February shopping - week 2

This was a Kroger and a Sprouts run combined.

I picked up some pricey items this week.  The organic chicken was 6.99 a pound.  So far, this is the best price I have found for organic chicken.  Most of the stores carry it for 8.99/lb.  Oh, how I miss the days of $1.66/lb bulk store brand chicken!  Chicken has become a rare treat around here! We have a freezer full of beef from 'cow sharing', but try to only have beef once or twice a week. 

I also bought organic vanilla extract and organic almond extract.  Those were a pretty penny each even on sale and with coupons.

The cheese is not organic.  It is sargento brand.  I have a very hard time buying the organic cheese.  I cut back on a lot of things around here (chicken for one!)  but we do eat a lot of cheese.  If I buy strictly organic cheese, I wouldn't be able to purchase even a quarter of what I do now.  I am sure less dairy would be a good thing, but for now, I'm not willing to cut that back.  I think we'll lighten up on the cheese as summer hits, but while it is still cold outside, we eat a lot of foods with warm, gooey cheese on top!

 Budget - $100/week
TOTAL SPENT -  134.24
total saved with coupons this week- $19.79


Total for February so far - $167.45

First February groceries

This was a small trip to Tom Thumb (a safeway store) for some basics. 

 

Got some great deals this week, but not as many organic items as I would have liked.  The organic salad was BOGO at 3.99.  The granola, oatmeal and crackers all had killer store catalina coupons I recieved at the checkout one day.  I stacked them with manufacturer coupons to save up to $4 on each!  They are not organic, but better ingredients than some of the alternatives.  I've been making my own granola and oatmeals lately, but I couldn't beat the price of these vs. ingredients for making my own this time around.

The tea is a treat for me that was in the clearance bin (long expire date - just discontinuing that flavor).  

Total spent - 33.21

saved $13.50 in coupons

shopping mini trip

This was last weekend, just a small trip to sprouts and central market.   It was purely to use up some great coupons which were about to expire and pick up a few good deals or needed items.  We also picked up a bunch of organic seed packs from central market for the garden!

not in the picture - organic dijon mustard, two gallons of milk

the organic apples were .99/lb

the lundberg rices were 3.49 - $2.00 coupon on each from the mambo sprouts book!

The rice cakes were .99 after coupons.

18.08 - central market

22.24 - sprouts

Total spent - 46.30

$10.55 in coupons used

shopping trip

I was able to just about skip a week... I made it till Friday.
This was a Tom Thumb run.  I was able to get some clearance dairy items and an organic blueberry juice for 50% off.   The sour cream we'll use in tacos this week, the cottage cheese has already been demolished (after school/work snack for all) and the milks will be gone before their date, I am sure.

Not the greatest pic, a few things are hidden - there are two sandwich rounds, a bag of onions, organic popcorn, celery, primotaglio lunch turkey, and eggs that are all hidding a little.

Total spent - 63.49

Total so far this month - 407.78

Our budget is $100 a week for organic/natural items.  I think we may be over this month since it is not quite a 5 week month - but that costco run a few weeks ago was filled with a lot of things that will save money in the long run.  For organic items, bulk at costco is definitely cheaper.  I am pretty sure between that and our beef stash, we are pretty well stocked and should come in under budget in February.

Mega shopping jan. 10-16

We were starting to run low of a lot of items from Costco.  There are a few things where the bulk organic version just comes out to be sooo much cheaper in the long run from Costco than at the regular stores. 
In many cases, buying smaller packages of an item from a grocery store and using multiple coupons is the way to go.... but not so much with the organics.   Either there just are not multiple coupons available or there just are not coupons available for certain brands at all.  That is 4 pounds of organic raisins (behind the bread loaves).  Buying organic raisins in small packages at the store would end up being almost double the price. 


The costco trip pictures always crack me up.  Everything is so big but when placed together they look average size.  That is a 10 pound bag of carrots (for $6!!)  And the organic veggie bags were huge, but next to everything else, they don't look so large.

COSTCO TOTAL - 194.70

Even though I had already spent the weekly budget (and then some) at costco, I still went to Kroger and Central Market and loaded up there too.  I should be able to finish out the rest of the month by spending very little - dairy and produce only.

