No Plan = No Money

Ok, another lesson learned:
I shouldn't have bought so much chicken.  $.99/lb is a good price, but not AWESOME enough that I NEEDED to buy it right then.  What made me vulnerable, was that it was the last day of school and all of a sudden it hit that I would have to be feeding my Teenage Male ALL DAY. I had no plan and panicked.  Had I planned out breakfasts and lunches for the 2 weeks I would've been better able to "save" some money for the second week or for non-food items.
More and more, I am seeing the literal value of a plan.

Where Did It Go? 06-15-12

I've been trying to track exactly what I buy with the grocery money for months now.  I never make it past a few days before I forget about something and decide to wait 'til next month.

Hmmm, kinda like starting a diet on Monday...

I've decided that it'll be easier if I just track per payday; and track daily instead of waiting to do one all-encompassing post.

So here we go:

This payday I have either $180, or $130; depending on whether or not I take my $50 blow money.  I will probably wait 'til the end of the pay period and see if can feed us without needing to use "my" money.



Eggs dozen                     $0
Milk 2Gal                  $3.98
Hormel Pork Loin 2 $10.00
                                $13.98

The eggs were free by signing up for the Just4U program at Safeway.
Had I taken the time to look at the coupon inserts that were in my car, I would've saved an extra $2 on the pork.  At $5 each, it was still a pretty good deal; but dangit - 2 bucks coulda gotten me another dozen eggs! Oh well, lesson learned.

Pizza 2                             $5.96      Broccoli 2       $3.98           Beans                 $4.69

Beef, Steak 2                 $10.90      Yogurt 20        $8.00          Cream Cheese    $5.16

Groung Beef 6lbs           $13.73       Cilantro 2        $1.16          Cough Drops      $3.96

Chicken Thighs, BS 2.5lb $3.99       Lettuce              $.98          Chicken            $14.11

Mixed Veggies 2              $1.58       Bag Refund       $.10          Ground Beef      $10.67

Celery                               $.91       Cashier threw in $.02          Cilantro               $1.99

Grape Tomatoes             $2.29                              $14.00         Mushrooms         $2.99

Carrots                           $2.79                                                  Salad                 $11.65

Bell Peppers 4                $2.25                                                   Tax                   $    .34

Dog Food                     $20.73                                                                           $52.56

Tuna Pouch 10             $10.50                                                   ClubCard Savings $30.69

Rice                                 $.99

Chili Seasoning                $.57

Surcharge                      $3.86

Coupon Savings          $11.50

                                   $69.55

As I was typing this out I realized I forgot to take several pictures.  Oops.  If I remember, I'll add them before we eat that stuff.  ;p

My total for yesterday and today is $136.11, added to the previous $13.98 brings me up to $150.09.

So I've already dipped into "my" money.  I will have to buy fruit next week.  And maybe Red Bull.  I am going to try to see if I can get up early without it and save it only for workouts.  We'll see how that goes.