Good morning!
I thought today would be a good time to recap what I bought since I decided to start my budget overhaul since I decided to leave my job.
Last week, brought lots of unexpected purchases, most of which could not be avoided. We did the best we could though! We also cut our grocery bill by half. I also decided that I wold have to part with some lovely organic products for the time being to save some cash.
What I bought last week:
I will try to include any combined purchases of Eric and I- such as a meal out, gas, etc. I am not keeping track of what he spends though simply because I don’t want to nor feel like I should.
- Subway $17.50– Eric and I rarely go out to eat but this was an exception! We had a ton of errands to run after work and didn’t get home until 9pm. So we opted for dinner while we were out. I had a footlong veggie sub and him a footlong roasted chicken. He also got a coke.
- Birthday Gift #1: $70
- Birthday gift #2: $20 (I used a gift card so this was a free bee! yay)
- Birthday dinner groceries: $50 (huge salmon, cake ingredients, veggies, etc)
- Gas: $35 (this was free because I had a gift card from a Christmas present!)
- Subway: $3 (I got a 6″ veggie sub in a pinch when I was starving after work and had no emergency snack for the commute home)
- Shipping: $38
- Sunday groceries: $50 (We cut this by more than half- very pleased with this)
Grocery Cut-backs:
The obvious place I could make huge cutbacks with regard to groceries is reducing the amount of specialty & organic products that I have been buying.
Here is what I have decided to forgo for the time being:
- Ezeikel bread $5 (instead I will buy no name 100% whole wheat bread shown below for $1.47!
That is a savings of $3.53 per loaf of bread! And likely a $5 savings per week.
- This was a toughie, but I will not be buying any Larabars for now. If I want any, I will have to make them myself! This is very sad because I had been eating one Larabar a day for a while now. It was my treat at the end of my work day. Bye bye Larabars, hello homemade ones! This is a savings of about $20 per week! Holy crap Larabars are expensive.
- Buy bulk! The Bulk Barn is a fabulous bulk store in Canada. It has oddles of cooking and baking products and you can save tons of money by shopping there. We needed black pepper today and the grocery store pepper was $16.57 (!!!!!!!!) for their big size. I said absolutely not! We went to bulk barn and got all of this below for $2.33. I also spotted some flax on sale 25% off and got all of this for just $0.45 cents! I should have gotten more.
Last week Total spent (minus gift cards): $228.50
As I said, last week had some purchases that were unavoidable. Next week will be much better. :) I still think we made great progress by cutting our grocery bill by half! :) I am also proud of myself for cutting out Larabars and some of my fabourite organic products. Sniff sniff. Time to get creative! When my hummus runs out I plan on making my own from now on.
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My green monster this morning used a new kind of green….
SPINACH!!!!
I felt like popeye!!! hahaha
Ingredients:
- 1 cup packed baby organic spinach
- 1 ripe banana
- 1 cup original Almond Breeze
- 1 Tbsp. flax
- 1 small leaf kale
This smoothie was awesome!! Loved it. :D
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Coming up on Oh She Glows:
- FAQ’s
- Recipes to the wonderful Afternoon Powersnack submissions
- The rest of my Birthday dinner party
Don’t forget to submit those entries for The Healthy Valentine’s Day contest!!!
Also, check out my new with tags Lululemon hoodie on sale on Ebay starting bid just 99 cents! This sweater retails for over $100!
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Women wish to be loved not because they are pretty, or good, or well bred, or graceful, or intelligent, but because they are themselves.
~Henri Amiel
I love your quote… and the adorably romantic picture that precedes it :)
I totally understand the need to cut back on certain organic, delicious items–a college student’s budget just doesn’t allow for it…you seem to be doing great though!
beautiful quote–so perfectly said!
I am also trying to limit my food costs. One thing I started doing was making my own bread. I am sure you could too!
Yay! Spinach smoothies are so delicious, aren’t they? And the LuLuLemon hoodie is lovely too – that scuba’s such a nice color (therefore would be a justifiable buy… but then again, isn’t EVERYTHING from LuLuLemon?! heehee) if only it wasn’t in such a small size!
Have an amazing day! :)
Smoothie looks fantastic! I love the hoodie but I take a LuLu 4 – otherwise I would be all over it! Your post actually reminded me that I have a gift card I need to use!! YAY LULU!
Those are great tips!! I’ve definitely been cutting back on those pricey items..now i just search high and low for lara’s on sale, i have a gen’l rule of not spending over a dollar for a bar :D I’ll shell out some $$ for subway though, sometimes i crave it!
Thanks for the tips! I really need to lower my food costs too! It adds up so much here in NY! I am giving away a case of popchips every day this week if you want to enter! That would help you out a lot!
Steve and I have cut our grocery bill down bigtime since getting engaged and trying to pinch pennies! I am proud of you for starting out so well!! It was strange for me to see such a common loaf of bread since the breads on most blogs are usually the more expensive kinds (my family bought that all the time when I was growing up!) !! Awesome!
Will your Sister be doing a post today??
Great post Angela! I’m always looking for ways to cut down my spending and you posted some very useful tips! Do you think that 100% whole wheat bread is as healthy as your regular purchase? I just wish that we had Bulk Barn here and I’d be set!
I second the question of your sister posting today. I really look forward to her stories as well!
Me again! I have a question for you that I’ve been struggling with for the past few days. I’ve been very sleepy and lethargic lately and am having a really difficult time finding motivation to get out there and exercise. Deep down I know that as soon as I start exercising I’ll feel more energetic and healthier, it’s just difficult starting out. Any tips?
*Sorry if you’ve already answered a similar question to this.
Spinach in a green smoothie is my very favorite! And it makes it such a pretty color. :)
oh i’ve tried a spinach smoothie with mango and soy milk and it was amazing! i want to make it again now :)
I love that quote… seriously, LOVE it
That is kind of a pretty green! Good for you, for saving money!
That is one GREEN smoothie!
Good job on budgeting! Isn’t it amazing how quickly prices add up?
Impressive budgeting! It’s so hard to make cutbacks. Making your own Larabars is a great idea. They can get very expensive!
I LOVE THAT PICTURE of y’all!!!
Way to go on the great budgeting!!! :)
I love that quote… seriously, LOVE it