Okay, it’s money week here, which always brings equal parts dread and relief. And when I say “always,” I really mean in a rumpus world. I cannot recall a time pre-rumpus where I went $100 over budget in one month, ever. Now it’s like, a semi regular thing.
So if we’re going to talk about how over budget I went (and we are, I promise), we must first address how the budget overages get paid. Money does not fall from the sky or grow on trees or appear like magic or any other sarcastic comment your parents made when you were 15 and asked them for $20. Ugh, fine Dad, nevermind, I don’t need the new Blink182 cd that bad. Remember Blink182? What are those guys up to?
Now in days of yore, we pulled the rare grocery budget overages from the home and entertainment budgets. Savvy readers will know that in this rumpusrific day and age, we draw from the grocery, home, and entertainment budgies but still manage to find ourselves a day late and many dollars short. What’s a B to do?
This is where the stimulus comes in. When the stimulus first arrived, I, like many a Disney fan was like, “Let’s put it all aside for our next vacation!” But cooler heads prevailed and we made a new plan: we could put aside $200 every month for grocery overages and other rumpus related necessities. The first few rumpus shopping trips were terrible for food and terrible for morale. But I, like a naive fifteen year old who just wants to listen to some sweet pop-punk bops, thought grocery shopping would go back to normal in a few weeks.
Spoiler: it did not go back to normal.
It’s been six months and I still do a dance of glee when my store has chicken. Normal is gone, say hello to the unknown. That feels like a New Found Glory album title. Remember New Found Glory? What are those guys up to?
Who knows how long it will take food prices and availability to stabilize, if they ever do. Now you might ask, “if you have the extra $200 for food and home and whatever all else, why not apply that to your budget? Why not just build it right in and then you’ll always be under budget and you can put that money towards your eventual vacation?” And that’s a good, logical, reasonable question. My answer is the very juvenile: “Cuz I don’t wanna.”
Check it: I have a hard time adjusting to new things and making changes and wrapping my head around big, substantial, life altering developments. So re-doing my whole budget feels very overwhelming to me, not just because of the numbers but because of what it represents. Having the nice little pocket of emergency funds feels much more emotionally manageable. And you might say, “Sure, Kristen B, but you’re still a bratty mallrat at heart. Where’s Mr. B? He’s the real adult. He’ll make you see reason.” And to that I say: “Whatever. Damn the man. Save the empire.” Oh my gosh, guys, remember Empire Records? That movie was great.
But in all seriousness, Mr. B and I have agreed to table the permanent budget adjustment until December. We start all our budgets anew in January, so if there must be a change, that’s when it will be. And really, the longer we keep as much of the stimulus secret and safe, the more secure I will feel.
Let’s look at the numbers!
- My Kroger Budget for the month was $490. Total spent for Kroger was $567.44. I am $77.44 over budget.
- My Costco Budget was $300. Total Spent for Costco was $373.83. I am $73.83 over budget.
- Total over budget is $151.27
There is some goods news here. I was $29.40 less over budget from Kroger than I was last month. There is also less good news, in that I was $34.37 more over budget at Costco than last month. So it just ends up canceling itself out, really. I am $4.97 more over budget this month than last month.
Our entertainment budget is $100 for the month, and we got Chick-Fil-A what feels like approximately 30 times. It was twice, for a total of $49.10. That leaves $50.90 to apply to the grocery budget. Leaving me with $100.37 to pay for with stimulus money. In the immortal words of Blink182: turn the lights off, carry me home (na-na, na-na, na-na, na-na, na, na).
- Angus Steak, 5 lb -$29.95. Steak AGAIN, you guys! This is why I went over budget. Two weeks in a row of steak under $10 a pound. I made an executive call.
- Bananas, 2.82 lb-$1.55.
- Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, pint (2)-$6. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off 2.
- Blueberries, 18 oz (2)-$7.98. There wasn’t a ton of variety in fruit sales, so I doubled down on the faves.
- Boar’s Head Pepperoni, .1 lb-$7.31.
- Creamette Pasta (5)-$3.45. *Digital Coupon* made them $.69 each.
- Fuji Apples, 2.54 lb-$3.28.
- Green Beans, 1.15 lb-$1.14. In-store sale for $.99 a pound.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 14.66 lb-$29.19.
- Honey Bunches of Oats (2)-$5.58. Fun story about these. They were supposed to be $1.79 each with a *Digital Coupon.* When I got home and saw the mistake, I fussed and fluffed about that extra $2 I was charged. Then the Teacup got a hold of one and tore the boxes to shreds, so I couldn’t return it. Come to find, when loading coupons for the upcoming week, that I actually forget to load the coupon and the fault for me having to pay full price lay fully with me. Or my stars. Moral: sometimes toddlers destroying things saves a situation.
- Kroger String Cheese, 12 ct-$2.59. *Digital Coupon* for $.80.
- Mangoes (4)-$3.08. In store sale, $.77 each.
- Pepper Jack Cheese-$4.40.
- Piave Cheese-$4.32.
- Private Selection Bread -$1.49. *Digital Coupon* for $.49 off.
- Private Selection Honey Turkey, .75 lb-$6.31.
- Private Selection Ice Cream, .5 gal-$3.79. In-store sale.
- Red Leaf Lettuce, 1.02 lb-$1.72.
- Roma Tomato, 1.37 lb-$1.36.
- Salmon Filet, 1.95 lb-$13.70. Barely a sale with $6.99 instead of the usually $7.99, but I was riding high on the steak glory, so just gimme this.
- Siggi’s Organic Yogurt (4)-$3.16. Manager’s Special made them $.79 each.
- Silk Almond Milk (2)-$5. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off 2.
- Simple Truth Baby Food Pouches (5)-$4.95. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off 5.
- Vidal Onions, 1.42 lb-$1.69.
- Yellow Peaches, 2.43 lb-$3.62.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, CoinOut
Total Budget: $69.19
Total Spent: $146.63
Deducted from Other Budgets: $77.44
Do you have a guess for when food prices will go stabilize? What was your favorite band in high school? Let’s all sing along 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!