April Groceries - All About Restraint

I went through my freezer on Sunday and took a look at what I still had for dinners. Even after cleaning out the freezer in March, I had dinner on the table Sunday (delicious pork chops baked with onions and apple) and still had enough food for eleven more main courses!

So, my Monday grocery trip was all about restraint.

Safeway
Jalapeno Chips - $4.29 (for hubby's lunches)
6 Cans Tuna - $2.94 (49 cents a can!)
Organic Milk - $5.19 (still painful)
Red Leaf Lettuce - $1.49
Organic Yellow Onions - $2.99
Total - $16.90


Costco
Frozen OJ - $9.99
Grey Poupon - $6.75 (restocking)
Dubliner Cheese - $9.90
Organic Ground Beef - $12.99
6 Red Peppers - $5.9
Chicken Tenderloins - $16.38 (accidentally bought tenderloins instead of breasts!)
Bratwurst Sausages - $13.99
Total - $75.99


Then I went to Franz Bakery Outlet for sandwich bread and burger buns, only to discover they'd closed 15 minutes earlier. I swear, they changed their hours! There's no way I've been there before 6pm every other time I've shopped there. Back to Safeway I went...

Safeway
Wholewheat Buns - $2.49
Franz Bread - $4.69 (I could get two loaves for $5.29 at Franz...grrrr!)
3 Whole Garlic - $1 (forgot before)
Total - $8.18


Grand Total - $101.07


Put that together with my grocery shopping on the 1st, and my total for the month so far is $146.91. I'm trying to keep groceries as far under $250 as possible, and I think this still leaves me a lot of room. I know it's early still, but I'm very well stocked (hubby would say we have no food - not true!) and will probably buy more milk, maybe some veggies, just realized I need sour cream, and lunch meat. That can easily be accomplished below budget.

A note on juice - my husband LOVES orange juice. Loves it. He will make a can of concentrate, and go through it in two or three days. Three if I'm lucky. I'm not such a miser that I want to deny him juice, but it is expensive. I buy a six pack of concentrate at Costco every month for $9.99. It goes straight into the deep freeze without him even seeing it. If he gets a hankering for juice, he has to go out into the garage and make up a pitcher. If he's willing to go through the extra hassle over just grabbing water from the tap, well....I figure he deserves his juice then :)

He's also taken to filling an old drink bottle with juice for his work lunches. I'm fine with this, since normally he ends up buying a drink for $1.25 if he doesn't have one. If he keeps up this habit, I'll start buying 2 packs of concentrate a month.

Does anyone have any thoughts on traveling juice containers? Right now he's using an old plastic bottle, which worries me a little...

Let the April Grocery Shopping Begin!

In case your interest was piqued by the recipe posted yesterday, it's my duty to report back that it was delicious! It always seems so hard to come up with new recipes to spice things up, and then BAM! Along comes spicy beef noodle bowl.

I took a picture with my super old iPhone. It really didn't do the dish justice. But, it did capture the red pepper that just begged to be a part of the dish. Lesson learned: add red pepper and get a new camera.

Of course, trying out a new recipe meant heading to the grocery store. And a brand new month and untouched budget meant a couple (carefully planned) splurges.

Trader Joe's
Egg Noodles - $1.99 (and only used half the package)
Sirloin Steak - $11.39 (saved half of this, too!)
Broccoli Florets - $2.49
Red Bell Pepper - $1.29
Dozen Eggs - $1.69
Brie - $4.23 (because it's a pretty cheap treat when you consider how delicious it is!)
2 Bottles Charles Shaw - $5.45 (we drink only the finest)

Total: $28.53

Safeway
1 lb Salami - $6.49
1 lb Ham - $5.63
Gallon Milk - $5.19 (this makes my eyeballs want to bleed)

Total: $17.31

Which brings the grand total so far to $45.84. Kind of scary since that's about a fifth of my budget. We shall see how this goes...

So Much For Last Groceries

I posted this morning about my "last" grocery trip of March. Then, I got an e-mail from Amazon Fresh that I just couldn't resist. As a new customer they offered me $30 off my order of $50 or more using this code - KLFUYF9VW6 - now through March 23rd.

