Needless to say, Little Bean and I missed him and were very glad to see him come home. While he was gone I went a little crazy with reading about budgeting, saving money, etc.... His first day back I made him a coffee and we went over our financial plans for the next few years..................... :)
Much like our financial plans, my grocery budget seems to be ever-evolving, which I suppose is a good thing. The more I learn, the more things get tweaked, and it always seems to be a work in progress. My July grocery budget was no different. Though I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, things were better and I came in under the $600 mark (though just barely!). In June I spent about 630$ out of pocket... waaaaayyyy off my $500 goal. July saw me spend $595 out of pocket, a long way off my goal but $35 better than I was. Here's the details of how it shaped up:
Projected Budget Actual Budget
Cleaning Products: $10 Cleaning Products: $11.78
Paper/Household Products: $10 Paper/Household Products: $14.33
Toiletries: $10 Toiletries: $14.69
Freezer Items: $10 Freezer Items: $0
Bulk/Dry Goods: $25 Bulk/Dry Goods: $47.35
Produce: $85 Produce: $111.74
Center Isles: $50 Center Isles: $114.88
Baby/Kids: $50 Baby/Kids: $99.73
Dairy: $100 Dairy: $117.06
Meat: $75 Meat: $20.08
Pets: $100 Pets: $69.27
Total: $525 Total: $620.91
(less 25$ GC = $500) (less 25$ GC = $595.91)
As you can see I did a little better this last month, not a lot better but a little. As long as I am moving in the direction that I want to be going I am trying not to be too hard on myself. The great thing about seeing where all my money is going is that I am able to tweak and evolve my grocery budget. In preparation for the newest little Stewart's arrival in September I have now added another $50 to the budget, obviously under the Baby/Kids category. I was going to start doing this in the fall but I decided to start now so I could start buying some diapers with my August P&G coupons. I also fiddled around with some allotments and changed how I view the items that get categorized in the Center Isles budget. I realized that anything I cannot make myself should really be categorized under Bulk/Dry goods, even if I find them in the center isles of the store. This would include things like honey and rice cereal. Things like granola or lemon juice I could easily make, so items like that would stay categorized as they were. All in all, here is my new, revised, shiny, wonderful budget:
Cleaning Products: $10
Paper/Household Products: $15
Toiletries: $10
Freezer Items: $10
Bulk/Dry Goods: $50
Produce: $85
Center Isles: $30
Baby/Kids: $100
Dairy: $115
Meat: $50
Pets: $100
Total: 575$
(less 25$ GC = $550 out of pocket)
So there it is folks, my budget for August. Wish me luck!
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