The entire month of September my daughter-in-law and I are completing a food budget challenge. I am trying to keep my grocery bill under $200 for the month. I believe I'll be able to accomplish this by being a smart shopper and being creative with what I already have in my cupboards. Some observations have been interesting to me.
Last week, I went over budget as I had company for the weekend and I wanted to make sure to have plenty of fruit and a protein they would eat. This caused me to go over my $50 a week budget but I vowed to make up for the rest of this month.
Let's just say I was very frugal yesterday on my trip to the store. I bought exactly what we'd need to get through this week and with meal planning, we'll be fine. Last week, we had oatmeal every morning for breakfast with chopped up apples, banana, and the remainder of frozen blueberries. Full disclosure: sometimes I throw out the last of a bag of frozen fruit because I don't like the ice cycles that form but I used them instead. It felt good to not waste even a morsel last week. I also used up the scant 2 tablespoons of almond butter I had sitting on the counter that I had ignored. Bottom line is that I feel like this challenge has made me really look at zero waste with a microscope. My dogs have benefited greatly. They'll eat anything so if something is a little questionable for my palate, I know they'll always help out.
A big aha moment yesterday was buying a large container of cottage cheese that was a great buy compared to the smaller containers I usually buy. I had to buy 2% instead of 4% to get the larger container but you know what? I need less fat on my plate.
Win/Win/Win
We stopped at Grocery Outlet on Monday and picked up two 2-lb. bags of organic (off brand) coffee beans and a bag of brown rice. The coffee is a steal and I prefer to buy it that way but I am rarely near that store. This buy will keep me in coffee into mid-October.
Did you find any good buys at the store this week? Wanna join our challenge?
love, susan
Two things: First, I love that you're working towards zero food waste. It was one of the major motivations for us getting a composter. I just couldn't stand putting organic matter in the bin any more knowing that it would never decompose. Now, I would say that we take out our 10 liter trashcan (about the size of most people's bathroom trash) about once every 10 days.
ReplyDeleteSecond, are you counting your trip to Grocery Outlet as part of your food budget?
Yes, I'm counting the Grocery Outlet purchase.
DeleteI forgot to tell you that our challenge made your son rethink his grocery purchase of baking cocoa. As you know, he does our grocery shopping for us and he's a real trooper. We almost always get the Hershey's baking cocoa since we typically have it forever and we want the good stuff. He did as he always does and placed the Hershey's in the cart, but a few minutes later he went back and switched it out for the store brand. I was proud of him, but I'll let you know if the cocoa is just as good when I make hot chocolate in a few weeks. (I have to wait until it's a little cooler out!)
ReplyDeleteOh, that's great that he's on board with this challenge. Have you ever added a pinch of cinnamon and cayenne to your hot cocoa? You should try it!
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