Why there was no June Grocery Journal

I know I've been sporadic in posting, lately. However, the lack of a June grocery post was not an accident. I didn't keep a journal last month, and here's why: I barely shopped for "regular" groceries. Almost all of the foods that I bought were earmarked for 3 specific events that we hosted, the reception about which you've heard, Father's Day, and a going away party for a friend. In addition to the "regular" grocery items of eggs, milk, and bread bought in early June, we lived off of the leftovers (plus items already on hand) from those 3 events. 3 parties, well-spaced throughout the month, kept us in supply of produce, meat, cheese, crackers, desserts, nuts, etc, for all of the non-party days of June.

I had previously decided that the food for these gatherings would not come out of our grocery budget. But I did over-buy, so I figure we ate a full-month's budget of groceries out of the leftovers. (There was no realistic way that I could separate out the costs for our regular meals from the party supplies.) My plan, then, is to just consider us "even" for June, and pick up on the budget beginning July 1. So, I am back to "regular" grocery shopping. I used my senior discount this past Tuesday to pick up a month's worth of essentials, and will make a trip to Cash and Carry for cheese and produce later this week.

And that's why you didn't see any sort of grocery journal post for last month.

How do you handle the grocery budget when buying for a large party? Do you make a separate budget for the supplies, or do the supplies need to come out of your regular grocery budget?

When the big jug of milk is a better deal but it is more than we can use before expiry

This is a dilemma that small households face. Milk in one-gallon jugs is often cheaper per unit than quarts. But there is too much milk for one or two people to use before the expiration date. My own family is becoming sporadic with milk consumption. I never know if we'll be able to consume a full gallon in time. I have mentioned that I often freeze milk when I find a great sale. I am now freezing milk because we can't finish a full gallon in time.

So, when I open a gallon, I pour off 3/4 of the milk into quart-sized containers for the freezer. I know that we can finish off one quart in a timely manner. Then as we need milk, I thaw a quart (takes half a day on the countertop, or 24-48 hours in the fridge). I keep an eye on our current supply of milk, and plan ahead as much as I can.

But you know me, I like the presentation to be attractive. I don't want us feeling like we're eating out of old yogurt containers. So I've been using some of my collection of ceramic pitchers. I have pitchers in all sizes, from small enough just for cream or pancake syrup for one or two people to large enough for a pitcher of water for the dining table. This little pitcher, here, is the perfect size for about 3 cups of milk, which is a good amount for our family to keep at the ready. In addition, it looks nice on the table. It doesn't have a lid, so I just use a small square of plastic wrap over the top.

My point is, our family is able to still buy the larger, economical size of containers of milk even though we don't consume as much as we once did. This is a habit that I can continue well into the empty nest years, as long as someone in the house still consumes milk.