The other day while looking at grocery store sales papers, I saw an ad that caught my eye. It was for a free crockpot at Bi-Lo. Y'all remember what happened to my last crockpot, right? If not, read this.

In order to get the crockpot you had to buy $50 in fresh meat. That was pretty easy for me to do since my husband is a really big meat eater. I got lucky, apparently they didn't have very many crockpots and it was only while supplies last. Now I have a brand new crockpot and it matches my kitchen!

In my last grocery challenge post I had .23 left to spend. You would have thought with only five days left, I wouldn't have went over budget. But, I did, by $32.17.

I had previously thought I would only have to buy some milk, but I had forgotten about Thanksgiving! We ate with Barb and her family and I had to bring something, so part of the money I spent went to buy that. Then, while I was at the store, I saw a good sale on pork chops, so I bought a few packs. So at least we have a little meat to start December with.

In the end, I ended up spending a total of $242.17. I guess that's not too bad for my first time trying to work within a grocery budget. Some of you have asked what my goal for December is. Well, I'd like to try again for $210. I hope I can do it, but with Christmas coming, I'm not sure. But, I'm gonna try. I'll keep y'all posted as to how I do this month also. If anyone has any helpful hints, I'd appreciate them!

If you'll remember this post, I had a budget of $210 to spend for the month of November. After my first shopping trips of the month I was down to having only $48.95 left to spend in order to stay within my budget. This was especially challenging for me since I had a party this month also.

I have been to the grocery store 5 times since then to get things I forgot or things I wasn't sure I needed. Wow! I never thought I would have been back that many times. I am keeping a list of the things I bought, so they won't be forgotten next time.

During those trips, I spent $48.72. Which leaves me with .23 left to spend. So, right now I am under budget, barely. There are 5 more days left in the month after today. I wish I could say I won't have to buy anything else, but I'm not sure. I may need more milk, so we'll just have to see. I will post again next week to let you know the final totals.

I am looking at lots of different ways to save money. One way I thought of is setting a limit on what I can spend on groceries. I usually don't have a real budget or anything, I just buy whatever is on my list. This month I am going to try and spend only $210.00 on groceries. My pantry was fairly empty, so I am pretty much starting from scratch.

I knew this would be hard, so I consulted an expert, my friend Barb. Well, she's not technically an expert, but she feeds her family of 5 for $150 a month, so I knew she could help me out. Before you say I could just buy what she buys and I would be under budget, well it wouldn't work. She doesn't have to buy much milk like I do because she doesn't have a little one. Her family also has some food stored up from their garden, so they don't have to buy some things. Don't worry, I plan on having a garden next year.

Anyway, she made me do something, I'd never done before. She made me make a pantry list. I think she got a little upset with me when she asked how much of this or that I used in a month, and I had no clue. Since I didn't really know how much I would need of each item, I just made an educated guess. Barb also made me make a menu for the whole month! Can you believe she would do that to me? I'm a free spirit, I can't be tied down with lists and menus!

I thought if I only shopped once, I would spend less. So, I made my grocery list for the whole month and went shopping. I went to Walmart, Piggly Wiggly, and a neighborhood grocery store that had meat on sale. I ended up spending $161.05. That was a lot of shopping for one day! I still have $48.95 left for the rest of the month for things like milk and bread, and there's probably something I left off my list that I'll have to get. These lists are new to me, but I'll try to learn!

If anyone else has any tips to help me, please let me know!