Savings Tracker for January – Will the end of the month ever get here??

This month seems very long for some reason….

I miscalculated the other day when I told you I had gotten $16.49 in rebates this month.  I’ve actually gotten $25.48.  So that would put me at $65.50 to spend for the rest of this month.  I spent $30.06 at Winn-Dixie over the weekend.  So that left me with $35.44.

I went to Double Coupon Day at our local Food Giant today.  I bought more than I planned on, but in a good way.  I took advantage of their pick 5 for $19.99 and stocked up on meat (a ham steak, smoked sausage, ground beef, steaks, sausage) and I bought a 1.5lb pork tenderloin for $7.  They also had a new $1 section and there were some off-brand Teddy Graham cookies and fruit snack items.  I picked up a few of those for Bug because he’s down to nothing but Goldfish and saltines to snack on.  Oh, and I got a decent deal on a Bounce Dryer bar (sale for $3.99) and I had a $2 coupon that was about to expire.

Other than that (all that – LOL!) I stuck to my list, which was originally Peanut Butter (raincheck + double coupons = 2 Jif PB for $1.60!), salsa, and toilet paper.

They say always shop with a list and don’t stray from it, so it would look like I broke that rule. But I went in there open to meat deals and knowing I would probably get some.  We needed some meat and what I got will carry us on well into the next month.  So I’m not disappointed with myself.  :)))

Food Giant doesn’t have fancy receipts that show you how much you saved in sale prices versus regular prices.  It was $44.84 before tax and coupons.  I had $6 in coupons and tax was $3.95.

I spent $42.59.  Which makes me $7.69 over budget ($300 is our budget)  for the month.  But, I’m not worried.  I could get some more rebates before the month is over.  And since all the meat I stocked up on will get us well into the next month it was worth it.  I give us a little wiggle room in our grocery budget.  My goal is to spend $300 each month, but I have an extra $50 reserve for any too good to pass up sales that can happen at the end of the month when money is a little tight.

How do you handle your budgeting?