$50 Per Week Grocery Challenge: Week #3

How Much Did I Spend For Week #3?
I hit 3 grocery stores this week and spent a total of $45.32.

Meat:  I bought boneless pork chops at buy-one-get-one and they came to $1.59 per pound and I bought 10 lbs of chicken for 69 cents a pound.

Fruit and Vegetables:  I always say fruit needs to be $1.00 or less per pound and grapes and oranges are in season and, therefore, they were on sale.  The grapes were $0.99/lb and the oranges were $0.72/lb.  I also needed onions and so I picked up a couple of them.  Frozen vegis were on sale for $0.88 per pound package and I bought 3.

Dairy:  Milk was $3.48 a gallon and I picked up four of them.

Misc.:  One of the grocery stores I shop has coupons for free items if you spend a certain amount. This time I received a free Hamburger Helper and a free brownie mix.  I also purchased 4 bags of flour tortillas for $0.99 each.  I know I can make my own, but for some reason I can't get them soft like the store bought and also I hate to say it, but they taste better.

I thought this week I would have to run to Sams to buy cheese, but we still have some.  I am pretty sure though I will be heading over to Sams next week as we will need cheese by then and I will most likely have to purchase oil as I have almost used mine up.

So how am I doing?  Well, for all 3 weeks I have spent $130.87.  I haven't purchased any seasonings, baking items other than flour or any of my bulk items from Azure.  And so there are a lot of items I will need to purchase in the future and it makes me wonder if I can keep this up.  But what is really is eye opening for me is the fact that I thought I was a fairly frugal shopper.  I never bought anything unless it was on sale, but guess what?  Just because it is on sale, doesn't mean you need it!  This week there were quite a few items I normally would have purchased, but we don't need them and so I saved probably $20-30.  I may not be able to always keep my budget to $50 per week, but I do believe this challenge will save us quite a bit of money.

Here is a list of the 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

On Thursday it was my husband's b-day and we went to a local restaurant that gives out free b-day meals.  We spent a total of $25 for myself and the kids.  I know many people add eating out to their grocery budget, but we never have.  To us it is entertainment.  We hardly ever eat out (maybe once every 2 months or so) and so it is not a huge expense for us.  But if you want to be a stickler and say eating out should be included in my grocery budget, then yes I did go over budget this week by about $20.00.

Supper:  
Sunday - Again, Sunday evening is fend for yourself night.  My husband also made a huge batch of popcorn using the Whirley Pop.  He makes it with white popcorn, coconut oil and sea salt.

Monday - Applebee's Chicken Tortilla Soup and Stuffed Mushrooms (A strange combination but it was a cold day and I wanted to make soup and the mushrooms needed to be eaten.)

Tuesday - Mac-and-Cheese with Hamburger and Broccoli

Wednesday - Sante Fe Stew and Peasant Bread

Thursday - Orange Chicken made with my homemade Orange Marmalade and Fried Rice

Friday - Hamburger Helper and Fruit with Dip

Saturday - Papa Murphys:  my in-laws were in town and treated us.

Desserts:
Peach Cobbler, Banana Double Chocolate Chip Muffins and Birthday Cake