I just can't ignore an offer like that!

Ever since I raided all the change jars in the house and rolled $26 in coins, my husband has been bugging me to buy him a 12 pack of beer with his portion of the bounty. Undeserved! At least in regards to his contribution to the coin rolling. But I will admit my husband is a hard working, good man who is handsome to boot and deserves a cold beer now and again ;-)

I've been dragging my heels nonetheless (but what about the budget! and all) so I knew this gift from Amazon was the perfect time to buy beer guilt free. I also decided to stock up on flour since, you know, I'm now an expert bread baker and all. I perused The Frugal Girl to find out what brand she likes best, and it was also very economical. I got a 10 pound bag of Gold Medal unbleached and a 5 pound bag of Gold Medal whole wheat.

Then I had to fill in the gaps. Popcorn? Don't mind if I do! More expensive per ounce than Costco, but I figured I could treat myself to a small bag to tide me over. Quaker Oats - our staple breakfast on the weekends, and great for making oatmeal cookies/bars for weekday mornings - a no brainer. Two bags each of frozen corn and peas (won't have to restock those next month!) brought me to just under $50, so I put it over the edge with 3 apples. I think I'll make my really, really, ridiculously good looking delicious pork chops with apple and onions later this week.

Total Spent: $51.80 + $5.99 delivery fee minus - $30 coupon discount = $27.79

Bringing my FINAL March Grand Total to $187.70. Still happy!

If you give the discount code a shot (remember, it expires March 23rd!) leave me a comment and let me know if it worked for you - and all about your bounty of goods!

Last Of The Groceries

Here's to hoping yesterday's shopping trip was the last of the month.

Safeway
3 1/4 oz Yeast - $2.75
Organic Milk - $5.19
Carrots - $1.89
1 lb Canadian Maple Ham Lunch Meat - $5.65
Total: 14.98

Franz Bakery Outlet
2 Loaves - $5.29

That would bring my grand total for the month to...(drum roll please)...$159.91! To say I am proud of that number would be an understatement.

This morning I sent my husband off to work with homegrown sprouts in his lunch! The jar is so full I had to split the yield in two in order to allow light to reach them all and turn them a beautiful green. Let's gaze at the glory, shall we?

If anyone would like to gift me a Canon Rebel or equivalent
on account of it being a Monday, I would be much obliged.

Aren't they beautiful? I can turn the jar upside down and they don't even budge they're packed in there so tight. Lesson learned - less seed next time. I am definitely going to be regularly stocking up on sprout seeds. Growing your own sprouts is just too easy!

Speaking of easy, The Mrs also inspired me to take a stab at bread baking. She is working her way through 200 different bread recipes. It got me thinking of how she must have a whole range of flops and successes, but the point is she's trying. Too often, I let perfection get in my way - it's part of the reason I bought sprout seeds in January and didn't try to grow them until March!

So I picked up yeast (enemy number one) yesterday and came home and just did it - I baked bread. And it turned out delicious!

My Italian Herb Loaf - a success!

Mason Jar Sprouts

I am so excited that I finally started my sprout experiment. I remember my mom growing sprouts in a mason jar when I was a kid, so when the salmonella outbreak hit at the beginning of the year and I couldn't find sprouts anywhere, I took a look on Amazon for the seeds.

Before I actually purchased them, I got lucky - Living Social offered up this deal for an Amazon gift certificate. I hope you snatched yours up!

I ended up buying two 1-pound bags to use up my gift certificate. I figured even if that was more seeds than I possibly needed, I could share some with my mom!

Of course, I'm a huge procrastinator, so queue a month of not growing sprouts.

I finally got around to it this weekend. The instructions call for the seeds to be soaked for 6-8 hours first. I was worried that I was going to end up with a whole lot of ungerminated seeds unless I followed the instructions perfectly, so I waited until the weekend when I'd be home and could soak them for the perfect amount.

