Business business business, numbers…
Okay, before we get into the nitty gritty of budgets and whosits and whatsits, let’s address the Dumbo in the shopping cart.
Yes, I am like, way behind on my grocery posts. It is nowhere near September 29th. You know it. I know it.
You may be wondering, “How did this happen?” “How did this woman get so behind on her weekly reports about groceries? She’s not writing the Great American Novel. What’s the hold up?” Or maybe you don’t care. Maybe you’re like, “Whatever, KB, just get to the numbers and the lists of cheese. I know you’re always a day late and a dollar short. It’s part of your charm. It’s what I’ve come to expect for you, so let’s just move along.”
Here is the sitch: I am a processor. And by processor, I mean, I move at the emotional pace of a glacier. A thing happens to me, or I participate in a thing, or a thing falls on my head and I discover the laws of gravity, and I need many hot minutes to take in the experience, sort through my feelings about it, write down all the relevant mathematical formulas. There are still posts I haven’t finished from LAST YEAR’S Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Why? Because I’m still processing the experience.
Just kidding about that last part. I have fully moved on from MNSSHP (blog post coming soon! maybe!) But not kidding about the internal work I need to do to fully understand my feelings on any given thing. I voted today. I stood in line for an hour and a half, hit my little buttons, grabbed my official sticker, and then came home as exhausted as if I had scaled Everest. I had a headache, I was hungry, I just needed to close my eyes. And it took a solid thirty minutes of me just sitting on my couch, starring out the window before I was ready to get on with my day.
Now let’s be real, I go grocery shopping every week, so it’s not like this is some new, nationally significant thing I need to recover from on the daily. But sometimes there are other things I am processing, because hi, 2020, you’re a lot to take in, and I just don’t get to writing my grocery posts that day. Oh, this is a good angle. Imma stick with this. It’s 2020’s fault.
Just kidding on that last part. It’s fully my fault. But 2020 knows what it did.
Back to numberz. This month:
Kroger-September
- Total Budget: $490
- Total Spent: $530.79
- Over Budge: $40.79
Costco-September
- Total Budget: $300
- Total Spent: $273.05
- Under Budge: $26.95
Total over budget for the month is $13.84.
Yes! Look at this. $13.84. I love to see it. Okay, so Entertainment Budget wise, we’re going with the classic $100 a month. Buuuuuuut, I also had a surpluslast month of $19.38. So this brings my total entertainment budget up to $119.38.
We did a Pizza night at Costco, and because I was too tired I just left that in the full Costco budget. Don’t judge me. I was processing. We also did a night of Chick-Fil-A drive through because you gotta get your kicks somewhere. That was $27. Well, truly, it was 26 something, but I think one of my children mistook the receipt for a chicken nugget and ate it, so I just rounded up. And I know I could go on my bank statement and look, but y’all, I’m going to be controversial yet brave and say that it won’t kill anyone if I estimate one time out of the literal hundreds of numbers I write in various workbooks and blog posts. Let me round up, just this once.
My entertainment budget goes down to $92.38, subtract the $13.84 and voila, we have a surplus of $78.54. It is taking all of my willpower to hold onto that for groceries next month (which is actually this month because time is a flat circle) and not sneak it off to the Disney Fund. But my new, rumpus dependent, rule is that I must have a surplus for three months in a row before it can make its way over to the Disney Fund. Cheese and Clorox wipes ain’t cheap, y’all. Two months down!
- Avocados (3)-$2.47. *Digital Coupon* for $.50 off three.
- Bananas, 1.62 lb-$.96.
- Barilla Pasta (4)-$3. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off four, bringing each box down to $.75.
- Blackberries, pint (2)-$4.
- Blueberries, pint (2)-$4.
- Boar’s Head Pepperoni, .75 lb-$7.12.
- Earth’s Best Baby Food Packets (5)-$4.45. *Digital Coupon* for $.50 off up to five brought the price down to $.89 each.
- Fuji Apples, 3.89 lb-$4.63.
- Green Leaf Lettuce, .63 lb-$1.06.
- Heritage Farm Chicken Breasts, 8.55 lb -$17.03.
- Honey Bunches of Oats (3)-$4.62. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off each stacked with a Best Customer Bonus of $.40 off Ready to Eat Cereal made each box $1.54.
- Kroger Ground Turkey, 4 lbs-$5.58. *Digital Coupon* for $1 off one pound for a use of four times brought these down to $2.79 each.
- Private Selection Bread (1)-$1.69. *Digital Coupon* for $.55 off each loaf.
- Private Selection Honey Turkey, .75 lb-$5.17.
- Private Selection Ice Cream, pint-$1.17. *Digital Coupon* for $.50 off stacked with in-store sale.
- Private Selection Rolls-$1.88.
- Raspberries, pint (2)-$4.
- Red Gold Canned Tomatoes (2)-$2.
- Roma Tomato, .98 lb-$.97.
- Silk Almond Milk, .5 gal (1)-$2.50.
- Starbucks Coffee-$5.99. In-store sale.
- Sweet Baby Ray’s Wing Sauce (4)-$3.96. Another *Digital Coupon* for $1 off stacked with an in-store sale made each of these $.99.
- Apps I’ll submit to: Fetch Rewards, CoinOut, Ibotta ($.10 off Any Pasta, $.10 off Any Bagged Coffee, $1.25 off Honey Bunches of Oats, $1 off five Earth’s Best Packets)
Total Budget: $53.04
Total Spent: $93.83.
Total Saved: $41.10
Deducted from Other Budgets: $40.79.
Okay, be real with me. I know I am not the only who taking extra long to process things in a post rumpus world. How do you process things? What’s your fave self care habit? Let’s sort through our feelings down below!
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!