Author Topic: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget  (Read 430069 times)

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #350 on: March 25, 2018, 07:34:27 PM »
Thanks for continuing this thread - it's very inspirational. 

My grocery win today was a pound of Sweet Italian Sausage for $1.  I wish I had produce prices like yours near me, but I'm very lucky to often be able to find meat marked down because it is near it's sell-by date.

$1/lb for any kind of meat is great! I find the more I keep my eyes open for bargains, the more I find them popping up (in sometimes unexpected ways).

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #351 on: March 25, 2018, 08:37:26 PM »
Grocery errands today:

Costco:


Tortillas: $3.59. Also, I should remember to never go into Costco on a Sunday. SO. CROWDED. Apparently, according to the Costco employee I was chatting with, our Costco is the busiest in the state of CO. Yikes!

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

King Soopers:



Pasta: $8.33 (49˘/lb!)
Cottage cheese: $.79
Milk: $1.99
Grapes: $2.13
Salad: $0 (free coupon!)
Granola bar thing: $0 (free Friday)

Total receipt = $13.24. Got to use my coupon for free salad greens, which basically saves me from buying a head of lettuce this week. And SO loves cottage cheese (I think it's icky) so she gets to splurge this week. The pasta was on a have-to-buy-in-multiples-of-six deal, mix and match with the cottage cheese-- no problem for me, since I need to stock the pasta hole in my pantry anyway, and <50˘/lb for pasta is a steal.

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

Sprouts:



Carrots: $2.99
Oranges: $6.61 (33˘/lb!)
Apples: $2.81 (88˘/lb)
Avocados: $1.34 (3/$1)

Total receipt = $13.75. These oranges are HUGE! Like grapefruit size!

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #352 on: March 25, 2018, 09:02:59 PM »
We ate almost all the leftovers for lunch, so I didn't feel compelled to make anything too complicated or comprehensive for dinner, and Girlie suggested pancakes, which sounded good to me.



Pancakes: ~$1.00
2 oranges: ~$.65
1 apple: $.35
Peanut butter: ~$.50
Chocolate chips: ~$.15

Total dinner cost = $2.65 plus some syrup. Yum!

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #353 on: March 26, 2018, 10:15:04 PM »
SO made dinner tonight, and I just paused laying tile long enough to quickly eat, so no pics tonight. Sorry! :S She made potatoes and scrambled eggs w/pepperoni.

8 small potatoes, cubed and oven fried: ~$.25
8 eggs: $.64
10-12 slices of pepperoni: ~$.50?

Total dinner cost = ~$1.39. I ate mine with the last of the leftover lentils, and I'm not sure if it was super delicious or if I was just hungry, but it sure tasted good!

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #354 on: March 27, 2018, 09:47:33 PM »
Tonight was rice on the schedule, so I decided to try that curry again. I don't have any kidney beans, so I used some pinto beans I had stashed in the freezer.

AND I took pictures, yay!

Oil in the dutch oven, garlic and ginger starting to brown. (~$.20)


Add an onion ($.40)


Fry them up on medium high 'til they look like this:


Add spices and tomato sauce and cook/stir for a few minutes-- i.e., get the rice started in the instant pot ($.25)


Add beans, tomatoes, and water ($.22)


Serve over rice. YUM! ($.35)


Total dinner cost = $1.42. Unfortunately, there weren't hardly any leftovers...

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #355 on: March 28, 2018, 10:15:27 PM »
Spaghetti for dinner tonight. I should have taken a picture, because it came out nicely this time. Oh well, next time.

Pasta: $1.00
Sauce: $1.00
Ground beef: $1.80
Onion: $.11
Garlic: $.10
Lettuce: $.20
Tomatoes: $.40
Cucumber: $.50

Total dinner cost = $5.11 plus a bit of parmesan.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #356 on: March 29, 2018, 07:45:07 PM »
Got free food this morning at a business meeting! Yay!



It wasn't much, but it made for a nice dessert for the kids after dinner:


I made the granola bars this morning-- they're great for packing in school lunches for Kiddo. One of these days, I should probably do a recipe post with pictures about them.

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

Went to Costco this evening. It was a long day of SO being cooped up with the kidlets while I was working, so when she texted saying "was thinking Costco for dinner tonight", I was down with that, especially since the kids have been particularly well-behaved the last couple days.

Total dinner cost = $8.65

Also picked up some of these:


Which are designated to be used as prizes/rewards for the kids for doing extra clean-up chores. Nevertheless, they're food, so here they are.

Total receipt = $10.28.

meatgrinder

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 157
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #357 on: March 30, 2018, 03:23:55 PM »
Grocery errands today:


Avocados: $1.34 (3/$1)



3 Avocados for $1?  Its $3 for 1 Avocado at most places in Seattle.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #358 on: March 30, 2018, 05:47:08 PM »
Grocery errands today:


Avocados: $1.34 (3/$1)



3 Avocados for $1?  Its $3 for 1 Avocado at most places in Seattle.

I know!  When we lived in WA, they would sometimes go on sale for 2/$1, and most of the time would be $2-3 each. We get to have avocados WAY more often here in CO.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #359 on: March 30, 2018, 09:56:09 PM »
Bought potatoes at Safeway today. I don't do Easter, but I do celebrate cheap potatoes!



Total receipt = $1.54 for 20lbs of potatoes.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #360 on: March 30, 2018, 10:02:14 PM »
Lentils for dinner tonight. I am so glad that I can set-and-forget the Instant Pot. I was able to get all the ingredients started in the pot, and then we went to run errands and had dinner ready and waiting when we came back.



Lentils: $.99
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Garlic: $.10
Carrots: $.60
Cheese: $.38

Total dinner cost = $2.07. Kiddo was adamant that he did not want lentils, so he had leftover pasta for his dinner.

Mtngrl

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 319
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #361 on: March 31, 2018, 08:28:12 AM »
Bought potatoes at Safeway today. I don't do Easter, but I do celebrate cheap potatoes!



Total receipt = $1.54 for 20lbs of potatoes.

I live on the other side of Colorado from you (western slope). While King Soopers keeps the same prices and ad state-wide, Safeway varies their sales by location -- so I ended up paying $1.49 for 10 lbs of potatoes, instead of the 79 cents for ten pounds in the Denver ad. And we don't have Sprouts over here, which bums me out -- I love their produce. It's interesting to compare.

soccerluvof4

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7161
  • Location: Artic Midwest
  • Retired at 50
    • My Journal
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #362 on: April 01, 2018, 06:21:18 AM »
I could never get to 200$ a month but this thread is inspirational  have greatly shrunk our costs down 75% over the last 3 years since Fire'd. We currently are a family of 4 but at times are 5-6 as kids when 2 come home from college and our budget includes all cleaning supplies, laundry and bathroom products etc.. So i spend 20$ a day period. 30 day month is 600$ last month being 31 was $620. Thats about as low as I can go and I really work it to get to that because with 2 Teenagers at home they eat a lot and we do eat well.

MaybeBabyMustache

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5351
    • My Wild Ride to FI
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #363 on: April 01, 2018, 12:56:10 PM »
I could never get to 200$ a month but this thread is inspirational  have greatly shrunk our costs down 75% over the last 3 years since Fire'd. We currently are a family of 4 but at times are 5-6 as kids when 2 come home from college and our budget includes all cleaning supplies, laundry and bathroom products etc.. So i spend 20$ a day period. 30 day month is 600$ last month being 31 was $620. Thats about as low as I can go and I really work it to get to that because with 2 Teenagers at home they eat a lot and we do eat well.

Having two eaters at home (not yet teenagers, but 11 & 12) playing a lot of sports, I still think that is an admirable number if you're including cleaning supplies. Best meal & snack recommendation for hungry eaters? :-)

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #364 on: April 01, 2018, 07:56:03 PM »
Dinner updates:

Saturday was sandwiches:

Bread: $.99
Ham: $1.50
Cheese: $.50
Tomatoes: $.44
Onion: $.11
Pickles: $.60
Green pepper: $.50
Lettuce: $0 (freebie salad)

Total dinner cost = $4.64 plus mayo/mustard/sriracha. I also fed my remodeling helper, too, so there's an extra person accounted for here.

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

Dinner tonight was leftover lentils with some potato chips, so total cost = $.99 for the chips. I am exhausted from cramming this remodeling project 7 days a week AND I've managed to come down with a cold on top of that. Bleah. But my tile looks great!


APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #365 on: April 01, 2018, 08:05:22 PM »
Yesterday's grocery shopping. Sprouts was running a weekend sale with some good stuff, and King Soopers had a saturday only thing I wanted. I had to go to Walmart anyway to look for a certain item for the remodel, so I stopped at all three, plus Home Depot (they're all nicely lined up on the way home from Walmart).

Walmart:


Strawberry jam: $4.38

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

King Soopers:


Oreos: $2.97. They were $.99/each! How could I pass it up?

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

Sprouts:


Cantaloupe: $.98
Green beans: $.49 (2/3lb)
Grapes: $.47 (1lb)
Onions: $1.87 (4.75lb)

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


Total receipt from all stores = $11.16
« Last Edit: April 01, 2018, 08:37:06 PM by APowers »

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #366 on: April 01, 2018, 08:56:14 PM »
As it's the end of the month today.....Here is the moment of truth. I thought to myself when I bought all that oatmeal at the beginning of the month, "Welp. There goes this month's budget, lol!"--- Though all in all, it's not too bad, considering how much I managed to put into the pantry. Two giant bags of oatmeal, 25lb of rice, a gallon of coconut oil, AND we got to eat out once.

All my food spending, tallied up nicely for you. Still way too many trips to the store, but my routines are all out of whack from trying to get my remodel finished. Oh well; I'll work on optimizing that later this year.

$10.89 --- Safeway [3 visits]
$65.4 --- King Soopers [4 visits]
$98.19 --- Sprouts [4 visits]
$8.91 --- Discount Store [4 visits]
$71.41 --- Costco [4 visits]
$22.98 --- Wal-Mart [2 visits]

$8.65 --- Costco Food Court [1 combined visit]
______

$286.43 --- Total Food Spending for March.


$124.70 = January
$210.46 = February ($201.28 if you don't count eating out)
$286.43 = March ($277.78 if you don't count eating out)

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #367 on: April 02, 2018, 06:28:08 PM »
Potato night.



Potatoes: $.33
Sausage: $1.79
Carrots: ~$.60
Salad: $0 (freebie)

Total dinner cost = $2.72.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #368 on: April 03, 2018, 09:23:04 PM »
SO wanted some tea, so she went to Safeway:



Cost = $2.36.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #369 on: April 03, 2018, 10:03:47 PM »
Tonight was rice night. I decided to do something fun with the freebie chicken breasts that I got last month, so I did a fancy stuffed thingamabob.



Chicken: $0
Pepperoni: $.67
Cheese: $.50
Tomato: $.20
Green pepper: $0 (leftover)
Onion: $0 (leftover)
Green beans: $.49
Rice: $.30

Total dinner cost = $2.16. The chicken was a bit tricky to get flattened out, but putting it in an (unsealed) ziploc and whacking it with my rolling pin seemed to do the trick. Probably waxed paper would have been a slightly more economical choice, but I don't have any. Overall, it was great, but a bit more work than I want to have to put into regular dinner menu items. It'd be a great looks-hard-but-actually-isn't "impress a guest" menu star, though.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #370 on: April 05, 2018, 09:28:32 PM »
Wednesday dinner, I did leftover chicken with some pasta and the last of the free salad. Meal cost was just the pasta and a bit of ranch = $1.

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

Today was up and running since 4:45am, work 'til two, squeeze in a grocery errand, pick the kids up from school, do another hour and a half of work on another job (when I'd normally be making dinner), and then finally home by about 5pm. I was tired, and the kids had been inordinately well behaved, even though they were legit starving.

I took some cash from the eating out fund, and we went to Wendy's. $12.96.

I do not like my days this full. Way too stressful, but eating out made for a much happier ending, as it is a relatively rare treat for the kids (plus, I didn't have to try to put together something while being wailed at by starving children).

I think I say this every time we eat out, but I consider this a different budget category than "food"-- something more akin to "entertainment". The way it works in our household budget is that there is an envelope of cash: "found money", which we call The Eating Out Fund; it is composed of money from random ocurrences, like something we happen to sell on craigslist, or if I sell a pie or cookies to the neighbour or a co-worker. When it's gone, it's gone-- generally, it has more deposits than withdrawals, and I don't really keep track of what we have in the envelope [Well, I do now, since I'm writing this series, but I used to not track it in the budget at all].

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #371 on: April 06, 2018, 06:35:57 AM »
Did some grocery errands yesterday, too.

Safeway:


Chicken breast: $4.38
Cereal: $2.46
Milk $1.88
Soup: $0 (freebie coupon)

Total receipt = $8.72. The cereal was on sale for $.99/box, plus I had a downloaded coupon for $1.50 off two boxes of frosted flakes, so overall it ended up making four boxes for ~$.65/box.

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

And King Soopers:


Cheese: $4.21

I got to use another one of the coupons that I got in that mailer-- 15% off my entire purchase. Cheese was already at a "buy-it" price, so the coupon brought it down to an amazing $1.68/lb!

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #372 on: April 06, 2018, 06:00:32 PM »
Tonight was lentils night, but I still have leftover lentils from the last time I pulled them out of the freezer. So I did chicken and leftovers

I baked all four chicken breasts that I got at Safeway the other day, stir-fried half a head of cabbage, made some carrot sticks, and served with leftover rice or leftover potatoes (Kiddo wanted potatoes, I wanted rice).

Total meal cost: ~$5.38 plus leftover chicken. I served two of the chicken breasts tonight; the other two will end up in sandwiches for tomorrow night's dinner.

Eucalyptus

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 372
  • Location: South Australia
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #373 on: April 07, 2018, 03:58:02 AM »
I'm about to lose my job, so need to pare back a bit more. Going to shoot for a sub-$200 budget for groceries for myself and my kid. I'm currently doing about $220/month without really trying. Aus dollars. I should be able to smash it :-)

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #374 on: April 07, 2018, 05:40:23 PM »
Tonight was lentils night, but I still have leftover lentils from the last time I pulled them out of the freezer. So I did chicken and leftovers

I baked all four chicken breasts that I got at Safeway the other day, stir-fried half a head of cabbage, made some carrot sticks, and served with leftover rice or leftover potatoes (Kiddo wanted potatoes, I wanted rice).

Total meal cost: ~$5.38 plus leftover chicken. I served two of the chicken breasts tonight; the other two will end up in sandwiches for tomorrow night's dinner.

I decided that I'm going to make lentils tonight, after reading about your lentils above a couple of weeks ago.  I'm almost out of lentils.

Last night's dinner was leftovers - for me, leftover GF pasta.  For everyone else - we had a celebration at work with a TON of leftover pizza and chicken nuggets from Dominos.  So much gluten.  Well, my spouse and kids liked it.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #375 on: April 07, 2018, 06:34:04 PM »
Groceries from the discount store:



Bread (3 loaves): $2.97
Bananas: $1.17 (~6lb)

Total receipt = $4.14. Bananas for $.19/lb!

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #376 on: April 07, 2018, 06:41:14 PM »
Tonight was lentils night, but I still have leftover lentils from the last time I pulled them out of the freezer. So I did chicken and leftovers

I baked all four chicken breasts that I got at Safeway the other day, stir-fried half a head of cabbage, made some carrot sticks, and served with leftover rice or leftover potatoes (Kiddo wanted potatoes, I wanted rice).

Total meal cost: ~$5.38 plus leftover chicken. I served two of the chicken breasts tonight; the other two will end up in sandwiches for tomorrow night's dinner.

I decided that I'm going to make lentils tonight, after reading about your lentils above a couple of weeks ago.  I'm almost out of lentils.

Last night's dinner was leftovers - for me, leftover GF pasta.  For everyone else - we had a celebration at work with a TON of leftover pizza and chicken nuggets from Dominos.  So much gluten.  Well, my spouse and kids liked it.

Did you know that Domino's wings (bone-in) are actually gluten-free? Granted, they're not certified GF, and of course they're run through the same oven and cut/prep table as everything else, so there's bound to be a bit of cross-contamination, but if you're not highly sensitive, they should be fine. The boneless chicken nuggets are definitely breaded; it sounds like that's more what you're describing.

Source: Kiddo is gluten/dairy free, and I used to work at Domino's.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #377 on: April 07, 2018, 06:49:15 PM »
Dinner tonight is sandwiches:

Bread: $.99
Chicken: $0 (leftover)
Cheese: $.50
Green pepper: $.50
Onion: $.15
Tomatoes: $.25
Pickles: $.60

Total dinner cost = $2.99 plus mayo and mustard. Sandwiches are seriously one of my all-time favourite foods. Bread, meat, cheese, and lots of mayo and veggies. NOM.

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #378 on: April 08, 2018, 09:58:08 AM »
Tonight was lentils night, but I still have leftover lentils from the last time I pulled them out of the freezer. So I did chicken and leftovers

I baked all four chicken breasts that I got at Safeway the other day, stir-fried half a head of cabbage, made some carrot sticks, and served with leftover rice or leftover potatoes (Kiddo wanted potatoes, I wanted rice).

Total meal cost: ~$5.38 plus leftover chicken. I served two of the chicken breasts tonight; the other two will end up in sandwiches for tomorrow night's dinner.

I decided that I'm going to make lentils tonight, after reading about your lentils above a couple of weeks ago.  I'm almost out of lentils.

Last night's dinner was leftovers - for me, leftover GF pasta.  For everyone else - we had a celebration at work with a TON of leftover pizza and chicken nuggets from Dominos.  So much gluten.  Well, my spouse and kids liked it.

Did you know that Domino's wings (bone-in) are actually gluten-free? Granted, they're not certified GF, and of course they're run through the same oven and cut/prep table as everything else, so there's bound to be a bit of cross-contamination, but if you're not highly sensitive, they should be fine. The boneless chicken nuggets are definitely breaded; it sounds like that's more what you're describing.

Source: Kiddo is gluten/dairy free, and I used to work at Domino's.
Ha, yes I googled that once.  I don't think I'm super sensitive, but the last time we had Domino's at work and I had a few wings?  Uh, it wasn't pretty.  So, I'm not sure why they didn't agree with me, but they didn't agree with me.  So I avoided the wings at yesterday's thing too.

mm1970

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 10880
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #379 on: April 08, 2018, 10:00:02 AM »
Last night's lentils and kale chips

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #380 on: April 09, 2018, 07:23:59 PM »
Yesterday's dinner...we ate the leftovers for lunch. SO wanted to make pasta, so that's what we had.

Sausage: $1.79
Tomato sauce: $.25
Pasta: $.50
Cabbage: $0 (leftover)

Total dinner cost = $2.54.

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

Tonight is designated potato night... but I still had a few potatoes leftover from last time I did potatoes, so I decided they had to be used up. So I did. I had some sausage left over from yesterday, and onion and some green pepper left over from sandwiches. I fried up the onion with some garlic and then added the potato and sausage, and then scrambled in some eggs.



Sausage: $0 (leftover)
Potatoes: $0 (leftover)
Eggs (9): $.75
Onion: $0
Green pepper: $0
Garlic: $.10
Tomato: $.20

Total dinner cost: $1.05.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #381 on: April 09, 2018, 07:37:40 PM »
Yesterday, I happened to be all the way on the other end of town, so I decided to stop in the other discount store.



Gluten free flour mixes: $1.98
Mayo: $2.97
[not pictured] (2) Larabars: $.40

Total receipt = $5.35. The Larabars I decided to get for the kids, since I was dragging them along with me, and they were behaving VERY well, despite it being dangerously close to dinner time, plus I want to reinforce a "it's fun to go run errands" in their subconscious-- so that they voluntarily come with me on enough errands that they can learn how to shop cost-effectively and all that good stuff. And it's much more pleasant when we go do stuff together with happy attitudes, even if it's just grocery errands.

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

I also stopped in Save-a-Lot foods. I don't have this store listed on my store list, because it's not close or convenient, so I rarely ever go. It's basically like Grocery Outlet-- mostly off-brand stuff, regularly priced just a hair above loss-leader prices. The pricing isn't so great that I'd save over just watching the sales in Safeway/King Soopers, but it's good enough that I'd shop there regularly if it was at all convenient.



Ketchup: $2.29
Lettuce: $.99
Tomatoes (1.75lb): $1.33

Total receipt = $4.61.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #382 on: April 10, 2018, 06:12:46 PM »
Exciting news! I finally got my basement laundry room finished...and found a nice chest freezer on craigslist. I paid $90, if anyone is counting. There were a decent number of freezers listed for much less, if my budget was tighter.




It's not a huge chest freezer, but it's about 6 times as big as the freezer compartment on my fridge. I will love having a space to keep ready-to-heat leftovers (lentil soup, bean curry, jambalaya, etc)-- which will make dinner time even easier, especially on days that are crazy hectic.

I also want to make some larger batches of granola bars and have them on hand to pack for Kiddo's lunchbox.

I also want to be able to stock up on meat and frozen veggies when they're a really good price.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2018, 07:53:27 AM by APowers »

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #383 on: April 10, 2018, 06:16:34 PM »
Today is the last day of the ad cycle, so I stopped at Safeway and picked up some more chicken breast while it's still 97˘/lb.



Total receipt = $14.75.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #384 on: April 10, 2018, 07:34:32 PM »
Taco rice for dinner.



Rice: $.30
Ground beef: $1.90
Onion: $.10
Garlic: $.10
Celery: $.10
Sour cream: $.10
Cheese: $.38
Olives: $1.00
Lettuce: $.99

Total dinner cost = $4.97 plus a bit of salsa.

robartsd

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3342
  • Location: Sacramento, CA
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #385 on: April 11, 2018, 09:08:38 AM »
Exciting news! I finally got my basement laundry room finished...and found a nice chest freezer on craigslist. I paid $90, if anyone is counting. There were a decent number of freezers listed for much less, if my budget was tighter.

It's not a huge chest freezer, but it's about 6 times as big as the freezer compartment on my fridge. I will love having a space to keep ready-to-heat leftovers (lentil soup, bean curry, jambalaya, etc)-- which will make dinner time even easier, especially on days that are crazy hectic.

I also want to make some larger batches of granola bars and have them on hand to pack for Kiddo's lunchbox.

I also want to be able to stock up on meat and frozen veggies when they're a really good price.
Chest freezer is a game changer. Congrats. We got one that is a similar size for about $40 on craigslist about 3 years ago. Now we have more space and might consider a second (or bigger) one. Chest freezers do a great job holding frozen food, but do not freeze things as quickly as upright freezers do - if possible, freeze in your upright freezer then transfer to chest freezer for storage.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #386 on: April 11, 2018, 10:25:17 PM »
Pasta night:



Chicken: $5.00
Pasta: $1.00
Carrots: ~$.60
Lettuce: $0 (leftover)

Total dinner cost = $6.60.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #387 on: April 13, 2018, 08:30:43 PM »
Did a couple grocery stops on thursday:

Safeway


Grapes (3.75lb): $3.26

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

King Soopers:



Onions (5lb): $1.99
Granola bar: $0 (free friday coupon)
Seltzer water: $0 (free mailer coupon)

Total receipt = $1.99. Cucumber flavoured soda is weeeeiird. King Soopers happens to be exactly on the way home from one of the jobs I've been working at the last few weeks, so that makes it easy to stop in to pick up the freebies and scan the markdown rack.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #388 on: April 13, 2018, 08:51:20 PM »
Thursday was Beans Night. I served them with the last half-head of cabbage, and cracked open the giant Costco bag of tortilla chips.

The kids both wanted me to take pictures of their plates, so you get to see their portions too:
Girlie's:

Kiddo's:

Mine:


Beans: $.42
Cabbage: $.25
Cheese: $.38
Tortilla chips: $3.89
Sour cream: $.10
Tomato: $.25
Onion: $.11
Olives: $0 (leftover)

Total dinner cost = $5.40 plus a bit of salsa. The kids wanted their cabbage cooked; I left mine raw, and shredded it and layered it in with my beans/tomato/onion/olives/sour cream like a 7-layer dip. It was pretty delish.

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

Tonight was lentils.



I made a double batch, so I can put two or three extra dinner-sized portions in the freezer (hooray for extra freezer space!). I also made this batch with no meat or bacon grease, so that it's shareable with our vegan friends.

Total dinner cost = ~3.80 ($0 for chips, since they were counted in the previous dinner).

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #389 on: April 13, 2018, 09:51:53 PM »
I would like to just take a minute and rave about my Instant Pot. I know that it happens to be the hip and trendy kitchen gadget right now, and I really don't like being on a bandwagon. But it is pretty much amazing. I use it at LEAST 3 times a week, if not daily. It cooks rice perfectly. It cooks beans from dry to tender in 90 minutes. I can cook lentils with it in 30 minutes. I used it to steam/boil potatoes for mashed potatoes-- again, 30 min to done instead of boiling on the stovetop for an hour. I can make perfect hard-boiled eggs in 12 min from "put them in the pot" to "peel and eat". I can also use it as a slow-cooker/crockpot, which is handy for doing large roasts that need a low-and-slow cooking style to come out perfectly tender and juicy. I can use it as a warming pot for serving soup/chili/stew at a party.

I had my doubts, and was hesitant to spend $90 on a kitchen appliance that I had zero experience with, and no real-life observation of its operation. But now that I have it, I use it almost. every. day.

I love that I can start it and walk away. That creates more time for me to be effective at accomplishing the hundred-zillion other tasks that I have on my plate. For example, today: I spent 15 minutes prepping lentil soup before taking the kids and SO to Lowe's to spend an hour picking out countertops and light fixtures, then we came home to lentil soup all ready to eat.

10/10 would recommend.
« Last Edit: April 14, 2018, 01:01:03 PM by APowers »

KBCB

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 156
  • Burning to Fire
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #390 on: April 14, 2018, 07:34:20 AM »
That's awesome. I am still tackling our grocery bill.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #391 on: April 14, 2018, 10:04:48 PM »
Grocery errands today:

Walmart:



Tea: $9.48. SO has been on a tea kick lately.

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

Sprouts:



Lettuce: $.99
Carrots: $2.99
Green peppers: $2.00
Tomatoes (1.9lb): $1.46
Cucumbers: $1.99
Colby-Jack cheese (5.4lb): $10.75

Total receipt = $19.19. I needed some green veggies, and I redeemed my raincheck for cheese at $1.99/lb.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #392 on: April 14, 2018, 10:25:29 PM »
Sandwiches for dinner tonight.

Bread: $.99
Chicken: $0 (leftover)
Cheese: $1.81
Green pepper: $.50
Tomatoes: $.40
Onion: $.11
Lettuce: $.20

Total dinner cost = $4.01 plus mayo/mustard/sriracha.

alsoknownasDean

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 2843
  • Age: 39
  • Location: Melbourne, Australia
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #393 on: April 14, 2018, 11:21:52 PM »
Today's trip to the shops:

2 cauliflowers: $3.98
3 large carrots (750g): $1.35
2 medium onions (350g): $0.71
Half a celery: $0.79
A block of paneer cheese and a box of daal masala: $6.95

Now to work out what to do with all of that cauliflower. :)
« Last Edit: April 15, 2018, 12:37:19 AM by alsoknownasDean »

Mezzie

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 816
    • Mezzie Learns
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #394 on: April 15, 2018, 02:48:40 AM »
I came in at exactly $200 last month (to the penny!). Previously, I was averaging $280.

I just subscribed to a CSA for my fruits, vegetables, eggs, and dairy, and it looks like I'll still be able to make it at or under $200 this month despite paying more for better quality.

My main shift has been cutting down meat consumption considerably. Last trip I used pork hocks to flavor my beans and I made one meal with fish as the main dish.

Hirondelle

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1598
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #395 on: April 15, 2018, 03:32:52 AM »
My main shift has been cutting down meat consumption considerably. Last trip I used pork hocks to flavor my beans and I made one meal with fish as the main dish.

Yes cutting down on meat can save a lot and as a bonus it's better for the environment (and in many cases for health).

I'm struggling to get my bill any further down. I spend about €100/month and it seems independent of location (5 cities in 3 countries) or the amount of time I spend at my parents house (once a month vs. every weekend during BSc). The good part is that I spend less per day as in previous years I spent more weekends at my parents, but I still feel like there's a little too much discretionary spending that could be cut out.

Roadrunner53

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3570
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #396 on: April 15, 2018, 04:58:15 AM »
I am not cutting back on meat but yesterday I made a chickpea salad sandwich. Mashed up the chickpeas, added mayo, chopped onion and hot sauce to it. Spread it on whole wheat bread. Was very good and had the texture of a egg salad sammy. Will try toasting the bread next time and maybe add lettuce and tomato.

Stachetastic

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 769
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #397 on: April 15, 2018, 04:45:56 PM »
I tried your oven fries recipe tonight and it was a big hit! I peeled the potatoes in the hopes I could convince my 6yo to try them, and it worked. Next time I’ll leave the peels on and hope he doesn’t notice. Thanks for the recipe!

Goldielocks

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 7062
  • Location: BC
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #398 on: April 15, 2018, 04:56:44 PM »
I need to share -- I had another sub $650 grocery month.  This time only $580!! and $40 of that was for hazelnuts  and supplies for my mom's special birthday cake and dinner.

Whoo Hoo.   That's roughly equivalent to $225 for two adults, in US dollars.. not even adjusting for the higher per pound meat, dairy and produce pricing here.   I did not think it was possible, and we did it without too much effort.

Thanks, AP for the inspiration.

What was different? 
1)  A lot less food in the fridge..  less to waste, less choice at one time.  Salsa was the only condiment I bought.
2)  Bought a huge ham for Easter, and we ate off of it for two weeks.  (The last of it / bone is in the bean pot now).   It was the pricier ham with the bone, but many many meals.
3)  Cooked a turkey -- and made many meals out of it.
4)  Cooked a large pork loin --  ditto
5)  Cooked  3 roast chickens  (I only get 6 servings per chicken however, so only one meal each and two lunches)
6)  Did not buy a lot of variety for veg / fruit, unless super sale, (Broccoli, carrots, onions, squash, potatoes, froz veg, apple, banana, cabbage, that's about it) did not buy much bread (made half of it) and we ate a lot of rice and pasta and potatoes as sides, etc.
7) Taught  teenage son how to make bean burritos, and we will make it again tonight, for school lunches.   Keeps him off the frozen pizza / frozen prepared foods, or eating a lot of the more expensive foods in the fridge.

APowers

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1772
  • Location: Colorado
Re: Have a sub-$200/month Grocery Budget
« Reply #399 on: April 15, 2018, 05:24:25 PM »
I tried your oven fries recipe tonight and it was a big hit! I peeled the potatoes in the hopes I could convince my 6yo to try them, and it worked. Next time I’ll leave the peels on and hope he doesn’t notice. Thanks for the recipe!

You're welcome! I'm glad they turned out great for you. Getting kids to like food in a version they're not familiar with can be a sticky wicket, so good job!

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!