I Made It!

My goal for February was to spend $73.20 or less for groceries.  That’s $100 less than our monthly budget.  I am excited to report…I made it!  I actually came in slightly under plan at $72.58.  I was able to get $413 worth of product (food and toiletry/household items) for only $168.36, a savings of $244.64 or 59%.

We learned some lessons from our “Eating from the Pantry Challenge.”  I learned to eat some more simple meals, and also some creativity in the kitchen.  Self-control was also a valuable lesson learned.  We are planning for a normal month in March, but I have completed a monthly menu plan and grocery list, and I will be doing some freezer cooking also.  Hopefully this will help me to better utilize what I already have on hand so that I don’t have to purchase as much.

I was excited to be able to see the back of my freezer!  I have been keeping it so well stocked (not complaining…I feel very blessed) that things were getting lost in the shuffle.  Here are a couple of pictures of our freezer and refrigerator at the end of our challenge:

PICT0013  I had enough meat left over to make some decent meals in March.  I also have a bit of cheese, and two hot dog buns.  Yay!

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When Elaine sees the camera come out she thinks it’s all about taking pictures of her…and she’s usually right.  She wanted in on the picture action.  She didn’t appreciate the cold air so much!

PICT0015Just some butter, iced tea, spaghetti sauce, and apple sauce left!

While I’m on savings, here is my first great deal for March:

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I paid only tax on these items, a whopping 38 cents!  Two boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats (sooooo glad to get this, because we completely depleted our cereal stock last month), 4 cans tomato soup, a Pepsi 2-liter, a body wash, and some clearance candy.  Yay for CVS!

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