[ grocery ] :: the week in review

Wow, it's been a while since one of these posts! I have to admit - I was bad about shopping and menu planning in March. We stuck to our grocery budget for the month, but our meals were more of, "What do we have in the pantry?" than an actual meal plan.

I stocked back up on food this week and purchased (too many!) supplies for cooking and storing our 40 pounds of Zaycon ground beef, but they will be handy for the next time we place an order. The Hubs got his yogurt, and I got some Bolthouse juices for my next horse show weekend - I love the protein drinks!

We also loaded up on soda (buy 2 get 1 free) and Cadbury Creme Eggs for our movie night. I turned around for one second in the grocery store and The Hubs had disappeared...when he came back I hadn't noticed that he sneaked a half dozen Cadbury's in the cart.

This shopping trip cost me exactly $0.00 - I used up the gift cards I had been hoarding for the past year. And for good reason. The bill was $109.76 - many of the items we got were not on sale, or I didn't have coupons for them. When I look back over the receipt I see why it was so high - did you know that a tomato costs $1.20?! Or that a red onion is $1.55?! What is this madness? They aren't even local produce - the tomato was a product of Mexico. I guess I'm a bit spoiled that I my produce on sale - $0.79 for 3 lbs of onions and $0.99/lb of tomatoes.

Here's a breakdown of where $109.76 of food and supplies came from...
Movie Night Snacks: $8.72 - soda, Cadbury eggs
Meat-Freezing Supplies: $45.34 - with tons of leftover seasonings, freezer bags, and loaf pans
Grocery: $50.71 - veggies, milk, cheese, The Hubs' yogurts and soup, and Bolthouse juices
Personal Care: $4.99 - deodorant 

When I break it down, our spending is pretty typical - about $50/week on groceries. I over-bought aluminum loaf pans and freezer bags (oops!) for freezer storage, but I am absolutely certain we will use those at some point in the future.


- Maggie White