Author Topic: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget  (Read 430231 times)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #200 on: February 04, 2018, 09:50:24 PM »
Leftovers for dinner tonight-- mainly beans and rice in tortillas. Some leftover pasta and chicken for Kiddo. Probably a cost of ~$.50 in this and that.

Also, took the kids out hiking today. It ended up being freezing once we got up the hill, so we hiked back to the car (shivering the whole way) and went to play in the McDonald's playground. I bought a soda for $1.08. You can count this in my food budget if you want, but I count it as entertainment-- part of the fun/hiking experience and not part of what I budget for food. I have a separate budget category for "doing fun things"-- and any eating out comes from that rather than the food budget. I figured I should at least mention it here, though, in case anyone wanted to accuse me of "cheating" (LOL!).

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #201 on: February 05, 2018, 08:55:03 PM »
Leftovers for dinner again. Kiddo had lentils and some leftover popcorn from yesterday's hiking adventure lunch, I had lentils with salsa and sour cream wrapped in tortillas, Girlie had lentils with leftover rolls, and SO made herself a single portion of pasta. Leftovers are (finally) pretty much mostly used up now. Tomorrow, it will be back to our regularly scheduled programming....

Probably $.50 for three tortillas and sour cream and a bit of pasta.
« Last Edit: February 05, 2018, 09:37:06 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #202 on: February 05, 2018, 09:34:33 PM »
Also, I did, like, a b'zillion errands today.

Walmart:


1 gallon of pickles: $5.97

--------------------------------

King Soopers:


Italian sausage (four 18oz packages): $7.96
Pasta: $1.96
Protein bar: $0 (free friday item)
Almond milk: $1.89
Tortillas: $.99
Cheerios: $1.58

Total receipt = $14.38. Yes, I managed to get Cheerios for $.79/box. The ad listed General Mills cereal as $1.79 for sizes 11.1oz-24.2oz...I looked and looked, but couldn't find ANY GM cereals that were 24oz with an appropriate sale tag. So I asked at the customer service desk-- told them I had looked and couldn't find anything the advertised size with a sale tag, and asked if perhaps I had missed something-- service desk lady told me to take the big box of cereal and show the ad to the cashier and they'd honour the price. So I did. It also turned out that the General Mills cereal coupon on my card ALSO applied to the sale price, so that was an additional savings of $1/box! The way the coupon was worded, I expected it to only be $1 off two boxes (i.e., $.50/box), and even then, I didn't expect it to show up at all, since e-coupons often don't apply when the cashier manually puts prices in; but they did, somehow. Breakfast cereal is literally one of my favourite foods of all time, so I'm pretty pumped about this, lol!

----------------------------------------

Sprouts:


Celery: $.98
(2) Cucumbers: $1.00
Eggplant: $.50
(.89lbs @ $1.50/lb) Green beans: $1.34
(2) Green peppers: $1.00
(6) Red peppers: $2.00
Leaf lettuce: $1.29
(8lbs @ $.98/lb) Honeycrisp apples: $7.86
(1.64lbs @ $.50/lb) Tomatoes: $.82
(1.16lbs @ $3.99/lb) Sesame seeds: $4.63

Total receipt = $21.42. The eggplant....is an experiment. I've never tried eggplant before, so worst-case scenario is that it's terrible and I'm out $0.50. The red peppers and apples I have had rainchecks in my wallet for weeks now, so I'm glad to clear them out of my wallet. The sesame seeds are hopefully going to end up as tahini for more hummus-- we'll see how they turn out in the food processor.

-------------------------------------------

Total food spending today: $41.77

tj

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #203 on: February 05, 2018, 09:49:02 PM »
That's some dirt cheap cereal.

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #204 on: February 06, 2018, 06:02:20 AM »
I love eggplant. 

I usually make it stuffed --- something like this: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/veggie-stuffed-eggplant

Also very good sliced, breaded in an eggwash then flour/breadcrumbs, and pan fried. 

