Even though the challenge won't "officially" start until September, week 2 resulted in $89.52 spent ($111.44 before bonus card and coupons). Again, I'm relying on a few things in the freezer, but so far so good. Here's my plan to keep this going: Each week, I'm going to use a $100 grocery store gift card. If there is anything left, I'll just hold on to it and use a fresh $100 card the following week. That way, if a week comes along where I need more than $100, I can use one of the cards that has a remaining balance. Otherwise, I can save those cards for the holidays when I know full well that $100 isn't going to cut it. We'll see how that goes.
The trip to Baltimore went well. Friend offered to pay for the tix, but the cost was offset by my share of the gas (they drove) so we broke even. Fun time, but I'm not sure it was worth the $250 or so that it cost us in the end. We're thinking about dropping the trip next year.
I can't wait for my electric bill this month. The weather has felt like September lately. Cool mornings. The house hasn't gotten above 74 degrees so the A/C has been for a while.
I'm looking forward to getting organized for the week, and heading back to the gym tomorrow morning (man have I been slacking!). At least all of my meals are planned!
Week 2 Grocery Challenge: $89.52
August 24th, 2008 at 09:24 pm
August 24th, 2008 at 11:02 pm 1219618944
August 25th, 2008 at 01:27 am 1219627663
The gift cards don't cost anything to buy, and in fact, I buy them as part of a fundraiser of a group that I'm affiliated with, so the charity gets 5% back. If you have the money to lay out up front, you can also look into buying $1000 worth of gift cards from the store, and they'll give you a 5% discount so you only pay $950. Check the website or ask customer service about this, because you can't just buy any 10 gift cards for the discount. You have to go through their home office. It's a painless process though.