Grocery Shopping January 2023

I have no plans to grocery shop until February. So, I'll post my end of month spending now.

Jan. 2. Fred Meyer. 3.55 lbs chuck roast ($3.99/lb), 2 16-oz containers cottage cheese (50 cents each -- marked down due to dent in side of containers), turkey bacon ($2.79), fresh mushrooms ($2.59), plus some marked down treats for my fam (39 cents box of movie candy, 2 packs Top Ramen 19 cents ea, can Chef Boyardee 64 cents). Spent $21.96

Jan. 9. Costco with my daughter-in-law. I mostly went to see what Costco carries and compare prices to those I know from shopping my local stores. What I bought -- 1 4-pack uncured turkey bacon ($10.59), 1 gigantic bag whole, pitted dates ($7.99), 1.5 lbs brown mushrooms ($5.99), 32-oz bag fresh Brussel sprouts ($4.99). My daughter-in-law used self-checkout that required credit or debit, so I reimbursed her $30 with cash after shopping.

Spent so far this month -- $51.96

January 12. My daughter wanted to go to WinCo and Walmart to pick up snacks and some lunch items for herself. I went with her and bought foods for the household. I bought 3 avocados (68 cents ea), bananas (53 cents/lb), 1/3 lb of bulk Parmesan cheese ($5.09/lb), 1 gallon whole milk ($3.17), and 2 cups of mixed nuts to make nut bars for my son and daughter-in-law for Valentine's Day ($4.38/lb). I love the bulk bins at WinCo. There's so much variety, prices in bulk beat the like packaged foods, and I can buy as little as I want and not have waste. I spent $11.29.

At Walmart, the only item I bought was the large package of Great Value fig bars. Spent $4.78.

Total spent today -- $16.07. Spent for the month so far --$68.03

January 17. Grabbed a burger at Five Guys with my 2 daughters using a gift card, located in same complex as Fred Meyer. Nothing spent out of pocket for the burger. I ran in to the store afterward to get a jar of decaf coffee ($4.99). Also checked the clearance aisle and found a can of peaches (81 cents) and a can of corn (39 cents). Spent $6.19.

Total spent for month so far -- $74.22

January 24. Gas was $3.99/gallon, inching back up.

January 26. Fred Meyer for a few items. I bought 5 dozen eggs at $2.19/dozen. That's more than double what I was paying back in 2021. I bought 1 bundle of marked down bananas (45 cents/lb) and 1 bundle of non-marked down bananas (59 cents/lb). Also, found 7 packages of turkey bacon marked down to $1.99 each and 1 can of carrots marked down (dented) to 53 cents. Total spent -- $26.94. I had a couple of non-food items and something to pick up for my daughter as well. While the eggs seem expensive now at 18 cents each, that's still a comparative decent price for high-quality protein foods. Plus, it's quick and easy to cook eggs for one person as opposed to cooking a roast for 1 person. 

total spent for the month so far -- $101.16

January 28. One daughter went down to WinCo and then Walmart to pick up some treats and lunch stuff for herself. I asked her to also get 3 things for me that I couldn't find or were not a good price at Fred Meyer (Fred Meyer was sold out of cabbage and store-brand fig bars, and their oranges were pricey per pound this week.) She bought 1 head of cabbage (82 cents/lb) and 1 package of Great Value Fig Bars ($4.78) at Walmart and an 8-lb bag of oranges at WinCo ($5.98). I reimbursed her $13.43.

total spent so far this month --  $114.59

What I bought this month

3.55 lbs beef roast

8 regular sized packages (10-12 oz) turkey bacon and 1 Costco package

32 oz cottage cheese
1/3 lb Parmesan cheese
1 gallon milk
5 dozen eggs

2 lbs fresh mushrooms
2 lbs Brussel sprouts
3 avocados
4 bunches bananas
1 can of carrots

8 lbs oranges

1 head cabbage

2 packs Top ramen
1 can Chef Boyardee
1 box movie candy
large bag pitted dates
2 cups mixed nuts
2 packages fig bars
jar decaf instant coffee

I don't normally buy so much junk (Top Ramen, Chef Boyardee, movie candy), but these were all treats and on the clearance rack. My two daughters got the movie candy, one daughter got the ramen (a flavor she loves), and my husband got the Chef Boyardee.

You might notice that we only bought 1 gallon of milk for the month. Gone are the days of needing 8-10 gallons per month for my household. I'm now nearly entirely lactose intolerant, so I don't even cook or bake with cow's milk if I think I will eat any of it. (I mix up some soy milk for those recipes that I would use dairy milk.) For my family members, I stretch the purchased milk with powdered milk I have in stock. 

We are using stockpiled foods still. So, we were not needing to buy very much in January. Low spending in January is pretty typical for my household for a couple of reasons. One, I don't find very many deals this time of year. Secondly, we try to eat healthier, less rich foods following the holidays. Thirdly, we anticipate high energy bills in winter for heat, so we can offset those by spending less on groceries. And forth, Thanksgiving through Christmas is a high spending period. We like to cut back on all of our spending in January to make up for the end of year excess.

That's it for January's grocery shopping. Do you find you spend less in January on groceries than other months? Or do you pretty much spend the same amount each month?