You can also roast, but I've had some texture issues with roasted eggplant --- I think there is a trick to it.  Maybe salting and rinsing prior to cooking to pull out the moisture, but I haven't quite perfected that yet.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #205 on: February 06, 2018, 08:11:53 PM »
I made jambalaya again, since it was so good last time. Except this time I added all the leftover chicken, did a bit more celery and peppers, and cooked a double batch of rice. I was pretty *meh* about the chicken, but it was okay-- overall the jambalaya was great, so I'm not complaining. I packed up 1.5 meals worth of leftovers into the freezer, and have a good lunch-sized portion in a container in the fridge.

Sausage: $1.79
Chicken: $0 (leftovers)
Red pepper: $.50
Green pepper: $0 (leftover from sandwich night)
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Celery: $.20
Garlic: $.10
Rice: $1.38
Tomato sauce: $.50

Total cost for dinner + freezer dinner + leftovers = $4.47.

mountain mustache

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #206 on: February 06, 2018, 08:26:45 PM »
I made jambalaya again, since it was so good last time. Except this time I added all the leftover chicken, did a bit more celery and peppers, and cooked a double batch of rice. I was pretty *meh* about the chicken, but it was okay-- overall the jambalaya was great, so I'm not complaining. I packed up 1.5 meals worth of leftovers into the freezer, and have a good lunch-sized portion in a container in the fridge.

Sausage: $1.79
Chicken: $0 (leftovers)
Red pepper: $.50
Green pepper: $0 (leftover from sandwich night)
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Celery: $.20
Garlic: $.10
Rice: $1.38
Tomato sauce: $.50

Total cost for dinner + freezer dinner + leftovers = $4.47.

Your mentioning jambalaya makes me hungry, and homesick! Have you made a jambalaya before, with the rice cooked along with everything else? I grew up eating jambalaya at least once a week (New Orleans born/raised) and my mom always made it in one huge pot, where the rice cooked in the broth from the chicken+veggies+spices. She would bring everything to a boil on the stove, pour the uncooked rice in, pop a lid on and then put the pot in the oven for about an hour. Came out amazing! I make it once in a while out of nostalgia but it never comes out as good as hers. A key ingredient is Tony's Chacheres cajun seasoning, which makes everything amazing!

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #207 on: February 06, 2018, 09:15:05 PM »
I made jambalaya again, since it was so good last time. Except this time I added all the leftover chicken, did a bit more celery and peppers, and cooked a double batch of rice. I was pretty *meh* about the chicken, but it was okay-- overall the jambalaya was great, so I'm not complaining. I packed up 1.5 meals worth of leftovers into the freezer, and have a good lunch-sized portion in a container in the fridge.

Sausage: $1.79
Chicken: $0 (leftovers)
Red pepper: $.50
Green pepper: $0 (leftover from sandwich night)
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Celery: $.20
Garlic: $.10
Rice: $1.38
Tomato sauce: $.50

Total cost for dinner + freezer dinner + leftovers = $4.47.

Your mentioning jambalaya makes me hungry, and homesick! Have you made a jambalaya before, with the rice cooked along with everything else? I grew up eating jambalaya at least once a week (New Orleans born/raised) and my mom always made it in one huge pot, where the rice cooked in the broth from the chicken+veggies+spices. She would bring everything to a boil on the stove, pour the uncooked rice in, pop a lid on and then put the pot in the oven for about an hour. Came out amazing! I make it once in a while out of nostalgia but it never comes out as good as hers. A key ingredient is Tony's Chacheres cajun seasoning, which makes everything amazing!

I actually have made it before the "right" way-- cooking the rice in with everything else, but it took forEVER...and I don't feel like doing that again. So instead, I cook the rice in the pressure cooker, and brown the veggies and sausage separately, then mix them all together. It makes it into a 30 minute process instead of a 3 hour process. Also, I'm using brown rice which take 3 times as long to cook as regular white rice.

