Jan. 4 Monthly stop at Dollar Tree. It's the last day of Christmas break for my daughters, so we wanted to do something cheap, but special. We could go out for a fast food lunch or Starbuck's. But we decide to pick up a bag of frozen sweet potato fries from DT to have with our lunch of leftovers at home. So, we bought 1 bag of sweet potato fries, plus 1 box of crackers, 1 bag of tortilla chips and 1 half-price box of mini candy canes (we discovered that we really like these as dessert/treats after lunches and dinners). The box of crackers are for our Christmas tree un-decorating party (crackers and cheese spread, plus some other snacky items). And the tortilla chips are for a Tex-Mex splurge some night. Friends gave us a box of salsas for a Christmas gift. No other treats/packaged foods are on the horizon for the month of January. Also, I bought 1 qt of almond milk. Spent $4.50
Jan. 5 Senior shopping discount day at Fred Meyer. I didn't stock up enough on milk last week, so I'm running low and this is an opportunity to at least save 10% on their not-fantastic sale price (I typically get milk for $1.98/gallon when bought in half-gal jugs. This sale is for 1 gallon of whole milk at $2.69, plus my 10% off), so I buy 1 gallon, paying $2.42/gallon. Also, heavy whipping cream is on sale 1-qt for $3.32 (the price beats Cash & Carry's advertised price, per pint, for this week), and 1 box of instant powdered milk, for $6.11. The box makes 8 qts, so not a good price for drinking milk, but it's great for "fortifying" foods for daughter, without adding extra liquid or bulk. I ran out of solid shortening for making pie crust. I picked up 1 3-lb container for $4.04. In the produce section, I found 1 16-oz package of whole mushrooms, marked down to $1.61. And in the bulk bins, I bought some onion powder and a 1/3-lb of whole almonds (at $6.29/lb). Total spent on groceries, $19.68
Total for the month, to date -- $24.18
Jan. 6 Trader Joe's for bananas. I buy 24 at 19 cents each. Spent $4.56
Jan 6. Cash & Carry. I buy a 40-lb case of oranges ($14.48), a 5-lb bag of shredded pizza cheese ($9.98) a 2-gallon box of skim milk ($3.44), 1-lb bag of granulated garlic ($4.07). I spent $31.97
month to date spending -- $60.71
Jan. 12. Walgreen's for 4 packages cream cheese, 8-oz, 99 cents with my rain check from December. spent $3.96
Jan. 13. Jo Ann Fabric's for supplies to fix a couple of things -- used 50% off coupons, of course ;-) While there, I checked out Christmas clearance, looking for taper candles (found some, yay!) And also picked up 3 bags of Wilton's peppermint bark candy melts. These are like white chocolate with bits of candy cane pieces throughout the melting wafers. I use them for making holiday candies and cookies. They store in my kitchen cabinet quite well. I have just one bag left, from 3 Christmases ago. They regularly retail for $3.49/bag. On clearance, I paid $1.39/bag. Spent $4.17
Jan. 15. Stop by Fred Meyer for milk (on sale with in-ad coupon). The sale is half-gallon of milk or orange juice, for 99 cents, limit 6. I buy 5 whole milk and 1 orange juice. Also, they have just repackaged a bunch of eggs -- maybe 12 dozen there at the egg cooler, all repackaged and repriced at $1.19/dozen. I buy 6 dozen, as I still have many eggs in the freezer, and 2 dozen fresh eggs in the fridge. At under 10 cents per egg, eggs will feature heavily in meals for the next few weeks. Total spent, $13.08
Also, stop at Cash & Carry, for 50-lb sack of whole wheat flour ($11.99), a 13-oz container of chili powder for $3.25, and a 12-oz container of onion powder for $3.25. I've been buying onion powder in small amounts from the bulk spices at Fred Meyer this past year. I add it to soups, sauces, stews, dressings/dips and potato dishes. I had been spending about $7 per pound in the bulk spices. By buying at Cash & Carry, I spent $4.33/lb. Another item, bought in a different way to save money. Total spent at Cash & Carry $18.49
For the month to date spending -- $100.41
Jan. 19. Albertson's has 10-lb bags of chicken leg quarters on sale for $4.90 (49 cents per pound). My freezer is still a little tight, so I buy 2 bags. This should last us through April, I'm guessing. Spent $9.80
I was pretty satisfied with the chicken leg quarters that I bought last summer. They were easy to deal with, and quick to roast, then shred. I had a constant supply of chicken stock, as well. 49 cents per pound is much more affordable than 88 cents/lb whole chickens that we saw last spring at many supermarkets.
month to date spending -- $110.21
Jan. 25 Needing milk. It's on sale at QFC for 99 cents a half-gallon, if you buy 6. QFC is normally an over-priced store in my area, IMO, but it is close-by. So, I buy 6 half-gallons of whole milk and 2 half-gallons of marked down sweet acidophilus milk for 79 cents each. Spent $7.52.
Total spent for January -- $117.73 My budget was $200.00 plus the surplus from underspending last month of $15.62, for a total budget of $215.62 for January. I came in at $97.89 under budget! That amount will carry forward to next month's budget.
What I bought this month:
Produce
1 bag sweet potato fries
16 oz mushrooms
24 bananas
40 lbs oranges
1/2 gallon orange juice
Dairy
1 qt. almond milk
1 gallon whole milk
2 gallons skim milk
11 half-gallons whole milk
2 half-gallons sweet acidophilus milk
1 qt. heavy whipping cream
5 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese
4 8-oz packages cream cheese
6 dozen eggs
Meat
20 lbs of chicken leg quarters
Pantry
1 box crackers
1 bag tortilla chips
1 box mini candy canes
3 bags Wilton peppermint bark melting wafers
1 box instant powdered milk (to make 8 qts)
3 lbs solid shortening (Crisco)
50 lbs whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons onion powder
12 oz container onion powder
1 lb granulated garlic
13 oz container chili powder
1/3 lb whole almonds
Now I have to tell you about my dream from about a week ago. In my dream, I was at the grocery store, and found out that ground beef was on sale for 86 cents per pound, limit 3 packages, and whole turkeys were on sale for 49 cents per pound, for the first turkey, and this was a buy 1 get 3 free deal! In my dream, my math skills were not so great. I calculated the turkey deal to be equal to 17 cents per pound, for the 4 turkeys. Actually, I wasn't too far off, it was 12 cents per pound. I just think it's funny that in my dreams I calculate prices in my head, too!
While I stood there in the grocery store, I knew I wanted to take advantage of the turkey deal, but also knew I couldn't fit 4 whole turkeys into my freezers. So, I was asking all of the other women standing around that section of the store, if they'd want to go in on the deal with me. And that's about when I woke up. Anyways, does anyone else, here, dream grocery shopping dreams?
