I thought I'd pull all the numbers together and post them together for easy reference.
March 18 $303
March 23 $244.48
March 30 $312.71
April 5 $209.76
Total $1069.95
Average $267.49
Savings $290.05
April 13 $284.56
April 20 $304.57
April 27 $312.34
May 3 $141.62
Total $1043.09 $2113.04
Average $260.77 $264.13
Savings $316.91 $616.96
May 10 $277.57
May 17 $255.39
May 24 $237.76
May 31 $183.39
Total $954.11 $3067.15
Average $238.53 $255.60
Savings $405.89 $1022.85
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Shopping Day: 31 May, 2012
Woolworths: $60.72
Aldi: $65.81
Coles: $56.86
Total: $183.39
This was the fourth shopping trip of the month, which I'm trying to keep as small as possible by pulling meals together from the stockpile. That didn't really happen so much this week, but I tried. A big reason for that is because I've kept the other three shops this month well below my original goal of $300 a week. In fact, the biggest weekly total all month was $277. And the other reason is that we just happened to run out or low on a lot of stuff. The stockpile, such that it is, still only consists of relatively small amounts of a relatively small number of items. Until I can get more shelves, and change up my shopping strategy a bit, that's not going to change.
While the original goal was to keep three of the four shops around $300 and then the fourth one at around $150 (I quickly realized that keeping it at $50 to 100) wasn't practical), my new goal is to keep the average weekly total at $240 or less. That's over $20 a week less than the original goal, but I'm confident that I can do it.
My weekly total for this month were $277.57, $255.39, $237.76 and $183.39, for a total of $954.11 and a weekly average of $238.53. So not only did I hit my goal of a $240 per week average, but I'm slowly but steadily dropping the monthly total. I've been doing this for three months, and the first month I spent a total of $1070, the second month a total of $1043 and this month a total of $954. Based on the average weekly cost of $340 that I worked out earlier this month, that means that I've saved over $1000 in the last 3 months.
Not that I've got a bank account with an extra $1000 in it or anything. The money, unsurprisingly, has been spent. I'm not entirely sure what it's been spent on, but it's definitely been spent. Some of it was spent on plane tickets to fly Jack and James up to Ballina for the school holidays. Some of it was spent on a speeding ticket (not mine), on make-up (not mine), on new clothes (not mine), on Jack's birthday presents and party, etc. All perfectly reasonable purchases, I'm sure. Well, except for the speeding ticket. But I get the feeling that when the money is just sitting there in the transaction account, there can be an almost overwhelming desire to spend it.
So starting today, I'm moving the money I save (based on the $340 a week average I calculated earlier this month) from the grocery bill to a separate account. It's going to pay for our vacation this summer, and after that it's going to pay the credit card balance down (which is costing us over $55 a month in interest), for next year's vacation, and to add to our house deposit savings account as well.
Aldi: $65.81
Coles: $56.86
Total: $183.39
This was the fourth shopping trip of the month, which I'm trying to keep as small as possible by pulling meals together from the stockpile. That didn't really happen so much this week, but I tried. A big reason for that is because I've kept the other three shops this month well below my original goal of $300 a week. In fact, the biggest weekly total all month was $277. And the other reason is that we just happened to run out or low on a lot of stuff. The stockpile, such that it is, still only consists of relatively small amounts of a relatively small number of items. Until I can get more shelves, and change up my shopping strategy a bit, that's not going to change.
While the original goal was to keep three of the four shops around $300 and then the fourth one at around $150 (I quickly realized that keeping it at $50 to 100) wasn't practical), my new goal is to keep the average weekly total at $240 or less. That's over $20 a week less than the original goal, but I'm confident that I can do it.
My weekly total for this month were $277.57, $255.39, $237.76 and $183.39, for a total of $954.11 and a weekly average of $238.53. So not only did I hit my goal of a $240 per week average, but I'm slowly but steadily dropping the monthly total. I've been doing this for three months, and the first month I spent a total of $1070, the second month a total of $1043 and this month a total of $954. Based on the average weekly cost of $340 that I worked out earlier this month, that means that I've saved over $1000 in the last 3 months.