I don't have any Tony's, so I just wing it and it comes out a little different each time. Here's my sausage and veggies before I added the tomato sauce + broth + chicken + spices:

mountain mustache

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #208 on: February 07, 2018, 07:05:28 AM »
That looks delicious!! I might have to try doing it that way, just for time savings sometime. I admittedly get frustrated with how long it takes as well, because I use brown rice, and sometimes I think I've got it in the oven for 2+ hours before it seems cooked! That and living at altitude, it seems like rice just never gets soft.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #209 on: February 07, 2018, 08:48:59 PM »
Pasta for dinner-- the kids wanted tomato sauce "with NO sticks" (Kiddo doesn't like the rosemary bits). Makes it easy for me, I guess. Lol!

Kiddo's plate


Pasta: $.80
Tomato sauce: $.25
Sausage: $1.00
Lettuce: ~$.45
Red pepper: $.50
Tomatoes: $.25

Total cost of dinner = $3.25 plus some ranch and parmesan. It was a pretty plain-jane meal. I took my sausage portion and mixed it into my pasta with some diced tomato and red pepper, then ate my lettuce afterwards.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2018, 07:05:50 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #210 on: February 08, 2018, 09:56:31 PM »
Did chips with bean dip tonight.

Beans: $0 (leftovers from freezer)
Chips: $.99
Green pepper: $.50
Tomatoes: $.25
Cucumber: $.50

Total = $2.24

Also, cooked the eggplant and made baba ghanoush. It was....very mediocre. Most of the flavour profile was due to the tahini, the texture was a bit weird, the kids tasted it and then wouldn't touch it....I didn't feel like it was bad, it just wasn't as great as I hoped it would be; AND it was kind of a pain to make, what with all the peeling and salting and waiting and rinsing and patting dry and roasting-- just too much hands-on time for not enough reward.

Eggplant: $.50
Tahini: ~$.90
Garlic: $.03

I would muchly much rather make hummus. THAT was delicious.

superhappyfaced

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #211 on: February 09, 2018, 02:26:17 PM »

Also, cooked the eggplant and made baba ghanoush. It was....very mediocre. Most of the flavour profile was due to the tahini, the texture was a bit weird, the kids tasted it and then wouldn't touch it....I didn't feel like it was bad, it just wasn't as great as I hoped it would be; AND it was kind of a pain to make, what with all the peeling and salting and waiting and rinsing and patting dry and roasting-- just too much hands-on time for not enough reward.

if you have a grill - you can use that to cook the eggplant - here's what i do: wash the eggplant a poke a hole or twoin it. get your grill going on a medium-high heat. lightly grease the grate. grill the eggplant (still whole) and turn it occasionally until the skin is charred and it's fork tender (maybe 30 minutes?). let it cool for a few minutes, half that eggplant, scoop the flesh out and place the flesh intoa strainer - let it drain for about 20-40 minutes. then blend it up and add in tahini, half a garlic clove, olive oil, and salt!




APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #212 on: February 09, 2018, 09:01:19 PM »
I did lentil soup for dinner tonight again. I might complain, but it's delicious.

This time, I served it with Doritos instead of rolls. That added a spicy zip to them, which was pretty decent, actually. I also cooked it without meat this time, as I knew my vegetarian friend would be dropping by, and I wanted to be able to offer some to him.

Chips: $.99
Lentil soup: ~$2

Total cost of dinner + leftovers = ~$3.00

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #213 on: February 10, 2018, 08:21:15 PM »
Sandwiches for dinner. Mostly leftovers and random bits, actually, since we still had some ham left from last sandwich night and the kids haven't been feeling well, so they weren't hungry for hardly anything all day, let alone a full dinner

Ham: $0
Bread: $.50
Tomato: $.13
Red pepper: $.33
Onion: $.15

There were probably a couple other things that I missed, as I was working longer than I expected, and missed what SO made for herself. Total dinner cost = ~$2?

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #214 on: February 10, 2018, 10:16:16 PM »
Tons of grocery shopping today. There were quite a few things on good sales this week.

