Yesterday I alluded to my overblown spending in my grocery/household/pet category. I lump them all together into "consumables" and while I've tried to track specific categories in the past (dairy/produce/etc) I've gotten quickly bored by such scrutiny, now I simply try to operate in those parameters.
Shameful confession: I spent $629 on that category. This is everyone (7 people, one dog, one turtle and toad, two parrots, and a fish). If I'm prudent I can do it on just under $100 a week (Aldi's plus a supplemental trip to Trader Joes). On average if I'm casual it is $125, but $157 a week, usually never! I did save $162.89 in coupons, buying mostly unnecessary "reasonably priced" snack items and other things. I can't even say that we ate more red meat or splurged on shrimp or wine or other items I consider budget busters.
I had this small goal of tracking my spending to see which option presented the most economical spending option:
(1) Several big-chain stores (where I live Jewel/Dominicks/CVS or Walgreens) where I diligently matched circular ads to coupons and planned my menu around those items.
(2) One or two large trips in a month to Sam's Club stocking up on majorly used items and supplementing with small trips weekly to a closer store.
(3) By good old stand-by of Aldi's. Using my own menu plan and price list and shopping once a week.
Clearly the option 1 isn't really the way to go for me. Spending too much time looking through ads and coupons and then driving too many places for "one day only deals" (like $5 pizzas on Fridays from Dominicks).
My goal for February: To get back down to $115 per week. Tomorrow starts the official "February Spending Cycle" at my house with DH's paycheck. I am doing one last run to Dominick's for the upcoming week's groceries and I plan to spend $50 after a $25 coupon. I've got a detailed plan down to snacks and breakfast foods and lunch items.
After that, it is a return to Aldi's for me for the remainder of the month.
My last thrilling haul of coupon use ended yesterday when I spent $14 after a coupon savings of $22. What did I buy? Bic mechanical pencils (2), feminine hygiene product (1), six Protein bars for DH, four cans of Pringles, two boxes of Fiber One cereal, three bags of Kraft Homestyle Mac and Cheese (to share with soon to be unemployed brother), and a 12-pack of toilet paper. Took me 70 minutes to accomplish the above, stopping at five different stores (I used ECB and Walgreen's rebate dollars) and one store offered 5 double coupons (up to $1) and I had 8. The thrill of that haul will have to carry me through to awhile.
Time to dust off my binder of recipes and go back to scratch. What do my kids love more for breakfast? A bowl of cereal and milk or my homemade apple muffins? The muffins. Which is cheaper for a family my size? The muffins. Which is probably healthire for my family? The muffins. And when they get tired of muffins, there is the old standy of chocolate chip waffles. I'm misguided by the thrill of buying that box of cereal for $1.34. Who really ultimately cares?
If you're still following, thanks for following me on my mulling over my poor money management in the consumables department. 
Shameful confession about grocery spending
February 2nd, 2012 at 02:44 pm
February 2nd, 2012 at 03:03 pm 1328194985
February 2nd, 2012 at 03:07 pm 1328195265
In my case, I realized I was getting as much of a thrill in chasing grocery store sales as I used to get walking into a department store and going on a shopping spree. Too much of a thrill, in that I was having a hard time drawing the line at when to say enough.
And gaining weight as a result! So I've recently stopped paying attention to anything in the sales ads except what I consider to be whole, healthy food products. Both my grocery spend and my weight have benefited as a result. :-)
February 2nd, 2012 at 03:24 pm 1328196251
@ERJ, probably a very valid point here. I reread a previous post where I dubbed it "saving while spending". We all want to get the best deal on things. We all want to stretch our budgets until we hear our dollars scream. I think that a month of no frills spendings (Aldi's being a coupon free zone!) will help me get back to a place where I see the value of planned spending and a balanced food budget.
@CCF, my children are fascinated with anything in the shape of the muffin. That is the way that they eat meatloaf, in a muffin, and some with mashed potato frosting. I'll have to expand in the variety of muffins that I offer them.
February 2nd, 2012 at 08:27 pm 1328214421