I found these instructions for growing sprouts. I've been rinsing them twice a day - once before work and once after. I don't have a sprouter (or cheese cloth) so I've been using a little piece of gauze fastened with the mason jar lid ring. If you put it under the tap with some good water pressure, the water goes through the gauze. Then I swirl it around a little, and then pour it out through the gauze. I don't know if cheese cloth would be easier, but it takes a little effort to get the water out. I have to really shake it, and I was worried that might affect the little seeds but...

I have sprouts! (And a really crappy camera) Can you see their little white sprout-y tails? I love these little babies! I can't believe how easy it has been to grow them. They're still in their hiding from sunlight phase. I store them upside down at a slight angle so that water can drain out of the gauze if it wants to, and keep a towel over them. I think they'll be ready for the window on Friday (I started them on Sunday). 

I think they should be delicious and green and ready for sandwiches on Monday. I'm so excited, I want to start another batch right away! I'm considering buying a proper sprouter with a draining lid if the gauze becomes too much of a hassle. I didn't want to spend the money before I experimented and found out if this was going to work, but now that it is I don't see any reason to buy sprouts from the store again! And those two pound bags are going to last forever - this is just 2 tablespoons of seeds!

Cheap, and salmonella free :)

Costco Versus The Budget

I stopped by Costco today for the previously mentioned bacon. By this point, my husband had cleaned me all out so any fantasy I'd had of those last few pieces making it into a quiche were gone. I also had just a few other items to pick up...

2 Dozen Eggs - $3.35
Bacon - $10.99
Pepper Jack Cheese - $6.89
Butter - $9.99
Balsamic Vinegar - $10.99
Italian Seasoning - $2.55
Tollhouse Cookie Dough - $7.79

Total - $52.55

My receipt is so short, my box so small, and yet Costco still took me for over $50! I couldn't believe it, particularly since I left with less than what was actually on my list. I started adding items up in my head and thinking about how I was about to blow the budget.

I put back pastrami lunch meat. It was almost $12, and I can easily buy lunch meat from Safeway for less than that and get through the rest of the month. I'm sure the pastrami would have lasted into next month, but it is still a pretty expensive lunch meat and I think my husband has been quite enjoying the (cheap!) ham.

While putting it back I remembered that I really did need cheese. I am loving the block cheese! Sure I have to slice it myself, but for the same price I get half a pound more and it's lasted me an incredibly long time. You know why? Because I slice it a lot thinner! One block lasted me a month and a half - plus cheese for two quiches! It's a cheese miracle.

I also put back the $11 tub of popcorn kernels. Popcorn is a great snack - inexpensive, healthy, and easy to dress up (I'll have to post my delicious popcorn ideas in another post) - but until now I've been buying the microwave bag kind. Buying kernels will be a ton cheaper, especially since I don't go for that fake butter stuff. Nevertheless, I decided that March is not the month to try out the tub. Even though it was a ton of popcorn for the price, $11 is a lot of money. Too many Costco purchases will ruin a budget, even if you're getting great deals.

After all, I was already replenishing my butter and balsamic vinegar supply. I haven't purchased either of those since starting this blog, but when replenishing purchases all fall in the same month it can get tricky.

I've decided I need a plan for next month since I will literally have eaten our house out of meat. I'll post that soon...

Produce Purchases

I took another inventory of the freezer today and decided that I definitely can make it through the rest of the month without buying any meat. I have frozen chicken breasts, flank steak, beef chunks, shrimp, ground beef, shredded chicken, matzo ball soup, a pork chop (fat enough to be split in two) and a couple of pie crusts.

I will need to buy some more bacon if I want to make those quiches, and my husband often has bacon on the weekends, so I guess I'm not completely meat free. But then again, I have a bunch of tuna and canned salmon, so I could probably get by without even buying that!

I stopped by Safeway to pick up Jalapeno chips for hubby's lunches and to buy a bunch of produce. Since I made my no-meat purchase goal for the month, I figured it might be the perfect time to try to work in some alternatives to meat - huge no-no for my husband! So, instead of jumping straight into meatless meals, I'm going to incorporate mushrooms into some meals and cut the meat in half.

I made a delicious "spaghetti and meatballs" tonight using spaghetti squash, sausage and portabello mushrooms. Not only were there no complaints, my husband declared it delicious!

