This month I began with a completely empty crisper drawer as I had used up every last bit of my fresh produce. The potato bin on the bottom shelf was still pretty full. In the bread drawer I had four corn tortillas, six flour tortillas and a few bread heals I was saving to use in my Thanksgiving Day stuffing. I had a little bit of heavy cream, half a gallon of milk, a container of sour cream, a block of cream cheese and a two pound bag of grated Monterey Jack so I was doing pretty well with dairy. The condiments are thinning down, but I still have plenty. Based off of what I already had on hand and with the upcoming holiday in mind I made my shopping list.
A good sale on butter was on my “wish list” and I lucked out with just that at my neighborhood Fred Meyer store with a digital coupon offer for $2.49 a pound. I also had another “Best Customer” digital coupon for 70¢ OFF on a pound of butter which I could stack. But to make it even better I also redeemed some rewards points I had earned riding the bus and logging my trips for a $10 Kroger gift card. By the time all was said and done I came home with five pounds of butter for only $1.75!
I got this last month for $1.99! |
Another digital coupon during that same shopping trip netted me a two pound block of sharp cheddar for $4.99. With that block of cheese plus the bargain on Monterey Jack I got in October I have plenty of cheese on hand to finish out the year and well into January, I imagine.
My next trip was to Winco to pick up the bulk of what I had on my shopping list. Primarily I wanted to restock the crisper drawer and pick up some more tortillas as well as re-supply the cream for my daily coffee treat I like to make each day. Sadly, I was also out of eggs so I needed to buy some this time around. The price of eggs right now is horrendous (groan).
Mid month I made my way back to Fred Meyer because a sale on eighteen count eggs for $3.29 made it worth it to me. I also was able to stack a couple digital coupons to pick up another package of cheese for only $1.29. I also picked up another bottle of salad dressing (FREE digital coupon offer) which I was able to donate the next day. After using up all of my milk to make yogurt I stopped into Albertson’s on my way home to get another half gallon. It was on sale for $3.99. Fred Meyer was out of organic whole milk that day.
While still at Fred Meyer I also picked up canned pumpkin and evaporated milk for my LTFS. I was low on pumpkin and only had one can of evaporated milk so it was on my list to replace. I waited for the holiday pricing on both of those items and it worked out well.
My next shopping trip was to Costco for some pre-Christmas shopping and to pick up two rotisserie chickens which is what I served in lieu of a turkey this year. I had originally thought I would only need one chicken but because my guest list more than doubled (Yay!) as time went on I grabbed two instead. Unfortunately, this threw me over budget just a touch, but I’m good with it. I will roll the deficit amount over to December and begin again, just with a little bit less this time. No problem!
Final totals came in at $0 for nonfood items. I was in the red $2.97 this time as my total spent on food this month was $56.55. I had a rollover amount from the previous month of $3.58 but it wasn’t enough to cover the extra chicken I felt I needed to buy for Thanksgiving along with everything else I bought. That is okay! I will be starting out December with a budget of $47.03 and that will be plenty to finish out 2024 strong. I’m determined to make this challenge a roaring success and I’m pretty darn sure I can do it.
I'm jealous about your butter deal.
ReplyDeleteWasn't that something! :)
DeleteI recently used up the last of the butter I bought in early 2020 for $1.49/lb and the eggs I froze in June 2022. I was soooo sad I had to replenish all that at such high prices. I paid $3/lb for butter and $3.57 for a dozen eggs.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your grocery challenge posts every month. I'm considering doing something similar in 2025. I have some food in storage I think needs to be used so I'm going to make up a few menus plus analyzing what we spent on food this year and come up with a plan.
Sweet deal on the butter. Kroger left North Carolina a few years ago. Oh how I miss them
ReplyDelete