Thursday, October 2, 2014

Winning The Grocery Battle

Goose Spit Park, Comox, British Columbia

Well, I have survived possibly one of the longest months of the year work-wise.  Tomorrow is my last day at the part-time job and I will miss the people but I need some more time for myself.  Although we have been working like mad at our company as well, we did manage to take a walk on the beach this past Sunday just as the fog cleared off.  The crabs are still here, it hasn't gotten cold enough for them to start burrowing in the sand yet. I like to overturn rocks and find the creatures beneath, but try and leave them in peace once I am done taking pictures.

Crabby-pants on a stare down
I did manage to pull off a lower than normal month grocery bill this month, although technically I am no longer posting monthly results I had to share this.  Usually our average monthly grocery bill is $450 including non-food items like cleaning, personal grooming and over the counter meds but this month I ended up at $288.26 total spent.  It helped that hubby was gone away on business for part of it but I also just ate what was in the cupboard.  At the every end of the month I came across a huge amount of meat that was nearly half off - paid $55 for over $100 worth of steaks and chicken parts from the expensive grocery store that I always check for reduced meat stickers.  After buying my Thanksgiving turkey yesterday there is absolutely no more room in the freezers for anything.

The $288.26 was what I paid out of pocket.  I also managed to redeem $92.25 in free groceries through points, store freebies and coupons - plus - I still have points left to redeem in future!  Hopefully October will be just as low, as apparently this belt-tightening is paying off. 

What we don't spend in groceries will be placed in our travel fund.  As always, we try and save on those things that don't matter so we can use that money for doing things that make a difference in our lives like travelling.  In this case we have just booked two nights away in late October to a nearby island for some peace and quiet. Due to working out of our home sometimes you just have to get away to take a day off!

20 comments:

  1. Well done, I wish we had better coupons over here x

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    1. Most of it was point programs, one of the major grocery stores that has the lowest prices just started one and it is pretty easy to get enough points to redeem for free groceries.

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  2. That is wonderful! I dream of spending that little on groceries!

    Beautiful shot of the crabs. I have never seen one in real life except at th stores. I live so far from where they live.

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    1. Wow! They are so cool. I am like a little kid every time we go to the beach. Funny story, hubby, being a prairie kid, wouldn't touch them the first time we went to the ocean together 10 years ago. I always have picked them up and checked them out, finally, after living here he does too.

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  3. It seem coupon works in larger cities. Actual around here if you take a coupon that your printed off your home printer.
    They sure look at and give your the third degree...that your trying some type of con game...coffee is on

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    1. Nobody takes printed coupons around here either - most of that money was point programs which are getting better in Canada. We have a couple that are relatively easy to get points just buying regular groceries.

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  4. Well done! I have been keeping bills lower by simply being too busy to shop and thus eating through our supplies. I do have to ask.. are those crabs edible? If I saw edible crabs on the beach, I'd be tempted to grab and boil! All I see on the beach here are dead fish!

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    1. The crabs that are big enough to take (they have to be a certain number of inches large and you have to have a permit) stay under water and can only be caught with crab traps. The guys I find on the beach are just tiny, this guy was only about an inch and a half across - that was a closeup shot :)

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  5. Well done on the grocery bill! Our month's groceries for last month was pretty good but not that good.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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    1. You guys didn't have a ton of options for shopping there, I am fortunate to have lots of choice in our small town. I also can plan long term which you can't be dragging groceries around with you :)

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  6. Isn't that funny how things end up cheaper when hubby is away? But I would miss him, so I guess it's worth the extra food. We have been doing pretty good with our food budget, but we are getting ready for a week away to Arizona. But I'm taking my travel meal kit so we don't have to eat out every night. I have my Fry's grocery store card to use in Arizona to get discounts like a local. We'll eat out one or twice for the fun of it. Plus, it is better on our waistline budget to eat salads and other deli meals at the hotel. - Margy

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    1. I do miss him when he is away, and he eats much healthier when at home. Food on the road is a heart attack waiting to happen, hard to get out of a restaurant with a low calorie meal. I love your meal kit - such a great idea!

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  7. I'm with you - time away is essential! Nice work on your grocery spending. We're keeping our spending in check, but the boys are growing & eating like crazy people. They are playing *a lot* of soccer, and burning off some serious calories, so they must be fed. ;-)

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    1. My husband has a saying - funny thing about kids, you feed them and they just keep growing! lol

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  8. We used to live in Courtenay! I was amazed at how expensive the produce was on the island. We had expected it to be cheaper than Alberta, but a year there proved us wrong.

    Thrifty Foods was where I did most of my shopping.

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    1. You are right, I was shocked but I have a bit of a circuit now and shop where things are on sale - the Super Walmart had the effect of lower prices in town too, not a bad thing.

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  9. That's a huge difference in your grocery bill! Now that life is somewhat "normal" I'm going to start tracking my expenses to see where I can cut. I don't think there will be too much I can do. Soon I'll start planning my next trip too! Planning is so much fun :)

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    1. Where to? I love planning trips - we might have to have a bit of a hiatus from traveling, more info to come shortly.

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  10. Hahaha, crabby pants!
    That was an awesome month! I need to work on ours but I'm starting to think that there is just no way to get under $100/week for two people. But hey, it gives me something to complain about.

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    1. We only eat what is on sale if that helps - but I can think of way more things to complain about if you run out :)

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