Not that I've got a bank account with an extra $1000 in it or anything. The money, unsurprisingly, has been spent. I'm not entirely sure what it's been spent on, but it's definitely been spent. Some of it was spent on plane tickets to fly Jack and James up to Ballina for the school holidays. Some of it was spent on a speeding ticket (not mine), on make-up (not mine), on new clothes (not mine), on Jack's birthday presents and party, etc. All perfectly reasonable purchases, I'm sure. Well, except for the speeding ticket. But I get the feeling that when the money is just sitting there in the transaction account, there can be an almost overwhelming desire to spend it.
So starting today, I'm moving the money I save (based on the $340 a week average I calculated earlier this month) from the grocery bill to a separate account. It's going to pay for our vacation this summer, and after that it's going to pay the credit card balance down (which is costing us over $55 a month in interest), for next year's vacation, and to add to our house deposit savings account as well.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Shopping Day: 24 May, 2012
Supabarn: $17.06
Aldi: $58.01
Woolworths: $55.82
Coles: $100.87
Reject: $6.00
Total: $237.76
In my first post here I said that our grocery spending was getting close to $400 a week. I went through our bank statements for 2011 and worked out that (at least for purchases made by credit card), we spent an average of $340 a week for the year.
To help save for our holiday up north this summer, I'm planning to drop our weekly average to $240 a week and putting the $100 difference into the savings account. If I can stick to it for the whole six months, that'll mean $2600 to help cover the costs.
This week I picked up 10 bottles of passata (tomato puree) for 99 cents a bottle, a dozen and a half cans of beans for 68 cents a can, and 8 small (375 ml) jars of peanut butter for 2 dollars a jar. I would've liked to buy more of all of them, but I couldn't do it and stay under that $240 limit.
My average for the last three weeks has been $256.91, so that gives me $189.28 to spend next week and still have a $240 a week average. That shouldn't be too hard if there aren't too many unexpected extras, and if I can plan meals that make use of my stockpile. Anybody know any good recipes using peanut butter, tomato puree and beans?
Aldi: $58.01
Woolworths: $55.82
Coles: $100.87
Reject: $6.00
Total: $237.76
In my first post here I said that our grocery spending was getting close to $400 a week. I went through our bank statements for 2011 and worked out that (at least for purchases made by credit card), we spent an average of $340 a week for the year.
To help save for our holiday up north this summer, I'm planning to drop our weekly average to $240 a week and putting the $100 difference into the savings account. If I can stick to it for the whole six months, that'll mean $2600 to help cover the costs.
This week I picked up 10 bottles of passata (tomato puree) for 99 cents a bottle, a dozen and a half cans of beans for 68 cents a can, and 8 small (375 ml) jars of peanut butter for 2 dollars a jar. I would've liked to buy more of all of them, but I couldn't do it and stay under that $240 limit.
My average for the last three weeks has been $256.91, so that gives me $189.28 to spend next week and still have a $240 a week average. That shouldn't be too hard if there aren't too many unexpected extras, and if I can plan meals that make use of my stockpile. Anybody know any good recipes using peanut butter, tomato puree and beans?
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Weekly Menu Plan: 25 - 31 May
Friday: Burgers and Chips ($8.00)
Saturday: Tacos ($12.90)
Sunday: Cottage Pie
Monday: Sausages, Pasta, Veggies
Tuesday: Braised Chicken & Tomato, Mixed Veggies ($7.50)
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Garlic Bread ($8.80)
Thursday: Tater Tot Casserole ($7.80)
Saturday: Tacos ($12.90)
Sunday: Cottage Pie
Monday: Sausages, Pasta, Veggies
Tuesday: Braised Chicken & Tomato, Mixed Veggies ($7.50)
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Garlic Bread ($8.80)
Thursday: Tater Tot Casserole ($7.80)
Weekly Menu Plan: 18 - 24 May
Friday: Chicken Burgers & Chips
Saturday: Enchiladas
Sunday: Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake
Monday: Nachos
Tuesday: Chicken Tikka Masala
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Garlic Bread
Thursday: Chili
Saturday: Enchiladas
Sunday: Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake
Monday: Nachos
Tuesday: Chicken Tikka Masala
Wednesday: Spaghetti & Garlic Bread
Thursday: Chili
Weekly Menu Plan: 11 - 17 May
Friday: Hamburgers & Chips
Saturday: Nachos
Sunday: Sausages, Mac and Cheese, Mixed veggies
Monday: Chicken and Chorizo Casserole
Tuesday: Cheeseburger soup, Herb Bread
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread
Thursday: Tuna Casserole
I just realized that I haven't been adding my meal plans for the last couple of weeks, so here they are. I'll come back later and add in the costs.
