New Year's Resolutions

My New Year's Resolutions:
1 - Make a monthly budget and stick to it. (see below for January's goal)
2 - Limit impulse buying by discussing all $20+ purchases with DH first.
3 - Plan monthly goals for improvement. (see below for January's goals)

January Goals:
1 - Budget for food/household/eating out: $500 (basically this should cover everything except for routine bills and gas...will start with a high limit this month and try to work down each month of the year)
2 - Read more books to DS.
3 - Convert the dining room to a playroom for DS.

Harris Teeter 1/1/09

Here's an HT trip that I forgot to post a few days ago....this was using triple coupons, too! I had coupons for everything except the Tostitos (which I was craving!) and the milk.

+ 3 Gerber Graduates pasta pick ups
+ 4 Gerber Graduates fruit strips
+ 2 Gerber Graduates yogurt melts
+ 2 Gerber Graduates crunchies
+ 1 bag Tostitos tortilla chips with lime
+ 2 Beechnut yogurt/juice
+ 1 Dannon Yogurt (large)
+ 1 gallon HT Skim Milk
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$19.73 out of pocket, $28.74 saved, 59% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.23

your December total is...

Keep in mind, this included lots of Christmas presents in addition to our regular shopping.

CVS:
*Total OOP = $0.28
*Total on GC = $7.46
*Total Saved = $299.15
~100% Savings

Kmart:
*Total OOP = $2.81
*Total Saved = $21.88
~89% Savings

Kroger:
*Total OOP = $41.33
*Total Saved = $312.62
~88% Savings

Lowe's Foods:
*Total OOP = $91.17
*Total Saved = $99.26
~52% Savings

Misc.
*Total OOP = $141.51
*Total Saved = $72.61
~34% Savings

Target:
*Total OOP = $230.71
*Total Saved = $72.74
~24% Savings

GRAND TOTAL:
*Total OOP = $507.81
*Total Saved = $885.72
~64% Savings

Harris Teeter Triples!

Triple q's up to $0.99 this week at HT and also doubles of P&G q's between $1-$2. We did three transaction tonight. Overall, we bought 67 items, spent $73.93, and saved $100.73, for an overall savings of 58% and an average cost of $1.10 per item. The savings could have looked a little better, but I had to stock back up on fresh fruit, tofu, and dry beans for baby food making since we'd been out of town for the holidays for about two weeks--and of course, there were no coupons for any of those items. Those 10 items alone cost $24.87 before taxes--so taking that into account, the rest of the items were really a deal!

Transaction #1:
+ 7 Gerber Lil Entrees
+ 3 Kellogg's Poptarts
+ 6 Lipton Knorr Rice Sides
+ 1 Pace Queso 4 Cheese Salsa
+ 3 Jello instant puddings
+ 3 Luzianne decaf tea boxes (48 ct. ea)
+ 1 Skippy Peanut Butter
+ 1 Beechnut yogurt/juice
+ 2 Wet Ones canisters
+ 1 Wet Ones travel
+ 1 Uncrustables
+ 1 Lloyd's Chicken BBQ tub
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$31.04 out of pocket, $48.50 saved, 61% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.03
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Transaction #2:
+ 2 Martha White muffin mixes
+ 2 Betty Crocker frostings
+ 2 Minute Rice boxes
+ 1 Kellogg's Poptarts
+ 3 Lipton Tea Bags (16 ct. ea.)
+ 3 Luzianne Tea Bags (48 ct. ea.)
+ 1 bag dry organic black beans
+ 1 bag dry organic pinto beans
+ 1 bag dry organic chickpeas
+ 3 Pounce cat treats
+ 1 can Glory black-eyed peas
+ 1 Karo light syrup
+ 1 Aquafresh toothpaste
+ 1 Organic Tofu
+ 1 bunch bananas
+ 1 bunch red seedless grapes
+ 4 Fuji apples
+ 2 Sargento shredded cheese
+ 1 Blistex lip balm
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$37.41 out of pocket, $40.23 saved, 52% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.17
_________________________________________________

Transaction #3:
+ 1 Pringles stixs
+ 1 Pringles minis
+ 1 Bounty Big Roll
+ 1 Pantene 2 in 1 Shampoo
+ 1 Tide to go pen
- Coupons
+ Tax
=$5.48 out of pocket, $12.00 saved, 67% savings
Avg. cost per item: $1.10