I was about to throw in the towel....

Honestly.
I have finished the shopping for the week and most of the stocking up is done. There are items I still need to stock up, such as rice, flour, and sugar, but I have enough of everything and can wait for good sales on baking and such.
And I have been keeping track of the spending.

And have been very discouraged. I was chastising myself for the spending. I mean, I've already spent most of the food budget for the next four weeks.

And I want to cut down. Way down.

So I was being really hard on myself, and then I realized something.
I'm adding in everything I spend at the drug stores as well, and have been shopping at drug stores. That's new. And different.
And in the past, I didn't count this in my grocery budget.
So, if I take that spending into account, I have successfully cut back. A lot.

I feel much better.

However, I still need to cut down on spending between now and August 18. I usually get milk and produce delivered once a week and I'll skip at least one delivery as I have coupons for free milk. We really do not need anything at all, I have plenty of meat and cheese and stuff. And I'm just going to make it a game: how low can the spending go?