The Month of April Spending and Saving on Groceries

I have saved $1278.38 so far this year!

I set my monthly budget for $500 per month, my goal being $125 per week. This budget is for a family of 4, which includes: food, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene, and sometimes pet supplies. Our $500 budget for us is reasonable, it allows us to purchase what we like but staying on track at the same time.

For the month of April there was 5 weeks that I have budgeted for. I still was only over $34.92! I have been using most of my stock pile of meat so I haven’t purchased meat too much this month.

Month of April Summary
$500 budget
$534.92 Spent
$191.23 Saved
-$.34.92 over budget (not bad for 5 weeks in April)

This week I shopped at Yoke’s Fresh market and used their in store coupons, WinCo Foods which is about 25% savings without coupons (I also had almost $10 in coupons), and Walgreen’s; which I used Walgreen’s coupons as well as manufacturer coupons.

It’s very easy to start saving money. Here are some quick, easy tips to get started. Also go to my Coupon 101 for more information if you are a beginner.

• Set a budget. By setting a budget and sticking to it helps from spending money on items you don’t need.
• Know your prices. At first you might want to start writing prices of the items you normally buy. Once you are aware of the lowest prices you can toss that book because you will start to know your prices by heart.
• Stock up. Stock up when the prices have hit their lowest. This way your weekly shopping are for sales, items you are totally out of, and your produce.
• Coupons. Use manufacturer coupons along with in-store sales, store coupons, and store’s double coupons (like Albertson’s).
• Shop your pantry and freezer. Plan your meals around what you have in your freezer and pantry. If you are stock piling at the lowest prices you are shopping to stock not around your menu for the week.
• Homework. Do your homework before shopping. Plan your shopping trips. Read all the great money saving blogs that are out there. They sure help me. Take a look at the blogs I follow; listed on my site.