It's hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of September! It feels like I just started this grocery challenge....that it shouldn't be the end of the month yet. Crazy.
So, I suppose this is my last update regarding my grocery challenge. I do intend to continue giving you guys insight into my grocery buying every so often though. For one, so that I feel accountable for my purchases (and don't go overboard!) and for two, so that I can open up discussion on what everyone is buying and where they are finding their deals. I realize that different provinces and countries will have varying sales and prices - but I find it really helpful to know what other people are buying and what they are paying for grocery items.
So here's all that I bought for these last two days of September:
Yup. That's it. All $3.52 worth of fruit, haha. And no, we won't go through six bananas in two days!
I ended up juggling a lot of my meals this past week or so and ended up with extra stuff in the house to use. We also were invited for supper at Chad's parent's house on Saturday evening so I am making my Saturday supper for tonight's meal. So September meals are totally covered and I will probably be able to cover a few days into October as well :)
My total for the month of September is....(drum roll please!).....$149.95!
Wow, not sure how I hit so darn close to my max goal of $150, I swear I didn't plan it that way. I realized pretty quickly, though, that my lofty initial goal of $100 for the entire month was NOT practical AT ALL. Prices these days just would never allow that for our family of three.
This month was quite an eye-opener for me. It felt SO great to be organized for the whole month - knowing exactly what was planned for each night of the week. I had made a basic grocery list for every week so I knew what I needed to buy and then I would double check those items before I left to make sure I did in fact need them. Some weeks I thought I would need more eggs and I didn't, or I thought I would go through more onions than I actually did.
I also didn't realize just how much I had/have in my freezer! I was able to work my way through a lot of random things I had stored up and, yes, there are certain things like ground beef and chicken thighs that I will need to buy this next month but I still have things in my freezer and pantry that I didn't have time to use this month. It boggles my mind! I think I will work on my meal planning for October in the next couple days here and try to incorporate a few meals each week that still follow my grocery challenge rules - just to keep my freezers and pantry from piling high again!
There are also some major things that need to be purchased now, such as baby wipes, diapers, shampoo, ground beef, chicken thighs, peanut butter, etc. So I will need to watch some of my other day-to-day grocery costs. It won't do me any good to save on my grocery budget this month just to double it this next month. I'm pretty confident I can keep costs down still by using some of the things I've learned from the challenge.
I'm also starting to think about Christmas already (I know, I know...a lot of you are going to hate that I even mentioned that C-word). I want to figure out my budget for buying gifts but I also am just feeling the need to be super prepared! Baby #2 is due on December 15th which means I need to be ready for baby's arrival, Abby's 2nd birthday, AND Christmas by the end of November. This pregnancy is a little less "smooth sailing" than what I experienced with Abby so I'm starting to feel a sense of urgency to be prepared before I can no longer haul my large body around or else I have a toddler and a very new newborn to bring shopping. I'm starting to think that online shopping may just be my saving grace this year!
Is there anyone else that's crazy like me and thinking about Christmas already? I actually keep forgetting that Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day, etc. all have to happen first!
So, I suppose this is my last update regarding my grocery challenge. I do intend to continue giving you guys insight into my grocery buying every so often though. For one, so that I feel accountable for my purchases (and don't go overboard!) and for two, so that I can open up discussion on what everyone is buying and where they are finding their deals. I realize that different provinces and countries will have varying sales and prices - but I find it really helpful to know what other people are buying and what they are paying for grocery items.
So here's all that I bought for these last two days of September:
Yup. That's it. All $3.52 worth of fruit, haha. And no, we won't go through six bananas in two days!
I ended up juggling a lot of my meals this past week or so and ended up with extra stuff in the house to use. We also were invited for supper at Chad's parent's house on Saturday evening so I am making my Saturday supper for tonight's meal. So September meals are totally covered and I will probably be able to cover a few days into October as well :)
My total for the month of September is....(drum roll please!).....$149.95!
Wow, not sure how I hit so darn close to my max goal of $150, I swear I didn't plan it that way. I realized pretty quickly, though, that my lofty initial goal of $100 for the entire month was NOT practical AT ALL. Prices these days just would never allow that for our family of three.
This month was quite an eye-opener for me. It felt SO great to be organized for the whole month - knowing exactly what was planned for each night of the week. I had made a basic grocery list for every week so I knew what I needed to buy and then I would double check those items before I left to make sure I did in fact need them. Some weeks I thought I would need more eggs and I didn't, or I thought I would go through more onions than I actually did.
I also didn't realize just how much I had/have in my freezer! I was able to work my way through a lot of random things I had stored up and, yes, there are certain things like ground beef and chicken thighs that I will need to buy this next month but I still have things in my freezer and pantry that I didn't have time to use this month. It boggles my mind! I think I will work on my meal planning for October in the next couple days here and try to incorporate a few meals each week that still follow my grocery challenge rules - just to keep my freezers and pantry from piling high again!
There are also some major things that need to be purchased now, such as baby wipes, diapers, shampoo, ground beef, chicken thighs, peanut butter, etc. So I will need to watch some of my other day-to-day grocery costs. It won't do me any good to save on my grocery budget this month just to double it this next month. I'm pretty confident I can keep costs down still by using some of the things I've learned from the challenge.
29 weeks pregnant today! Only 11-ish weeks to go.
Is there anyone else that's crazy like me and thinking about Christmas already? I actually keep forgetting that Thanksgiving, Halloween, Remembrance Day, etc. all have to happen first!
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