Grocery Challenge: Week 1

The first week in June has officially come and gone. Granted, we were out of town for the majority of it but I still have a grocery budget to stay under! You may remember before we left, I went to the store but only bought a few items. I went again yesterday, this time for some serious fridge stocking. Since I spent $13.20 the other day, I only had about $54 dollars left for the week. Obviously, since the week ended yesterday, this should have been easy. But even though the first week is over, I’m still trying to spend less than I technically can. The less I spend the better! Especially since we were out of town (therefore, spending money!).

I went to Trader Joe’s yesterday and was probably super annoying to other shoppers. I was one of those really slow people taking their time looking at items and comparing prices. I usually hate people like this because they’re in my way! I gotta get my yogurts and get out of there! I had my list with me…and was keeping a tally in my head the entire time I was shopping. That was hard enough! I should have brought a calculator.

My goal for TJ’s was under 54 bucks….here was the outcome:

$50.93!!! Woo hoo I did it! I have to say, I had shrimp on my list…but when I approached the frozen fish…the shrimp was around ten bucks so I couldn’t afford it :(. I’m still trying to figure out where my “impulse” buys are and what I can cut out of my lists to save money for foods like shrimp. Right after my TJ purchases, I went over my receipt and immediately saw where/what I can cut.

Prepackaged stuff kills me. I feel like that’s TJ’s bread and butter though. It’s such a great store for single people or couple’s looking for convenience. As you can see, the precooked chicken was way too much: almost 7 bucks for 4 tiny breasts (not even an A cup). Precut mango is a little pricey too. I actually wanted fresh mango but they didn’t have any! Also, cherries are expensive. I probably didn’t need to buy those and they certainly weren’t on my list…but it’s summer!!! I love fresh cherries!!

While I was shopping around, I also noticed they sell Fage greek yogurt (my fave…pricey though) for $1.69 each. They sell their own greek yogurt for $.99 so I bought one of theirs yesterday to give it a try. Cutting the price on my greek yogurt habit would help quite a bit.

I love me some Trader Joe’s, but they don’t always have everything you need. I had cilantro on my list and they didn’t have any. Since I still technically had $4.62 left to spend, I went over to another market to buy cilantro. I realized I also needed some canned tomatoes for enchiladas and a pan. I’m not including the pan in my grocery budget because it’s something we need, not food. I got a little weak during my second grocery run…

If I only bought what I needed (food wise) I would have spent $2.58-totally under budget! But I happened to take a stroll down the ice cream isle and bought two mini skinny cow ice cream’s. These babies put me over my budget by $.46 cents! Damn you Skinny Cow’s!!

I know that’s not that bad…but still over! So, I’ll have to make up for it during my next grocery visit. So, here’s the stats for week #1:

Total Budget: $275

Weekly Budget: $68.75

• Grocery Run 1- $13.20
• Grocery Run 2- $50.93
• Grocery Run 3- $5.08

Total= $69.21

OVER $.46 cents.

Well, I tried. Just had a moment of weakness. I’ll just take that $.46 cents out of next week’s grocery budget. Overall, it wasn’t too shabby though. I feel like I’m becoming more aware of prices and impulse buys (except for the Skinny Cow’s :)).

Do you have “issues” with impulse buys? Or are you pretty good at sticking to your list?