King Soopers:


5 cans of tuna: $2.50
5 lbs of butter: $7.45
Sports drink: $0 (free friday coupon)
Sweettarts: $0 (free friday coupon)
Peanut butter: $4.95

Total receipt = $14.90

----------------------------------------

Sprouts:


5lb clementine oranges: $3.98

------------------------------------

Safeway:


3.3lbs ground beef: $9.17
Milk: $1.77
Water crackers: $0 (Monopoly instant win)
8oz tomato sauce: $0 (Monopoly instant win)

Total receipt = $10.94. I only intended to get milk and beef, but Safeway started doing their Monopoly ticket promotion. I got one ticket and decided I should open it before I left the store...INSTANT WINNER! One free box of crackers! So I went through the checkout line again; this time, I got two tickets...INSTANT WINNER! One free can of tomato sauce! So I went through the checkout line a third time. The cashier, the bagger, and I were all laughing about it. It was a good Safeway trip.

------------------------------------------------------------

The Discount Store:


Bread: $1.98

tj

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #215 on: February 11, 2018, 05:28:40 PM »
Is there a reason you bought so much butter at once? An extreme sale?

CrustyBadger

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #216 on: February 11, 2018, 05:30:54 PM »
As if one needs a reason to buy butter!  (-:

tj

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #217 on: February 11, 2018, 05:51:53 PM »
As if one needs a reason to buy butter!  (-:


Sure...but I guess my butter usage is much lower as I had to throw my last away because it was past expiration date. :D

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #218 on: February 11, 2018, 06:59:40 PM »
As if one needs a reason to buy butter!  (-:


Sure...but I guess my butter usage is much lower as I had to throw my last away because it was past expiration date. :D

$1.49/lb is the best price I've seen in years. Also, I just put it in the freezer, and it basically keeps forever. I just pull it out as needed. Also, lol at 5lbs of butter being "so much"-- there was one time it was on sale and I bought a case (like 30lbs). Again, it lived in the freezer and got pulled out as needed.
« Last Edit: February 11, 2018, 07:28:55 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #219 on: February 11, 2018, 07:02:03 PM »
Leftovers for dinner tonight. Lentils for the kids and SO, and jambalaya for me. Yum!

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #220 on: February 12, 2018, 06:27:18 PM »
As if one needs a reason to buy butter!  (-:


Sure...but I guess my butter usage is much lower as I had to throw my last away because it was past expiration date. :D

$1.49/lb is the best price I've seen in years. Also, I just put it in the freezer, and it basically keeps forever. I just pull it out as needed. Also, lol at 5lbs of butter being "so much"-- there was one time it was on sale and I bought a case (like 30lbs). Again, it lived in the freezer and got pulled out as needed.

Can there ever be too much butter?? :)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #221 on: February 12, 2018, 06:51:15 PM »
Technically tonight was potatoes night, but I wasn't thinking about it, and I made rice instead. Oh well. It was pretty meh, overall, but the kids have been sick, so they weren't really hungry anyway; _I_ was hungry, and it was food....so no complaints on my part.



Rice: $.69
Ham: $1.50
Green beans: $1.34

Total for dinner = $3.53 plus a bit of bbq and sriracha. Yes, we're eating on paper plates, because the sewer pipe is in the middle of a remodel, so the sink is currently draining into a bucket...the fewer dishes to wash, the better.

galliver

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #222 on: February 12, 2018, 09:59:44 PM »
As if one needs a reason to buy butter!  (-:


Sure...but I guess my butter usage is much lower as I had to throw my last away because it was past expiration date. :D

$1.49/lb is the best price I've seen in years. Also, I just put it in the freezer, and it basically keeps forever. I just pull it out as needed. Also, lol at 5lbs of butter being "so much"-- there was one time it was on sale and I bought a case (like 30lbs). Again, it lived in the freezer and got pulled out as needed.

