One Hundred Dollars a Month

Costco Shopping Trip $27.35

I zipped into Costco to pick up a bunch of wine and cheese for my parents annual Christmas gift basket and picked up a few supplies for my family as well.

Albertsons Shopping Trip $20.89

I sent The Girl to the store and she stuck to my grocery list! Wahooo!  🙂

Well the time has come to add up all my receipts and get my grand total spent on groceries for 2013. Drum roll please…

Total Spent This Week $40.24
Total Spent This Year $2192.32 {Yep, I’m over for the year}
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $919.96 {I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.

I know, I know. It’s not $100 a month. And yes, I get that my website’s name rides on the fact that I’m feeding my family for $100 a month. And I still strive to do that. But since my shift towards growing a larger garden and attempting to eliminate a lot of the processed foods I was feeding my family, I’ve gone over my budget a time or two. And I don’t feel bad about it one bit. Because I’m still trying. I’m still shopping sales and bartering with neighbors and sifting through my haul from Mr. Produce Guy.

So while I didn’t quite feed my family for $100 a month, I feel better spending a little bit more and feeding them an overall healthier diet. And doing that for a little over $175 a month? Pretty awesome in my book.

Here’s a little sampling of some of the ways I saved {and splurged} through the year:

Winco:

Winco is one of my favorite places to just walk in and shop. I know that even without coupons or a detailed list, I can still save because they have rock bottom prices. And once a year or so they’ll send out coupons like a $10/$50 purchase coupon that makes their prices crazy good!

Albertsons:

While double coupon shopping trips are a things of the past, I can still find some awesome deals at Albertsons most weeks. It just takes a little planning and a little patience.

Zaycon Foods:

Bulk meats are where it’s at! Sure you can to process a junk ton of meat all at once and have a lot of freezer space, but the money you save makes it totally worth it. Plus, I’ve been super duper impressed with the quality of meat from Zaycon. And now they’re having event all over the country so you can get in on the bulk meat buying too! You can see if there’s a Zaycon event near you HERE.

FREE Produce:

I might grow A LOT of produce in my backyard, but I don’t have a grape vine or banana tree or much of anything edible in the winter. Enter Mr. Produce Guy. Every week I pick up what he would otherwise throw away. I feed a lot of it to my chickens, but I salvage a lot for my family’s meals each week too! Check out all my Reclaimed Food posts.

Bartering:

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s why bartering is so awesome. I have what you need, you have what I need. We swap and WALLAH! We spend no money out of pocket and both get what we want/need!  I barter my produce a lot for meat and other random and fantastic things. Check out all my Bartering posts.

Costco:

Costco is a dangerous place. If you are focused and don’t get easily distracted by shiny things, you can be in and out and save a bundle. But a few times this year the lure of the samples held me in their trap and I overspent. My advice is to only shop Costco with a plan, no shopping cart and not when you are emotionally distressed or starving. No good can come from that!

Vistacost.com:

I earned  Vitacost credit  by referring family and friends, etc. {you get a $10 credit, they get a $10 credit. It’s kind of an awesome system!}. So when I earned enough credit to make a solid purchase, I cashed in my credit and bought some staples for me and some fun items for my kids. Check out how I was able to score 7 Bags of Cereal + Cookies + a FREE Magazine all for only $5.12 shipped!

Oroweat Bakery Outlet:

A great way to save on bread {other than baking your own} is to stop by your local bakery outlet every once in a while and stock up on bread that has been pulled from the grocery store shelves. I buy a bunch and freeze it and no one can taste the difference.

So now the big question is: What’s next for Mavis? Should I try for $100 a month for a 4th year? Should I switch it up and set a different goal? Should I have the same goal but different rules? Weigh in you guys with your thoughts on what my budget should look like next year.

~Mavis