So tomorrow is the last day of the month, and I must say I'm pretty proud of how I've done with this challenge. I didn't do perfect, but pretty good!
Week 3 I really had to make up for weeks 1&2 ($52 and $54), so I decided I was only going to spend $30 that week (especially because I surprised my husband with a weekend out of town for our anniversary). I made my list and only spent $25!
This week I did well too. I spent $44 on groceries... Buuuuttt, 2 days later there were a few things I needed. I made sweet potato and black bean burritos, but didn't have tortillas for the next day. Also, I had cilantro that was about to go bad, and I did NOT want to waste that so I really wanted to make salsa. I went to IGA with my limited budget in mind ($6!) I wanted tortillas, tortilla chips, and fruit for lunches. I realized this wasn't going to happen with my budget, so I had to rethink my list.
I saw these amazing looking portabello mushrooms, but they didnt have a price on them (grr!). One i got to the counter they told me they were 4.99 - no way! That was more than half my budget! Instead of getting tortillas I used the wonton wrappers I already had to make sweet potato/black bean wontons-yum! I ended up leaving with tortilla chips and sliced watermelon for under $5, and made a yummy new leftover recipe!
So, my totals were $52, $54, $25, and $49 equaling out to $180 for the month, give or take a few cents. It would be easy for me to spend more than that in just 2 trips to the grocery store, so I think I did really well.
This month has helped me to see that I can be much more frugal than I have been with groceries- and that was w/o couponing at all! It also helped me to see the benefit of making sure that i have a list when i go instead of just winging it. I am going to try to keep this mindset as time goes on. If any of you try a similar experiment let me know how it goes!
Showing posts with label march madness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label march madness. Show all posts
Friday, March 30, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
MY March Madness
As you saw in the post about the Mexican Filled Biscuits, I have a lot of this & that in the fridge. The
pantry is the same way. So Nathan and I decided to challenge ourselves...really just me... to see if we can ONLY spend $50 a week on groceries for the month of March so that we use up some of our stockpile. This is a big deal, because I ALWAYS spend a lot on groceries! Now, this isn't to say we wont eat out at all, and that's not included, but I'm going to try not to cheat and eat out if I cant easily come up with something to make... So I had my first shopping trip yesterday...
RESULTS
I went to ALDI and spent $52.39... $4.39 of this was on plastic cups and plastic baggies, so I don't know if I should consider that part of the grocery money or not ;-)
Things we needed for lunches, etc:
Split Top Wheat Bread .99 Bag of pears .99 Green Grapes 1.78 Chicken Breasts 3.57 Cheese sticks 2.99 Crunchy peanut butter 2.29 Canned Green Beans .59 Elbow Macaroni 1.69 Shredded Cheese 1.79 Shredded Cheddar 2.99 Purified Water 2.49 Artisan Lettuce 1.99 Mandarin Oranges 1.99 Things I thought would be good for meals:
Extras:
DINNER 3/5/12 - Creamed Avocado & Lime Pasta and Quinoa Taco Salad
using the elbow macaroni, tomatoes, lettuce and shredded cheese I bought yesterday...
3/6/12 Chilli - using the tomato juice, diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese I bought this week
3/7/12 tonight was a pizza night because Nate was working on his engine until 10pm...
3/8/12 cheesy baked hash browns with the shredded hash brown potatoes and cheddar cheese, grilled sandwiches with the bread, and leftover chilli
3/9/12 Johnny marzetti with the macaroni and cheddar, and the canned green beans for a side
3/10/12 dinner with friends @ a Thai restaurant... Yum!
3/11/12 fish tacos with jicama slaw and black beans & corn... Yum!
pantry is the same way. So Nathan and I decided to challenge ourselves...really just me... to see if we can ONLY spend $50 a week on groceries for the month of March so that we use up some of our stockpile. This is a big deal, because I ALWAYS spend a lot on groceries! Now, this isn't to say we wont eat out at all, and that's not included, but I'm going to try not to cheat and eat out if I cant easily come up with something to make... So I had my first shopping trip yesterday...
RESULTS
I went to ALDI and spent $52.39... $4.39 of this was on plastic cups and plastic baggies, so I don't know if I should consider that part of the grocery money or not ;-)
Things we needed for lunches, etc:
- Cream Cheese 1.19
- Shredded hash browns 1.49
- Tortilla Chips .99
- Black Beans x 2 1.98
- Peanuts 2.69
- Canned Diced Tomatoes .59
- Canned Olives .99
- Tomato Juice 1.29
- Red Pepper Soup 1.79
- Butternut Squash Soup 1.79
- Cooked sausage patties .99
- Frozen berries 2.99
- Roma Tomatoes .99
- Ricotta Cheese 1.69
- Snack Crackers .99
Extras:
- Plastic cups 2.39
- Plastic baggies 1.99
DINNER 3/5/12 - Creamed Avocado & Lime Pasta and Quinoa Taco Salad
using the elbow macaroni, tomatoes, lettuce and shredded cheese I bought yesterday...
3/6/12 Chilli - using the tomato juice, diced tomatoes, cheddar cheese I bought this week
3/7/12 tonight was a pizza night because Nate was working on his engine until 10pm...
3/8/12 cheesy baked hash browns with the shredded hash brown potatoes and cheddar cheese, grilled sandwiches with the bread, and leftover chilli
3/9/12 Johnny marzetti with the macaroni and cheddar, and the canned green beans for a side
3/10/12 dinner with friends @ a Thai restaurant... Yum!
3/11/12 fish tacos with jicama slaw and black beans & corn... Yum!
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