KROGER -47.63

CENTRAL MARKET - 56.20

Total for this trip = 103.83

The barbara's cereals, country choice fit kids oatmeal, and fruitabu were all on closeout and were half price at Kroger.  Central Market sells their half gallons of milk 3 for $5 on Monday only.  That comes out to be 1 1/2 gallons for $5.  Great for Organic milk.  I bought three shampoos all marked down and with coupons.  They were each under $1.  I have not gone all organic on health and beauty items yet.  As for the toilet paper, the coupon says free roll of paper towels OR $1 off any other product.  I even TOLD the checker it is just $1 off and she still took off the full amount - $6.99! 

close ups of the same trip - (where did that ice cream come from?)

first January shopping trip

Ran up to my classroom today to change Christmas out for Winter in the decoration department and also to prepare for the week.
I hit the Kroger near my school.  I was hoping to find some great produce deals I read about on another blog... but I guess I didn't pay attention to the geographics - those deals were in another area. 
BUT all was not lost. 
I hit some great dairy mark downs and picked up a bunch off odds and ends.

The little blends yogurts were marked down, which is no problem since my kids always eat these in a few days.  On the inside of the box is a coupon for .75 off, so not only do I keep constantly finding these marked at half price or less, but I seem to always have a coupon - after coupons, I paid less than $1 for 8. It was for sure a throw back to my mega coupon days!  Love that rush.  The kefir is a seasonal flavor and it was marked down to .49.  These are usually over $3.  The milks were 2.99 a gallon and have almost another week before they hit their date.   The organic shredded cheese was a great price for organic cheese.  The oatmeal was on closeout (my kids mix this with rolled oats to cut the sugar). 

As for the cookies.... you see 'em?  the 'man O's' (Newman O's - I tried to cover them up, lol).  Not sure how those got in the cart...   but man was I glad they hopped in!  These are my new favorite chocolate on chocolate 'oreo's'.  (my favorite vanilla and chocolate are the ones by Late July ). 


Total for this trip - $45.76

December grocery shopping

OH december.
The month that costs the most.
Between tipping, gift exchanges, pot-lucks, donations, gifts, etc.  I feel like I should just hold my wallet open for the taking.
 
Here is my "Why we went over for December excuse list."
First of all, it is colder outside so we tended to stay home more on the weekends.  We've been making larger, heartier meals and tend to snack more when we are hanging out at home.  There were a few 'bring a dish' holiday parties, which means a few extra items added to our grocery bill.   We were all off of school and work for two whole weeks this month.  Add to it that we FINALLY got the cow and had to pay that bill..... yikes!

there was a trip to Kroger for about $125 (didn't get a pic).
A trip to costco for a few items -(lost this receipt but this was at least $50)

A shopping day to sprouts and central market $150.39

a Tom Thumb trip 89.42 (what the heck did I get for that ?? )

another small trip to central market $41.46 (that is a nice cut of salmon in the clear bag.  The salmon alone was $13 but kept us from eating out that night!)

and a Kroger run for $103.33

BUDGETED - $500 ($100 a week)

ACTUAL SPENT - $559.60

went over by about $60 - not as terrible as I was expecting, but still over.

As for the cow, we spent just over $300 for 150 pounds of beef.  That is just over $2 a pound.  It hit hard this month, but we knew the call was coming and were prepared.  Plus, it will last us for months to come!  I am not quite sure how to add that to the budget - it should be spread out for several months, I am just not sure how many?!    Luckily, since changing the way we eat, we have gotten used to not eating a lot of meat in general so it should stick around for a long time.

End of november shopping

I've gotten behind in my grocery postings.  Here are a few shots I took over the last few weeks but neglected to post.  My husband made a few grocery runs that did not get photographed.

This is a Kroger run, saved $34.31 (does not count manager special item savings) in sales and coupons and spent $56.98

This was a Tom Thumb trip - saved about $35, spent 77.35.  not a great trip since I did not really buy a lot.  But I am a toilet paper snob and we are now loaded up for a while! The lunchmeat and cheese is a good quality too, and a littler pricier.  As for the pizzas... it was just that kind of day that day!!


As for the trips NOT pictured this month, we were in charge of the turkey for Thanksgiving and decided to 'splurge' on an organic turkey. 
We spent $36.96 on the turkey.
$54.86 on a quick costco run.
$9.62, $26.89 on a few quick run in trips my husband made for milk, eggs, etc.
Plus add the grocery runs at the start of the month... and......

Goal for november - $ 400
actual TOTAL for november.....$395.33 !

grocery shopping but not for us.

School is out this week - there are a lot of children who attend our local elementary school whose main meal of the day is lunch.  With school being out an entire week that can really have an affect on grocery budgets, especially if extra daycare costs or lost work days come into play.
I spoke with the Community in Schools liaison for our elementary school and she referred me to the local food pantry.  There are a large number of students at the school who qualify for services that the food pantry provides.  Between school being out and it being thanksgiving week, they are expecting an influx of need at the food pantry.

