Monthly Savings: October Grocery Challenge Tally

I've mentioned in a few of my posts this month that I challenged myself early in the month of October (right after the fantastico Triple/Double Coupon Event at Biggs) to see if I could keep our monthly grocery and household budget to $250, a full $100 less than I had budgeted for the month.

As October finishes up, here's how I did:

Total spent: $292.44

That amount includes everything I spent on groceries, household items, and drugstore items for my big-eating family of five (who drink more milk than a bunch of calves, I tell ya!). It's way past my challenge amount of $250, but still a respectable $57 less than I had budgeted.

I wish I could give you an accurate amount of just how much I saved this month because then you'd get a fuller picture of just how far I've stretched my dollars with the help of some humble little coupons. But this intrepid mom blogger wasn't quite that detail-oriented. My weekly savings at Kroger are documented in my Let's Go Krogering! posts but other than that, I didn't track the amount saved on each receipt from CVS, Walgreens, and Meijer.

I do feel confident in making an estimate of at least 50% savings on average, and that's a low average in my opinion given many of the stellar sales and deals I found this month.

Saving a minimum of 50% means I saved at least $292.44 on what I bought this month, or, to look at it another way, I bought $584.88 worth of stuff this month and paid only $292.44 for it.

Why post about this? Why post pictures of what I buy, how much I spent, how much I saved, and what coupons I used each week when I go Krogering and deal hunting elsewhere?

Because I wasn't always a couponer. I used to shop far more impulsively a few years back - despite even then having a weekly meal plan - without considering current sales, sale trends, coupon matchups, stockpiling, and holding onto every.darn.coupon that comes my way until it expires.

I spent much more in those days and wondered how, oh how, would I feed my growing family in the coming years as they grew and ate more...and more...and more.

Maybe that's you - maybe you've stumbled across this blog as you search online for ways to slash your grocery budget. Maybe you're struggling like so many folks are in this current economy, trying to keep everything paid while feeding the family and maybe, just maybe, putting a little aside for your future.

If you're new to couponing, click around this blog and please, visit the sites listed on my blogroll. Read and learn and give it a try.

Coupons, when used strategically with sales, will consistently week-after-week save you BIG money. And as my friend Carrie says, saving money is making money.

You can also get a great start by reading my Couponing Crash Course, a four part series, right here. Feel free to comment with questions and I'll do my best to answer them in the comments.

I'm going to challenge myself once again for November, even with Thanksgiving coming, to $250 for the month. I'll keep you updated!

Thanks for reading and subscribing to The New Frugal Mom!