Mr B: Am I in your picture? Me: Nah, it’s fine.
This shopping trip June 1st, on a Monday, was the first shopping trip of the month. All of those factors lining up is such perfect symmetry and it makes my nerd heart happy.
Before we get into this neatly aligned shopping trip, it’s time for a quick round of the Budget is Right!
Let’s look at the numbers from my May budgets:
- My grocery budget (Kroger) for the month was $400. I spent $460.16 total. I need to account for $60.16.
- My home budget (Costco) was $300. I spent 278.36 total. I have a surplus of $21.64.
- My entertainment budget was $100. I spent in total, $47. I have a surplus of $53.
So, my immediate action is to apply that $21.64 from home to my $60.16 grocery overages . This leaves me with $38.52.
Next, I take the $53 surplus from entertainment and apply that to the remaining groceries overages of $38.52. Which leaves me with $14.48.
Ya’ll.
I HAVE $14.48 LEFT FROM MY BUDGETS.
I won! I won The Budget is Right!
(Music! Jumping up and down! Screaming! Waving my arms! More Music!)
This is the first time since the rumpus began that I have had anything left over from my budgets. I am a little shocked. And in awe. And maybe crying? No, I’m not crying. There is dust in my eye.
In April, we were over budget by $154.39. We used the left over entertainment budget, but we were still over. So we had to use some of our stimulus check to cover the rest. We put our stimulus aside for this very reason: to accommodate expenses we did not anticipate that were directly related to the rumpus. Like food costing more. But after literal years of being at budget or under it, it was still a hard pill to swallow, having to dip into so many reserves to cover our basic needs.
This $14.48 is precious to me. I kind of want to put it in a shadow box and hang it on my wall to remember this day.
If you’re curious, you can check out my Kroger trips here and my Costco trip here, so you can see exactly what was up with the budgets. But I don’t really do a post for my entertainment budget because it’s a small budget and we’re not super fascinating people. A lot of our entertainment is dictated by weird work schedules and accommodating a toddler’s sleeping and eating needs.
Our entertainment budget is $100 a month. This covers things like eating at restaurants or getting take-out. It covers movies, play dates, the occasional family outing. It also covers random expenses that pop up like being invited to a birthday party or soccer registration. Long time readers will know it is also my first stop when I am over budget on groceries.
During the rumpus, the entertainment budget can also includes at home diversions, like coloring books and sidewalk chalk. Normally these things are purchased on sale s part of seasonal clearance (I have approximately 700 Christmas coloring books I got for $.10 one particularly jolly year. It is unreal.) But since seasonal sales are kind of taking a snooze, if I see a good deal on something that will make quarantine like a little easier, I grab it and bill to it entertainment.
This month, I spent $36 on pizza for family movie night. I had to take the Teacup to her 18 month appointment and she got a shot, so afterwards grabbed some doughnuts via curbside pickup from our favorite local spot. That was $6 on doughnuts. And finally, $5 on a Super Saver Deal from Disney Movie Club. New movies go a long way towards boosting morale.
- Avocados (4)-$3.08. In-store sale, $.77 each.
- Bananas, 2.43 lb-$1.34.
- Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream (3)-$7.47. Buy 5, Save $5 brought them down to $2.49 each.
- Beech Nut Baby Food Packets (3)-$3.
- Blackberries, 6 oz (4)-$5. In-store sale.
- Blueberries, 18 oz-$3.99.
- Boar’s Head Pepperoni, 1 lb-$9.68. EXACT same price as last week. What are the odds?
- Fuji Apples, 3.48 lb-$4.45.
- Gruyere Cheese-$3.15.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Drumsticks, 10.62 lbs-$10.52. In store sale, $.99 a poound.
- Kraft Dressing-$.99. Buy 5, Save $5.
- Kroger Ground Turkey, 3 lb-$8.99. Buy 5, Save $5.
- Mangoes (3)-$2.31. In-store sale, $.77 each..
- Monterey Jack Cheese-$3.08.
- Private Selection Bread -$1.99.
- Private Selection Wildflower Turkey, 1 lb-$8.31.
- Raspberries, 6 oz (4)-$5. In-store sale.
- Red Tomatoes, 1.72 lb-$3.42.
- Roma Tomato, .79 lb-$.78
- Silk Almond Milk, .5 gal-$2.99.
- Starbucks Coffee-$5.99. Buy 5, Save $5.
- Strawberries, 2 lb-$4.
- Vidal Onions, 2.44 lb-$2.42.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, CoinOut, Ibotta ($.20 Any Item, $.10 off Coffee), Shopkick (150 kicks for Blueberries)
Total Budget: $98
Total Spent: $103.24
Deducted from Next Week: $5.24
So here is the $14.48 question: Do I put it towards the Disney Fund, as is the accepted practice with overages, pre-rumpus? Or, do I put it all aside for next month’s groceries, as food prices remain stagnant?
What would you do? Give me your best ideas 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!