Well, we did it.  We finished the All You Grocery Challenge. Can somebody say, “Holler?” Anybody?

For me, it was a great exercise in being more mindful of our spending.  I am still learning how to save money on grocery shopping.  I am simply not always aware exactly how much money is being spent on groceries.   Now I know I can be.

I’m especially thankful that we participated in this challenge as we prepare to move.  The cost of living is higher in Souderton and we are going to need to know more clearly where our dollars are going.  This was good prep for me.  Watch out Souderton, here I come!

I’ve copied the exit form that I sent in to All You below.  Did anyone else reading enter the challenge?  Leave a comment with a link to your blog–I’d love to see how others did as well!

-Weekly allowance: $75

-How much money did you spend each week?

Week 1 = $19.61	Week 3 = $73.15
Week 2 = $73.83	Week 4 = $69.39

-What creative strategies did you use to save money?

• I declared a couple of ‘shopping in my freezer’ weeks to use up the stockpile that I’ve built over time.  It felt good to use what we have!

• The biggest challenge was special circumstances that arose, such as being responsible to make a meal for 18 people and going out to eat on vacation and my son’s 4th birthday party.  What I discovered is that, with a little bit of planning, it is amazing how much money you can save and still enjoy some of the finer things in life (like Chuck E. Cheese!).

• We almost didn’t make it the week that we were on vacation.  But through scouting out a GREAT restaurant.com gift certificate ($25 for only $2!), and using the Kellogg’s Fuel for School rebate and the Tyson Skillet Meals rebate, we finished with a couple dollars to spare!

• We also got some great coupons for our son’s birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese by signing him up on their web-site.  They even sent him a special birthday offer for free tokens.

• I love using drugstore loyalty programs to help buy groceries occasionally.  For example, when we needed milk at the end of one of the weeks, I used some of my extrabucks at CVS to buy some.  Free milk!

• Communication!  My husband and I had to talk about our grocery budget at the beginning of each week and think through what circumstances would arise that might cost more than the money allowed.  My husband even admitted that he refrained from buying a can of peanuts one week because he wasn’t sure it was in the budget–what a guy!  We had to work more as a team and resist the urge to make impulse purchases.

-What healthy strategies did you use?

• Although we live in an apartment, we have a little patio garden.  We used lettuce from our garden for LOTS of salads (still waiting on the other veggies to ripen!).

• We put a shopping freeze on any sodas or juices and drank more water–gotta love free and healthy!

• I made a large batch of a bran muffin mix that we kept in the fridge.  Whenever we wanted to make more, we just poured the mix into some muffin tins and voila!  Yummy muffins!

• I resisted the temptation to save money just by making all those hot dogs in our freezer the main staple of the challenge!  Instead I planned well-balanced meals and stuck to the list when grocery shopping.

• Instead of buying frozen pizza, we used our breadmaker to make pizza dough and then made our own.  So delicious!
  

-What did you learn from this challenge?

• I learned that while I can always do better at saving money.  We live pretty frugally, but it’s easy to let things slide occasionally when you really want to buy that extra can of peanuts or go out to eat for the second time that week.  This challenge forced us to make a plan and stick to it, even when we wanted to jump ship.

• I also learned that when you plan ahead, you can do a lot with a limited budget.  Using coupons and rebates, shopping the sales, planning meals  carefully, and finding deals at restaurants all helped us not feel like our budget was holding us back from  enjoying life!
  

The All You Grocery Challenge is proving to be exactly that: a challenge!  While I typically don’t spend more than the $25 per person (not including Lincoln) budget allowed, it’s the special circumstances that are arising that are keeping me on my toes!

For example, this past weekend, we went camping with my family.  This meant that each family was responsible for a meal (for 18 people!) and we would also go out to eat once or twice.  I thought we might fall off the wagon, but WE DIDN’T!

My solution?

For our family meal, we served pulled pork, macaroni salad, chips, and cookies for dessert.

Pulled pork was $2.19 a lb. which added up to only about $.75/person.

I had all of the ingredients for the macaroni salad.

The chips and cookies were purchased with coupons and the Kellogg’s Fuel for School rebate and cost abot $.50-$.75 each.

In total, we spent approximately $20 to feed 18 people…nice.

THEN…for our going out to eat meal, I found this sweet deal at Restaurant.com and purchased a $25 gift certificate for only $2!  There was a great little restaurant right near where we were camping that was listed.  Not only that, but they accepted three gift certificates for our whole family, so every body got in on the savings!

After the gift certificate, we spent only $27 (which included food, taxes, and tip).  We even had enough money left over to go out for ice cream afterwards.

Our total spending on food last week was around $71..we made it!

This week, I actually need to do some real grocery shopping since I’ve cleaned out my cupboards pretty well with my Shopping in my Freezer Challenges.  So I just printed out my E-Mealz shopping list and I’m headed to the store!  (Pretty excited about Primavera Pizza this week…)  Looks like everything on the list will only add up to $32.53.  That should give us some nice wiggle room to buy a few extra things that we need!

Oh, and by the way, I added another rule to my All You Grocery Challenge list:

• Drink LOTS of water.  I’m putting a shopping freeze on buying other beverages.  Save money and it’s GOOD for us!

I really didn’t intend to follow through when I signed up for the All You Grocery Challenge a few weeks ago.  But now, I’m having a hard time coming up with an excuse not to!  It will help keep me accountable with our grocery spendings and push me to challenge myself like I did in my Shopping in my Freezer Challenge last week.  (Plus, anyone who knows me would tell you I really just want to be in an edition of All You.  I have that middle child syndrome and dream of being the center of attention!)

Now, I have a confession to make. I feel like I have A LOT to learn when it comes to saving money on grocery shopping.  While I do well at staying within our budget, I’m sure I could do better.

Using coupons when I grocery shop is not something that comes naturally to me.   That’s why I shop at Aldi.  This saves us a great deal of money, but I’m sure I could cut even more corners with a litte bit more effort.  (Check out my $10 Challenge week as an example!)

So, here are a few rules I am setting up for myself over the course of the next three weeks of the challenge:

• Set up one more ‘Shopping in My Freezer’ Challenge week.  We still have plenty to use up!

• When grocery shopping, make a list and stick to it!  Be sure to scout out sales and coupon match-ups prior to shopping.

• The goal of the challenge is to spend less than $25 per family member weekly on groceries.  I could easily do this by using up all those hot dogs and Kashi waffles I have in my freezer.  However, I will resist this temptation and be sure to include healthy fare as well!  We may dine on hot dogs once or twice, however…

That being said, here is my plan for this week:

Monday: Got home from a camping trip and didn’t have much energy.  Popped some chicken nuggets in the oven.

Tuesday: Roasted Chicken with Maple Walnut Glaze (that we didn’t eat last week!), tossed salad with lettuce from our garden

Wednesday: Homemade pizza (made with dough from our breadmaker…YUMMY!)

Thursday: We have a busy day planned and will probably end up eating out.  I’ll need to find a good coupon!

Friday through Monday: We are camping again, this time with my family.  We are responsible for one meal and snacks for our family.  Wish me luck in staying under budget for this!  I think I can…I think I can…I think I can…