Grocery Shopping December 2022

Dec. 7. WinCo. 2 gallons milk ($3.27 ea), 3 12-oz packs bacon ($2.98 ea), 4-lb bag oranges ($3.98), bananas (58 cents/lb), 4 avocados (48 cents ea), large pack corn tortillas ($2.58), large bag frozen turkey breakfast sausage ($5.90) Total spent --$31.75

Dec. 9. Fred Meyer 1 jar decaf coffee, $4.99

spent for the month so far --$36.74

December 24. Yes, I went grocery shopping on Christmas Eve. This was not in my plans. However, we had a snowstorm followed by a big freeze. Our county doesn't plow very many roads, so we can't get out safely for several days following a storm (small sedan, no SUV, no 4WD). So this was the very first day it was possible to drive in about a week. Anyway -- went to WinCo. There were some foods we wanted for Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day meals, plus we needed more produce and milk. I bought 2 gallons whole milk ($3.17/gallon), 2 8-lb bags oranges ($5.98/bag), 2 lbs baby carrots ($2.48), 2 lbs mandarins ($2.98), head of cabbage (78 cents/lb), 4 avocados (48 cents each), 2 bunches bananas 58 cents/lb, frozen egg rolls ($6.01), frozen stir-fry peppers and onions ($1.82), dinner rolls ($2.28), croissants ($5.48). Total spent -- $46.93.  The mandarins, baby carrots, egg rolls, stir-fry peppers, dinner rolls, and croissants were our special holiday foods this year.

Gas was $3.89/gallon this morning.

spent for the month so far -- $83.67

December 30. Needed to shop for New Year's Eve. I went to Walmart, as they're about the closest store, and I really only needed a few items (didn't warrant driving all the way to WinCo). I bought a 4-pack of chicken egg rolls ($2.98), frozen sesame chicken ($6.48), 3-lb bag mandarin oranges ($3.98), and a 5-dozen box of eggs ($9.11). What really seemed surreal to me is the milk cooler was near empty and the eggs had a limit of 2 packages per shopper, whether they were small packs or large. Walmart's egg price was a good one compared to Fred Meyer. When I checked FM's price on 5-dozen boxes of eggs, it was $12.29, locally, or $16.29 in the city limits. I spent $22.55

Grocery Outlet is just across the street from Walmart. I popped in and found Adam's Natural Peanut Butter for $7.99/80 ounce jar. I bought 2 jars. Spent $15.98.

One daughter came with me to the store. She was looking for treat and snack foods for herself. She found a bunch of bargains at Grocery Outlet -- granola bars at 12 cents each, single serve package of M & Ms for 10 cents each, 6-oz bags breakfast cereal for 25 cents each and more. I don't buy these sorts of foods because I get frustrated by how quickly they disappear in our house. But I'm glad she found these bargains for herself. I'll bake some goodies for the family, and I'll feel better about how quickly they disappear. I can't explain why it bothers me to have a bag of chips disappear in an afternoon more than to have a batch of homemade brownies disappear in an afternoon. That's just me.

Gas was $3.69/gallon today.

Total spent for the month -- $122.20.

what I bought

4 gallons milk

36 oz bacon

bag turkey breakfast sausage

5 dozen eggs

20 lbs oranges

4 bunches bananas

8 avocados

2 lbs baby carrots

1 head cabbage

5 lbs tangerines

frozen eggrolls, 2 packages

frozen stir-fry peppers

frozen sesame chicken

80-ct pack corn tortillas

dinner rolls

croissants

160 oz natural peanut butter

1 jar decaf coffee

Most of what I bought this month were holiday foods. The frozen entrees are expensive and not part of our regular grocery shopping. But we enjoyed them, they made holiday meal prep easier for me, and it was less expensive to combine frozen items with homemade stuff than getting takeout for Christmas Eve and/or New Year's Eve. The package of croissants was huge. So instead of just leaving the remainder in the pantry after Christmas brunch to be snacked on during the week, I froze several to have for New Year's Day brunch, too. Doing so made spending $5.48 for the croissants seem not so extravagant.

I did my grocery shopping with all cash this month. Doing so kept me more accountable while shopping. I really did think through where I most wanted to spend my cash. And for a change, I lumped our holiday meals into the grocery budget. In previous years, I've had a separate holiday meal budget that was in addition to the grocery one. So I think we did well for our spending. I have one more month of low grocery spending to make up for stock-up spending in late summer, then I'll bump back up to a "normal" of around $225 to $250 per month. 

Happy New Year! 2022 is complete, and we're onto new adventures in this life.

My Favorite Gifts, pt. 2

Another of my favorite gifts this year:

A new set of measuring spoons.

I'd been using the set of measuring spoons that I bought at a closeout retail store some 37 years ago. (Anyone remember Pic 'n Save, later went by the name MacFrugals?) These were decent enough measuring spoons when I had good eyesight. Now I find I have to bring the spoons to a strong light source in order to read the measure. 

I know my photography is blurry, but imagine this image isn't blown up.
Also, I took this photo midday right next to a south-facing window.

New spoons -- much more readable.

So, I asked for some new measuring spoons that had a few features in addition to better readability. My needs: rectangular ones so every size could fit into narrow jar openings; flat bottoms so they would rest on the counter without tipping; and finally, stainless steel so they don't stain. The big selling feature for me, though, is I can easily read the measurement.

As I said yesterday, with my gift wish list this year, I wanted gifts that make my work easier.