$50 Per Week Grocery Challenge - Week #11

How Much Did I Spend For Week #11?

You would think by week 11 of my $50 per week grocery challenge I would have my compulsive grocery purchases under control, but alas no.  At one of the grocery stores there was a really good sale on the generic cereals.  Almost a 2 lb bag for $1.66 each if you purchased 3 of them.  I wrestled with myself and I even picked them up and put them in the cart.  While in line to check out as the cashier was ringing up my purchases I finally came to my senses and asked her to keep the 3 bags of cereal.  I apologized profusely for leaving her with them and even offered to return them to their proper place.  She was so nice and even laughed at me when I told her I had made myself a promise 11 weeks ago when I started this challenge to never purchase another box or bag of cereal again.  Whew, I kept that promise to myself, but it was a tough one!  Because I need to be honest, it is so much easier to have my kids open up a bag of cereal than to spend an hour making my homemade cereal, but if I had purchased those sugary and empty calorie cereals I would have gone over the $40 I set aside this week.  Oh, but I do love a bowl of Marshmallow Mateys for a snack!

This week I set aside $10 for a future meat purchase.  We have made the decision to clean out our extra freezer which is filled with chicken, hamburger, pork and roasts in order to save money by not having to run it.  I was able to refrain from purchasing the chicken breasts which were super cheap this week, but I did buy some kielbasa sausage for my Mac&Cheese recipe as it was a buy-one-get-one.

It was a slow week for sales and we hardly needed any groceries as 2 of my 3 children were at the grandparents.  Even with a slow sales week I visited four stores and spent $37.27.  I am still having to purchase fruit and vegis, but in a few weeks our garden will begin offer up some of its bounty.

Here is the breakdown for Week #11

Meat:  2 Sausages for a total of $3.99

Fruit and Vegetables:  Bananas for $1.00 (the first pound was free), 4 Packages of Frozen Vegis for $.75 each, 10 Ears of Corn for $1.50

Dairy:  6 Dozen Large Eggs at $.99 each, 3 Packages of Italian Shredded Cheese for $1.48 each, 2 Packages of Cream Cheese for $.98 each, 2 Gallons of Milk for $3.46 each

Misc.:  Fruit Snacks - Free, 6 Pack of Flavored Water - Free, 2 Packages of Marshmallows for $.77 each,  3 Packages of Tortillas for $1.00 each, Peanut Butter for $4.98


Meals we had this week:

Breakfast:  Homemade Granola, Homemade Grape Nuts, Oatmeal, Malt-O-Meal, Waffles or Toast.

Dinner:  Leftovers from supper or Sandwiches from my Freshly Ground Whole Wheat Bread and Yogurt

Supper:  

Sunday - Quesadilla's made with the Cilantro Lime Chicken (to be honest I am getting sick of Cilantro Lime Chicken)

Monday - Grab anything you can night.  (No one was home at supper time and so everyone made themselves a sandwich or a bowl of soup or had leftovers.)

Tuesday - Sausage and Mac & Cheese Bake and Corn on the Cob

Wednesday - Ditto

Thursday - Chicken Salad in a Pita Pocket and Corn on the Cob

Friday - Ditto

Saturday - Mac & Cheese and Hot Dogs (We had a wonderful Sat. dinner - Breakfast Burritos - and so for supper one of the kids asked for Mac & Cheese.  Not healthy, but easy.)

Desserts: 
Monster Cookies (without M&M's), Angel Food Cake with Ice Cream and Strawberries