July Budget Review for 8isGreat

Back in April I began tracking my spending. Details here. In May I was determined to cut my budget. I gave myself parameters outlining what was covered in my budget here. I strived to meet these goals in May, June and July also.

I wrote here about my first week of July. I was determined to push on without making changes to my budget goals for the month.

Here are my expenses for the month
Week 1 $250.82
Week 2 $63.31
Week 3 $73.37
Week 4 $134.68
Last 3 days of the month $61.51 - (I was purchasing items to qualify for MIR w/7/31 deadlines)
July's total is $583.69
I submitted over $150 in MIR this month, bringing my expenses for July down to $433.69.

Here is what I purchased this month:

2009 JULY Expenses - Grocery/H&B/Cleaning/Baby products

BREADS
Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns 12
English muffins 13
Wheat sandwich bread 13
Rye/pump swirl bread 1

DAIRY
Milk gallons 49
Pillsbury French loaf dough 4
Butter 20 sticks
72 Eggs
Cheese blocks 3
Shredded cheese 4 lb
Yougurt cups 4

MEAT
35 Beef patties
4 top round steaks
2 flank steaks

FROZEN FOODS
Corn dogs
35 lbs ice
Popsicles
Orange sherbert
Waffles 5 boxes
Haagen daz 4

DELI
1 Macaroni salad
1 Potato salad
5 lbs honey ham
3 lbs turkey
3 lbs provolone
1 lb Colby jack
Parmesean cheese

PRODUCE
Green leaf lettuce 5 heads
Cucumbers 3
Green onion
Tomatoes 1.33 lb (thank goodness the garden kicked in here!)
Bananas 19.56 lbs.
Strawberries 2 lbs.
Watermelon 1
individual yellow corn 24
Apples 11.22 lbs
Cherries 6.03 lbs
Grapes 4.95 lbs
Peaches 13.94 lbs
Russet potatoes 5 lbs
Onion 2

CONDIMENTS/DRESSINGS
BBQ Sauce: 15 (donated)

DRY GOODS
15 Fruit Roll up boxes (donated to swim team concessions)
Ramen Noodles 5 packages
Marshmallows 2 bags
Hershey candy bars (6 pack) 3
Grahm crackers
Bread crumbs 1
Peanut butter 1
Minced onions 1
Vanilla wafers 1 box
Chocolate chips 3 bags
Smuckers fudge 1 jar
Cereal 4 boxes
Popcorn kernels 1 bag
Packages of Flour tortillas 2 packages
Vegetable oil 1
Cake mixes 4 boxes
Olives 1 jar
Cup o noodles 2 cups
Martha white muffin mix 6 mixes
Roasted red bell peppers 2 jars
Mayonnaise 4 large jars
Spiral pasta 6 bags
Pancake mix 10 boxes
Syrup 7 bottles
Candy bars 4 individual
Olive oil 3 bottles
Tuna 2 pouches
Potato chips 3 bags
Cookies 2 packages

BEVERAGES
Sparkling grape juice 3 bottles
Powdered lemonade
Tea 4 boxes
Apple juice10 frozen concentrate containers
Starbucks double shot: 3 cans

CANNED GOODS
Ravioli 5 cans
Chicken noodle soup 3 cans

PAPER PRODUCTS
Paper towels 9 rolls
Ziplock bags 6 boxes
Chinet plates 12 packages

HOUSEHOLD
Playtex kitchen gloves 4 pair
Lysol wipes 11 containers
Oxi Clean 1 bottle
Tide HE detergent 1 bottle

HEALTH & BEAUTY
Feminine products 16 packages ( I always stock up when these are 50c or less/pkg)
Cotton balls 1 bag
Hand sanitizer 3 small bottles
Nail polish remover 1 bottle
Hand soap pump 1 bottle

It is frustrating to consistently miss my goal. I have decided to give myself a little more budget room. I believe I could keep a $400/month budget in the areas I have selected if we lived a consistent routine. But we are a large group. We have celebrations to have (birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, sacraments, holidays, etc.) and we love to entertain and frequently have family and friends over for dinner. So my goals for my August budget are more generous. I am setting my goal at $500 and hope to fall below this. This gives me $125/week for my groceries, baby needs, paper products, cleaning supplies and Health and Beauty items.

As for cash, it has proved very difficult to have an envelope of cash to draw from. When I have cash I have teenagers who need to borrow it or spend it on something outside the "purposes" outlined in this budget. It is easier to lend the cash then drive to the ATM to get more. I thought I could use my debit card and keep a running track of expenses in my receipt notebook. However, I would need to keep closer track of this notebook. I think it would be much easier to have $125 in my wallet each week and know exactly what is left unspent after each purchase.
I will give the cash only system another chance in August.