I offered to purchase some fresh fruits and vegetables.  I was shocked at how much I could get with so little.
I filled a grocery cart with 45 apples, 45 oranges, 30 lbs. of potatoes, 12 lbs of bananas, 16 lbs of mini peeled carrots, 9 cucumbers, 17 bags of lettuce/spinach.  My main thought was grab and go items for any kids left at home while parent worked, and of course healthy and fresh foods. The food pantry normally wants non perishables, but this week is an exception and they were so thrilled with the donation.

It is eating at me that I purchased conventional produce and not organic, but I knew I could help many more people and that the fresh fruit and veggies were better than alternative foods.

total spent - $115

Ironically, I moved some term CD's around whose time was up and sure enough, the interest made was right around $115.  This means this trip has no impact on our grocery budget!

I took a picture of the groceries in the back of the car using my cell phone, but it turns out it was really a video and I can't figure out how to just add a still from it on here...

shopping trip

Small trip this week - went to central market and picked up just a few things.  See the little white block just above the eggs??!!  It is white chocolate. Not cheap white chocolate either - the good stuff!   I bought just enough to try this scrumptious looking pumpkin white hot chocolate recipe I stumbled across on another blog.  I pureed the pumpkin and was ready for a nice evening treat, and could not find that chocolate!  I've looked all over - fridge, pantry, you name it.  I put groceries away in a rush that day and I may have left it on the counter before walking out the door.  If that is the case.... the dog got it - plastic wrapping and all!  There is no sign of it anywhere!  

I roasted up the spaghetti squash and added toasted nuts (i had pecan chips) and sage (it is in the plastic baggie next to the eggs).  Topped with cheese, and YUM!

Other than the spaghetti squash, sage and missing white chocolate, the other items are: couscous, organic rolled oats, frozen strawberries, organic tater tots, organic sweet potatoes, avacodo, carrot chips, fresh peanut butter, organic green leaf lettuce, cereal, bananas, eggs, and yes, that is ghiradeli hot chocolate!

So, total for the week - 44.97

My husband picked up some milk on his way home this week - so add a few bucks on for that.

shopping trip for nov. 1-7

Last weekend, we went to Costco and Kroger for just a few things at each store. I was thrilled to find organic all purpose flour in 10 lb bags at costco - perfect timing!  We've also decided to stick with natural cheese and just get organic cheese as we can.  The price for cheese per pound at costco seemed pretty good, so we bought a few types to have on hand. 
I ran into Kroger for just coffee creamer and scored discount organic cucumbers, and all those organic bananas for .99.  I had planned to bake with them, but the kids devoured them before I could!  I taught them a long time ago that bananas with brown spots taste sweeter -(so they would eat them) it worked like a charm - and it is true.  A real win/win! 
Total at costco - $54.86
Total at Kroger - $3.98

I also ran into Tom Thumb (safeway) for a few items later in the week.  Hit the dairy and meat department at a great time and scored some clearance deals! HALF PRICE ORGANIC CHICKEN!  wooo hooo! The yogurt, and milk were also half price. But the total was still $28.86 (dang chicken).

Total spent for the week - $87.70

shopping trip-dog approved!

I went to Sprouts and Central Market again this week.   I've been trying new recipes and making some 'fancier' (more expensive) meals. I am still struggling to find the balance between cheap, healthy and also keeping things new and exciting.

My splurge items this week were organic hazlenuts and organic cashews - each half price but still $5.99 a bag.  I finally bought organic chicken breasts.  They were huge!  I used one the other night in a chicken dish and will most likely do the same with the other two (I froze them) to really stretch it out.  The chicken was about 1 1/2 pounds and cost over $10!!!  A far cry from my  $1.69 a pound stock up days!  But I have to keep reminding myself of all other stuff we have cut out or have cut down on big time!

Just about everything this trip was organic.  The few items not organic were all natural with nothing funny in the ingredient list as far as I could tell.  My avocados and bananas are not organic - I buy conventional on those since they have such thick shells.

Total cost - $132

pumpkin patch farm trip

We took the kids to a small farm this weekend to buy pumpkins.  We totally avoided the mass crowds at the big pumpkin patch, which after all the rain we have had in previous weeks, I am sure it was nutso there.  The kids picked out carving pumpkins, we pet the goats and had dodge the lone loose chicken who flew the coop!

