spending on groceries.

The way I make this happen is cooking off my stockpile. What that means is that I am planning meals based on what is already purchased. It is a backwards design from how many of us usually plan our meals. In the past, I would decide my meals from menus or recipes that I "felt" like making.

Now to make the most of my savings, I plan meals based on the staples I have gotten on "sale". This can be challenging but it can be done. For example, this past week shrimp, talapia, and chicken were on sale. My menu planning needs to be around dishes that include these meats. There are great websites that help you backwards plan. Here is an example of one that lets you click what you have on hand to find recipes. http://www.recipekey.com/

My monthly goal for groceries is $400 a month this includes ALL items such as detergent, tooth paste, cleaning products, and toiletries.

Every family makes their own decisions regarding budget but this is one that I know can work for us WHEN I take the time to coupon.

So after adding up my receipts for the month of August....

I spent $667 this month on groceries and SAVED $363 with coupons and shopping the sales. So, if I had bought these items without coupons and not purchased them on sale my monthly spending would be $1030! Yikes!!

My average weekly spending was $166 and weekly SAVINGS of $90.  Each week I plan on getting closer to the $100/week goal.

This month I did spend more on some great deals on detergent and P&G products. I saved a lot of money on these products by using coupons and shopping the sales, but I will also be receiving $30 in Visa/MC gift cards through these promotions to apply to my groceries the next month. This unexpected expense pushed my budget over but it was worth it because I won't have to buy detergent for about 5 months or so! :)

Happy couponing and don't forget to follow me on my coupon journey through email!