Week 2 of the Great Grocery Experiment!
I am not a scientifically minded person, but if I remember correctly, the steps of the scientific method go as follows:
- Step 1. Ask a Question- Easy. How much money should the new grocery budget be?
- Step 2. Do background research. Um, excuse me, science. I have years of background research. And I got the literal receipts to prove it. Next.
- Step 3. Construct a hypothesis. Okay, did we skip this one? Or is my hypothesis that grocery going forward will cost significantly more money because my children love to grow and be healthy?
- Step 4. Test your hypothesis. Okay, that’s what did I did last week! And what I am doing again, testing that hypothesis to the tune of all the chicken my heart can handle.
- Step 5. Analyze Data and draw a conclusion. Okay, so let’s put this on the to do list for the first week of February, yes?
- Step 6. Share your results. Oh, y’all know how we do. Talking about groceries is the glue of our friendship.
Okay, so what I missed on that list but definitely experienced this week I shall call Step 4B.
- Step 4B. Forget all the other steps and accidentally try to tank your own experiment.
Here’s what happened. First, I was feeling a smidge self conscious about my shopping trip last week, because of how hunch money I spent. But also, the impulse to shop to the sale and only get the essentials is a hard one to shake. Even as your brain recognizes that the essentials have changed and time of bare minimum shopping has past, your thrifty little heart clings to its cost effective ways.
Which is how I initially ended up with a $60 cart. Guess we’re all surviving on pasta and baby food. But wait, wasn’t the whole point of this to buy what we needed every single week, to realistically adjust our budget to the growing appetites and development of our children? What if going so bare bones this week I ended up sabotaging myself in the future because this cheap week made the average grocery trip numbers lower than what they realistically would be? Then I would be right back to where I was last month: always going over budget because the allotted money couldn’t accommodate our appetites and dietary needs?
It was like that The Office episode where they have a surplus and they have to spend it all that day or their budget will be lower next week. Except in this scenario, I was both Pam’s side of the office who wanted new chairs, and Oscar’s side of the office who wanted new copiers.
So I did another pass through the store, added a few things, spent my surplus, if you will. The experiment lives another day!
- Avocados (2)-$.99. 2 for 1 in-store sale.
- Bananas, 2.24 lb-$1.32.
- Blackberries, 6 oz (2)-$5.
- Blueberries, pint (2)-$4.
- Boar’s Head Sandwich Pepperoni, .5 lb-$3.97.
- Creamette Pasta (3)-$.98. So, I tried to stack the Buy 6, Save $3 price of $.49 a piece with my $1 off 3 Creamette pastas *Digital Coupon*. It ended up taking off one pasta at full price, and I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth to figure it out with the customer service people.
- Gerber Baby Food Packets (8)-$6.50. *Digital Coupon* for $1.50 off 4 Gerber items purchased stacked with 10 for $10.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 5.62 lb-$11.20.
- Honey Bunches of Oats-$1.49. B6S3!
- Kroger Ground Turkey, 3lb-$8.99.
- Mangoes (1)-$1.98.
- Private Selection Angus Steak, 3.87 lb-$19.33.
- Private Selection Wildflower Turkey, .5 lb-$3.82.
- Private Selection Wheat Bread-$1.99.
- Raspberries, 12oz-$4.99.
- Red Leaf Lettuce, .66 lb-$1.12.
- Silk Almond Milk (2)-$5.
- Simple Truth Peanut Butter-$0. *Digital Coupon* for a free Simple Truth item.
- Swordfish Steak, .6 lb-$5.60. Manager’s Special!
- Tomatoes on the Vine, 1.60 lb-$2.38.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, CoinOut
Total Budget: 1 Million Dollars
Total Spent: $93.33
Total Saved: $41.95
Last Week’s Total: $105. 42
Current Average: $99.37
What a Week Two! I was down, I was up. I was scared, I was determined. I guess sometimes you just need to power through when you’re feeling uncertain in a new situation. Just poor through and grab some mangoes and Swordfish. Looking forward to Week 3.
Do you ever just let yourself go nuts in the grocery store? Is it letting go like that a challenge for you, like it was for me? I’d love to hear your story in the comments!
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!