200 Challengs Finale!

If you have been reading my blog long, you know I have been doing The 200 Challenge. Well, it is time to recap all of 2010. Are you ready to see just how much I saved on groceries in 2010? Let the fun begin!

Total spent in 2010
$2066.24
Spending an average of $172.19 a month


Total spent in 2009
$2833.78
Spending and average of $236.15


Total saved being part of The 200 Challenge

***Drum roll, please!!!***


$767.54

Wow!!!!!!!!!!! Let just say I need to take Sarah, the host of The 200 Challenge, out for a very nice meal at a very nice restaurant for saving me this much money! No, really!

So what does that mean for 2011? I plan on keeping my grocery budget the same so it should be a good year. I plan on tweaking a few of my other budget categories to save even more money this year than last year. I will let be sure to update you on how I plan on doing that! God is providing for us, and He always will. I hope that my 2011 budget will bring glory to Him because that is what it should do. Everything we do should bring Him glory!

So what are your tricks for saving money? Tell me what works for you! I would love to know for the new year!

200 Challenge Update

I haven't done a 200 Challenge in forever. I figured at this point I shouldn't try to back track and breakdown each month, but I thought giving you my overall totals would be a good idea.

August $204.53

September $197.52

October $193.48

November $208.69

Are wondering what The 200 Challenge is? Well then you haven't been reading my blog long enough now have you... shame on you! No, I'm kidding! A friend of mine and fellow blogger started a grocery challenge at the beginning of this year to try and see if she could spend $200 or less each month. I joined in, since I am always in for saving money! All in all I have done well and really enjoyed this challenge. I will be continuing to use this budget in 2011. It has really saved us a lot and I am grateful for Sarah putting this challenge together and teaching me how to better budget my finances. Her challenge sparked something major in me. I wanted to do better in all categories, not just groceries. My budget has not been the same (in a good way). In January I will post how much I spent on groceries for the year, along with how much I would have spent had I not joined the challenge. I will let you be the judge of whether is was worth it.

200 Challenge: July

Oh my, it is August! Can you believe it? This year is just not slowing down one bit! I can safely say that The 200 Challenge has been going quite well. We are really saving money and that is a big deal! Being a one income family these days can be tough, but we are committed to making it work for us. It is not so much for my husband and I as it is for our kids (and future kids). God has led us to this place in life, and we feel as though this is our path He has laid out. We truly feel like we are doing what He wants us to do, and that feels amazing. July went well, but not as good as some of the previous months. We spent more of the budget than normal, but that is ok. We still stayed on budget. At the end of the month that is what counts. Now, onto the grocery total for July! I do not have the break down of my trips this month (opps!) but our grand total for the month was $197.51. That means we were under by $2.49. We may not have been under by much, but we were still under!

For those of you who are new to my blog (and this challenge) the goal is to spend less on groceries in 2010. Everyone has their own method to this madness. Sarah, who is hosting this challenge at Clay In His Hands, uses her $200 each month to buy food, paper products, hygiene products, etc. I, on the other hand, have a separate budget category for all the other items and just use my $200 on our food.

I tired shopping every week in July. I have to say, I really hated it. I do much better if I just stay out of the store. I thought I could save better doing weekly shopping, but I was oh so wrong. So I am back to making a 2 week menu plan and shopping on the 1st and 15th of every month. We are learning to waste less with this challenge. I am very grateful for that. I hope that this month we can do just was good on the challenge, but I am not so sure. I have already done our first trip and it seems like we have spent more than usual. I guess we will just have to see! If I can stay out of the store and really eat out of the pantry we should be fine. Wish me luck!

200 Challenge: June

Half of 2010 is gone my friends! Can you believe it? Where did it go? Time just seems to speed up every single day around here! Well, it is time again to update on our grocery budget. The 200 Challenge has been a huge help this year! I am saving so much money on groceries! This month was a little different because my husband had a 2 week drill that kept him late for several nights. I can tell you there was not a great deal of "cooking" going on in this house! Less cooking means I did not need quite as many groceries as usual. Knowing that, I went ahead and stocked up on things that I consider luxury items (name brand pickles, tea bags, salad dressing, Dukes mayonnaise... all the things I am spoiled to!) For the first two weeks I only spent $72.26. Not to bad if I do say so myself! Then on my last two week trip I spent $109.16. A little more than I would have liked, but like I said I did buy those lovely luxury items (and Dukes mayonnaise is ALWAYS worth it!) . So my grand total for the month of June was $181.42. So this month we are +$18.58 in our grocery category! It is always nice to come in under budget! If only I could come in under budget in all my other categories!!! Perhaps I need to create a challenge for saving money on miscellaneous items? Hmmmmm?

Next month I am going to do things a little different. I am going to shop every 7 days instead of every 14 days. We need to eat healthier, so I need to buy way more fresh foods. I tend to waste fresh food when I shop every 2 weeks (I know, it's terrible! Go ahead and shake your head and say "waste not, want not"!) So I think if I shop weekly I will be much more focused and will be able to use up any fresh foods we get. Plus I am hoping it will help me even more in the budget category!

