I'm continually amazed at how much the little purchases I make add up. I realized again this week how much budgeting and keeping track of my spending saves us. It is so easy to think that I am only spending $10 here and there and that it really isn't that much, when in reality it adds up quickly and soon I've spent $60.
Anyway, so much for my rambling. I went over budget this week by $10.51, but I am not too distressed because $25 is money that we will be using for groceries over the next month. (Read on, you'll see what I mean.) However, I also am realizing that I need to cut back on the deals a bit and try to use up more of my stockpile so that I can stay ahead money wise.
Total Spent: $54.36
Local Bulk Food Store: $14.46
Aldi: $33.90
Wondering how in the world this little bit of food cost so much? Well, it didn't; I got $20 cash back at Aldi to use to buy milk. We get milk from a local farmer and $20 should last us anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks.
Giant: $0.50
Rite Aid: $0
I paid for my purchase with a gift card that I earned by transferring a prescription to Rite Aid. Had I not used the gift card I would have spent $4.57. I'll get back a $5 rebate on the Dulcolax so I actually made $0.43 (enough to cover the postage for the rebate since I buy my postage like this).
CVS: $0
Once again, I used a gift card to pay for this purchase (we earned the gift card with the rewards program on our Discover card), otherwise I would have paid $2.09. I used $7 Extra Bucks and got $2 Extra Bucks back plus I'll also get a $6.99 rebate for the shampoo (making them both free since they were Buy One Get One Free), which means I made $8.99.
Family Dollar & Farmer's Market: $5.50
I know, this is a weird combo. I paid $0.50 for the Electrasol after a coupon and the other $5 was cash that I got out of our bank account to use the next several weeks for produce at our local farmer's market.
Stay tuned...I plan to post a monthly spending summary tomorrow.
Hi! I found your blog link from Money Saving Mom. I was wondering what bulk store you shop at? I am in York County and I'm looking for a good source for wheat berries and other bulk items. Thanks and I'll be adding your blog to my reader!
ReplyDeleteWelcome Andrea! I primarily go to a bulk food store very close to the tourist town called Intercourse- you've likely heard of it. From what I have observed, they have pretty much the best prices on bulk items, however, I don't think they carry wheat berries.
ReplyDeleteMy mother-in-law gets those and I buy them from her since we don't use a huge amount at this point. She buys them at a place called Weaver's Egg Farm (I think!) and it is located close to New Holland and would be maybe 10 to 15 minutes from the bulk food store I go to. Hope that helps!