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Thursday, May 23, 2019

Grocery Planning for June

One week left in May, which means that I am planning what we need for the month of June.


I have 90 cents leftover from May, which means that I have $125.90 for June’s grocery budget. I’m including a couple of Father’s Day menu items in the budget, which squeezes things a little, but I think that we’re okay. The stock-up items for June are 50 pounds of sugar, 15 dozen eggs, and 25 pounds of brown rice. The sugar and eggs were on special, while the brown rice is a regular item for us, and I typically buy this in 25 or 50 pound bags. In about 2 weeks, I'll freeze about 10 dozen eggs to use in July and August.

It’s really good to see that my pantry is looking a wee bit more stocked these days. The garden is producing enough for us that I don’t need to buy much at all in the way of produce. In June, I should be able to harvest Swiss chard, kale, lettuce, snow peas, sorrel, strawberries, rhubarb, beet greens, and lentil sprouts. (You’ll notice that I skipped the raisins this month, as we’re using the dehydrated rhubarb in its place.) Plus, I still have some canned and frozen fruits and vegetables. I’ll be adding more rhubarb to the freezer throughout the season, plus I’ll make several jars of vanilla-rhubarb jam to add to refrigerator storage.

This morning, I compared 6 stores online as I made and then whittled my list. I didn't have to make as many compromises as I have had to in the previous 3 months. In this list, I am $1.52 under budget, so I have a tiny bit of spare money this month.

June Grocery list (124.38 out of 125.90 budget)

SmartFood Service Cash and Carry (71.59)

White Satin granulated sugar, 50 lbs, 21.98 stock-up item
Golden International mushroom soy sauce, 3.09, 5 lbs
First Street almond extract, 16 oz, 5.98
Simply Value imitation vanilla 2.99
Simply Value whole tomatoes, #10, 2.89
First Street large loose eggs, 15 dz, 8.30 (55 cents/dz)-- limited availability, stock-up item
yellow onions, 10-lb bag, 4.84
First Street medium grain brown rice, 25-lb, 10.97, stock-up item
First Street mozzarella cheese, 5-lb, 10.55

WinCo (12.19)

lentils, 4 lbs. 3.32  83 cents/lb bulk
soybeans- $1 worth
garlic granules – $1.15 worth (1/4 lb)
chocolate chips- Winco 1.68
graham crackers, WinCo, 1.68
bananas 8 lbs, WinCo/Walmart, 3.36, 42 cents/lb

Fred Meyer - senior discount day, (23.26)

hot dogs, 3 packs, 75 cents ea, (2.25)
milk, 10.43, 5 gals, (get 1 whole, rest 2 %)
butter, 2 lbs, 2.51 lb (5.02)
orange juice- FM 1.61,
smoked sausage, Father’s Day, 3.50
biscuit dough 45 cents, donuts on Father’s Day

Walmart (12.44)

Great value decaf, 3.52 (or 2 at Dollar Tree)
Gold Leaf chicken leg quarters, 10-lb Walmart $5.98
Great Value cocoa powder, 8-oz, 1.98
Great Value marshmallows, 96 cents, 10-oz

watermelon, Sprouts or Country Farms, 49 cts/lb 10-lb (4.90)

I pre-spent/purchased the sugar and eggs, as they were on sale or of limited quantity at a very low price. Since we're not using these two items at all in May, I am still counting these them as part of June's budget. This month, we'll be trying mushroom soy sauce for the first time. It worked out to be less expensive than the regular soy sauce, so we'll see how we like it. 

For meat, I'm buying chicken leg quarters, smoked sausage, and hot dogs. I still have ham, two chicken leg quarters, ground beef, and smoked salmon in the freezer and cans of tuna in the pantry. I have green beans, peas, spinach, blackberries, strawberries, cranberries, tomato paste, whole tomatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, onions, carrots, orange juice, apple juice, pineapple, raisins, and corn for fruits and vegetables in the pantry, freezer, or refrigerator. In grains, I have all-purpose and whole wheat flour, coarse corn meal (polenta), steel cut and regular oats, barley, popping corn, and quinoa in the pantry. And I still have a lot of pinto beans left from April's shopping.

I have a separate budget for the reception after my daughter's graduation, and I expect there will be some nice treats leftover, including some fruits and vegetables, meats, and cheeses to round out our supplies. Knowing this in advance gave me some freedom in making out this month's grocery list.

That's about it for June's grocery list.

10 comments:

  1. I haven't heard of mushroom soy sauce before, so I look forward to hearing what you think of it. Is the decaf for your enjoyment?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      I've read that mushroom soy sauce has a richer and stronger flavor. So, we'll see what we think. And yes, after a month of scrimping with my decaf, I am ready for a new jar. I did discover that I can survive with just a half cup of any coffee per day. So, that's a good thing.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like you will be eating well in June. I hope your garden provides you with lots of fresh fruits and veggies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Marybeth. I'm most looking forward to the strawberries later in June. Garden-fresh strawberries have so much more flavor than supermarket ones.

      Delete
  3. Sounds like you're getting into a rhythm with your decreased grocery budget. Your stock up plans from before and now and really paying off now when you need them. Your pantry and freezers still sound like they have a lot of food in them. Maybe not as much as you'd like, but still a lot to choose from.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      There really is a lot to choose from every day. We may run out of one or two ingredients in each month, but it's never something that we absolutely need. First world problem -- to not have cheese every day of the month. I whine to myself a lot, but then remember that I am very blessed and provided for.

      Delete
  4. That's a really good price for eggs, I've never heard of freezing eggs, do you break the shell?

    Thanks,
    Shelby

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Shelby,
      I don't know what prompted this price on eggs. I haven't seen egg prices this low in about 30 years, and even then only on special around Easter. I jumped on getting this box of eggs when I calculated the price per dozen.
      Here are 2 posts on freezing eggs:
      http://www.creativesavv.com/2013/08/freezing-eggs-no-this-is-not-article-on.html
      http://www.creativesavv.com/2016/05/this-is-week-i-get-all-of-those.html

      You do need to break the shell and blend the yolk with the white. Adding a bit of sugar or salt will stabilize the texture of the yolk -- highly recommended. The 1st post of the 2 tells how much sugar or salt. I did get feedback from someone saying that the salt was too much for their taste, so you could probably halve the salt and still do fine. My amounts come from an old edition of the Joy of Cooking.

      Freezing eggs works really well and minimizes the amount of eggs that I need to buy at a higher price. Good luck!

      Delete
  5. Fantastic planning, as always, Lili.

    I've been buying my brown rice in the 25lb. bags at WinCo, but it sounds like you got a better price at C & C. Also, I've noticed the price of the bulk cocoa powder at WinCo has gone down in recent weeks. I think our WinCo has it priced at $2.42/lb. It's not the Dutch processed kind like it used to be, but I like the quality better than the Trader Joe's brand, which isn't very dark. You also got an excellent price on the onions.

    Have you heard of the "Under the Median" blog? She's a vegan & working with a tight grocery budget. I believe she has 4 boys & a husband that she's feeding. Anyway, I've poked her blog a bit & she's got some good recipes & ideas.

    It sounds like your daughters put on a lovely Mother's Day for you! It sounds like you had a wonderful day with family--& well-deserved. Melissa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Melissa! and special thanks for the heads-up on WinCo's cocoa prices. I usually stop at WinCo before Walmart, so I can check to see if our local store has a similar price. Sometime last summer or fall, WinCo's cocoa price went way up. I'm glad to hear that it has dropped back down.

      I just recently checked out Under the Median. I agree, she has some good ideas and I'll be checking back often.

      Delete

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