I also freeze stashes of butter... Never did 30 lbs though (also don't have a deep freeze/extra freezer, which many homeowning MMMers do...)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #223 on: February 13, 2018, 07:18:45 PM »
Kids are still sick today, so they ate their leftovers from yesterday. SO ate leftovers from her lunch, I made myself a sandwich-- also with leftovers.

Total cost of dinner = ~$.25 for some bread, lettuce and a tomato. Pretty boring, really.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #224 on: February 14, 2018, 09:50:06 PM »
I was going to make pasta tonight, but I was tired, and the kids are still sick, so we ate the last leftovers. So dinner cost nothing. The kids had the last of the lentils, I had the leftover ham and rice and green beans.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #225 on: February 16, 2018, 08:29:47 PM »
Thursday I decided to splurge and eat out. Which actually comes out of a separate budget category for us, so I don't count it as part of my food/grocery spending. But for those who are keeping score differently...

We went to Costco


Three hot dogs
Two slices of pizza

Total cost = $9.18

---------------------------------------------------

Tonight I did chips and bean dip

Lettuce: ~$.25
Beans: $0 (leftovers from freezer)
Chips: $1
Avocado: $.33
Carrots: ~$.38
Corn: $.25
Tomatoes: $.25
Sour cream: ~$.10

Total dinner cost = $2.56 plus some salsa.

Chippewa

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #226 on: February 16, 2018, 08:57:15 PM »
Costco is a great saver for when one needs a break from cooking.
tonight dinner sounds perfect for the start of a weekend.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #227 on: February 16, 2018, 09:01:15 PM »
Safeway!

Stopped in because I had some downtime between jobs today, and they had good stuff on sale:


6 cans of tuna: $2.50
2 containers sour cream (24oz ea): $3
Ground beef (~6lbs): $12.28

Total receipt = $17.78. Tuna was $.50/can, plus I had a $.50-off coupon, so I basically got one can for free. Ground beef was $1.99/lb, and sour cream I used my raincheck for $1/lb. Plus, I got an instant winner monopoly ticket for a free donut or bagel; I'll likely use that to pick up a treat for SO next time I'm in Safeway.
« Last Edit: March 01, 2018, 11:04:14 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #228 on: February 16, 2018, 09:04:25 PM »
Costco is a great saver for when one needs a break from cooking.
tonight dinner sounds perfect for the start of a weekend.

I am SO glad the kids are starting to feel better-- Girlie has had an ear infection all weekend, and I finally took her to the doctor...turns out she has strep. Yay. Got her some antibiotics, and she's been feeling MUCH better. Kiddo had strep too (of course) so he's also on antibiotics. Now if I can only manage to not get it or at least only be mildly symptomatic, that would be fantastic. *crosses fingers*

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #229 on: February 17, 2018, 08:24:58 PM »
Tacos/burritos tonight.



Or, in another construction...


Onions: $0
Garlic: $.10
Celery: ~$.15
Ground Beef (~12oz): $1.50
Beans: $0 (leftover)
Tortillas: $.75
Cheese: $.99
Tomatoes: $.25
Red pepper: $.50
Lettuce: $.10

Total cost for dinner = $4.34 plus a bit of sour cream and salsa.
« Last Edit: February 18, 2018, 05:44:52 AM by APowers »

CutTheFat

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #230 on: February 17, 2018, 08:55:53 PM »
I just had to re-new my Costco membership.  Do most of you catagorize this under food or membership?  I'm torn!

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #231 on: February 17, 2018, 10:09:12 PM »
I just had to re-new my Costco membership.  Do most of you catagorize this under food or membership?  I'm torn!

Bank fees.   

So I could be severely annoyed every time that I saw it.   (I no longer have a membership BTW)

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #232 on: February 18, 2018, 06:32:59 AM »
I just had to re-new my Costco membership.  Do most of you categorize this under food or membership?  I'm torn!

