I decided to track our grocery spending in January. Not my savings, just my spending. I like to keep our spending below $300 a month for no other reason than that is just a number I picked. That amount covers food, cleaning supplies, paper products, pet supplies, HBA, otc meds and makeup. So it is everything spent at the grocery store, drug stores and dollar stores. I only exclude prescription meds from the total.
So, I totalled up our spending at the end of the month and almost had a heart attack!! My total was $449.98. What??!! How the heck did we spend that much money??!! Don't worry, spending that money did not cause us any problems. We have the money to spend, I just don't want to. I guess that makes me cheap...I don't care.
Anyway, for a couple of days, I have been really bummed about spending that amount. Then I started looking at it. Well, first off, $102.82 was spent by Hubby on extra trips to the store for food he needed for a couple of camping trips and a couple of times he just wanted something we didn't have. So, shoot me for not having stockpile boudin. LOL! So, that made me feel a little better, since I only spent $347.16. I spent about $30 on makeup last month, which is out of the norm, but I was running low on some items and caught a good price and had coupons. So, that made me fell a little better
I also had to buy some Osteo Biflex. That stuff is expensive!!! I did buy it at CVS when it was on sale B1G1 and I used up all the ECBs I had been saving as well as a couple of high dollar coupons, but I still paid $23.99 out of pocket for 2 big bottles. It is 4 months worth, so I won't have to buy it again for a while.
I also did a little stocking up. When hamburger was a good price, I got 15 lbs of it. And most of MY groceries and other stuff I buy go right into the stockpile. Oh, and I have been buying goodies to put in Chance's care packages and I certainly don't begrudge that money at all.
So, after looking at more than just the total, I decided that we did just fine. Hubby and I talked and I think this month, we will only be buying needs and not doing much stockpiling. That would cut down on the spending. We will see how that goes.
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Hmmmm, how about cutting back this month to make up for the overspend last month? Some of the things in there were not a monthly expense, so see if you can deduct the approximate $150 from this month....it may be a challenge,but come on, I know you love frugal challenges :)
Hi, spaghetti! Thanks for coming to see me. Yes, I think I have set myself a challenge to balance out last month's spending.
When I've spent more than I expected, a lot of times it's because of a trip to Sam's Club. We are careful and don't overspend there and don't impulse buy there, but sometimes it just seems like we run out of all the things we do buy there at the same time. So while we're saving money buying in bulk, sometimes we have to put a lot out of pocket at one time.
I spent more than norm last month also. I'll be trying to make it up this month. I shouldn't have a problem making up the majority of it. Good luck on making yours up.
Hi, Annie Jones and Lisa. So glad you came to see me! We will make it up. I am not worried. Shopping the way I do makes some months higher and some months lower. It all evens out in the end.
You did way better than me! Baby steps for me!
When I have a "bad" month too, I pout for a while. But the best way to get out of the funk is to go through it and look for the problem. I think that you did quite well especially since you bought a few months worth of pills.
Oh Frances I so agree, I'm tired of people saying how much they saved, when its really how much we spend that counts! Some months, we just have to get what we need or rather what we want.
Hi, Hunie, SonyaAnn and Marilyn! I am so happy to "see" you.
I have recovered from my upset. LOL! I never stay upset about anything for very long. We did stock up on quite a bit on last month's spending, we have enough ground beef for a couple of month, and enough of most everything else to last a LOT longer. I could get buy with only buying milk, bread and produce for the next 6 months if I wanted. But I don't want to. LOL! I may do that just for this month though.
Marilyn, I am always pretty happy with my savings. I look at it, I just don't track it. I will do that sometime, it might make me feel even better.
I was reading somewhere that a woman tracks her savings, but she does not use the regular price as a starting point as she would never pay that price. I am so with her! On most items, I would never pay full price. Of course, there are SOME things that we have to buy whether they are on sale or not. Milk and produce have to be bought, since I don't have a cow or a garden.
That's great that you guys talk about the expenses and what's going where without any finger pointing or grumbling!
Good for you!
With all the stockpiling last month, you should save on the $300 for this month!
Hi, McVal. Hubby is so great....we can discuss anything without pointing fingers. He likes to spend money, but he can stop when it is needed.
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