Saturday: Nachos
Sunday: Sausages, Mac and Cheese, Mixed veggies
Monday: Chicken and Chorizo Casserole
Tuesday: Cheeseburger soup, Herb Bread
Wednesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread
Thursday: Tuna Casserole
I just realized that I haven't been adding my meal plans for the last couple of weeks, so here they are. I'll come back later and add in the costs.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Shopping Day: 17 May, 2012
Woolworths: $80.39
Aldi: $65.71
Reject Shop: $8.00
Coles: $101.29
Total: $255.39
Nothing awesome this week, but I was happy to see that the total was barely over $250, even with lots of extras for Jack's birthday next week. Extra chips, Coke, ingredients for a cheesecake, etc.
My big bargain this week was for the little (85g) cans of shredded chicken that Jack has been asking for. I bought some about a month ago to see if the boys liked them. Jack did, James didn't, and I told Jack that I'd buy more when they were on sale again. Woolworths ran them for 99 cents a can this week, so I bought a dozen.
I also earned my first My5 discount from Flybuys (sorry, I mean flybuys). If you're not familiar with it, the way it works is that you select 5 items and get a 10% discount (even if it's already on sale) when you buy it. As long as you spend at least $50, and I think there's a limit of 5 of each item. For me, it meant an extra $4.10 savings at the register.
The general idea is that you should select high-priced items so that you maximize your discount. The thing is, I don't buy a lot of high-priced items at Coles, so that's not going to work for me. So I've selected items that I buy every week (or nearly) -- bread, orange juice, Coke, tomatoes, and ground beef. The only one that may not work for me every week is the Coke, since I generally only buy it from Coles when it's on sale.
But over-all, I've happy with my purchases, and my stockpile is about as big as it can get unless I buy more shelves, buy a second freezer, or start stashing stuff in other cupboards, closets, etc. like some kind of hoarder.
Aldi: $65.71
Reject Shop: $8.00
Coles: $101.29
Total: $255.39
Nothing awesome this week, but I was happy to see that the total was barely over $250, even with lots of extras for Jack's birthday next week. Extra chips, Coke, ingredients for a cheesecake, etc.
My big bargain this week was for the little (85g) cans of shredded chicken that Jack has been asking for. I bought some about a month ago to see if the boys liked them. Jack did, James didn't, and I told Jack that I'd buy more when they were on sale again. Woolworths ran them for 99 cents a can this week, so I bought a dozen.
I also earned my first My5 discount from Flybuys (sorry, I mean flybuys). If you're not familiar with it, the way it works is that you select 5 items and get a 10% discount (even if it's already on sale) when you buy it. As long as you spend at least $50, and I think there's a limit of 5 of each item. For me, it meant an extra $4.10 savings at the register.
The general idea is that you should select high-priced items so that you maximize your discount. The thing is, I don't buy a lot of high-priced items at Coles, so that's not going to work for me. So I've selected items that I buy every week (or nearly) -- bread, orange juice, Coke, tomatoes, and ground beef. The only one that may not work for me every week is the Coke, since I generally only buy it from Coles when it's on sale.
