But I was curious. I have in the back of my head that I generally spend between $50 and $100 per week on groceries. I checked the bank records and found that in January, I spent $212 on groceries. That sounds impressive until you realize two things:
- I already had a lot of meat in the freezer.
- Our "dining out" totals for January were about the same amount
I don't like to send packaged food with him, mostly because of the sodium. Also, those things tend to be pricey for the amount of food you get. It's still cheaper and healthier than a Wendy's double cheeseburger & fries, though, so maybe I should rethink that as a backup.
I went shopping today, stopping at Kroger so I could get pot roast. I also picked up a slab or salmon for $8--we'll see how that goes. The kids haven't cared for salmon in the past, but I want to give it another try. If they don't like it, I'll just have leftovers for lunch all week, which won't bother me a bit. Total spent: $18
Then I stopped at Aldi to stock up. We were out of milk and eggs, almost out of cereal, etc. I also got a few "splurge" items, like French Bread Pizza and Pringles. Add to that bratwurst for Superbowl Sunday and Italian sausage for spaghetti and then minestrone soup, and cheese & crackers and peanuts for snacking. Total spent: $58
Last stop at Randazzo's to get kale (which they didn't have!) and apples. They also had a great deal on red & yellow peppers, so I got a couple of those. A can of chickpeas (minestrone soup) and some green beans finished it up. Total spent: $5
So that's $80 in groceries so far this month. I'm going to keep a close eye on things and see if I can keep the "dining" part of the bill lower. Dinners planned for this week include spaghetti, homemade pizza, minestrone soup, pot roast, and Curry Cauliflower & Butternut Squash (review coming soon).
2 comments:
My ex sister-in-law started to get into the "coupon scene." She went to coupon parties, and compiled a book of coupons. She took over a room in her house for all of the items she had as "prizes" (as a result of her coupons). Some were free, some were ridiculously low priced.
The funny thing is, 99% of it was just as you described. She'd have multiple boxes of things like flavored crackers, Tuna Helper and candy. I asked her once what she would do with all of that product -- and in the case of the Tuna Helper, she admitted nobody in the house really liked Tuna anyway (nor did they eat that way).
But, in her words, "it was a really good deal!" Uh, no, it really wasn't, because if you aren't going to use the product in the first place (or it isn't exactly a healthy choice), then it was a waste of time and money to get it.
If you see a coupon for something you regularly use, then it's smart to use it (you wouldn't walk by a few quarters on the ground without picking them up, right?). That's about the only time I'll use one (plus, I'm too brand loyal to switch to the "product of the week").
The food that is free or REALLY low priced can be good for donations to a food bank.
But yeah, I rarely see coupons for "10 pound bag of russet potatoes" or "pork loin." Those do go on sale sometimes, and I do need to pay more attention to those things.
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