So, here's what I purchased:

Organic Milk - $5.19 (twenty cents higher than last week!)
2 Bags Jalapeno Chips - $8.98
Spinach - $1.99
Red Chard - $1.99
Portabella Mushrooms - $2.87
Shitake Mushrooms - $2.80
Spaghetti Squash - $6.33
Spaghetti Squash - $6.81
Organic Onions - $5.02 (only twenty cents more than regular, so I went organic!)
Total = $41.98

I also ran past Trader Joe's on Friday and bought a couple bottles of cheap wine and some lemonade/tea as a  treat for the hubs. Total = $8.73.

That brings my grand total for the month so far to $87.09. Pretty good since we're almost half way through!

March Grocery Madness!

...or not, because actually March has been extremely easy on me grocery-wise. I have been making a concerted effort to use up all the frozen leftovers and meat in the freezer, and I guess it turns out I had way more than I thought, because I am still in good shape on the meat I bought new last month that is sitting in the deep freeze.

I made a mental list of meat the other day, and I'm pretty sure I can get by on entrees without buying more than a couple flank steaks and a 3 pack of organic ground beef from Costco.

So, I haven't done my usual big first of the month grocery shop yet. I do have to keep my husband in lunches, so I made a small trip to Safeway. Here's what I left with:

Organic Milk - $4.99
3 Apples - $2.00
Virginia Ham Lunch Meat - $7.41
Salami - $6.68
Rotisserie Chicken - $6.56 (after tax price)
Fresh Spinach - $1.99
Skinny Cows - $4.99

I also stopped by Metropolitan Market to pick up my free bag or heirloom oranges (yay, coupons!) and I also found parsley for just 99 cents and sprouts for $1.99. Metro Market can be pretty expensive, but nobody around here is beating those prices. I still haven't found sprouts at Safeway since the great salmonella scare, and I've been too lazy to get around to growing my own. This weekend, I swear!

I do need to stop in for more chips for hubby's lunches, onions (desperately) and Italian seasoning. We could also use some more eggs and bacon, but all in all I think I'll be blowing the food budget out of the water this month! If only I can stay away from the wine aisle...

Grocery Run - Last for February

I made another run to Safeway on Monday. I exchanged the candy thermometer I had purchased a month before and that had promptly broken. I purchased a regular meat thermometer that still covered the temps I need but doesn't have glass. I also picked up milk, red lettuce for sandwiches, and green onions. The green onions were an impulse buy, but I noticed that they were on sale for their old price of 99 cents. Then I noticed it was 2 for 99 cents! Are you kidding? Done and done. No regrets.

Thermometer Difference - $2.96
Milk - $4.99
Green Onions - $.99
Red Lettuce - $1.99
Total - $10.93


I also stopped at the Franz Bakery Outlet on Wednesday night to pick up sandwich bread. I've been meaning to go in there forever! I had no idea what to expect, but it was everything I was hoping for - no frills, but tons of products at cheap prices. Luckily, they had my husband's favorite bread. The loaves were $2.79 - already a huge discount off Safeway prices (although I did just buy loaves for that price on sale at Safeway). But on top of that, Franz had a buy two deal!

2 Loaves Columbia River Sweet Dark Whole Grain - $5.29

Grand Total - $16.22
Total for February - $229.75


Below budget! And I still have tons of food left. I will be working hard to come in closer to $200 in March.

A Note On Milk

You may have noticed (and probably didn't care) that I bought 1% Milk on my last shopping trip. This is actually a huge change for my little family of two.

I was raised on non-fat milk, and on top of really loving milk I really really love non-fat milk. My husband is also quite a big milk drinker, and thinks anything less than 2% tastes like gross water.

Now, milk is really not a frugal drink choice, but we still drink quite a bit of it at my house. Besides being very healthy, milk also helps sooth acid reflux. I have a nasty case of GERD, and a poor case of health insurance. I recently switched from my nifty but expensive drug to a why-am-I-even-bothering to-take-this more affordable option, so I've been drinking even more milk than usual.

