Deals this Week and Monthly Budget Totals

I didn't take the car at all this week, due to some events and my baby's cold, so I didn't do much shopping. However, I did make a quick run to CVS and Target last night for some of the deals.

Here's what I got (not pictured: Skittles, which I ate!):


Total spent: $5.09!

I was pretty happy with my trip. My total for both stores was less than the price of just two of the boxes of Special K!

I did get a head start on my September grocery shopping last week, so here's my monthly totals so far:

Safeway: $31.37
Harris Teeter: $35.27 & $5.87
Target: $17.11 & $3.71
Giant: $26.01
Walmart: $3.81
CVS: $1.38

September total to date: $124.59 ($225.41 remaining)

And a confession: In August, for the first time in a long time, we went over the grocery budget! We actually spent $390.66. Although part of the reason was the girls' birthdays, one of the other reasons was that I actually miscalculated how much we had already spent. This has really made me recommit to finding a better way to keep track of the day to day spending, so that the totals for each budget category are always at my fingertips. Lately, I've been trying out an online program; I'll be sure to share the results of my trial.

This month, after keeping my $350 budget the same for a number of months, I've decided to try to further challenge myself. I'm going to actually aim for just $300/month! I know that I may not be able to do this every month, especially if there's a special event or a holiday, so the "official" budget is still $350. But I'm really going to aim for less, and I am going to take whatever of the $350 that I don't spend each month and put it toward a savings goal.

I'm excited to trt challenge my grocery savings skills further!