I've been trying to be a smarter grocery shopper. I've shopped with a list for a long time, and am good about not deviating from the list too much, but lately, I've been paying more attention to sales and coupons in an effort to save money. I'm also working on stocking up on groceries a bit more, just to keep the cupboards from getting bare on the off chance I can't get to the store for longer than normal.
For example, today, I discovered that my favorite brand of coffee was on sale. $1.30 off. I needed one bag. But I bought two. I also noticed that Lean Cuisines were marked down to $2.50, so I picked up a few of those as well, even though they weren't on the list at all.
Unfortunately, it's the end of the month. I didn't have enough in my monthly grocery budget to cover all of these extras. I just decided to pull from next month's budget, since I'll be eating most of the food next month anyway, but that's not a trend that can continue from month to month.
I definitely spent more this month on groceries than I have in the past. But I also have more food in my house than I normally do, and even though I've spent more than normal, I've also saved quite a bit by watching for sales. Obviously, saving is good, but spending out of budget is bad.
I hope that in a month or two, this plan will start to pay off in that I will be spending less because I'm buying on sale, and stocking up when things are less expensive. And that the budget busting will end.