But over-all, I've happy with my purchases, and my stockpile is about as big as it can get unless I buy more shelves, buy a second freezer, or start stashing stuff in other cupboards, closets, etc. like some kind of hoarder.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Shopping Day: 10 May, 2012
Costco: $15.28
Woolworths: $54.18
IGA: $13.03
Supabarn: $65.27
Aldi: $50.27
Healthy Start: $10.95
Coles: $68.59
Total: 277.57
I managed to stay under the limit today, even with Karen's last-minute additions to the list. To be fair, Thursday morning only just started being considered "last-minute" a couple of weeks ago, but this week has been so busy that I actually started the shopping on Wednesday, and I can see where that might become a regular thing.
The big bargains this week included Raguletto pasta sauce at Woolworths for $1 (I bought 20), Doritos salsa at Supa IGA for $1.69 a jar (I bought 4), and chicken breasts for $6.99 a kilo (I bought 6 kg/18 single breasts) and chorizo for $9.99 a kilo (I bought 1.5 kilo/10 links) at Supabarn.
Yeah, SIX KILOGRAMS of chicken breasts. I have no idea what happened. I asked for 2 kilos, and the girl behind the counter gave me 6 kilos. And right about the time I was going to correct her, I decided that I might as well take 'em. They were at their best price, I've got space in the freezer, and they're going to get eaten, so why not? I juggled the list a little, and managed to stay within budget, so I'm happy with it.
I'm also very happy with the $1 pasta sauce, and honestly wish I had more shelf space, because I would've bought more. I can't make it myself for that price, and even though it doesn't taste all that great, I add so much to it that it really doesn't matter.
It's 5:30 now, and I've been on the go since 7:30 this morning, and in 10 minutes I have to get dressed and go to work. But it was worth it.
Woolworths: $54.18
IGA: $13.03
Supabarn: $65.27
Aldi: $50.27
Healthy Start: $10.95
Coles: $68.59
Total: 277.57
I managed to stay under the limit today, even with Karen's last-minute additions to the list. To be fair, Thursday morning only just started being considered "last-minute" a couple of weeks ago, but this week has been so busy that I actually started the shopping on Wednesday, and I can see where that might become a regular thing.
The big bargains this week included Raguletto pasta sauce at Woolworths for $1 (I bought 20), Doritos salsa at Supa IGA for $1.69 a jar (I bought 4), and chicken breasts for $6.99 a kilo (I bought 6 kg/18 single breasts) and chorizo for $9.99 a kilo (I bought 1.5 kilo/10 links) at Supabarn.
Yeah, SIX KILOGRAMS of chicken breasts. I have no idea what happened. I asked for 2 kilos, and the girl behind the counter gave me 6 kilos. And right about the time I was going to correct her, I decided that I might as well take 'em. They were at their best price, I've got space in the freezer, and they're going to get eaten, so why not? I juggled the list a little, and managed to stay within budget, so I'm happy with it.
I'm also very happy with the $1 pasta sauce, and honestly wish I had more shelf space, because I would've bought more. I can't make it myself for that price, and even though it doesn't taste all that great, I add so much to it that it really doesn't matter.
It's 5:30 now, and I've been on the go since 7:30 this morning, and in 10 minutes I have to get dressed and go to work. But it was worth it.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Shopping Day: 3 May, 2012
Big W: $17.98
Woolworths: $19.37
Aldi: $50.34
Reject Shop: $8.50
Coles: 45.43
Total: $141.62
I'm very happy with the shop today because I came in well under budget. To stay with the same 4-week average as last month, my max for this week was $168.48, and I beat that by $26.86. I also returned a roasting pan at Coles and got a $15 refund, so if that's included, my total goes down to $136.62 (but I won't, since the original purchase was before I started the whole bargain shopping thing).
So for the last four weeks, my totals have been $284.56, $304.57, $312.34, and $141.62, for a total of $1043.09 ($2114 over the entire 8-week period), and an average of $260.77 per week over the last four weeks ($264.25 average over 8 weeks). I'm very happy with that, but I'd like to eventually get it down to an average of $250 a week.
The limited budget wasn't a problem in terms of getting groceries needed for the meal plan, but it meant I couldn't stock up big on any bargain items. Which, as it turned out, wasn't really a problem since there weren't a lot of good bargains this week anyway.
