Starting out the month, we have $170 budgeted, plus the running surplus of $73.88 from the last two months. I'd prefer not to spend into the surplus, but build a bank to fall back on or use to stock up on extremely good buys. We'll see how the month goes. March of 2013 was an expensive grocery month for us. I hope not to repeat some of my mistakes from last year.
March 1 Walgreen's for 2 last gallons of milk, on sale all week for 1.99/gal. Spent $3.98
March 7. Fred Meyer for whole wheat pasta (13.25 oz boxes), 79 cents/each, limit 4 w/ coupon, store brand coffee 31 oz cans $5.99, bought 2, found some items in markdown, Hormel bacon (1 lb packages), $2.79, bought 2, 16 oz containers of cottage cheese (containers a bit squashed, but seal still good), 59 cents, bought 2, 16 oz containers sour cream (same situation with containers as cottage cheese), bought 2, 59 cents/each. Total spent $23.08
March 10. Making my biweekly (fortnightly) run down the main highway and back. Usual stops, Walgreens, gas, Trader Joe's, Post office, other Walgreens, Cash and Carry restaurant supply, and sometimes the fabric store. This week, just the gas station, post office, Trader Joe's and Cash and Carry.
Trader Joe's for 22 bananas (yep, exactly 22 each time. That's how many we go through before getting sick of bananas.) spent $4.18
Cash and Carry for some "special" produce, as we need a break from carrots, onions, potatoes, kale, pumpkin, raisins, dried cherries, frozen blackberries and plums, bananas, and canned tomatoes. Bought 4 pounds of strawberries for $6.48 (that's $1.62 per pound), a 3-pack of celery for $1.92 (that's 64 cents a bunch/head), and 1 head of Romaine lettuce for $1.27. Spent $9.67, for a month to date spending of $40.91.
March 13. Milk is on sale at Walgreen's again this week for $1.99/gallon. I stop in and get 4 gallons (2 whole milk for yogurt, and 2 2% for drinking). Spent $7.96
March 15. 2 more gallons of milk at Walgreen's. Spent $3.98
March 15. Albertson's. I buy 3 heads of cabbage at 49 cents/lb and 7 lbs of butter at $2/lb. Spent $17.83
March 17. My daughters's birthday. I head down to the Cash and Carry for mozzarella cheese, $13.35/5 lbs (birthday pizza) and 4 lbs of strawberries for $6.48. Spent $19.83
Also near Trader Joe's so stop in for 9 bananas (19 cents/each) and 1 large head of cabbage (99 cents -- it weighed about 3 pounds, so a good deal for cabbage for our area). Spent $2.70
March 18. Whole chickens on sale at Safeway, limit 4, at 79 cents each. I buy 4. Spent $17.20
March 23. Dollar Tree -- I pick up 4 jars of peanut butter. Spent $4.
March 24. Chickens still on sale at Safeway. We stop by on our way home and buy 4 more, at 79 cents/lb. Spent $17.11
March 27. Today's the day the produce stand opens for the spring. Their prices are better than supermarkets or the wholesaler on many items, so I make a point of going there. Bought 25 lbs of carrots ($7.98), 10 lbs of small oranges ($5.99), 3 small avocados (3/$1), and 1 head of green leaf lettuce (69 cents). Spent $15.63
Trader Joe's for 11 bananas (19 cents/each). I had hoped to pick up some cocoa powder, but they were out of stock. Spent $2.09
I've been rather nervous about grocery spending for the last half of this month. It just seemed like I was buying more than usual, and would run out before month's end. So far, I've spent $149.24, leaving $20.76 plus last month's surplus.
I found ground beef on sale for $1.99/lb and didn't know how much I'd be able to buy. Now it looks like I can afford 10 lbs.
March 28. It turns out that no cocoa powder at Trader Joe's was a good thing. I needed that every penny of that money to buy ground beef. Safeway has ground beef on sale for $1.99/lb. My hope was to buy 10 lbs. But as the packages worked out, the closest I could find was just over 11 lbs., for $22.33.
Total spending for the month -- $171.57. Just a tad over my monthly budget of $170, but I left most of the running surplus in tact ($72.31 in surplus going into next month).
My big stock-up items this month were whole chickens and ground beef. I also continued buying and freezing milk early in the month, when on sale at Walgreen's. And I picked up 7 pounds of butter this month. We go through about 1/2 pound of butter per week, baking and table use. So, the 7 pounds with what I have here, will last a couple of months. Our freezers are packed with meat, now, with 1 whole turkey, 2 10-lb hams, 7 whole chickens, several packages of hot dogs, and now 11 pounds of ground beef. This should get us through the summer and into early fall, for meat.
Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll need more pantry staples, like vegetable oil, flour, and beans. I'd like to stock up on cocoa powder in the near future, as well, as prices on cocoa are expected to rise due to global demand. I'm making my packaged yeast last for as long as possible, by making sourdough bread on a weekly basis. And as you may have noticed, I'm sticking to buying the basics, and skipping items like chips, crackers, bakery items, and boxed and frozen dinners.
Snacking consists of popcorn made on the stove, toast, nuts, fresh fruit, celery/carrot sticks, and homemade yogurt. I set out an afternoon snack for the family on weekend afternoons, so we don't plow through the more expensive items (like the nuts). In my meal planning, I'm carefully balancing the more expensive meals (with meat or cheese) with dried bean and grain meals. And I've taken to writing out a daily menu for breakfast, so everyone knows what's available to grab each day for breakfast. Oatmeal is on the rotation 3 days per week, as oatmeal is easy for me to make, and a low-cost breakfast item.
Some thoughts on markdowns -- Keeping my price per unit in mind, sometimes a markdown is not a great deal. I found broccoli slaw, 12 oz bag, marked down for 99 cents. That worked out to $1.32 per pound. I can do better on the price per pound of broccoli and make my own broccoli slaw. I often find quarts of milk on markdown for 79 cents per quart. That works out to $3.16 per gallon. I can do better than that, buying milk in gallon jugs, at the regular price, let alone the markdown or a sale price.
Here's an interesting vocabulary item I found out at the Cash and Carry this month. A bunch/head of celery is correctly known as a stalk, and a single stem from a stalk is correctly known as a rib. But recipes are far from consistent on this and commonly call for a stalk of celery, when what they mean is a rib. I guess a little common sense can be our guide here. Adding an entire stalk or two of celery to a batch of soup could be a bit overwhelming!
That's it for last month! I'm hoping April goes well, grocery spending-wise.
