this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

So last month I went over by quite a bit in the world of groceries. But I started this month not frantically needed to grocery shop because all the cupboards were bare. Often, the first of the month shopping trip is a big one because I only got bare minimum at the end of the previous month in an effort to stay under budget.

But not this month.

This week I spend $34.58. I've decided to up my budget to $55 a week to compensate for non-food items (this month I think I'll need to buy dryer sheets and I always seem to need dishwasher detergent) that I include within the grocery budget. I don't operate on a weekly budget for groceries, but more of a monthly budget. Depending on the month, I make either four or five grocery trips. It's not fair to expect myself to spend the same amount of money in a five trip month that I would in a four. So essentially the $20 I didn't spend this week rolls over to next week. I don't roll over month to month though, if I know I'm going to be under, I'll either do extra stocking up or have some more money saved for that week.

This week's budget challenge at Sense to Save is all about grocery shopping. Kacie wants to know the method behind our grocery shopping madness, so I'll elaborate a bit to answer her questions.

• I go with a list. Disasterous things happen when I don't. I end up forgetting the essentials and getting too many non-essentials.


• I go where I can get a good deal. I do most of my shopping at Smith's, but will hit Albertson's to take advantage of their loss leaders (those products that are on sale for a great price) if it's something I'm interested in.


• I don't use the grocery game or anything like it. I used to get the paper and would clip coupons. Now I occasionally hit up the coupon sites (like smartsource.com) to see what they have and print anything I might be interested in.


• I plan a menu for the week and I use the store's sales fliers to do it.


• I do try and spend less than $55 a week, but it doesn't always happen. More often than not, it all evens out at the end of the month.

Kacie wants to know what we'll do this week to improve our grocery shopping. I am going to start my price book. I really think I'm okay on food prices, but it's the stuff like trash bags and laundry detergent that I don't always know if I'm getting the best price. I wrote down some prices last time I was at Costco, so I need to put them into a spreadsheet and then check prices at the grocery store next time I go.