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Thursday, August 8, 2019

The State of August's Grocery Budget



I am very thrilled to report that the grocery money is stretching really far this month. I have shopped at the restaurant supply (SmartFoodservice/Cash & Carry), Fred Meyer, and Walmart and have spent $90.24 so far, leaving $34.89 remaining of my $125.13 for the month. The only other store at which I will definitely shop this month is WinCo. However, I only plan on spending $5.67 there. I will have $29.22 leftover for making stock-up purchases as I find great deals.

What I bought:

25 lbs of rolled oats
1 gallon of mayonnaise (a stock-up item for winter)
50 lbs of all-purpose flour
15 dozen eggs
1 lb of butter (stretching this butter with oil, making soft butter to get us through August)
8 gallons of 2% milk (for drinking -- I'll freeze what we don't use for September)
3 gallons of whole milk (for making yogurt)
1 jar of instant regular coffee
1 jar of instant decaffeinated coffee
2 cans of tuna fish (a stock-up item for winter)
1/2 gallon of coconut milk (for my non-dairy use plus a couple of nights of curry for the family)
2 packages of hot dogs (for 4 small cookouts in August)
10 lbs of chicken leg quarters
3 cans of frozen orange juice concentrate (a stock-up item for winter)
3 lbs of vegetable shortening (for pie-making this summer and fall)

I plan to buy:

12 oz of chocolate chips
80 corn tortillas
$1.50 worth of cocoa powder (a stock-up item for fall and winter)


You will notice that there is no mention of buying any fresh produce. That is because we simply don't need any this month! Yay! We were given a whole watermelon, and we've been picking blackberries, pears, and apples for our fruit. And we still have rhubarb! For veggies, we have tomatoes, lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, beets, cucumbers, snow peas, garlic, and watercress that we're harvesting right now from our garden. We still have about 5 pounds of carrots, some onions, a little cabbage, and a few potatoes left from previous months. The summer squash and green beans will be ready to harvest in about one week, and the potatoes, winter squash/pumpkin, plums, and more pears, apples, and a few ever-bearing raspberries will be ready in September. I nixed the bananas and any other produce purchases for August, unless I come across a stellar deal.

As you can see in my list of purchases, I'm already stocking up (little by little) on some foods for fall and winter. I'll continue to buy what I can, here and there, as I find good prices. So, that's the state of our grocery budget for August. We're doing well and feel so blessed.


13 comments:

  1. You're doing such a great job with this! So inspiring! And how lovely to have all that fresh produce from the garden and places you've found to pick!

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  2. I'm glad you're feeling a little breathing room, Lili. I need some advice about pears. We have a pear tree that is finally bearing fruit for the first time since we moved in. I have figured out that we have forelle pears which are small pears. I've read that pears don't ripen on the tree. When do you pick them? We had a lot that came down in a storm that we've "ripened" on the counter in bags, but there are still a lot on the tree. Thanks.

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  3. Glad you're having a month with some breathing space. You have worked hard to get here. Enjoy the bounty from your garden.

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  4. Yes, Lona. It is such a blessing!
    Have a great weekend.

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  5. Thank you, Cat. Yes, the garden and wild blackberries are wonderful to have.
    I hope you have a great weekend. Will schools in your area be starting back soon? Or do your kids still have several weeks of summer left?

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  6. live and learn said...
    I've read that pears don't ripen on the tree. When do you pick them? We had a lot that came down in a storm that we've "ripened" on the counter in bags, but there are still a lot on the tree. Thanks


    Well, that was a bonus to have the storm "harvest" some of your pears for you. As for picking the rest, the guide for harvesting pears is when you can push the pear up from underneath and it naturally snaps at the point the stem meets the fruiting spur. You can kind of see a thin line at this point, if you look very closely. It's the point that breaks the stem from the tree. From my own experience, you can harvest pears a little before they want to break easily, by twisting the fruit against its branch. If you find you are tearing the tree on most of the pears, it's too soon. Wait a week then try again.

    In any case, the pear has a green base color before its ripe, but it is ready to harvest. (At least I think yours do. Some pears are russets and naturally brown.) If the pears are left on the tree until the green turns yellowish, they'll be overripe inside. If the wind brought down a lot of fruit, then I would think that your pears should be about right for picking, if not now, within a week or two. Try pushing up on several pears to see if they snap from the fruiting spur. Keep most of what you've harvested in the fridge and bring out what you think you'll eat within a few days. Ripen these on the counter. When the green base color turns to yellow or mostly yellowish, they're ripe -- takes just a few days. Pears will keep in a home refrigerator for a month or maybe two months, depending on variety.
    HTH

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  7. Thanks, Frugal in The USA. It's nice to have some extra in the budget.

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  8. Thanks, Lili, for the information. We will borrow Uncle Billy's apple picker this weekend and see what we can do.

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  9. What a wonderful report!!! So happy for you! I've been doing really well this week finding some good bargains and filling up my pantry too. Hope it stays that way for both of us!

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  10. Glad you are able to stock up this month. My garden has started to really produce which always helps with the grocery budget.

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  11. Holley M said...
    What a wonderful report!!! So happy for you! I've been doing really well this week finding some good bargains and filling up my pantry too. Hope it stays that way for both of us!


    That's good to hear, Holley! Yes, I hope we can both add to our pantries with bargains in the next couple of months. I'm feeling blessed these days. have a great afternoon, Holley!

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  12. Making Cents Of It All said...
    Glad you are able to stock up this month. My garden has started to really produce which always helps with the grocery budget.


    Hi Marybeth,
    Thank you! A good garden really makes a difference, doesn't it? I'm happy to hear that your garden is really producing for you, too! Have a great weekend, Marybeth.

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