For me, I'm a guest card on someone else's membership, so I don't have a membership fee to worry about categorizing. If I did have to, I think I'd look at what constitutes the bulk of our Costco spending, and categorize it with that-- so it might be food, it might be gasoline, or it might be household supplies. Back when I was delivering pizza, the savings in gasoline alone would pay for the membership fee, so I might have put it in that category; now, it'd probably go in food or household supplies...or I might decide that it's not worth it to be a member, and ditch Costco altogether.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #233 on: February 18, 2018, 08:18:37 PM »
This whole week has been insanely busy. So I just pulled a package of leftover jambalaya out of the freezer for dinner.

Dinner cost = $0.

Finally got my sink drain re-plumbed, so the dishwasher isn't clogging up the kitchen anymore. Yay!

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #234 on: February 19, 2018, 08:22:38 AM »
I just had to re-new my Costco membership.  Do most of you catagorize this under food or membership?  I'm torn!

I categorize it under groceries. It either saves enough that it offsets our grocery spending in the long run, or we shouldn't have it. We have an executive membership, and get a rebate that's more than the cost of our membership. I use that rebate towards groceries, so offsets what I'm booking for the membership

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #235 on: February 19, 2018, 07:52:52 PM »
Costco trip today.



Brown sugar: $15.49
Salt: $5.58
Bananas: $2.78
Rotisserie chicken: $5.40
Dinner rolls: $4.99
Pretzels: $6.55

Total receipt = $40.79. The pretzels are for SO to pack with her to school-- I'm conflicted as to whether I should classify this as a food expense or a school expense, but I'd be lying if I said they weren't food....so...

Also. This week has been insane, what with remodeling and the kitchen being half-torn apart all week, so the chicken and rolls made for an easy dinner:



Chicken: $5.40
Rolls: $4.99
Carrots: $.38
Red pepper: $.33
Tomatoes: $.25

Total dinner cost = $11.35 plus a bit of mayo and sriracha. We ate just shy of half of the chicken, and maybe 1/4 of the bag of rolls, so there are plenty of leftovers.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2018, 07:57:35 PM by APowers »

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #236 on: February 20, 2018, 08:16:39 PM »
Rice night. I did Taco Rice for dinner. No pics tonight, sorry.

Ground beef: $1.50
Celery: $.20
Onion: $.25
Garlic: $.10
Red pepper: $0 (leftover)
Lettuce: $.20
Rice: $.69
Tomatoes: $.25

Total dinner cost = $3.19.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #237 on: February 20, 2018, 08:58:14 PM »
Groceries!

King Soopers:


Apples (~2lb): $.99
Tortillas: $4.99
Peanut butter: $4.95
Tuna: $2.50
Hershey's bar: $0 (free friday)

Total receipt = $13.43. Somehow, I got overcharged for the tortillas, and didn't notice until just now. :( Now I have to make sure to make another stop next time I'm in King Soopers to verify the item price (shelf tag said $1.99-- which is why I bought them) and get a refund from customer service. Bleah.

---------------------------------------------------------

Sprouts:


1.9lb Asparagus: $1.86
8.5lb Oranges: $4.23
Celery: $.98
Green peppers: $1.00
Lettuce: $1.29
1.25lb Tomatoes: $1.12
5lb Onions: $2.51

Total receipt = $12.99. I was really happy to find asparagus on sale-- it will be a welcome variety to the normal vegetable routine.

eliza

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #238 on: February 21, 2018, 02:26:41 PM »
Asparagus is the best (roasted in olive oil...mmmmm) --- it's on sale here for $1.99/lb and I thought that was a good deal.  I'm jealous of your produce prices --- wish we had a Sprouts here!

CutTheFat

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #239 on: February 21, 2018, 06:46:07 PM »
I agree, those are some great prices!

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #240 on: February 21, 2018, 09:23:51 PM »
Tonight I served up the last half of the chicken and rolls for dinner. Finally, the children seemed actually hungry. That means they're not sick anymore, I think.

