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My budget the last few months has been a little (or a lot) over what I feel it could be. I outlined last week how I was going to start fresh this month and try to reel it in a bit. This month saw our grocery expenses come in at about $655. Take off my 25$ Superstore gift card (read about that here) and that puts my monthly expenses for June at $630. For the purposes of everyone's sanity I am rounding up to the nearest dollar.
So.... my golden intentions for the month were to spend around 500$ out of pocket and use the $25 gift card for a total of $525. At the beginning of the month, this was the categorized budget I set out for myself:
Cleaning Products: $10
Paper/Household Products: $10
Toiletries: $10
Freezer Items: $10
Bulk/Dry Goods: $25
Produce: $85
Center Isles: $50
Baby/Kids: $50
Dairy: $100
Meat: $75
Pets: $100
TOTAL: $525
Why do I have the feeling that some of you are laughing at me....
To break it down further, so you have a specific idea of what I am trying to do:
Cleaning Products - whatever I need to clean with. Think laundry soap, dish detergent, glass cleaner, bleach, etc....
Paper/Household Products - Think toilet paper, paper towel, tape, staples, Ziploc bags, etc....
Toiletries - Anything that Hubby and I need to be functioning members of society. Think shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste, floss, etc... Does not include things such as my fancy hairspray or my mascara....
Freezer Items - I am really hoping this one is self-explanatory.
Bulk/Dry Goods - Items that I tend to buy in bulk, such as flour, pasta, etc.... basically anything that I can buy at Bulk Barn.
Produce - The stuff I want to spend lots of money on.
Center Isles - The stuff I don't want to spend so much on... basically all that processed/packaged stuff in the center isles of your grocery store.
Baby/Kids - This one will go up when babe #2 comes along in the fall, but right now I aim to spend about 50$ on little bean every month, for things such as her diapers, sunscreen, bubble bath, diaper genie refills, etc... and yes I buy pampers... please do not send me a message that I am the worst human on the planet for not using cloth diapers. I assure you I did a lot of research on that topic and decided that disposables were the ones for me. If you send me hate messages I may be tempted hurt someone.... don't mess with a hormonal pregnant lady!
Dairy - Stuff that comes from cows and goats
Meat - Stuff that once was alive but is now dead.... and eggs....
Pets - Food and cat litter. I don't buy treats because honestly, my toddler keeps those animals very well fed....
So... when I started keeping track of my food budget, this is where the money actually went:
June Expenses:
Cleaning Products: $4
Paper/Household Products: $0
Toiletries: $8
Freezer Items: $14
Bulk/Dry Goods: $28
Produce: $90
Center Isles: $179!!!!!!
Baby/Kids: $52
Dairy: $146
Meat: $81
Pets: $52
Ummmmm..... ya.... I think we can all see where the problem lies.... So for as much as I'm talking a big game here, I seem to be visiting those center isles an awful lot....
Its not all bad, organic lemon juice, organic honey, Laura bars.... but really, it's not necessary. I may have to tweak this a bit as summer goes on, but I am going to try valiantly to stick to the budget for this month. As with all budgets, I do great for the first two weeks and then.... slowly... run.out.of.money....
I think I am going to start a post on how I have managed to save money on cleaning products, as that was always a budget killer for me before. That and it might make me feel better about myself and my domestic goddess skills.... Now, little bean is sleeping and I have about an hour to clean this house before my feet swell... wish me luck!
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