Saturday, November 1, 2008

End of October, start of November.......

so I have closed off the month of October for my grocery shopping. I went over my goal of $300, by $1.18. Which actually isn't as bad as I thought it may have been. I did well by saving $133.94 this month using coupons and free product coupons. October's budget did include Halloween candy, so that was $30 there.

I am going to to try for $300 again for the month of November, and try for $100 in savings. It's made a difference me planning my menu, and doing the inventory of my freezers.

This is for me and dh, and we are in Canada.

Talking of menu plans, here is mine for the upcoming week.

Sat: Pork Chops, Ceaser Salad and Baked Potatoes
Sun: Turkey Breast Roast, cabbage, carrots, stuffing & gravy
Mon: Homemade mac and cheese
Tue: Marinated Chicken Breast, garlic bread & Ceaser Salad
Wed: Meatballs in gravy, mashed potatoes and peas
Thu: Homemade Fish Cakes & Ceaser Salad
Fri: Pasta with either meat sauce or shrimp in sauce

As you can see its heavy on the Ceaser salad again, but I want to use this dressing up. Will probably have enough for a couple meals next week as well. There is a sale on for shrimp in sauce, so as long as I can get it, it will be shrimp, if its sold out (wouldn't be surprised if it is), then it'll just be meat sauce.

Also I cleaned out my coupon wallet for month end and that also gave me a chance to see what I have as far as coupons are concerned. I am starting out this month with four Free Product Coupons, which is a good start. I did a couple of swaps last month, and those coupons came in.

What's your grocery budget for the month of November?

8 comments:

Lakeland Jo said...

I find your postings about this very inspiring, and I love to see those week long menus too. As I have commented before, coupons are not a big thing over here in England. They used to be popular and i would see folk in the supermarket queues with them, but its very rare now. What is popular here care loyalty cards. Tesco has one ( supermarket) and you can get money off vouchers or airmiles etc, and Boots the Chemist have a great loyalty card called Advantage which is generous on points. I have about fifteen pounds on mine at the moment ready for a Christmas spend.

Patty said...

I've only been coming to your blog for a short time, how many people do you feed? Just curious.

Right now we have four, three adults and one child. I try to plan my meals ahead, but it doesn't always work. The child would eat spaghetti every dinner time if we allowed her to do so.

Marla said...

I love to see people who are so oraganized. I used to do weekly menus, so when I got home from work I didn't have to think- what' for supper! Now that my hubby is gone I don't even cook hardly for myself!

Sandi McBride said...

Gill you're much more organized than I am...you should see me digging through my purse looking for coupons that I may have stuck inside (or may have left on the refrigerator under a magnet...) I am not a thrifty shopper, and I'm afraid I have a lot to learn! Thanks for the insight and the tips on successful menu planning!
Sandi

Lib said...

Hi Gill,
Great Job! Sounds like you are on the right track!
A great post!
Have a great day!
Blessins',Lib

Jane said...

Well done on your budget. You're making me hungry with that menu though!

The Good Life in Virginia said...

congrats gill on your october food budget. you are an inspiration to me. i am vowing (to myself) to take my food expenditures and cut them dramatically. of course my goal is to use the savings for vacations/trips for the upcoming year.and, if i would stick with my diet i could save more...lol.

mommyknows said...

I try to keep it under $800 for our family of 6. That doesn't include eating out which we do all too often.

I am going to try and make a menu and stick to it.

{{{SIGH}}}

Tuesday was a mixed bag type of day. Had the appliance repair guy come again to install another circuit board in the fridge.  When hubby got...