At Big W, I grabbed a huge 10 kg box of laundry detergent for $10, and an 18-roll pack of toilet paper for $7.98. The laundry powder was an unexpected substitution, since went there to buy a 5 kg box for $12.96, and was actually headed to the check-out with it until I saw this Trix brand at less than half the price. It might suck, but I figured it was worth a shot.
No big bargains at Woolies this week, and after that I drove to Watson to get some things at the IGA--garlic bread, dinner rolls, and microwave popcorn. But the microwave popcorn turned out to be mini-sized bags (definitely no bargain), and I couldn't find the garlic bread or dinner rolls, so I left completely empty-handed. Luckily, I found garlic bread at Aldi at a better price than at IGA.
So really, the only big bargain today was the laundry powder. I'm hoping the stuff is okay (we're generally not that picky), because if so, it ought to last a while. I bought the 5 kg box six weeks ago, and it might last another week. If the bigger box works out about the same, we should be good for laundry powder until some time in August.
And the other thing about this week's shopping is that it's Thursday, and I'm done. Which means I've got 6 child-free hours tomorrow, and I don't have to spend any of them in the grocery store. Sweet!
Update 6/5/2012: I was afraid that $141 grocery bill was too good to be true. Sure enough, it turns out that I needed a lot more ground beef than I had in the freezer. Plus Karen needed another box of tissues, so tonight on the way home from work I stopped off at Coles and added $14.38 to my total for the week. So that's $156.00, which is still well under the $168 cap for this week. As long as I don't have to make any more unexpected trips to the grocery store, I should be alright.
Woolworths: $19.37
Aldi: $50.34
Reject Shop: $8.50
Coles: 45.43
Total: $141.62
I'm very happy with the shop today because I came in well under budget. To stay with the same 4-week average as last month, my max for this week was $168.48, and I beat that by $26.86. I also returned a roasting pan at Coles and got a $15 refund, so if that's included, my total goes down to $136.62 (but I won't, since the original purchase was before I started the whole bargain shopping thing).
So for the last four weeks, my totals have been $284.56, $304.57, $312.34, and $141.62, for a total of $1043.09 ($2114 over the entire 8-week period), and an average of $260.77 per week over the last four weeks ($264.25 average over 8 weeks). I'm very happy with that, but I'd like to eventually get it down to an average of $250 a week.
The limited budget wasn't a problem in terms of getting groceries needed for the meal plan, but it meant I couldn't stock up big on any bargain items. Which, as it turned out, wasn't really a problem since there weren't a lot of good bargains this week anyway.
At Big W, I grabbed a huge 10 kg box of laundry detergent for $10, and an 18-roll pack of toilet paper for $7.98. The laundry powder was an unexpected substitution, since went there to buy a 5 kg box for $12.96, and was actually headed to the check-out with it until I saw this Trix brand at less than half the price. It might suck, but I figured it was worth a shot.
No big bargains at Woolies this week, and after that I drove to Watson to get some things at the IGA--garlic bread, dinner rolls, and microwave popcorn. But the microwave popcorn turned out to be mini-sized bags (definitely no bargain), and I couldn't find the garlic bread or dinner rolls, so I left completely empty-handed. Luckily, I found garlic bread at Aldi at a better price than at IGA.
So really, the only big bargain today was the laundry powder. I'm hoping the stuff is okay (we're generally not that picky), because if so, it ought to last a while. I bought the 5 kg box six weeks ago, and it might last another week. If the bigger box works out about the same, we should be good for laundry powder until some time in August.
And the other thing about this week's shopping is that it's Thursday, and I'm done. Which means I've got 6 child-free hours tomorrow, and I don't have to spend any of them in the grocery store. Sweet!
Update 6/5/2012: I was afraid that $141 grocery bill was too good to be true. Sure enough, it turns out that I needed a lot more ground beef than I had in the freezer. Plus Karen needed another box of tissues, so tonight on the way home from work I stopped off at Coles and added $14.38 to my total for the week. So that's $156.00, which is still well under the $168 cap for this week. As long as I don't have to make any more unexpected trips to the grocery store, I should be alright.
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