This is Girlie's plate:


Chicken: $0 (leftover)
Rolls: $0 (leftover)
Lettuce: ~$.20
Tomatoes: $.44
Onion: $.40
Pickles: $.60
Cucumber: $.50

Total dinner cost = $1.14 plus a bit of mayo and mustard.

couponvan

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #241 on: February 23, 2018, 11:54:36 AM »
PTF. I love inspiration for grocery shopping.  Sadly my family would mutiny with the 2 oz. meat per person and my DH is anti carbs as he's losing weight. 

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #242 on: February 23, 2018, 09:19:49 PM »
Thursday dinner: jambalaya from the freezer, with asparagus on the side



Jambalaya: $0
Asparagus: $.93

Total dinner cost = $0.93

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tonight's dinner: pasta, finally. Lol!
Sausage: $1.00
Garlic: $.10
Tomato sauce: $.75
Asparagus: $.93
Pasta: ~$.90

Total dinner cost = $3.68

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #243 on: February 23, 2018, 09:25:08 PM »
Stopped at the discount store for bread yesterday, as well:



2 loaves: $1.98

mm1970

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #244 on: February 24, 2018, 02:10:43 PM »
I agree, those are some great prices!
This week's deals at sprouts are amazing!!  I went nuts.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #245 on: February 24, 2018, 09:06:32 PM »
Did a late grocery errand after work today. King Soopers had some great coupons for cereal. Not quite as good as their misprint ad deal, but still pretty good. I <3 breakfast cereal, so...



Milk: $1.99
Cereal: $7.42 ($.99/box for the store brand, and $.89/box for the Kellogg's)

Total receipt = $9.41

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #246 on: February 24, 2018, 09:08:13 PM »
I agree, those are some great prices!
This week's deals at sprouts are amazing!!  I went nuts.

Sometimes I have to restrain myself from buying ALL the good sales, because I absolutely hate buying beautiful produce and having it wither in the fridge waiting to get used (or having it go bad, that's even worse).

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #247 on: February 24, 2018, 09:24:58 PM »
Sandwiches for dinner.

Bread: $.80
Pork: $.50
Chicken: $0 (leftover)
Avocado: $.33
Tomato: $.22
Red pepper: $.50
Green pepper: $.50
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Pickles: $.60
Lettuce: ~$.25
Cheese: $.50

Total cost for dinner = $3.70 plus some mayo, mustard, and sriracha. The pork was about 1/2lb shoulder roast that I had in the freezer, and the chicken was the last of the rotisserie chicken from Costco (I think we got 2.5 meals out of it! Plus, I'm going to turn the bones and things into broth, which will add some extra flavour and nutrition to some rice/beans coming up).

JLR

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #248 on: February 24, 2018, 11:20:10 PM »
Posting to follow. I really need to get our grocery bill down. I budget $AU300 per fortnight (two weeks) on food and those things you buy at the supermarket (eg. soap, etc), but struggle to stay under (two adults, two teens, one tween). I can manage if I'm disciplined, but I seem to lack the discipline to do it week in, week out.

I was reading about your cheap apples on the first page. I was so excited to see apples here for 99c/kg the other day. I haven't seen them that price in about 14 years.

APowers

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Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #249 on: February 25, 2018, 07:34:10 AM »
Posting to follow. I really need to get our grocery bill down. I budget $AU300 per fortnight (two weeks) on food and those things you buy at the supermarket (eg. soap, etc), but struggle to stay under (two adults, two teens, one tween). I can manage if I'm disciplined, but I seem to lack the discipline to do it week in, week out.

I was reading about your cheap apples on the first page. I was so excited to see apples here for 99c/kg the other day. I haven't seen them that price in about 14 years.

99¢/kg is an amazing price for apples! Usually here in the States they are $2.20/kg (.99/lb) on sale, so when they're on sale like yours I buy enough for a week or two.

Also, $AU600/month is not bad at all for feeding FIVE adult-size appetites, especially since it also includes your household goods. That's equivalent to ~$US470/mo. A bit more spendy than me, but I'm not going to scoff at someone who's feeding 2.5 teenagers on a budget that many here can only dream of achieving. Good job!
« Last Edit: February 25, 2018, 08:02:45 PM by APowers »