Week 4, Aug. 31st

Bought a gallon of whole milk at Walgreens for $4.19. It is cheaper than buying a quart at HEB at $3.38, but the HEB milk is organic, and I can generally find at most 1% that will last. Still, I'm enjoying the whole milk--it tastes like cream to me.

Went to Trader Joe's yesterday:
     Cereal 2 @ $1.99 ea.                                               3.98
     Organic raspberry fruit spread                                  2.99 (cheaper than HEB, but a                                                                                               smaller container)
     ThomCord grapes 2 @ $2.98                                     5.96
     Peanut butter--organic, crunchy                               4,99
     Wine country chicken salad                                     4.49
     Bananas 6 @ .19 ea.                                                1.14
TOTAL                                                                       23.57

HEB:
     Chinese cabbage                                                     1.58
     Zucchini                                                                  .48
     Spring mix                                                              3.98
TOTAL                                                                         6.04

MT Market:
     Snowpeas                                                               2.09
     Indian eggplant                                                        2.11
TOTAL                                                                         4.20

GRAND TOTAL                                                             38.00

Week 3, Saturday 8/23/14

Trader Joe's:

     Coffee                                                         4.99

     Cereal 2 @ 1.99 ea.                                       3.98

     Cage-free large eggs                                     2.69

     ThomCord grapes 3 @ 2.99 ea.                       8.97

     Champagne grapes                                        1.99

     Bananas 6 @ .19 ea.                                       1.14

     Whole Grain Flax Seed bread                         1.99

TOTAL                                                           $25.75

HEB:

      Polish sausage                                              7.95

      Buns                                                            1.73

TOTAL                                                              $9.68

Grand Total                                                     $35.43

Monday

Okay, yesterday, I spent $17.44. Today, I got back $1.67, which means I really spent $15.77. 

Today's shopping:

TRADER JOE'S

     bananas 5 @ .19/lb.                                                   0.95

SPROUTS                                                                     19.31

    organic baby carrots

    parsnip

    bag onions

    organic leek

    2 cauliflower @ 2/$3

HEB

      Hatch mild diced green chiles                                  1.66 (50 cents off! YaY!)

TOTAL                                                                         21.92

Grand Total                                                                 37.69 OVER AGAIN!!!

Sunday's Shopping, 1 & 2

Sprouts:

      Black plums 1.05 lb. @ 1.88                                1.97

      Yellow peaches 1.55 lb. @ 1.49                          2.47

      Organic rolled oats .37 lb.                                 2.22+

      Unbleached white flour .75 lb @ 0.99                 0.75

TOTAL                                                                   7.41

Sigh. The @2.22 for the organic rolled oats is an error that I did not catch at the checkout because I was careless. It's enough that I'm going to go back and argue about it.

HEB:

      Organic milk 2 @ 3.38                                        6.76

      HEB unsalted butter                                           3.28

TOTAL                                                                  10.04

Grand total: $17.44--but I should get some of that back tomorrow. 

 This is what I bought last week:     
     *blueberries, 3 @ 1.98 each                           5.94
      Ate most of 1 pkg; that leaves me 2 for next week.

     *flour tortillas, pkg of 20                               1.38
      Used 6 of 20 tortillas

      yellow bananas, 2                                          .51
      Ate 

      diced green chiles, 4 oz.                               .75
      Used in enchiladas.

     *fancy shredded Mexican cheese                    2.77
      Used about half in enchiladas

     *Hellman's Light Mayonnaise                           3.78
      Not opened.

     *Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce               2.34
      Used about half in enchiladas

     *Organic spring mix                                       3.98
      Ate 1 serving

     *Tomatoes, 1.15 lbs.@ .68/lb                           .78
      Ate 1 in a salad

      HEB Pan Frances bread                                 1.00
      Ate, mostly pb&j

     *Organic milk 1%                                           3.38
      I have enough left for milk in my coffee and cereal tomorrow morning.

     *Italian garlic salad dressing                            3.48
      Ate 1 serving.

     *5 bananas @ .19 ea.                                       .95
      2 left

     *TJ's bran flake cereal                                   1.99
      1 serving left

     *TJ's raspberry sorbet                                    2.99
      Ate 1 serving. 

     *ThomCord Grapes 2 @ 2.99 ea.                     5.98
        Ate 1 package.

It's pretty clear that I need more variety of fruits and veggies. There's nothing I bought that I wouldn't buy again. One of the weird things is that I thought I had more canned beans in my pantry.

In making my shrimp enchiladas yesterday, I discovered some frozen dinners in my freezer; I'll need to eat those up. Also, I have a ton of frozen rhubarb. Way too much for a normal person. I'll have to figure out what to do with that. (My original thought was to make a Mark Bittman sauce, but I don't think that recipe is free any more.)  

Thursday, August 14

Finally made my enchiladas. I feared disaster at one point, because I thought I had refried black beans in the cupboard, but it turns out that I didn't. So I used a can of Bush's pinto beans instead. They were quite good, and I actually liked the texture of the whole beans better than refried beans. 

Tomorrow is the last day of this week. I'll review my food purchases then.

Shop 3 

Tuesday, August 12

This was a trip to Trader Joe's:

      5 bananas @ .19 ea.                                   .95

      TJ's bran flake cereal                               1.99

      TJ's raspberry sorbet                                2.99

      ThomCord Grapes 2 @ 2.99 ea.                 5.98

TOTAL                                                       $11.91

Added to the previous total of 30.09, this puts me at $42 exactly, $7 over my limit. I should have ditched the grapes and the sorbet, I guess. Both of those should last two weeks, though. And the blueberries I bought at HEB over the weekend will last at least two weeks. 

I think I will take the hit and see if I can reduce my costs next week. Maybe not by $7--depends on how much cooking I do.

Shop 2, Monday, August 11, 2014

This was a small shop:

     Organic spring mix                                                   $3.98

     Tomatoes, 1.15 lbs.@ .68/lb                                         .78

     HEB Pan Frances bread                                               1.00

     Organic milk 1%                                                         3.38

     Italian garlic salad dressing                                         3.48

TOTAL                                                                         12.62

Added to Shop 1's total of 17.47, that's $30.09. I'm planning to go to Trader Joe's later on today, so I'll have to keep this in mind.

Food

Shop 1, Saturday August 9

In my budget, most of the items are fixed costs. The only flexibility I really have is with food. I recently came across the blog of a guy who's committed to spending no more than $35/week on food, so given my newly unemployed status, I thought I'd try this. My "week" is going to run from Saturday to Friday.

I did some shopping today, Saturday, Aug. 9: 
      blueberries, 3 @ 1.98 each                           5.94
      flour tortillas, pkg of 20                               1.38
      yellow bananas, 2                                          .51
      diced green chiles, 4 oz.                               .75
      fancy shredded Mexican cheese                    2.77
      Hellman's Light Mayonnaise                           3.78
      Hatch Green Chile Enchilada Sauce               2.34

TOTAL                                                             17.47

I need to pick up sorbet, bananas and cereal at Trader Joe's and milk at HEB next week. I also need more vegs.