October 2017 Grocery Journal

I think this month will turn out well, grocery spending-wise. Keeping fingers crossed!!!

October 3. Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer. This is such an awesome deal for my area. I can use the discount, plus coupons and/or on sale, and on store-brand products (price already competitive). I checked the e-coupons and made my list. This is what I bought: 3 cans of Kroger crescent roll dough ($1.30 each), large bottle canola oil (48 oz maybe?) for $1.79, the last 4 48-oz jars of applesauce ($1.30 each), 2 15-oz cans of pumpkin ($1.29 each), 16-oz jar peanut butter ($1.25), 32-oz pure maple syrup ($11.24), trident gum (freebie), about a pound of freshly ground Seattle roast coffee (dark roast, the good stuff), $4.45, 1-lb whole wheat saltine crackers (90 cents), 3/4 lb of sunflower seeds ($1.07), 1.39 lb of raisins ($2.59), 10 lbs potatoes ($2.99), 1/2 gallon soymilk ($2.06). 2 dozen eggs (71 cents/dozen), 5 lbs carrots ($2.69), large head each of green and red cabbage (49 cents/lb), 3 packages flour tortillas (89 cents each), green onions (79 cents), radishes (79 cents), head each of red leaf and Romaine lettuce ($1.29), 4 bags of marked down apples, mix of Rome and Granny Smith (each weighing about 2 lbs) for $1 each, or about 50 cents/lb, about 14 bananas at 49 cents/lb, 4 loaves of whole wheat bread (81 cents each), 1 2-litre bottle of lemon-lime soda (69 cents), 7 anjou pears (99 cents/lb), 1 package whole wheat hot dog buns ($1.12). Total spent -- $71.23, plus I used a coupon for 200 extra fuel reward points.

Oct. 9 My son was coming over and I wanted to show him how easy it is to make pizza at home, using some commercial ingredients. I made a special trip to the store, and lucked out with the marked down produce. They had just put a shopping cart full of bagged produce out. Fred Meyer bags the marked down produce in small net bags and sells the bags for $1 each, except bananas, which are 39 cents/lb. I weigh several bags to get the best price per pound. This time around, I got apples and tomatoes at about 50 cents/lb, and winter squash for about 30 cents/lb. I also bought a bag of 3 Asian pears for about 66 cents/lb. For the pizza, I bought 1 Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust for $2, a jar of pizza sauce, 99 cents, 1 large green pepper, 99 cents, 3 mushrooms (yes, just 3 mushrooms, I love that you can buy just a couple of mushrooms at a time), 1 Italian sausage from the butcher, $1.25, 1 small can sliced olives, 99 cents, 2 packs of English muffins for 69 cents each, and 1 yogurt, freebie. My homemade large pizza cost about $5 to make, as there was leftover sauce, mushrooms, green pepper to use in another dish, and the crust was very good, I thought. Total spent -- $21.48

Oct. 12. A family dinner night, and wanting some beef. I bought a small roast for $4.99/lb. I have never in my life paid that much for beef. I also bought frozen pie crusts, for $1.50, a 4-lb bag of sugar for $1.89, and a head of Romaine lettuce for $1.29. Total spent -- $13.86

Oct. 17. Dollar Tree for tortilla chips and salsa, spent $2

Oct. 25. Yes, another family dinner night, and wanting to make grilled cheese sandwiches, so need cheese. I bought a 2-lb block of cheddar for $5.99, 2 13-oz turkey Polish sausage links/loops for $2.50 each, head of cabbage for 49 cents/lb, head of red leaf lettuce for $1.29, 8-oz sliced mushrooms for $1.19, 4 bags of marked down apples at $1 each (worked out to about 50 cents/lb again for apples), 4 half-gallons of 2% milk marked down to 99 cents each, 1 half-gallon of pumpkin eggnog marked down for $1.50, 2 dozen eggs for 79 cents/dozen, 1 package potato and broccoli soup mix, freebie, and 1 package of peanut M & M's, freebie. Total spent -- $25.66.

For the month of October I spent a grand total of $134.23

Even though I made several trips to the store, just to buy a special dinner or lunch worth of ingredients, I still did not spend much. We are trying to use up what we have in the freezers and pantry, still. I had $180.91 going into October, so this means that I have $46.68 leftover. Woo hoo! Personally, I haven't had much of an appetite this past month, the effect of that being that I don't buy much. I am keeping lots of produce on hand. I enjoy salads for lunch. I am also buying a few convenience products, such a the refrigerator roll dough and commercial bread. I should add that mid-month, one daughter and I volunteered at a luncheon/tea for the day and were gifted with enough produce to last us about 5 days of salads and fruit, plus milk and lots of bread products. Those items did not go onto my list of what I bought, but did help us stretch our budget. I have no idea of what November will cost.

A bonus this month -- I thought that we were completely out of all-purpose flour. There is a large container in the pantry that I thought was all whole wheat flour. Turns out it's white flour. I have a partial bag of whole wheat flour, still, so I've got plenty of both! That was a bonus! I wonder what else I'll find as we plow through the freezer contents.

What I bought

Produce
4 large jars of applesauce
2 cans pumpkin
1.39 lb raisins
10 lbs potatoes
5 lbs carrots
head red cabbage
head green cabbage
5 lbs carrots
bunch of green onions
bunch of radishes
3 heads of lettuce
36 apples
20 bananas
7 anjou pears
1 large green pepper
8 assorted small winter squash
3 Asian pears
8 lbs of tomatoes
3 mushrooms
8 oz package mushrooms

Meat
1 Italian sausage
2 lbs beef roast

Dairy/Fridge
3 cans of crescent roll dough
half-gallon soymilk
2 dozen eggs
individual container yogurt (freebie)
pizza crust dough

Freezer
pie crusts, 2

Pantry
48-oz bottle of canola oil
1 jar peanut butter
quart real maple syrup
package of gum (freebie)
1 lb of ground coffee
16 oz saltines
.74 lb sunflower seeds
3 packages of flour tortillas
4 loaves bread
1 package hot dog buns
2-litre lemon-lime soda
small jar pizza sauce
12 English muffins
small can sliced olives
1 jar salsa
1 bag tortilla chips
4 lbs sugar
package of M&Ms (freebie)

It's a good thing that I did not spend a lot of money on Hallowe'en candy

We had zero trick or treaters. This is a first for us. 

The houses are too far apart and set too far back from the street in our neighborhood. I think that if I were a kid, I would choose a different neighborhood, too. So, I've already eaten more than my share of these candy bars. I suggested to my daughters that we freeze half of them, to pull out some week when there aren't any goodies around. These would be good, chopped and added to scratch brownies. In addition, there's a Baby Ruth and apple salad recipe that looks interesting (Baby Ruths, whipped topping, and chopped apples -- that's it).

How about your house? Did you get many trick or treaters?