The Grocery Challenge: Week #4 ($150)
It looks like I’m developing a pattern – one expensive week and one reasonable week. I’d like to make all the weeks reasonable, but I think I’m making progress. So far the biggest changes I’ve made are:
– limiting my market trips to two stores total of two visits per week. I had gotten into the habit of running out to get just one thing and spending $50. I’m glad that I’ve since changed that habit. It requires a bit more planning since I have to make sure I’ll have enough milk, eggs, bread, and bananas for the week for the kiddies. I’m doing great with it though!
– paying attention to food prices. I can’t believe how bad I had gotten at this. Kind of like my personal diet and exercise patterns, I had fallen into a slump. I would just accept whatever price was at whatever store I visited without paying attention. By now paying attention I’ve definitely saved a few dollars here and there. The biggest example is with the clementines which are sometimes more expensive at Whole Foods and sometimes cheaper there.
– menu planning. I had gotten lazy with this as well since going back to work after my maternity leave with Ali. I now have at least 3 dinners planned for each week. Three seems to be the magic number for me. Any more and I get mad when Trig has to work late, any less and we don’t have enough nice, real dinners for the week.
Here’s what I bought this week:
Trip #1: Pathmark ($30)
pretzels
graham crackers
sparkling water
cereal bars
Corn Flakes
Trip #2: Whole Foods ($120)
2 fresh mozzarella $10
1 gallon organic milk $4.49
whole peeled tomatoes $3
Stonyfield YoBaby $3.99
2.2 lbs red cabbage $2.84
4 avocados $6
bag of yellow onions $2
pancake mix (for my father in law) $4.69
2 lbs bananas $1.27
bread crumbs $2.99
2 scones $1.89
whole wheat english muffins $2.69 <- I just don’t enjoy other brands
2 pints blackberries $5
pint blueberries $4
loaf Italian bread $2.79
bag of clementines $5
2.25 lbs zucchini $7.92
ground beef (about 2 lbs) $10
Boston butt (about 4 lbs?) $14.32
rotisserie chicken $8.99
Previous posts:
Week #2: $175
Week #1: $251
Previous posts:
Week #3: $275
Week #2: $175
Week #1: $251
One Response to “The Grocery Challenge: Week #4 ($150)”
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Have you seen the Cook Smarts website? I just started using it a few weeks ago and it has made meal planning a breeze. I find that the recipes are all pretty good and so easy to adapt to items I may already have in my pantry or to my specific dietary needs. (I have food intolerances.) I was doing horrible with meal planning for the longest time, but Cook Smarts makes it so easy and my shopping lists are more streamlined which has helped me save a bit of money. And, when I spend a few hours on Sunday doing the prep work that is suggested for each recipe the meals come together so easily during the week.