February Grocery Money Journal

There are just a couple of items that I am keeping a watch for good sales, this month, mayo and oats. We're trying to use up the contents of the freezers and pantry, so I won't go out of my way to buy produce or meat. But if I find a good deal, well . . .

Feb. 3 In-store coupons and sales at Albertson's. Mayonnaise (30 oz. for $2.49, I buy 4), Planter's peanut butter (16.35 oz, I buy 6), chicken hot dogs (78 cents/12 oz, w/ coupon, limit 6), butter (1 lb/$1.99, w/coupon, limit 2). We go through about 5-6 jars of mayo in a year. I may come across a better price, but likely with limits, so I buy 4 jars. That should get us through mid-summer, at least. While hot dogs are not great food, we do like our Saturday night cook-outs around the fire, beginning in spring, so these chicken dogs should get us started. Total spent $27.56

Feb. 6 Stopped by QFC looking for milk. Found 3 gallons of skim milk for $2.09 each, and 4 pints of whipping cream for 59 cents each. I've frozen the whipping cream already, some as cubes to add to soups/sauces, some in pints for making ice cream later, and some whipped and in mounds, to top dessert for Easter dinner. Spent $8.63

Feb. 6 Dollar Tree for soy milk, buy 4 quarts. Spent $4, total for month -- $40.19

Feb. 11 Dollar Tree for spinach seeds, 6 packets @ 25 cents ea, for $1.50 spent

Feb. 11 Albertson's to use coupon on whole milk -- 2 gallons at $2.29 each. Spent $4.58, for a month to date of $46.27

Feb. 12 Trader Joe's for 13 bananas, and 8 oz of cocoa powder. Spent $4.96

Feb. 12 Cash and Carry restaurant supply for 25 lbs of oats ($16.49), case of 12 qts of soy milk ($11.88), 40 oz bag of fresh spinach ($4.38), 40 oz fresh mushrooms ($5.48). Spent 40.41. for a month to date of $91.64

Feb. 20, stop by QFC on way home from work, hoping to find marked down milk. Instead I find red-taped bananas (49 cents/lb) and a marked down 24 oz. bag of broccoli florets for 99 cents (that's 66 cents/lb). Spent $1.71

Feb. 22 Albertson's for eggs on sale for $1.25/dozen, limit 4 w/ coupon. I buy 4. Spent $5

Feb. 23 I go online to see the Walgreen's ad on Sundays. Milk is $1.99/gallon for the week, limit 2. On the way to church I stop in and buy 2, and on the way home I buy another 2. Total spent $7.96

Feb. 25 I have a bunch of errands to run in neighboring town, all along the main highway. There are 2 Walgreen's along my route, one near home and the other, across the street from the post office (one of my errands). So this is how the errands go -- 1) stop at Walgreen's, buy 2 gallons milk, spent $3.98; 2) stop at Trader Joe's for bananas (buy 22 at 19 cents each, spent $4.18); 3) post office to drop something in the mail; 4) across the street to other Walgreen's, buy 2 gallons milk, $3.98; 5) Cash and Carry restaurant supply for 2 lbs of raisins, $4.59; 6) Gas at lowest price station in area; 7) go to first Walgreen's for 2 more gallons of milk, $3.98 total spent on these errands -- $20.71

Month to date spending -- $127.02

Feb. 27 There's a Walgreen's on the way to my Thursday job. I put an ice chest into the trunk of the car, with an ice pack, and stopped in at Walgreen's on the way to work, and then again on the way home from work, buying a total of 4 gallons of milk for $1.99 each (2 whole milk for yogurt, and 2 2% milk for drinking). Spent $7.96.

Once home, I was able to put 6 gallons into the freezer. Once frozen, I can turn them on their sides, and put them in the stand alone freezer, freeing up a bit of space in the larger freezer for another couple of gallons of milk.

If milk prices really do jump up 60 cents per gallon, as reported on the news this month, I should at least put off buying milk for another 2 months, with my frozen milk.

Total spent for the month of February -- 134.98

Unseasonably warm winter or confused daffodil?

I think a bit of both.

Yesterday began as a kitchen day. It had been a while since I did a fair amount of baking (and we were almost out of bread). I baked 4 loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread, a dozen cinnamon-raisin buns, a batch of cinnamon granola, a small batch of cupcakes (my sweet tooth kicking in), and I made a quart of Greek yogurt. I finished up just in time for a gorgeous day to come to my yard.

I was able to have lunch on the deck, haul one of the laundry racks outside to dry a load of clothes in the almost-spring air, and wandered into the garden to check on the bulbs that I planted this past fall. That's when I spied this daffodil all poised to bring spring to me! Alas, the sneak peek at spring was short-lived. Rain and cooler temps are expected to return later today.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now for the boring part of this post (boring for you, maybe, but exceedingly helpful for me).
I spent a good share of Tuesday afternoon rereading last year's January, February and March grocery journals. January and February were low-spend grocery months, but March was quite high. We could afford that last year. But our budget has changed since then.

Not wanting to repeat some of the excessive spending from last March, I took some time to look over the journals. I was able to pinpoint some particulars to avoid for this March, hoping to be more mindful of our budget. To that end, I am mentally preparing for potential sales and mark downs. Deciding in advance, should specific foods come up for sale this next month, how much am I willing to spend on each, and how much in quantity am I willing to stockpile. This is an important step for me. If I establish my boundaries in advance, I am much more likely to keep my spending in check.

I mention all of this, as keeping records has helped our household live within our means, regardless of income. Writing it down (or typing it up) keeps us accountable. Just knowing that it will be recorded somewhere keeps a check on a good deal of my spending. It's like a budget report card. The written record is the evidence of good or poor spending choices.

In addition, this record gives me something to look back to, evaluate and learn from. When I'm feeling down about our finances, I can look to success in meeting our budget, and remind myself that we're doing well given our circumstances. And, I can reflect on our spending and find areas for improvement, or pitfalls to avoid.

I feel confident that we'll be able to reduce our grocery costs for this March, as compared to last year. A bit of preparation makes all the difference for me.