Around the same time, I started noticing I was having breakouts. After searching the internetz a bit decided to switch to organic milk. This is a $3 per gallon difference - another less than thrifty move, but balancing thrifty food with healthy food can be a tricky act. I'm no scientist and have no idea if it's even related to the milk, but my breakouts have stopped.

Another plus? Organic milk is delicious! Delicious and extra creamy. After much deliberation, my hubby decided he'd be willing to switch to 1% if we keep drinking organic milk. So, we're meeting in the middle. By having only one gallon in the fridge at a time I'm pretty sure we'll never have sour milk again.

And avoiding food waste is thrifty.

A Quick Safeway Trip

I made a quick stop at Safeway for some things to supplement my big February shop. I knew I was going to need things like milk, onions and sour cream, and I also picked up some canned fruit for a healthy dessert. They were having a $10 for 10 sale on the smaller cans, so I picked up some peaches and pears as well as a big can of the fruit cocktail my husband loves.

All the fruit is canned in pear juice - no heavy syrup for us!

Safeway
Fruit Cocktail - $1.54
Canned Peaches - $1
Canned Pears - $1
Sour Cream - $1.50
1% Milk - $4.99
Onions (.99/lb) - $4.12
Total: $14.15


I'm pretty happy with my total grocery purchases this month. So far I'm $213.53. My budget calls for $250, but I want to get that down to $200 a month so I'm trying really hard to come under. It's probably a good thing that February is so short - March will be a real challenge!

Groceries | February

Felling pretty good about our grocery expenses so far this month. In the name of accountability, I am now tracking not only what I spend but exactly what I spend it on. I think this is going to make a HUGE difference in our food budget and my ability to keep within my limits.

I typically do one big grocery trip a month to Safeway and Costco. I then pick up little things as needed like milk or lunch meat. I'm a little bit worried that I've spent too much this month already, and it's only the 5th. I think maybe my problems with going over are that I spend within my budget on the big shopping trips, but then have too many "little" trips that add up and put me over.

Hopefully keeping track of exactly what I buy as I buy it will cause me to be more aware of how much has already been spent and how much room is left.

So, here's what I've bought so far in February:

Trader Joe's
1 Dozen Eggs - $1.69 (This is the first time I'd realized TJ's eggs are this cheap!)
Red Wine - $13.13 (Total splurge, totally needed that night. That's the after tax price.)

Safeway
2 Bags Timm's Jalapeno Chips - $4.29 each
Brown Sugar - $2.39
Oatmeal - $3.19 (All they had was quick oats, grrrr!)
Frozen Corn - $2.50
Frozen Peas - $2.50
4 Frozen Pie Crusts - $5 (Lesson learned - making my own from now on)
Red Leaf Lettuce - $2.19
Salami - $6.49
1lb Deli Turkey - $5.75 (They were running a special so I bought a pound)
2% Milk - $4.99
2 Loaves Franz Bread - $2.79 (Super sale, bought two!)
Skinny Cows - $4.99

Costco
Timm's Maui Chips - $4.89 (Almost twice the size of the Jalapeno bags!)
2 Flank Steaks - $15.09
3lbs Organic Ground Beef - $12.99
2 Tubs Nestle Tollhouse Cookie Dough - $5.29 each (They applied my $2.50 coupon twice!)
Pantene Conditioner - $5.99 ($2 off coupon)
Pastrami Lunch Meat - $12.99
Potatoes - $7.99
6 Red Peppers - $5.79 (Cheaper than the multi-colored pack)
2 Dozen Eggs - $3.45 (A few pennies more than they would have been at TJs)
Garlic Powder - $4.49
Olive Oil - $17.99
Frozen OJ - $9.99
Laundry Detergent - $11.29 ($2 off coupon)
Pepperjack Cheese - $6.89 (Same price as the sliced stuff, but 1/2 lb more)

Grand Total: $199.38

I'm going to need onions, more lettuce, sour cream, and a couple more gallons of milk before the month is over. I'm hoping that is it. We have frozen chicken breasts, shrimp, and sausage in the deep freeze, plus chicken pieces and broth for soup and tuna for sandwiches. It should be enough to get us through 24 more dinners. I definitely have enough chips and cookie dough to get through my hubby's lunches. I bought more than is necessary, but I wanted to stock up while Costco still had the cookie dough on sale and the chips in stock. I know I should start making my own cookies, but for 80 oz of our favorite cookie dough I couldn't pass up the price. The same cookie dough would have cost me the same amount on sale at Safeway for only 36oz!

