September 5. My daughter was at Walmart picking up some lunch and snack foods for herself. I asked her to pick up a container of vegetable shortening (Crisco type) for pie making. She bought Great Value brand, 48 oz, for $5.18, up $2.06 in one year (August 2, 2021-- I bought 2 containers of shortening for $3.12 each). I had thought to buy 2 containers, but changed my mind when I saw the price. I'll try using part vegetable oil and part shortening in my pie crust recipe and see what we think of such a blend and make this container last longer. Vegetable oil is still cheaper than this price on shortening here. And I forgot to ask her to pick up mayonnaise. So that will go on my next list.
September 7. My other daughter has to drive south right by WinCo every late afternoon/evening for rehearsals this month and next. She was planning a stop at WinCo on the way this day, so I asked her to check the price on mayonnaise and give me a call from the store. She did, and mayo was about $1 cheaper at WinCo than at Walmart. I asked her to pick up 3 jars for me, and I reimbursed her when she got home. Total spent $7.44.
I'm almost fully stocked for winter. I'd rather have my stock and not need it, than need it and not have it.
For the month so far, I've spent $12.62. I'll be needing milk early next week. That's when I've got a Fred Meyer shopping planned. I've been adding to my list. I also need eggs and pepperoni for pizzas. I would normally buy a few bananas, but I've been slicing and freezing the bananas as they get too ripe. We mostly use bananas for smoothies, which is what I'd planned for the frozen banana slices. No need for new bananas right now. The other item I want is some instant decaf coffee. I ran out a couple of weeks ago and have been missing it. I think I'll hit up Fred Meyer Tuesday early morning, in hopes of scoring markdowns.
I used a gift card to Five Guys on Thursday, Sept. 8. This was a Christmas gift from 2020. I finally got around to using it for a "Little" burger. Little in quotes because it was huge. I opted for bacon, too. $10 deducted from the gift card. Five Guys still has the free peanuts, but you now have to ask for them instead of helping yourself. The cashier was very generous with the peanuts and I still have a bunch left. I'd rather have roasted peanuts as a side than French fries any day. I asked for a cup for water. I don't drink soda or milkshakes. I said the burger was huge. I was hardly hungry at dinner after the Five Guys lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day with a warm wind. I ate outside on Five Guys' patio. Out of pocket -- $0.00
I went to the Farmer's Market to pick up a birthday gift for a friend. I no longer do food samples -- a side effect of hyper awareness of contagions these past couple of years. Too bad. I passed up some yummy looking samples. I had thought to buy some produce while there, but I couldn't bring myself to spend $4/lb on peaches. I had a great time anyway. Some good music, lots to look at, and I did get the gift -- locally made. Wow! Two outings in one week. I may have to forfeit my Hermits of America membership card.
September 13. We needed milk and jalapeño peppers (for salsa), so I planned to go to Fred Meyer this morning. I got out early, hoping to catch some markdowns. My first stop is always the dairy cooler to check for milk. Nothing marked down today. I bought 2 gallons of 2% (for drinking/cereal) and 1 gallon of whole milk (for yogurt). This is a much lesser amount of milk than what I usually buy. It was $3.39/gallon which is on the high side for my budget. I do have some frozen milk I can use for baking and cooking, which will stretch what I bought. But also, I've noticed my family isn't going through milk as quickly as they used to. So, maybe this purchase will last 2 or 3 weeks. I also bought bacon (marked down to $3.79/12-oz, bought 3), chopped pecans (marked down $3.99/16-oz, bought 2), Nathan's kosher hot dogs (marked down $5.49/28-oz, bought 1), bottled salad dressing (marked down 79 cents, bought 1), dried lima beans (marked down 89 cents/16-oz, bought 1), 5 dozen eggs ($8.29), instant decaf coffee ($4.99), pepperoni for pizzas ($2.79/6-oz, bought 2), 3 bananas (49 cents/lb), jalapeños ($1.39/lb), and a whole chicken at 99cents/lb. Total spent --$63.65
Spent so far this month on food -- $76.27
September 20. One daughter has the car for several days, cat-sitting. She earns money while also working on her next book. I can't go to a store, so we use what we have on hand and I save money. It's a win for both of us. I will need milk around the end of September or very beginning of October and will shop again then.
September 28. I'm making my list for the next time I shop. I have some coupons (eggs, frozen veggies, cheese) specific to Fred Meyer to use before the 4th of October. So my next shopping will happen between now and then. I'll also need milk for drinking at that point. I've been mixing up powdered milk this week. I don't like to use too much of our powdered milk supply, as it works out to be about $5/gallon. But it's handy to keep in the pantry for weeks like these, when shopping is delayed for a few days. For produce, I'll wait until I drive south to the produce stand on the highway. I'll make that trip in early to mid-October to pick up some long-keeping items like squash and pumpkin and a 25-lb bag of carrots, if they have some in stock.
Total spent on food in September -- $76.27
bought in September
3 30-oz jars mayonnaise
