More about the groceries...

So last week we did great with our "grocery challenge" this past week, I spent about $75 on groceries. That being said, I got some great deals and I figured since I was under budget by about $25 the first week, adding it to the next week's shopping wasn't a horrible misstep.

One of the really cool things that I did this week was negotiate with the manager at the grocery store. I had read about doing this before and thought I wasn't the type of person that would do this, but it happened quite serendipitously. I was walking by the freezer case and the store manager said "we really need to move this stuff that has been marked down." I told her that I had bought two of the items that were on clearance. She told me if I bought the other two, she would take and additional dollar off each one that I bought. I knew it was something that I would use, and it was already deeply discounted, so I saved myself $4 there. Then she went through the case and negotiated with me some of the other items. I got 4 2 packages of seasoned frozen steaks at .99 a piece. They had been marked down to $1.99. So I saved another $4 there and got the steaks at an unbelievably low price. It's not like they have meat of this quality at the dollar store.

So far, we have been doing really well about eating at home and staying within our budget. Knowing that I have set this limit for myself also prevents me from making impulse purchases like those "Snackables" lunch things that my son loves, but are a ridiculous waste of money.