For the month of December, I had a max of $171.68 to spend. I spent $170.64. Whew! That was cutting it close. You may remember, in order to have this much allotted, I had to borrow $30 each from January and February. So, that means that I have $106.04 for groceries for the month of January.
Don't fret! This is not as grim as it sounds. I stocked up on a ton of food in November and December. We have lots and lots of canned, fresh, and frozen fruits and veggies, the leftovers from 1 ham and another entire ham that I have yet to cook, many pounds of grains and beans, several pounds of butter, gallons of oil, baking supplies, about 6 1/2 pounds of various cheeses, some milk, some chicken, some turkey, and some beef. If all I bought this month was additional milk, eggs, 2 heads of cabbage, and some bananas and oranges, we'd honestly be fine.
So, for $106.04 what am I planning on buying?
Fred Meyer on Senior Tuesday
6 gallons of milk (4 or 5 2% and 1 or 2 whole milk for making yogurt), $2.06 each, $12.36 total
Cash & Carry
2 heads of cabbage $1.65 each
40 pound case of oranges, $20.95
10 pounds of carrots, $4.55
Walmart
1 jar of decaffeinated coffee $3.52
8 pounds of bananas 42 cents/lb, $3.36 total
5 dozen eggs $4.75
So far, these items total $52.79. If I get down to WinCo, I'll also pick up some powdered milk and powdered creamer for making more cocoa mix.
In addition, I'll be watching for seasonal foods like avocados and other citrus to go on sale as well as checking the clearance section at the grocery store for any spectacular deals.
The next few months see very few deals in the grocery stores, so I won't go out of my way to buy a lot, but will use all that I have stocked up on in the past couple of months.
Since I wrote this up, I was at Fred Meyer getting gas, so I went into the store to check for markdowns. I came away with some great deals on pecans ($5.58/lb), mixed nuts ($3.19/lb), raisins ($1.51/lb), refrigerated holiday cookie dough (49 cents -- my daughter was with me, hard to say no), and a dented can of soup, spending $18.11. Because I bought almost 4 pounds of raisins, I may buy less bananas this month. There is now $87.93 for the month of January, with $52.79 allotted for basic ingredients listed above and $35.14 for "play money."
I thought I'd be back and responding today. However, I forgot that today is the day that my daughter is taking me to a special exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum as her Christmas gift to me! Woo hoo! Looking at some of my favorite pieces of art, in person, and time with a daughter. Does life get any better?
Anyway, when I come home I'll have to scramble to make dinner and get the rest of my daily stuff done. So, I may not be online much today. However, tomorrow is another day.
