Week 4 Grocery Budget Challenge

I really thought I'd blown it yesterday. 

I had a small list of things to get, but I forgot my cash envelope.  Since we were in pretty desperate need of broccoli and things, I went ahead and shopped. 

I walked out of the stores (Winco and Albertsons) feeling like I'd made a big mistake.  Surely I overspent.  (Broccoli at $2.38 a lb, ouch).  No coupons.  It felt icky.

I was wrong.

I reconciled my accounting and found that I am well within the budget.

To recap, my budget for this month was $600. ($400 for the first payperiod, $200 for the second).  I am ashamed to say that even that overly generous amount was less than we'd spent in the past. 

In my head, I was hoping for a 10% reduction from that budget amount, or $540.  It was this amount I was sure I'd exceeded yesterday. 

Accounting for everything:  last week's Boise Milk delivery, this week's Bountiful Basket order, and what I spent yesterday, I am pleased to announce my totals:

Amount spent for the month:  $522.84
Amount saved this month:  $72.35
% saved this month:  12.16%
Total value of items purchased this month (amount spent plus amount saved): $595.19

Lessons learned:
Fresh produce (from Bountiful Baskets or Boise Milk) tastes SO MUCH BETTER.
I spent $99 at Boise Milk and Bountiful Baskets.  I'm content with that.  Last time I got a Bountiful Basket the strawberries were SO good, as were the bananas.  I love the milk from Boise Milk. 

NEVER go shopping without looking for coupons and taking the cash envelope.  The stress.  Totally NOT worth it. 

Costco has good coupons.  I am going to quit buying produce there (except for the celery sticks, love them) and maybe berries once in a great while.  I don't usually buy meat there, but will keep it in mind.  I need to cut down Costco spending by amount a third, and again I'll do that a bit at a time.  My goal for Feb:  spend no more than $155 at Costco (which is a reduction of about 10%).  This is about the amount I reduced spending at Costco in Jan - 10%.

Meat:  we can eat less of this now that the girl has gone back to school (she's not exactly a veggie eater and I hated seeing how little was on her plate so I would try to fill it with meat and starch).   I will only buy meat next month if a)we're out of whatever and/or b)it is such an amazing sale that I really can't pass it up. 

I would REALLY like to stop shopping every week, and just fill the weeks with produce from either Boise Milk or Bountiful Baskets, but I haven't yet let go of a)not liking certain veggies (Brussels sprouts, kale) and b)wanting to know exactly what veggies/fruit I am getting each week.  I will work on that this next month.

So: monthly budget for Feb:  $500.  (We need dog food and kitty litter this month, so I'm setting this amount. Plus this is pretty close to 10% less than Jan.) 

Onward.