Super Savings Saturday: We made our goal of only spending $75 on groceries this month!

As you may recall, our goal for this month was to only spend $75 on groceries, to only buy dairy and produce, and to eat from the pantry.

January is almost over and we made--well, almost!

We went shopping for the third time this month yesterday and spent $23.63 on groceries bringing our total for the month to just shy of $75. And we have plenty on hand to finish out the month so, unless some major catastrophe happens, we should finish out the month hitting our goal.

I did buy contact solution and trash bags this week, so I didn't completely meet the goal of only buying dairy and produce. But I'm happy with how it all went nonetheless--flopped pizza and all!

Here's what we bought:

3 pounds of organic Braeburn apples
Dannon vanilla yogurt
2 bags of frozen mixed stirfry vegetables
International Delight Creamer (used free coupon)
contact solution
1 gallon milk
Cheddar cheese
1 dozen eggs
Trash bags
1 bag mixed organic apples
2 bunches reduced organic bananas (will freeze most of these for using in banana bread)
2 Happy Baby organic brown rice cereal (used free coupons)
4 Happy Baby organic snacks (used free coupons)

Total: $23.63

Stay tuned for Monday's post with our last Eat From the Pantry Menu. We also have another Freezer Cooking Day in the works for the first week in February. More details will be coming on that shortly.

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Comments

[Brandi]

Where did you get the Happy Baby coupons? My child is a puff addict...

[Penny]

Love you site, congrats on your awesome month! (I was not sure how to link... please delete number 14 (Penny), it is the same as number 15!) Thanks!

[Jan]

good job- I didn't do the pantry challenge per se- but I did try to reduce grocery shopping alot- I only spent $40 this week which is great for us

[Allison]

I also want to know where you got the Happy Baby snack coupons. I got the cereal and freezer cubes ones from recycle bank, but would love to get some coupons for snacks. And, have you tried using the recycle bank ones yet? I had a weird experience with those at Target for cereal. I had to go to customer service and they had to do everything manually. The coupons themselves scanned, charging me a dollar.

[Jenny]

I think Crystal got the Happy Baby coupons from Recyclebank

http://www.moneysavingmom.com/money_saving_mom/2010/01/hot-300-free-recyclebank-points-per-week-free-magazine-subscriptions-and-coupons-for-free-products.html

[Erin]

Great job!
We only spent $153.05 for the last 2 weeks. We are a family of 6, and for us that's doing well to only spend that much. Payday is today and I'd like to see if we could only spend $150 for 2 weeks again.

[Julie]

Four our family of 4 (one being a 16 year old growing boy) we only spent $67 this month on groceries. We were pretty well stocked up and the kids actually said we had better dinners this month. They, as well as my husband, were a bit nervous about eating from the pantry, but they have all been pleased.

[Laura]

That is AMAZING! $75 for the whole MONTH? Now, that is saving some money!!!!

[jennifer t]

For a family of 3 1/2, we usually spend around $200 a month. Thats after coupons and deals. We are very unorganized when it comes to planning meals, and know what we want when we want it. Also, my husband works till around 10 pm, so its usually just frozen entrees.

[Lynette]

I'm curious to know where all the inexpensive organic items are bought. I live in Kansas as well, but have no idea where to go for inexpensive produce. Thanks.

[Susan]

I didn't really particapte in the pantry challenage but, I did only going shopping twice this month. Usually I only shop once a month for the whole month but lately we don't need much when shopping time comes around. So anyway, I was reading a shopping website were there were talking about what a good sale Shop-Rite was having. I have shopped there years ago but the one closest to me closed. So now the closest one was about 45 minutes away. Anyway I looked up there ad and saw that indeed they were having a good sale. So, I talked to my husband, gathered my coupons and went. I ended up buying 202 items used 37 coupons and spent $225.41. The most amazing thing was between coupons and sale items the reciept says I saved $221.83!

[Rachel]

I love the roses in the background!!

[Julie]

I, too, was wondering where you got the snacks coupons. I didn't see them on RecycleBank.

Good job keeping under budget, even with the egg experiment! I love kids!!!

[Vanessa]

Aldi has their stuffing on sale for 35 cents.This is not advertised.The sign above them says 85 cents but when scanned goes throgh for 35 cents.I planned on only four but needless to say when I saw this great deal I got ten more.Expiration date is not untill May 2011.I put them in my freezer to keep bugs out of them.

[Katie]

Where did you get the Happy Baby products? A while back I had a free coupon also, but couldn't find it anywhere!

[mandy]

I was wondering how you freeze your bananas for banana bread. Do you peel and mash them first? Or keep them in the peel?

[Michelle]

I think it is incredible that you achieved your $75 goal! For my growing family of 6 that would not be realistic; however, I set a strict $500 budget for the month and have managed to stick to it mainly by doing a lot of things you are doing like using up what is in our freezer and pantry. I think you always have to do what works best for your family.

[Charmel]

I was just wondering if I am the only one with a family that uses 3-5 gallons of milk per week? Our milk alone costs me over $10 a week. How do you do it????

[Patti]

I only spent $75 from Dec. 23 until Jan. 21 (our pay period) for our family of three (includes a ravenous teenager) and was able to send $400 to Haiti relief. I am amazed that we still have LOTS of items in the panty and freezer so I am going to continue this until our stockpile is down. My creativity has been abundant thanks to your posts and the replys so keep up the good work, readers!!

[Andrea]

Charmel---No, you aren't the only one! My six children can go through a gallon a day!

[Marianne]

As always, thanks for the linkup!

Congrats on making your pantry challenge!

[Kimberlee]

Love your site. You are always an inspiration to me.

[Jane]

Thanks for showing everyone that it is possible to purchase healthy, organic food on a budget. Great job!

[Brooke P]

Charmel, I have five children and we go through about a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, and a loaf of bread a day. With three lunches to pack for school, we needs lots of portables!

[Ann]

You can freeze bananas in the peel - I've done it for years. Whether they are brown or yellow just throw the whole thing in the freezer. Then I just thaw them at room temp, cut off the top of the peel, and the whole thing just slides on out into the baking bowl.