Need accountability for your budget? Want to save money on your groceries? Make a plan for next month and join The 200 Challenge at Clay In His Hands! Link up with us!

200 Challenge: May

Check out how everyone else is doing on The 200 Challenge at Clay In His Hands

May has been quite a month! I gave birth to a healthy baby boy, celebrated my 3 year wedding anniversary with my amazing husband, celebrated my wonderful daughters 2nd birthday, and enjoyed my second Mother's Day. We have been a bit busy, to say the least! Even though it has been busy, it has been so much fun! I love where God is leading me! What a life! We have amazing family and friends who have brought us meals which has helped out grocery budget A LOT! During my first 2 week trip I spent $87.08. Not too bad! I was worried that having to buy lots of lunch stuff for Charlie and I would bump up our total much more than usual. Charlie had 10 days of leave after Jayce was born and then took a few extra days on top of that (he was home a total of 17 days :-) which was a HUGE help to me!) so lunches would be our biggest change for the month. Luckily it didn't change anything! On our second grocery trip I spent $79.97 which was really good since I went to Food Lion instead of Aldi. I got tons of good deals with the sales they had and coupons! Probably one of the most rewarding trips I have taken in quite some time! That brings our grand total to $167.05. I'm very happy with that after the overage we had in April! We are +$32.95 for the month which feels so much better than being in the negative. I hope that I can keep up the good work in June! With a new baby, a busy 2 year old, lots of house work, Family time and tons of other things I need to get done... I won't be posting a menu this month! You can be sure though that it will include lots of quick and simple meals! Good Luck in June ladies! Can't wait to see how everyone else did this month!

Previous Months: Feburary March April May

200 Challenge: May

Can you believe that we are almost halfway through the year already? If you are like me you are begging 2010 to please slow down! We are still going strong with The 200 Challenge and are very focused on saving money this year. Well, April did not go so great with the challenge. It wasn't impulse buying, luxury items or bad planning, but we still didn't do well. Unfortunately when we run out of staple items it seems to come all at once. This past month I had to pretty much stock up on much needed items (olive oil, flour, sugar, several spices, etc.) It just seemed like half of our budget went to "stocking" instead of to "food". But, life goes on. We are going to buckle down in May and do a much better job. Also, I need to be more aware of when we are going to need to "restock" and look for coupons and sales. Even if it is time consuming, I know it is well worth it! Anyway, our grand total for the month of April was $226.73. Yuck :-( You can't expect to do well every month I guess. Still, I'm a little bit disappointing in myself for going so far over budget this month. Even though we went over, I know we still are spending much less on groceries than the average family. May is a new start! I hope this month goes well for all of you doing the challenge! I am going to stay focused and try and make up for the overage from April... not sure how low we can get it, but we are going to give it a try!

Previous Months: Feburary, March, April

Since Jayce will be here any day now, I have planned on making lots of easy meals through May. Charlie is a great cook so he will also be helping out with the cooking more and more. This is a list of my ideas for May... although I have not yet made a full menu yet... I am waiting until nap time so that I can enjoy lots of one on one time with Lula Mae! Good Luck in May everyone!

Cheesy Chicken & Rice with veggie (2)
Shepard's Pie with veggie (2)
Taco's with chips and salsa
Brinner (Pancakes and Bacon) (2)
Brinner (Biscuits and Gravy) (2)
BBQ Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and veggie
Chicken Fingers with Mac-n-cheese and veggie
Pigs in a blanket with tater tots
Tater Tot casserole
French Bread Pizza
Shrimp and Pasta Salad
Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches with Fries
Mexican Pizza
Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes and Veggie
Baked Chicken with Baked Potatoes and Baked Beans
Crock Pot Stew over Rice
Hot Dogs with Slaw and Deviled Eggs

200 Challenge: April

Oh my, it is already April! Wow! I cannot tell you how fast time is flying these days! It is a little scary actually. Well, March went well on the 200 Challenge, but not as well as the month before. Our grand total for March was $191.23. Our main goal is $190.00 a month (so technically we went over just a bit...) but our secondary goal is to be under $200.00. I like the $10.00 wiggle room. It makes you hold an item in your hand and say "is this worth going over my top goal?". Yet, it also helps me feel like if we needed something desperately we could stand to go out and grab it. So, yes we went over this month, but it is still a HUGE improvement from what we were spending before this challenge started! I hope all of you who are doing this challenge did well this month! I can't wait to see everyone's progress! Charlie and I are going this evening to get our first 2 weeks worth of groceries for April and I can't wait to see our savings!

Previous months: Feburary, March

200 Challenge: March

It is amazing how fast this year is going by! March is here! Wow! Well, Feburary was the first month of The 200 Challenge and it went really well! It was lots of fun and very motivating! My goal is $190.00 a month. Ready for the grand total? We spent $138.45! It sounds impressive, even to me, until I think about the fact that the other folks in this challenge are using this budget to buy paper towels, dish soap, diapers, wipes, shampoo, etc.!!! So when I look at it that way I don't think we did that great considering out grocery budget it just food. We are still proud and happy about our savings though. Before this challenge we were spending roughly $225.00 on groceries a month. I feel like we were being so frivolous before! I also feel like we took A LOT for granted. This challenge has really opened my eyes to how wasteful and ungrateful we were.