We hit up the farm store and picked out a few items to purchase this week:
2 sugar pumpkins for roasting/pureeing
2 yellow squash
4 eight ball zucchini (we like to stuff these!)
3 other 'squatty' squash ( i forgot the real name - they are kinda like the patty pans)

not pictured - we also picked up some organic chicken sausage (which we will use to stuff the 8-ball zucchini) and we scoped out the prices for the rest of the chicken (one of my 'C' items!)
and the kids begged for a bag of their peanuts, which cost $1

total spent - $13

shopping trip - we have food again!

ok, ok, so we were not totally out of food.  We weren't thumb wrestling the rats for the last crumbs in the pantry... but we were out of some basics.  Things like milk, bread, COFFEE CREAMER.  You know, the necessities ( I need my crack  coffee).

So the girl and I went out today to load up on food!  We went to two stores, Central market and Kroger.  Central Market had some organic produce at good prices, and a great deal of FREE cookies (cause we needed that?) and FREE coffee creamer (which I did need), when you buy a bag of organic coffee.  One of my 'C' items.

The total spent between the two stores was $152.99 A little on the high end this week, but I still managed to save $26.79 in coupons and about another $50 (ish) in store deals (the one store does not itemize the sales for me and my math skills... well, suck  So I am not entirely sure...) but about $77 ish in savings.  Not too shabby for mostly organic/all natural shopping! 

Still hard for me since I was used to saving at least 50% in coupons and store deals all the time, but for what I am buying now, not too bad!

The best score was the laura's lean beef on clearance, with a coupon for only 1.99.
The steak was the priciest item at $12.69.  I usually don't pay that much for steak, BUT we are STILL waiting on the cow (la ti da, la ti da).   I had only been buying ground beef while waiting on the cow, but it wasn't cutting it!  The man wants a steak!  So, happy Monday babe, here's your steak!!

here are some close up shots...

 

shopping trip this week

After going way over budget last week, I mentioned that I was confident we could get by on $20 this week in order to even out the budget to an even $100 between the two weeks.
Um, yeah...
Then I actually took inventory of items I was low on.
What was I thinking?!
I put this crazy, unnecessary pressure on myself to buy mostly all organic on $100 a week. 

WHY?!    Yes, sticking to a budget is important, but $100 a week was an arbitrary nuber to start with.  And besides, what happened to the girl who said, flat out, that there would be weeks that were more and less.

I do find it challenging and frustrating at times to find the balance between my 'old' ways (the mega couponing days of 10 grocery bags for $30) and the new ways of finding only a few sales and coupons, but buying what I believe is healthier food.


so, with all that said - I went over the random number I pulled from my a...  budget. 

I went to 2 stores this week - Sprouts and Kroger.

Grand total for the week - $47.38

At sprouts, I saved $18.02 in coupons,  and spent $27.98 so that was awesome.  It was really nice having a touch of the old days in there.

 At Kroger I saved $8.71 in store deals and coupons and spent $19.40.

Sooooo... with last week and this week combined, the two weeks average out to be roughly $115 a week.  I am A-ok with that!

• The soap dispensers I need in my classroom and the hallway bathroom at my school - they were free after coupons.
• The big bag in the middle are sunflower seeds for my husband to take to work.  Apparently they are his latest addiction?!  At $5 a bag that was one of the more expensive items.
• The milk was marked down to $2.99 each.
• I had coupons for all 7 cereal boxes, and free coupons for the helens meals.
• I've been buying a lot of brown sugar for baking - I have got to find this in bulk!
  

looking for organic coupons?  Susan at organic deals and coupons is a great resource!

weekly shopping - crazy numbers but they average out.

Last month (I know my months are a little skewed based on when we started tracking...)
I spent roughly $295.  We budgeted $400 for the 4 weeks so it really felt great being $105 UNDER budget for organic shopping for a family of four!  During that time period, we did spend about $6 at starbucks for an afternoon treat while out one day but that was the only out of the house food spending.

We decided to use the $105 towards a big costco run.

total spent - $196.29 This was a strange trip for me.  I did use some costco coupons on some of the items.  I used costco coupons on both the ziplock freezer bags and the electrosol finish.  I am well aware that manufacture combined with store sales would have made smaller counts of these items a little cheaper, but with the large sizes I am stocked up, am not running around to all the different stores and wasting gas, time and energy.

I am coming to the realization that the extra dollar or two I may have spent was worth it for me at this point in my life.

My chicken is not organic - I am still struggling in this dept.!

Then there was the farmer's market trip... total spent - $34

I was unable to gt a picture, but I spent another $55.01 getting some dairy items, lunchmeat, cheese, paper towles (i need to wean myself off of these!), etc. at tom thumb.

so, wow!  grand total - $285.30!!  Almost what I spent all last month!

take out the $105 I 'rolled over' for stock up and my weekly spending was $180.30 for this week!!

am I freaking out?  nah.  besides, I doubt other than milk and some fruit, I will spend over $20 this week.

