Grocery savings!

Just got back from the grocery stores, and while I didn't do as well as I have in the past (some of the sales weren't all that good), I think I did alright.

All we have to buy this month will be more drinks, milk, bread, and some deli Roast Beef (for the French Dips later this month).

So, the receipts please!

Safeway: Spent $82.53, saved $41.09, plus I get 10 cents off each gallon of gas I buy.
Albertsons: Spent $184.33, saved $58.15.

It was roomie's turn to pick up certain household items that we all use (TP, drinks, and milk), so his reimbursement to us will be $110.00, so we're still right around $50.00 under budget.

Hmmm, guess I did do pretty close to as well as I have in the past. COOL!

Little late than never, the menu!

Here's the menu for the month, I happened to get an awesome coupon for Omaha Steaks, so we have steaks and such coming this month.

12/13 - Soup and Sandwiches (R had his teeth worked on, so need something soft)
12/14 - Lasagna
12/15 - Subway (we generally get Subway every other weekend)
12/16 - Black bean burritos
12/17 - Beef Stew
12/18 - Chicken sandwiches
12/19 - Omelettes
12/20 - Burgers
12/21 - fend for yourself
12/22 - Steak, baked potatoes, etc
12/23 - Hashbrown soup and BLT's
12/24 - at mom's house, no cooking
12/25 - at mom's house, no cooking
12/26 - Chicken with rice and cream of mushroom soup
12/27 - Breakfast (biscuits and gravy?)
12/28 - Fend for yourself
12/29 - Burgers
12/30 - Chicken sandwiches
12/31 - Chicken and dumplings
1/1 - Hoppin' John and cornbread
1/2 - Steak, mashed potatoes, etc
1/3 - Black bean burritos
1/4 - Soup and sandwiches
1/5 - Subway

I know it's not for the whole month, but it's what I could think up right away. Going to go hit some sales around town on groceries, and I'll report back on total spending when I get home!

Also, as a side note, have gone 36 hours without a cigarette, and I haven't killed anyone!

Grocery queen rides again!

So, last night, I posted that I would give my total grocery bill for all the shopping we've done over the last two days. Yesterday's total was $96.00. Today's total was $108.00, saved over $40.00. Looks like we went $4.00 over budget, right? WRONG! Roomie paid his third, so we've spent $138.00 of our budget, and all we have left to buy will be sodas through the month, milk, and some bread products that we don't need until later this month, and we have no room in the freezer right now to freeze any, so we'll just pick up as needed.

Can't complain one bit about how we did! Nice to know that 99% of the groceries for the month are paid for and in the cupboard!!!

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Now playing: Styx - Come Sail Away
via FoxyTunes

Yay!!! Tentative dinner menu done for the month

So, I made up a tentative menu for the month, subject to be switched around, but this pretty well looks good to me.

11/6/07 - Spaghetti, French Bread, Salad
11/7/07 - Cheesy Enchiladas
11/8/07 - Broccoli pasta with Garlic and Pine Nuts
11/9/07 - Baked chicken in cream of mushroom soup and rice
11/10/07 - Having dinner out at my mom's, no cooking
11/11/07 - Beef Stew
11/12/07 - Tortellini Alfredo
11/13/07 - Cheeseburger brownies (basically cheeseburger pie, but have to make double)
11/14/07 - Breakfast for dinner
11/15/07 - Chicken with Shelby's Asian sauce and rice/veggies
11/16/07 - Burgers
11/17/07 - Potato soup
11/18/07 - Grilled cheese sandwiches and leftover potato soup
11/19/07 - Chicken Sandwiches
11/20/07 - Microwave ravioli casserole
11/21/07 - Pork chops and homemade Mac & Cheese
11/22/07 - Thanksgiving, going out to my mom's, but I need to make my Baked Potato supreme casserole
11/23/07 - FFY (Fend For Yourself)
11/24/07 - Chicken and Dumplings
11/25/07 - Pot Roast
11/26/07 - Burritos
11/27/07 - Tuna Noodle Casserole
11/28/07 - Hot dogs, fries
11/29/07 - Homemade chili, with venison burger
11/30/07 - FFY
12/1/07 - Chicken with Shelby's Asian sauce, rice/veggies
12/2/07 - Beef Stew
12/3/07 - Steak, baked potatoes, salad
12/4/07 - Baked chicken with cream of mushroom soup and rice

So, there's my menu until R's next GI Bill check comes in. We'll see how well we stick to it.

Edit to add: Went grocery shopping for part of the menu, only bought what was on sale. Spent $96.00 on about $150 worth of groceries, left me with 26 items to buy except for milk and soda for the month. I waited until the ads for Albertson's and Safeway changed over, and 18 of the items I need for the rest of the menu is on sale, mostly for 1-2 dollars per unit. Finishing off the grocery shopping tomorrow night, will post the final tally for the month when I get home. That figure above doesn't include roomie's portion of the bill, if he helps with groceries this month.

Also, got the prescription for Chantix, and a "quit kit" from the doctor. I now have neon orange Playdoh. I miss how this stuff smells. 4 weeks until I start the Chantix, 5 weeks until my quit date.

Grocery Rockstar

So, I've done all of my grocery shopping for the month this week, except for having to buy milk, produce, you know, the stuff that does go bad after a while.

Here's how I did.

Tuesday - Went to both Albertson's and Safeway.

At Albertson's, I bought $204.80 worth of groceries. Spent $102.39, for a total savings of $102.41. Bought TONS of stuff, including 12 chicken breasts, which I have cut in half and frozen, and tons of breakfast stuff.

Hit Safeway after that, bought $22.32 worth of pork chops, milk, and cottage cheese. Actual spent was $15.17, so I saved $7.15. The pork chops are in the freezer, except for the ones that we've already eaten.

So, today, I hit Albertson's again, because they have their bottom rump roast on sale, buy one get one free. Whenever this sale hits, I always buy 2, and have one cut up into stew meat, which I separate and baggie up when I get home. When I got there, I picked up my two roasts (just about 3 pounds each), and headed over to the steak section, because they were supposed to have petite sirloins on sale. However, the buy one get one free sticker caught my eye. Eye of round steaks, 3 per package. So, for $6.45, I got 6 steaks. Then, I remember that we're out of dishwashing sponges. They are ALSO buy one get one free. All in all, I picked up 2 roasts, 2 packages of steaks, 1 case of Pepsi, 2 packages of sponges, 1 potato (already had 2, just needed one more for dinner), 1 gallon of milk, shredded cheddar cheese, and sour cream. Total SHOULD have come to $72.40, but I spent $41.42. Saved $30.98. The only things that weren't on sale were the potato and the milk.

So, for the month, we have $200.00 budgeted. We've spent $158.98. For everything I bought, it should have come to just shy of $300.

I ROCK!!

I imagine that the meat we have will last into next month, and all we'll have to buy to finish out the month is perishables. How awesome is that!?!?!?!