Here’s where we stand with the grocery budget for the month —
It’s a little past mid-month, and I’ve about depleted my allotted $125 for March. I went to Walmart the first weekend of the month, spending $29.81 for the items that I had determined would be least expensive in that store, including 5 dozen eggs, 10 lbs of chicken hindquarters, 2 heads of cabbage, some garlic powder, vegetable oil, and bananas. On March 5th, I shopped the Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer, following the same game plan as Walmart, spending $57.01 and buying canned green beans, canned dried beans, canned tomatoes, 1 package of chocolate chips*, bread, frozen orange juice concentrate, butter, milk, and ground beef, with the ground beef as my stock-up item. On the 14th, I went to Safeway and bought 8 heads of green cabbage, spending $8.78. This last week, I went to Walmart to buy the Oreo-style cookies, a package of frozen French fries, and another bunch of bananas, spending $5.64. Finally, Monday morning, I was driving right by Cash & Carry, so I decided to stop and finish my grocery list for the month. I bought 10 lbs of carrots, 25 lbs of onions (my 2nd stock-up item for the month), 10 lbs of potatoes, 32 oz container of frozen apple juice concentrate, and a bunch of very green bananas (to get us through the last week of the month, I hope). I have now spent $123.13.
I am well-stocked on all of the food groups. I may not have lots of some particular foods, such as butter and flour, but I do have a large container of oil and enough other grains to get through the month. I did decide to buy loaves of bread instead of baking bread this month. I didn't have enough in the budget to buy the two 50-lb sacks of flour that I normally buy, getting the best price per pound and resulting in homemade loaves of bread that cost about 50 cents/loaf. Instead, I bought the cheapest bread that Fred Meyer sells, at 80 cents/ loaf. Next month, I'll have the money to buy the 2 kinds of flour that I use in bread. A similar situation with buying the canned dried beans. The canned beans were 45 cents each. I've been using them to quickly make a container of sandwich spread once or twice per week to substitute for the peanut butter that was out of my price range. The cost of bean spread using canned beans and other ingredients is about 75 cents per pound, while peanut butter was $1.40 per pound in a 64-oz container. Next month, I will buy a large sack of dried beans to cook for meals and make sandwich spreads.
On a very low budget, I find that I have to pick and choose which foods to buy in large quantities, and which to wait for another month or opportunity. The goal is to buy two or three basic items per month at a super low price and in quantities large enough to last for 3 or 4 months. By doing this every month, after a few months I should have enough of the basics that I can splurge occasionally on non-basic ingredients. It will all work out, and truly, we are being well-fed.
I still have $1.87 of March's grocery money left. Should we need a bit more fresh fruit, I will pick up one more bunch of bananas for 42 cents per pound at Walmart.
In the total food budget (including eating out), we have been exceptionally good. We haven't so much as bought a single burger out. My daughters had coupons for free birthday frozen yogurt and invited me to come, but I declined and sent them off together to enjoy their birthday treat. If I had gone, my frozen yogurt would have cost about $5. In addition, I had to go to the mall on a couple of occasions this month (birthday gift shopping and walking/exercise), every single time I brought my thermos of coffee and some sort of snack in my purse. On another occasion, I had a 3-hour wait in the city for one daughter. Not only did I find free, street parking, but I brought a book and my laptop for entertainment and a thermos of tea and my lunch plus snacks, avoiding the purchase of any food or drink while I waited. Also, our Sunday lunches have reverted to eating home-prepared, quick foods. We add interest by eating on the deck, on the grass, or at the mall. When we have warm, sunny Sundays, we plan on cooking hotdogs over the fire ring or taking sandwiches to the beach for our after-church lunches. Our original goal was to preserve a family time each week, where we all share a relaxing meal together. Eating out after church helped get that going. Now, I think we are continuing but without the restaurant expense.
*the chocolate chips sound like a money-waster on such a tight budget. However, I am using them to make homemade candies for our family several times this month. If you figure a regular chocolate bar weighs 1.55 ounces, then one 12-oz bag of chocolate chips would yield 7.74 candy bar's worth of chocolate. The 12-oz bag of chocolate chips cost just under $2. 7.74 candy bars would cost about $6.11, based on a price of 79 cents per bar at Dollar Tree. Maybe this sounds like rationalizing the purchase of a non-essential item. For us, having some treats sprinkled throughout the month may prevent some of the discouragement that can set in when you constantly feel deprived.
I still have $1.87 of March's grocery money left. Should we need a bit more fresh fruit, I will pick up one more bunch of bananas for 42 cents per pound at Walmart.
In the total food budget (including eating out), we have been exceptionally good. We haven't so much as bought a single burger out. My daughters had coupons for free birthday frozen yogurt and invited me to come, but I declined and sent them off together to enjoy their birthday treat. If I had gone, my frozen yogurt would have cost about $5. In addition, I had to go to the mall on a couple of occasions this month (birthday gift shopping and walking/exercise), every single time I brought my thermos of coffee and some sort of snack in my purse. On another occasion, I had a 3-hour wait in the city for one daughter. Not only did I find free, street parking, but I brought a book and my laptop for entertainment and a thermos of tea and my lunch plus snacks, avoiding the purchase of any food or drink while I waited. Also, our Sunday lunches have reverted to eating home-prepared, quick foods. We add interest by eating on the deck, on the grass, or at the mall. When we have warm, sunny Sundays, we plan on cooking hotdogs over the fire ring or taking sandwiches to the beach for our after-church lunches. Our original goal was to preserve a family time each week, where we all share a relaxing meal together. Eating out after church helped get that going. Now, I think we are continuing but without the restaurant expense.
*the chocolate chips sound like a money-waster on such a tight budget. However, I am using them to make homemade candies for our family several times this month. If you figure a regular chocolate bar weighs 1.55 ounces, then one 12-oz bag of chocolate chips would yield 7.74 candy bar's worth of chocolate. The 12-oz bag of chocolate chips cost just under $2. 7.74 candy bars would cost about $6.11, based on a price of 79 cents per bar at Dollar Tree. Maybe this sounds like rationalizing the purchase of a non-essential item. For us, having some treats sprinkled throughout the month may prevent some of the discouragement that can set in when you constantly feel deprived.
