September Grocery Budget Report and Great Sales!

 Time for a mid-week report.

 Here's what I'll share in this mid-week post:

• how much damage I did to my September grocery budget
• show you my great new diffuser (love it!)
• and tell you about clearance deals at Office Depot.  

September Grocery Totals

 I told you a few days ago that I had been "lax" on entering my grocery receipts during September.  Okay, "lax" is a very generous word.  Basically, I didn't do it.  So, lo and behold, here comes October and I realize that I'd better get this horse back in the barn and shut the door before that runaway stallion does big damage.  

Well, as it turned out, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  I made it to September 29th and only spent $5 more than budgeted.  That's pretty amazing, given the fact that I didn't track it at all.

$75 A Week for Groceries in October!

Did you notice I said that figure was current on September 29th?  If you've been following me you know that the Big Lots Friends and Family Discount Weekend was on the 29th.  Big Lots does their big 20% off sales quarterly.  I had counted on that major money-spending extravaganza to take place the first weekend in October, not late September.  After some consideration, I made the decision to put every penny I spent stocking up at Big Lots on the October budget!  

On Monday, I also ordered 50 pounds of farina (cream of wheat) from Sieed, my friend and owner of one of my favorite places to shop, The Mediterranean Mart.  See this post for my review of this fantastic local ethnic market.   They stock farina, in several different sizes and coarseness.  While I was there, Sieed offered to order 50# for me and said he'd have at the store by Thursday.  I had to reduce October's food budget again. I will pay $50 plus tax on Thursday when my farina arrives into my October food budget.  (By the way, in case you are wondering, that amount of cream of wheat will last us about six months.)
 
Let's do the math!  I'll subtract the amount of my Big Lots stock up and the 50# bag of farina from the monthly grocery budget. The result?  I have $300 for the entire month - just $75 a week.

So, let's GO!  I'll chronicle each week's purchases and we'll see how to search for the best deals and most budget-stretching recipes. 

My Oil Diffuser Arrived!

On another note, my new oil diffuser arrived today and none too soon!  I ordered 4 of them for a really great price!  The water-well is big enough to diffuse for quite a while without running out of water.  It's whisper quiet and very light weight.  It's the perfect size for bedside diffusing and children will be sure to like the changing lights.  If you don't want the color to change, you can pick any of the 7 different colors and two brightnesses for each color.  Here's a link to the post I wrote about them and how to get two diffusers for just $10! I don't know if the promotional code is still active.  But, even if it's not, the diffusers are just $15 for 2 at the regular price. 

There's a link in the post or you can just order it through this link.  

We've been dealing with croup this week.  So, I have one of the new diffusers steaming away with eucalyptus in my boys' bedroom even as I write this post.  Hopefully we'll have a little more quiet an less eventful night tonight than we had last night.  

Office Depot Clearance

Heads up!  Office Depot has a great clearance section right now at the front of the store.  There are several great bins to dig through.  You never know what kind of treasures you'll find!

  I got these two reams of cardstock for $5 each.  My boys use cardstock all the time!  In fact, we had just run out.  So, this was a perfectly timed sale! 

They also had some bright neon colors for the same price.  Very nice!


Stop by and check out your local store.  Let me know if you spot any deals!

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Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope