Remember the $60 a Week Grocery Challenge?
Yep. I pretty much gave up on that in February and March. Well, let me rephrase that…I gave up on recordkeeping for it in February and March. In my head, I had a general idea of what we were spending, and we were still successful most weeks, but I was focused on some other areas of my life that needed attention (see Steps to a Happier Me, and My Facebook Fast).
This month I’m getting back on track. Below, I’ve itemized my first grocery purchase for the month of April. You’ll notice that I didn’t purchase milk or bread because I plan to bake our bread, and I purchased 6 gallons of milk last week, and put them in my chest freezer. I had manufacturer’s coupons that expired on 3/31, and I combined them with a store coupon book, which brought the price of each gallon down to only 70 cents! So far, we find frozen milk to be almost exactly the same as fresh, except a gallon takes several days to thaw, so we have to plan ahead.
Remember that the $60 a Week Challenge is for food only. It does not include paper or cleaning products. For more information about how you can save on those items, please see Why You Should Buy Toilet Paper at Staples. As always, I purchased only what I considered to be the best deals, because I shop to maintain a well-stocked pantry – not to make specific meals. Also, with gas prices being so high ($3.53/gallon here), I’ve been trying to shop locally when I mainly need produce, and weekly essentials such as milk, because I can’t justify a trip to the city for just a few items. I wait until I can combine grocery shopping with several other necessary errands, and then I try to do a big stock-up on pantry staples.
Groceries – 4/3/11
Asparagus, 1.08 lbs @ $1.99/lb – $2.15 (sale)
Blackberries, 6 ounces – $0.98 (sale)
Celery – $0.99 (sale)
Yellow onions, 3 lbs – $2.99
Strawberries, 1 lb – $1.49 (sale)
81% lean ground beef, 7.98 lbs @ $1.98/lb – $15.80 (sale – I’m going to try to buy more today, because I got the last two family packs yesterday).
Saltine crackers – $.99 (sale)
Vegetable juice, 46 ounces – $1.45
Taco shells, 1 dozen – $1.45
100% apple juice, (2) 64-ounce bottles @ $2.50 ea – $5.00 (sale)
Vanilla ice cream, 5-quart pail – $3.98 (sale)
Total – $36.77
Next week, I’ll update you on any extra expeditures for the week, and post our meals, including links to any recipes that are posted on Economical Eats.
© 2011 Want What You Have. All Rights Reserved.
