Trying the envelope system - Meal Planning May 23rd - 29th

Since our financial situation has changed, somewhat in a good way and some in not so good.  We were for years used to having an extra $100 a week (Jon gets paid weekly) for having his works on call phone every other week.  Well, things have changed and now it's an extra $100 every other week.  Last week was the first week without it and this week we had the extra $100.  We've decided that from now on, every other week we would take that extra $100 out of the account and have the cash on hand.  Our goal is to use $50 a week.  Here's the plans for the dinners for the week:
  1. Sloppy Joes (had some buns leftover from last week)
  2. Pizza Casserole
  3. Chicken Alfredo (already have everything except for marinade seasoning for chicken)
  4. Spanish Rice
  5. Hot Dogs (carry over)
  6. Spaghetti

We first went to Sam's because of needing toilet paper.  We used to just buy a smaller size of Charmin at Walmart, but a few months ago we were given a free roll of the Sam's brand toilet paper.  We used it and found it to be a lot softer and nicer than what we had been buying.  The next time we went to Sam's we looked at the price and found it to be a much better deal.  We got 45 rolls of toilet paper with tax for $17.88.  The Charmin at Sam's was much more and for less rolls.  We'll be good when it comes to toilet paper for a few months!

After Sam's, we went next door to Walmart.  Michael was starting to act up so I wasn't able to price compare like I had planned, but was able to at Wegmans.  Here's the list and the Walmart (in dark blue) and Wegmans (in yellow) prices:
  • rinse aid  $5.97
  • loaf of whole wheat bread  $1.48  $1.99
  • Man which  $1.00  $1.09
  • pizza sauce  $0.98  $1.49
  • small stickers  $1.00
  • sugar  $2.38  $2.49
  • travel toilet  $9.98
  • travel size hair spray  $0.97

Not all the items we bought at Walmart could be found at Wegmans or in the same size that we purchased at Walmart to be able to compare.  I added the hair spray while at Walmart because Jon had ran his arm into my pen.  Yep, spraying hair spray on ink marks and then scrubbing the area will remove the ink!  We ended up paying for the travel toilet seat with our debt card (yep, potty training in the near future - stay tune for potty training posts) and the remainder of items with our cash.  The total spent at Walmart was $24.99.

On our way to Wegmans, Michael fell asleep.  So, we went home and I hopped in my car and went to Wegmans on my own.  Here's the list and only the Wegmans prices:
  • lemons  normal price was 4/$3, I only bought 2/$1.50
  • 3- 1lb hamburger packs  $3.51, $3.95, $3.99
  • pepperoni  $2.29
  • mozzarella shredded cheese  $2.79
  • Grill Mate seasoning packet  $1.19
  • gallon of whole milk  $3.59
  • OJ  $2.49
  • half pound of provolone cheese from the deli  $3.84

It was nice to go without a toddler being cranky and I was able to see if we were saving money by buying certain items from Walmart instead of Wegmans.  I knew that I was going to be going over our budget just because of the fact that I was buying 3 pounds of hamburger.  We were lucky that we had some money available in our checking account, but in the future that may not be the case so we'll need to budget/plan a little better.  The total spent at Wegmans was $29.87.

When I got home, I earned $0.50 for the gallon of milk through Ibotta and $0.50 for the sugar through Checkout 51.  The total amount spent for this week's grocery trip was $72.74.  Making us go over our budget by $22.74.  The overage was mostly due to the toilet paper and the travel toilet.  Not too bad with buying 3 pounds of hamburger.

With this weekend being a holiday, how did you do with staying in budget?
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2 comments

  1. Amortize out the toilet paper and the travel toilet. You will be using them over time, right, and not just in the week purchased? I would do this if I bought a pricey personal item somewhat out of my budget. Of course, those days are long gone.

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  2. If you buy the larger pack of hamburger it will be less expensive in the long run and you will have hamburger for future meals saving you money

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