This week, I got crafty to make my overly optimistic $50 grocery budget work.
I was planning to do BJ’s pick-up and keep to a simplified shopping list, but then I noticed a $10 off $60 coupon in my Target Circle app.
I opted to take advantage of this offer and the remaining merchandise credit I happened to have from a prior return.
I was able to get the following groceries for under $30 thanks to this combination:
- Pre-chopped broccoli and cauliflower
- Spinach
- 3-lb bag apples
- 1 grapefruit
- 2 lemons
- 1 bag oranges
- 1 3-ct romaine hearts
- 3 English cucumbers
- 1 bag mini bell peppers
- 18 oz blueberries
- 1 watermelon
- 2 bags baby carrots
- Frank’s Red Hot sauce
- 1 pack hamburger buns
- Frozen mixed berries
- Frozen cherry berry blend
- Frozen pineapple
- And an extra notebook one of my sons needed for school
On September 1st, A. picked up a Whole Foods order for me that included:
- Vegan yogurts, assorted
- Vegan feta cheese
- Vegan bleu cheese
- Arugula
- Vegan BabyBel (a treat for A., who is trying to eat more plant-based but needs the occasional imitation product to satisfy a craving)
That order totaled $33.91, bringing my grocery expenses for the week to $62.60.
I ended up grabbing two bunches of cilantro on September 3rd too, which left me at a total expenditure of $64.58.
I am curious to see how next week’s groceries shape up. I debated switching to biweekly grocery shopping this month to try to minimize expenses, but we’ll see how week two goes before making that change.
I’ll let you know what I end up making with these groceries in my next post!
Other No-Spend September Savings
One extra adjustment I have made in this first week to embrace no-spend September relates to laundry.
I have often used a clothesline to dry clothes since moving to my new home last year, but I had gotten lax about this habit during the busyness of August and the very rainy July we had. I decided to embrace the nicer September weather that we have started with and return to drying the majority of our clothes on the clothesline.
It’s a minor cost-saving measure, but I am holding to the, “Every little bit counts” mentality.