Financial Friday: October 2011 Cutbacks, Week 3 Results

3 weeks ago, I mentioned Brian and I were doing some October cutbacks. The main thing we wanted to focus on was eating out for meals. We don't do it often and spend hundreds each month, but we did want to pay closer attention in October. Then maybe for the holidays, we can let loose a little bit.

While Week 2 was a little better than Week 1, this week was awful for us. See below for my “excuses.”

Here are our Week 3 Results & Conclusions:

Electric – 

* We are still keeping all the lights off as much as possible, as well as the A/C off during the day. I am also doing more crock pot cooking and less stove/oven cooking. *

Laundry – 3 loads

* The clothes are really starting to pile up, plus Brian needed work clothes washed for his games on Monday & Tuesday. So I decided to go ahead and do 3 loads this week. To make up for it, I am going to try to only do 1 load during Week 4. *

Groceries – $57.80 (yikes)

* There were several grocery deals I couldn’t pass up at Aldi, CVS & Walgreens. For example, Aldi had their loaves of bread clearanced to $.25 each…so I grabbed a few & froze them! We also ran out of coke, so a good chunk of our total was from coke. CVS has a good deal on Dr. Pepper this week. *

Dining – $55.74 (yikes again!)

* We went out to eat several times because of all the Texas Rangers World Series games. Chick-fil-A had a “get a free sandwich when you wear Rangers gear” promo going – yes! And Brian scouts HS football games on Friday nights, so he went out to eat with the coaches on Friday night. *

Extra Income – $26.00

* Sold 2 things on Craigslist. Only $47.80 left to reach my $200 goal. I don’t think we’ll make it, but we will try! *

As I totaled up everything for the week as well as the subtotal, I’m starting to think my “goals” were too ambitious. I haven’t been “couponing” much since Kroger discontinued their double/triple coupons. Even with face value coupons, Aldi’s prices are STILL better than Kroger & Wal-Mart. And Albertson’s deals aren’t that great either. We are already over our Grocery & Dining Budget for the month, so I’m going to try to not spend (much) in those categories this week.

So here's where we are at right now:

I want to get to the point where my extra income goal each week/month pays for our groceries and dining…but I’m kinda running out of things to sell online ☺

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