Average that out and I should stay right around $100 a week for the two weeks!

farmer's market face

Finally had a Saturday morning where we could get out to the Farmer's Market!  I love taking the kids and letting them pick out foods and get excited about something new. 

After washing up all the foods we purchased, I decided to play with the presentation a little (yes, I know, I have issues...). 

Here is the bounty from the Farmer's Market - total cost was $34

Now, the downside of today's trip...
We are still very new to organic foods, and I am still learning quite a bit.  Unfortunately that means I have to learn through trial and error at times. 

I learned some lessons today.

 Just because it is at the local farmer's market, does not mean it is local OR organically grown.  You (I) have to ask!  It makes me feel kind like a pain in the butt customer, but from now on I will be asking where the food comes from and how it is grown.  There are two farms at the market I typically buy from because they say they use organic practices... BUT that does not mean that all the produce they sell is from their farm!  They want to have variety for their customers and so they will bring in produce from other places sometimes.

UGH, that make it harder to know what you are buying, and VERY frustrating!

 

I came home today with plums, one had a sticker on it... from california.  AND the number started with a 4.  A sign that it is a conventionally grown plum. Well... I could have run up to the local grocery store and bought it there on sale if that is what I was looking to buy today!

• If the number on the fruit begins with a 3, or 4, then the item is Non-Organic/ conventionally grown. 
• If the number on the fruit begins with 8, then the item is Genetically Modified. 
• If the number on the fruit begins with a 9, then the item is Organic!

I also need to learn what is in season for my area.  I am a 'transplant Texan' and am still learning to live in a different part of the country.

• 
  

$26.01 week

Just a quick trip this week.

organic milk (marked 1/2 price)

organic cottage cheese (marked 1/2 price)

organic cheese sticks (marked 1/2 price)

bananas

bread

organic salad

pita pockets

I must have cleaned the house a little too well, I can't find the receipt to show the individual item prices, but I do know that my total was $26.01.

I am finding that the 'cheap' store in my area is no longer where I shop.  The dairy markdowns are more common at the 'expensive' stores in my area.

This trip ended the month!  Check out how I did on an almost all organic, month of food for a family of four HERE.

$45.72 this week!

I took my grandmother out to do her grocery shopping earlier this week and picked up a few things that were marked down and that we needed.

I had planned to go to the Farmer's Market today.... but my plans were changed on me.  My son got the puke-ies in the middle of the night and my husband had to go into work (don't they know it is SATURDAY!!?! )  so I was stuck in the house today with a sickie.
Soooo did a google search and discovered a whole foods store located 2 miles from my husbands work!  Had no idea it was so close for him (he works 40 miles away, so not so close for me).
Not the farmer's market, but that's just the way it goes sometimes!

 Since we are waiting on the cow, I don't want to stock up on any meats.  I already have chicken in the freezer and a package of ground beef that I can get two meals out of this week.

The whole foods run my wonderful husband made cost $25.01

Kroger - this trip cost $20.71

my most expensive, non sale item was the cooking spray, but we were out. poor planning on my part! $3.09
organic brown sugar -$2.69 (need to get in bulk at costco -I've been baking a lot lately!!)
organic chili beans  - $1.19
organic tri-blend beans - $.89
horizon organic heavy cream - marked down to $1.59
organic half and half - marked down to 2 @$.75 each
organic carrots - $.79 (why did I not buy more to freeze???!!!)
Horizon organic milk - marked down to $2.99
organic salad blend with herbs - (yes, i could get heads of lettuce for cheaper but this is our favorite and it was on sale $1 off!) $2.99


It was week 2 in a row for me without using a single coupon............... weird feeling! I feel naked in the store without the binder. But my new 'little' friend hadn't made it's way into the car and I didn't start out with intentions of buying things for myself when I took my grandmother.

As I was posting this, it dawned on me that I forgot to buy bread.  Guess what?!!  I have everything I need to make my own!  I am stuck at home with a sick kid, so why not!?!!

mini trip

I mentioned the lack of fruit in my last shopping trip.  We had planned to visit the local farmers market, but with all the rain this weekend, we didn't get moving Saturday morning. My son's soccer game was canceled and we pretty much all stayed in our pajamas till the afternoon.
On Sunday, we ventured out and stopped at central market.  I was lured in with the sale of organic pears...
I did stay right around the $10 mark for the fruit as I said I would.... but then walked the aisles and found a few organic staple items that somehow jumped into the basket.
All in all, I added right at $30 more to the week's total - but my husband thinks I shouldn't have included the wine in my grocery total.... so if you think i should have, then we are at $130.66, if not, then $105.66