May 2021 Grocery Recap

I shopped twice in-person and once online in May. I used Walmart online for a large supply of coffee before prices went up, spending $66.38. I shopped at WinCo twice in May, once early in the month, spending $101.75. This includes convenience food groceries to make Mother's Day brunch for 6 people ($31.14) with lots of leftovers. And the second time in late May, spending $117.40.

My total spending for the month of May -- $285.53

Here's what we've been spending for the last year:

Aug 2020   $92.18

Sept 2020  $182.30

Oct 2020   $304.52

Nov  2020  $189.45

Dec  2020  $77.98

Jan  2021  $54.07

Feb  2021  $184.66

Mar 2021   $152.77

Apr 2021  $447.19

I think I'm good on what we've spent. It averages out to about $197 per month over the last 10 months. We are still using some of the supplies that I bought last summer, items like meat, pasta, peanut butter, applesauce, raisins, TVP, rice, powdered milk, dried beans, and some canned veggies.. So the $197/month is in addition to the value of the items bought last summer. Also, our garden is beginning to produce for the season, so we can get by with fewer produce purchases for the next few months.

What I bought this month:

10 lbs fresh carrots
3 bunches bananas
fresh tomatoes
celery
cabbage
bag of apples
frozen peas
banana chips, bulk
dried apricots, bulk
dried papaya, bulk
5 cans frozen orange juice
5 frozen apple juice
3 frozen grape juice

4 lbs cheese
12 lbs butter
7 gals milk
3 dozen eggs
Parmesan cheese, bulk

3 big bags toasted oat cereal
4 boxes bran flake cereal
17 boxes assorted crackers
mini chocolate chips, bulk
5 bags butterscotch baking chips
salt, bulk
sunflower seeds, bulk
popcorn, bulk
dry roasted peanuts, bulk
ground cinnamon, bulk
cocoa powder, bulk
corn starch, bulk
1 bottle mustard
2 jars mayonnaise
20 lbs whole wheat flour

hot dog buns

6 jars instant coffee

6 jars instant decaf

for Mother's Day:

chicken Cordon Bleu entree

cantaloupe

frozen roasting vegetables

broccoli slaw

dinner rolls
frozen peach pie
chocolate candies, bulk

canned cinnamon rolls

Items I noticed price increases on from April to May: orange juice concentrate, apple juice concentrate, sugar, chocolate chips, Parmesan cheese, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise, milk, eggs, bananas, popcorn, vegetable oil, crackers, cookies.

I am still in stock-up mode. I've been watching entire categories of foods for price increases and remembering recent price paid on several items. The crackers probably looks crazy. I noticed some of the house brand crackers had been marked up, but not all of them. So, I bought many boxes at the old price. I expect to see these same items priced 20 cents more per box the next time I shop. Another example -- I had bought bulk Parmesan cheese in April and early May. I noticed by late May the price per pound had increased 20 cents. I'm glad I bought when I did. The butter I found on sale for $2.48/lb. That's about as good as I think I'll find for a while. And I've finished stocking up on whole wheat flour for the year.

I mentioned to my cracker-loving family (that almost sounds like some sort of euphemistic insult, doesn't it?) that when the crackers and dry cereals are gone, we'll go the homemade route again, meaning oatmeal and granola for breakfasts, and snacks like homemade muffins and popcorn in place of crackers. My husband is trying to gain some weight, so I like to keep nuts and dried fruit on hand. You can really bulk up the calories in a bowl of cereal or oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts. The least expensive nuts/seeds for snacking seems to be peanuts and sunflower seeds. We like them well enough, not our favs, but good in a pinch. 

Chocolate chips went up by almost 50 cents a package in early May. I had been buying a few packages each time I went to WinCo, then stopped when I saw the price increase. Late in the month I saw butterscotch chips for 98 cents/package. I bought 5 packs. To supplement our chocolate fixes, I stocked up on cocoa powder. If chocolate chips are going up in price, I expect cocoa powder will too. 

And finally, I got a pretty great deal on coffee online. I stocked up enough to last about half a year. The decaf had a confusing label on the website, calling it "ground" when the image and description indicated it was instant. I took a chance and ordered it. It was instant and this made the price outstanding. I think with the mixed messaging on type of coffee, the product wasn't selling, so it was marked down.  Great deal. I got it for almost 1/2 price. When I checked the website this week, the coffee was still marked down, but not nearly as low as I found it at the beginning of the month. However, it's still labeled "ground" but pictured and described as "instant". 

That's it for May's grocery purchases. I won't need to go out for groceries in June until close to mid-month, as we have enough fresh/frozen milk to last another week and powdered milk to push my shopping a little further into the month. Milk seems to be the deciding factor in our house of when to shop again.

I hope you're still finding plenty of good deals at the grocery store.