Frugal Living update

I forgot to take pictures of last weekend’s grocery trip, but wanted to do an update anyways.

I spent $109.43.  (It was $112.69 – $3.26 of the remainder of a gift card that I had.  For some reason, I estimated wrong – I was expecting it to be $99 – not sure what I missed.)

I got:

Produce ($13.86)

  • 1.8 lbs of broccoli crowns, organic ($2.68)
  • 2 bell peppers ($3)
  • 2.25 lbs of tomatoes ($4.42)
  • 2 avocados ($2.50)
  • 2 lbs bananas ($1.26)

Bulk Section ($18.40)

  • 1/2 lb of walnuts ($3.45)
  • 1.1 lbs organic rolled oats  ($1.62)
  • 1.25 lbs of organic pasta ($3.46)
  • 1.5 lbs of organic dried black beans ($2.03)
  • 4.6 lbs of organic whole wheat flour ($3.63)
  • 2.5 lbs of organic sugar ($4.21)

Beverages ($20.42)

  • 1 gallon of Silk vanilla soymilk ($5.79)
  • 1 quart of Silk soy creamer ($2.99)
  • 3 Old Orchard frozen juice ($3.75)
  • 1 lb of coffee ($5.99 with coupon)
  • 2 liter bottle of Fresca ($1.85 + $0.05 bottle deposit)

Dairy ($8.79)

  • 10 Tillamook yogurts (10 for $4 with coupon)
  • 2 lbs of Cheddar Cheese ($4.79)

Meat ($14.96)

  • 3 whole chickens, cut up ($14.96)

Alcohol ($21.49)

  • 12-pack of beer ($12.99+$0.60 bottle deposit) – maybe it’s just me, but I hate seeing ‘age verification bypassed’. *sigh*
  • 1 bottle of Ecco Domani chianti ($7.99)

Other ($4.69)

  • Barilla marinara sauce ($2 – these were 2 for $4, and I would’ve actually gotten, more, but there was only the one left)
  • Generic raisin bran cereal ($2.69)

Non-food items ($9.99)

  • 10 large cans of Frisky wet cat food – YUM! ($4)
  • 2 hotpads that will hopefully protect our hands from hot things, unlike current hotpads ($5.99)

Obviously the hotpads were an irregular purchase – but we did get a LOT of stuff. Total coupons savings – $3.00.

Last week we ate:

Sunday: broccoli & baked potatoes

Monday: cheese sandwiches

Tuesday: Chicken curry

Wednesday: Cheese & crackers

Thursday: Chicken tacos with guacamole

Saturday: cheese & crackers

SO – not an inspiring week…..this week we’ll have

Sunday: Moroccan stew

Monday: Chicken something-or-other (still finalizing menu)

Tuesday: Chicken tortilla soup

Wednesday: Chicken taquitos (homemade)

Thursday: Tuna-noodle casserole

Saturday: Leftover soup & sandwiches

SO – for the month

I made two major trips to the market & spent

$109.43

$97.24

In addition, we made one trip to the weird market down the street & spent:

$8.23  – Flour, Saltines & catfood

The architect also made one (unsolicited) trip to the market for dry cat food (which was needed) and two boxes of cereal (for which he didn’t bring the coupon) and two 2-Liter bottles of soda.

$18.54

So – January total:

$233.44

More than I would’ve liked, but WAAY less that our totals of $100 +/week that we were running before. And all this before I’ve mastered the coupons. I am still having trouble finding coupons for things that I actually want to buy – organic food, produce, etc.

In addition, we spent many, many $$ on going out. That is the area we really have to work on. A lot. I tink if I actually added up all the $$ we spend not just on going out together (and thus coming from our joint account) but also on the lunches & happy hours separately (and thus from our individual accounts), I would be sad. I should probably do that – so I can be sad.

My next market trip will be on Sunday next week.  My goal for FOOD items is $80. I’ll let you know how it goes.

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