Well, I’ll do my best to share what grocery shopping with me looks like, and how my little one and I are able to manage.
First, I hit up the frozen veggie section. Here, I pick up frozen onions, pepper blends, green beans, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli and mushrooms. At a dollar a piece, they total $7.
Then, I pick up some whole wheat tortillas. $3.64. Don’t worry.. I cringed a little.
I head on over to the deli, and pick up some Havarti cheese. I don’t get much – I don’t eat much of it, and only use it on the occasional lunch sandwich – and it costs me $2.29.
I’ll then grab some sliced chicken breast for sandwiches, and to sprinkle on some of my salads. Costs me $4.99.
I also grab some chicken cuts on sale, $4.21.
The giant box of Cheerios? $4.09.
Simply Lemonade, $2.85.
A head of cabbage, at $0.59/lb runs me $1.75.
The organic apples are on sale, $2.49 a bag. I grab one, ’cause I can make apple butter, applesauce and give the baby her daily apple to snack on.
One red bell pepper is $1.99, so I grab one. I’ll cut it up into thin strips, store it in a ziploc bag and when I want ’em on salads I’ll grab a few strips, cut it up into chunks, and toss ’em right in. Remember, I bought frozen peppers for a dollar. As I couldn’t use those in my salads, it makes sense to me to buy one regular pepper for quick eating and use the frozen ones for cooking.
The pasilla (basically, chilies) were $3/lb, so I only got a handful. I wanted to make a bottle of hot sauce, so my chilies cost me $0.78.
My green beans, that I only bought because they were on sale, cost me $0.95 at $0.50/lb.
Two pounds of red potatoes at $0.99/lb, cost me $1.90.
Avocado season, thank goodness, brought the price of avocados down to a dollar a piece, so I got four. I use them for salad dressing and the occasional guacamole, so for $4, that’s a deal.
Two bushels of green onions, at $0.54 a piece, cost $1.08.
Radishes? Why not. They’re $1.29.
Cucumbers, two cost me $1.58.
A handful of yellow chilies – again for my hot sauce – $0.31.
A head of romaine lettuce cost me $2.49.
I’m sick and tired of cutting my fingers off dealing with artichokes, so I bought a jar of ’em for $2.98. Since ONE artichoke runs me about $3 right now, this works out.
Also bought a jar of roasted red peppers, because I want to make another jar of salad dressing. (Obviously, I have a giant bottle of olive oil and another bottle of vinegar at home.) $2.65.
A loaf of wheat bread, $1.89.
And lastly, strawberries were on sale for $2.50 a piece, so I bought two: $5. This means strawberry pancakes, strawberry jam, strawberry spread, and frozen strawberry jam to store away for the winter. (Yes, winter. Gotta stay prepared!)
This is enough to cover three meals a day for a toddler and five meals a day for myself, seven days a week… only one of us bringing in any income (that is, unless I can figure out how to get the 3 year old to start bringing in the turkey bacon.) We only eat at restaurants once every six or so weeks. Altogether, it was about 35 items and cost me $62.20. For me, that’s a little high, but I want to start stocking up on strawberries now and felt like havarti that day. Sue me.
Next week, it may not be Cheerios, it might be my rices – that I buy in bulk – for $2/lb. It won’t be chilies, green onions, artichokes, red peppers or those same frozen veggies. It might just be oatmeal, black beans, cashews, tomatoes and more avocados. Either way, I’ve never spent more than $70 in one week on groceries, and I’d like to keep it that way!
How much are you spending on groceries? What tricks do you use to save a little money here or there?