I hope to do just as well with the challenge this month. We have already done our first two week trip and came in under budget, so it is looking good so far! We are learning how to make things last, and how to be creative with our meals (and not so picky!). I think this is a great thing for Charlie and myself. Plus, it is a good example for us to set as parents.

Our Menu

1: Baked Potato Soup with rolls (didn't get to make it last week)
2: Chicken fingers, mac-n-cheese, veggie
3: Left overs
4: Hot dogs with curly fries
5: Tacos
6: Shepard's pie, veggie
7: Salmon, rice, veggie
8: Left overs
9: Alfredo, garlic bread
10: Homemade pizza
11: Brinner (pancakes with sausage)
12: BBQ Chicken, mashed potatoes, veggie
13: Lasagna, garlic bread, veggie
14: Garlic breaded chicken, cornbread casserole, veggie
15: Left overs
16: Pigs in a blanket, curly fries, fruit
17: Cheesy chicken and rice, veggie
18: Chicken salad sandwiches, baked potatoes
19: Left overs
20: Burritos, chips and salsa
21: Brinner (French toast with bacon)
22: Chili with cornbread muffins
23: Herb rubbed chicken, mac-n-cheese, veggie
24: Left overs
25: Shepard's pie, veggie
26: Cube steak, rice and gravy, veggie
27: Homemade pizza pockets
28: Left overs
29: Brinner (biscuits and gravy)
30: Shrimp and pasta salad
31: Out To Eat :-)

Not the most creative menu this month, but it is all stuff we really enjoy. We are having a few things twice, but that's ok. We may not want those things next month, but I am sure we will be fine for now :-) I hope everyone else enjoyed the challenge as much as I did! It has inspired me to cut others areas of our budget too! I will post more on that later :-) Good luck to all of you in March!

Previous Months: Feburary

200 Challenge: February

Our Menu

2/15: Out to Eat (buy one get one free coupon for Ruby Tuesday's)
2/16: Chicken quesadilla pizza
2/17: Shrimp, pasta salad
2/18: Brinner (biscuits and gravy)
2/19: Date Night!!!
2/20: Chili, corn bread
2/21: Asian Chicken Dinner
2/22: Left Overs
2/23: Pigs in a blanket, tator tots, baked apples
2/24: Cheesy chicken and rice, veggie
2/25: Zesty chicken, potatoes Au gratin, veggie
2/26: Left Overs
2/27: Baked potato soup, rolls
2/28: Brinner (pancakes, sausage)

Several of these meals are things that I need to use out of my pantry, which will cut down on our total cost this month. Also, we typically would not have two out to eat nights like this, but since Charlie has been gone for 3 weeks we are going on a nice date night :-) We have used the Ruby Tuesday's coupon before and spent right at $12.00 for both of us to eat (after tip) so it is well worth it for us to use that coupon and enjoy a night without cooking! I shopped at Aldi first and got all but a few things on my list (Yay!) and our total was $58.71. I got the other items at Wal-Mart and spent $19.62. Charlie was gone the first 2 weeks of February so I spent $51.73 on things for me to eat and stocked up on Charlie's Diet Mountain Dews for the month while they were on sale. I am guessing that we will need to go to the store one more time to get milk before the month is up, but our total for this month so far is $130.06. Looks like we will make it under budget this month! Good thing too because Charlie needed a new battery for his car so it will more than cover that. I will update my post with my final total on March 1st! Can't wait to see how we all did this month!

The 200 Challenge

Sarah at Clay In His Hands has inspired me to cut my grocery budget with a challenge! I just can't resist a challenge! You can click on the link to read up on how Sarah is going about this challenge. To sum it up, she is going to spend $200.00 a month or less on groceries and she is looking for other frugal folks to join in! Well who can say no to that? We all want to find ways to cut our budget each month and this sounds like a great way to me! Right now I typically spend $225.00 a month on groceries. When I say "groceries" I am meaning only food products for us. Charlie and I have another category in our budget for our trash bags, dish soap, paper towels and toilet paper. Actually I have to admit that our grocery budget is only for food for Charlie and myself, not our daughter. She still is not eating what we eat so I also have another category for her groceries as well. Now that I think about it I am going to tweak my challenge.... $190.00 a month! I know it is only $10.00 difference, but that will add up to an extra $120 for the year! My biggest money saver on groceries is Aldi. I have tried shopping at every store out there with more coupons than you can imagine and Aldi is my best bet. I do shop at Bi-Lo and Food Lion from time to time when I see a specific sale or have a specific coupon. I also shop at Wal-Mart from time to time and do okay there, but just not as good as I do at Aldi. Wal-Mart has a great variety of generic items now which does make Wal-Mart my second choice. That's my first tip of advice.... try Aldi! Now, I will not have to do any grocery shopping until the 15th so that is when I will post my menu and total I spent on my groceries this month. I am very excited about this month because it is going to be very under budget because I am only technically cooking half of the month. I am hopping this will give me a good boost to this challenge! Check back on the 15th to see how the challenge is going! Good luck to all of you who give this challenge a try yourself!