You may remember that last week, we made some major progress in cutting back on our weekly food spending. Now, I cannot seem to locate our receipt from Sunday's grocery shopping spree at Wegmans. If I had it, you'd see a big fat $83.87 (or something very close to that), and I'm sure you'd all gasp in horror. Hold on, hold on. It's really not that bad. To get the "true" grocery bill, we must first subtract the non-grocery items from this sky-high total.
These items include beer (Ithaca Pale Ale at $9.50, we include this in our "entertainment" fund, which is separate from our grocery budget) -- so we're at $74.37; face wash ($7.00 for some natural tea tree oil cleanser because my skin is AWFUL!) -- so we're at $67.37; contact solution ($3.00) -- $64.37; and toilet paper ($11.00 because we buy in bulk) -- so we're at $53.37.
That's right: only $53.37! We're getting closer to our goal of $50 per week. And this is down from nearly $100 only a couple weeks ago. Are we suffering? No. But let's take a step back for a moment and see what exactly we did to limbo this low.
This week, we focused on planning ahead. Before we went to the store, I sketched out a tentative meal plan for the week. I was quite generous with my outline. We'd have potato and leek soup one night. Pizza another (I have three rounds of dough frozen). Chili for double-duty dinners again. And two tasty tofu stir-fry meals. When we got the store, however, I found so much fancy produce! We did indulge in our usual avocado treat again -- spent $10 for six. A bit shameful, but we love them too much to say no.
We also practiced some restraint with items like Earth Balance and coconut oil. I've still been baking, but instead of stocking my pantry with every single ingredient needed to make my own bake sale, I'm trying to prioritize. I'm trying to use up what I have. I'm trying not to spend a fortune on chocolate chips. I said no to the Earth Balance and coconut oil for this reason. I can use canola oil. Or perhaps wrap my mind around some new recipes that don't require such ingredients. And life will go on.
We've also been eating more vegan-ly. We only bought one 2-cup package of shredded mozzarella for the week. The rest of our loot was totally vegan. No cheddar to melt into the chili? Nutritional yeast serves as a tasty substitute. No eggs? Not this week. But just because we're shopping more vegan doesn't mean we're investing in pricey substitutes. The only thing we do that with is soy milk. Otherwise, it's shopping the perimeter of the store (we covered this tip last week), and buying the freshest, least-packaged ingredients as possible.
Anyway, we're doing it. I do notice, however, that we're running low on certain items we typically find plentiful (like various flours, other baking ingredients, etc.). We'll see how this impacts our bill next week when we head to the store. We're also trying to hit up some suggested stores and farmers markets over the weekend between various activities (we're both running a 15K on Sunday afternoon). Wish us luck. And if any of you have any more tips to share, we'd love to hear 'em. Just leave a comment or email us at neverhomemaker@gmail.com.
Just remember: Eating well need not cost a fortune. We're doing it -- and we're full. In fact, on the $53 or so we spent this week, we even have MORE than we need. Just examine your cupboards and take note of what you're stashing away in your cart. Before you know it, you'll be on your way to saving big bucks!
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16 comments:
Ahh produce. I do so well sticking to my list until I get to the produce section - then it all goes out the window.
We discovered a local Hispanic market, and we get all of our produce there. We can get THREE TIMES (no kidding!) as much produce at the Hispanic market than we can at the grocery store for the same price. It's totally amazing. I almost cried from joy the first time we went in there.
I do very well with making lists, but temptation often gets in the way! Buying organic meats is WAY expensive, so I've been trying to cut back on that (sorry husband!). good job, I love your tips!
I avoid temptation by sending Patrick to the grocery store. Immune to temptation, and possessed of a get-in-and-then-get-the-hell-out mentality, he never gets snagged browsing.
The list is so essential. I remember in last week's update you were lamenting the lack of Nutella in your cart. My blog partner makes her own Nutella - http://flavorista.com/homemade-nutella/. Thought it might be a helpful recipe.
A tip I offer up in cooking classes is to shop the weekly flyers. For example, asparagus is coming into season right now so it will be offered at special prices. Keep up the savings!
Heya--Wow 50 bones a week for grocery. I would have to stay away from WF to get that deal. I have been trying to remember to go to the market for much better priced produce.
I have seen ginormous crates of nutella at Costco--just an idea :)
Can't wait to make your rainbow stew!! Looks groovy!
Laura! That market sounds awesome! We'll have to really start exploring our area to see what we find -- maybe there's some hidden gem here. I've heard of a few from Kristina (and btw, Kristina, I try to send Stephen to the store more because he, too, doesn't get distracted -- hehe).
Jill -- We don't have a WF anywhere near where we live. So, that's not a problem. If we did, I'd be in MAJOR trouble. However, when I go to our favorite natural foods store in Ithaca, I spend a mint!
So, I'm probably making a 'duh!' kind of mistake, but in the recipe finder I can't find the corresponding post link for your pizza dough. Where can I find it, please? I love making homemade pizza, but really the only thing homemade about mine are... well... nothing, I just like making my own pizzas!
Alaina -- Sorry about that. I may not have added it yet? Here's the recipe: http://www.neverhomemaker.com/2010/01/my-favorite-pizza-dough-recipe.html
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totally great tips for sure! shopping the perimeter has always been a strategy of mine :)
Thanks so much! I can't wait to try it this weekend. Yum!
Nice job! I will have to go back and read the other grocery bill posts because I must have missed them. We have made a lot of progress in this area too. We used to go to the grocery store and drop serious cash every time. We've gotten so much better now that we buy a lot of frozen things. Most of the vegetables we buy are frozen, and they are surprisingly still very tasty and nutrient-rich. So if you aren't doing that already, I'd highly recommend it. We also used to over-buy, but now we only buy the things we'll need for that week.
I'm quite jealous of the Ithaca! I went to SUNY Bing and I used to love driving up Ithaca and getting a growler of Apricot Wheat, and I make sure to get a 6-er whenever I'm up there.
Good for you, I am trying hard to do the same thing. Do you use coupons at all? I read a book by the Couponing Mamma and it helped me out a lot, she has a great website, you can google it. I still spend 100 every single time! But I save about 20-30 bucks with coupons and now there are certain things I never buy w/o a coupon like yogurt, morningstar farm products, soy milk and a few others b/c I know a coupon will be coming around soon.
While we are able stick to a cheap budget, I must admit that one of my goals is to have more interesting meals. Your homemade pizza and stir-fry would probably beat my frozen pizza and red beans and rice any night!
Have you ever tried to skip a trip to the grocery store? Sometimes we challenge ourselves to use every last bit of the food we have and only spend $15 or so on little extras. It's a really great practice in "finding" food and cleansing the pantry of unnecessary supplies.
Skipping a trip is a great idea, Kasey! Maybe we'll try that one soon!!! Thanks :)
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