I might have to get another loaf of bread and half a pound of lunch meat towards the end of the month. I'm excited to stop in at the Franz Bakery Outlet for the first time. It is basically across the street from my Safeway, but I've never been in. I can't wait to compare prices!

I completely forgot to buy ham at Costco for quiches. I'm also out of spinach. Those way-too-expensive frozen crusts are really annoying me now, and I don't even need any quiche to make it through the month. Maybe I can return them to Safeway? Is that really weird? Where else do you think I could be saving on my grocery budget? Technically I've allotted myself $250 for the month. I know I can make it, but I really want to come in under!

Staying Accountable To My Budget

I recently created a detailed budget for myself. I have $100 to spend on miscellaneous items, and I've allotted myself a total budget for groceries and gas of $325 every month. The problem with budgeting isn't so much creating a budget - it's sticking to it.

At the end of every month I've been tallying that months spending. This month I spent $106.66 in the miscellaneous category. This included my antique store purchases, a Groupon certificate for half off at happy hour, lunch with the hubby's grandmother, the Living Social certificate which I applied to buying sprout seeds (can't wait to start this project - hopefully a money saver!) and a late fee and interest. No, I'm not perfect, and I'm super annoyed with myself for this one. I thought I had all of my ducks in order before leaving for the holidays, but I forgot to schedule the payment on one of my credit cards. Usually I can get the late fee reversed (while still eating the interest) but apparently I had done that last March, and USBank is only being lenient once a year.

I decided to include the late fee and interest in my miscellaneous category to really make it hurt. It's frustrating to know that the only reason I went over my miscellaneous budget this month is because of that stupid mistake. I assume that my miscellaneous spending is going to be somewhat flexible every month. By this I mean that sometimes I'll go over and sometimes I'll be under because I don't buy cat food or litter every month, or get my oil changed every month. But it's really easy to go a little over $100 a month, and a lot harder to stay under. I'm glad I almost made it, but I'm going to try really hard to be under in February because of the late payment mistake.

I came in just under budget on gas and groceries - $321.49. This is partly because I decided not to hold myself accountable for the $11.79 my husband charged to my card when I sent him out for eggs. He decided to also get 5 concentrated juices. I would never have bought these for him. Juice is expensive, and I try not to buy too many in a month, and typically keep them in the deep freeze in the garage so that my husband doesn't go through them so fast. This time he's already gone through all 5 cans of Welch's, and he just bought them on the 20th!

After reading that Kristen over at The Frugal Girl feeds her family of 6 on $100 a week (and she does it in part by avoiding expensive juice!) I'm feeling a little disappointed in myself for barely managing to feed the two of us on $285 a month (that's $325 minus the $40 I realistically feed the Prius every month). Truthfully I aim at $200 a month, added in $50 when I started making the hubby's lunches, and allot $75 for gas (which is more like what I fed the Lexus). I combine gas and groceries in my budget to give myself a little extra cushion on groceries, since I definitely don't spend $75 on gas anymore. So basically, I'm pathetic. I mean who am I fooling? Myself?

So I'm going to try to be more accountable for my grocery shopping expenses. I'm going to seriously aim at spending less than what I've currently alloted - a lofty goal, since last year I had a difficult time coming in at the already generous budget I've given myself. So I've decided to track even more data! (There's nothing I love more than a detailed Excel spreadsheet :) The last few times I've been to the grocery store, I've kept my receipts and started tracking exactly what I purchase. I've already recognized that I can probably stop paying $2.50 for two frozen pie crusts. It can't be that hard to make crust, right? And I'm pretty sure I can do it for less than $1.25 each. Hopefully I'll be able to plug more of these holes as I take a closer look at my grocery purchases!