Decided to go out on Saturday, even though it was miserable and raining and get a few things. I needed litter so I had to stop at Acme, something I rarely do.

Acme

5 bags of Quaker rice cakes $1.00 each - $1.00 q's = Free

Total = Zero

SuperFresh was having a sale I had never seen before, they will double up to 5 $1.00 coupons per visit. So that means $2.00 off an item. I used that to get some cheap frozen veggies we needed.

SuperFresh
10 Hanover frozen vegetable bags 2 for $3.00 = $1.00 off 2 q's doubled = .50 each
3 pks of ground chicken $1.49 each (manager's special)
1 pk of 4 beef eye round steaks $3.15 (manager's special)
1 pk of beef chuck roast $2.91
1 pk of chicken legs $1.37

Total$16.90

Then I had to hit the product market. I had deprived my husband long enough of oranges. He loves them. I also got some lunchmeat, as my man started school last week and he needs something to eat for the two days he is there way past dinner.

Vercchio's
3 bags of oranges
1 bag of potatoes
1/2 lb of ham
1/2 lb of American cheese
1 bag of celery hearts

Total $12.14


Stopped at ShopRite on Sunday to use up the last of our budget.

ShopRite
4 bags of rice $1.00 each
4 cans of Spot Shot $1.99 - .55 q's = .99 each
1 Frigo string cheese $3.49
2 Taylor pork rolls $1.49 each
1 Turkey Hill ice cream $2.74 - $1.00 q = $1.74
2 boxes of pancake mix $1.49 each
1 Cascade rinse FREE with coupon in mail

Total $19.30

Total budget $48.34. Under budget is good.

Gayle, who has a great website call The Grocery Cart Challenge, was the original inspiration to me to try a budget with my grocery shopping. Please check out her site, to see how she does it and how some others who also have decided to try her challenge.

Every few weeks I hit our local produce market and stock up on all kinds of veggies and some fruits. I chop most up into bite size pieces and freeze them for future recipes. I feel very fortunate to have places like this nearby and at such good prices. My brother moved away for a year and both places he lived in that time he said said fruits and veggies were so expensive and they had no good produce markets. He is really happy to be back to get those bargains.

So my husband and I stopped by our market this morning.

Vercchio's

1 bag of green beans
2 bags of bananas
1 bag of jalapeno peppers
1 small bag of garlic
2 bunches of scallions
1 bunch of asparagus
1 bag of oranges
3 bags of carrots
2 bags of celery
1 bag of onions
1 bag of green peppers
1 bag of potatoes
1 thing of ginger

Total $23.25

Then later I stopped by Acme when I found they were having a sale on Edy's. If you go on Acme's website and register your savings card you can get additional savings added to the card. Its called Avenue. Sometimes the extra savings are on top of items already on sale.

Acme

5 Edy's ice creams 3 for $10.00 - $2.00 each on Avenue savings. = $1.33 each!!!!

My limit on the Avenue deal was 5. But if it is still on there in the morning I can go for another trip.

And their sugar was on sale too and we were completely out. I know still not a cheap as it was on Thanksgiving. But that is something I learned the hard way.

3 bags of sugar $1.99 each

Total $12.62.

ShopRite was having what I would call a breakfast sale. Sale on eggs, OJ, bacon and coffee. I have enough coffee on stock, so I decided to stock up on the rest with the money left in the budget.

ShopRite

4 dozen Egglands' Best $1.49 - .35q's = .79 each

4 cartons of orange juice $1.49 each

2 packages of bacon $1.49 each

1 Ocean Spray juice $1.69 - .55q = .69

1 Crab Classic $1.74 - $1.00q = .74

2 Butterball turkey bacon $1.49 - $1.00q = .49 each

1 Colonna parmesan $1.49

6 Colgate toothpastes .99 - $1.00q = FREE

1 Rotisserie chicken $4.99

4 Geno's pizza's .99 each

Total $25.67

Total $61.54, whoops, went over budget quite a little bit. I seem to do much better when I stick to one store only. But I did get plenty of veggies to last us a while.

My Saturday started off at Acme. I know, I have said before I try not to go there. But that darn Acme had two good cereal deals in two weeks. And I take dry cereal with me every day to work as my 3pm snack. So stocking up on this cheap makes my lunch packing really easy. This time they had selected Kellogg's cereals 6 for $1.50 each. There are Kellogg's coupons for $1.00 off selected cereals.

3 Crispix cereals
3 Frosted Mini Wheats

Total after Acme deal and coupons $3.00

Off to SuperFresh, which I have to say has the nicest cashiers on the planet. Had to throw that in. This week, cheap ham, and cheap Eggo's.

3 boxes of Eggos = $5.00 - .75 q's (SuperFresh really doubles) = .50 for 3 boxes
1 ham = $4.49
2 Ronzoni pastas = .79 each

Total $5.78

Oh I wish my freezer was in already, I would have stocked up big time on the ham's and Eggo's. Oh well, no room for now.

I thought my shopping for Saturday was done. But then I went out with my father to help him get some of his holiday gifts and he had to stop by Aldi to get my mom milk. So I couldn't resist grabbing a few things we needed.

2 dozen eggs $2.70
11 canned items (baked beans, corn, peas, carrots, tomatoes with chilies)

Total $8.39

Needed the canned veggies to make a good soup tonight.

Woke up Sunday morning early to find everything outside was coated with sheet of ice on it. Fun. My husband went shopping with me this morning as we also had to get our ingredients for our Christmas dinner. We are having 5 people over, so I gave him his own separate budget just to make his fancy dinner he likes to make. He loves to cook and didn't find my normal food I get to be good enough for the holidays (you pick and choose your battles in marriage). So what you see above is our normal food budget for the week minus the Xmas dinner and the nights of eating that for leftovers, so that is why I didn't buy much meat or dinner stuff. Just got a few things we needed.

After we scraped off the car and got to the store, this is what I got.

1 bag of 9 Lives cat food = $4.69 but FREE for me with a Free coupon I got in the mail.
2 Glade oil candles = $2.49 - $2.50 Q's in paper so FREE
2 OJ's = $3.54
1 container of beef bouillon cubes $1.39
1 container of chicken bouillon cubes $1.39
2 Martinson's coffee $1.99 - $1.00 q's = $1.98 for both
2 Edy's = $2.74 - $1.00 off 2 q's = $4.48 for both
1 Rotisserie chicken $5.71 ( I get this for my dog, long story)
5 Ramen noodle packs $1.00 (my husband insisted on these for his lunch)
2 cans green chilli's $1.29 each = $2.58
1 Reynold's aluminum foil $3.19 - $1.00 q' = $2.19

Total $24.26


Final total $41.43. So under my budget. But again keep in mind we had a separate budget for our Christmas dinner food this week. So that is why I took it easy on the regular food.

This is the first of my weekly "Grocery Shopping In Budget" segment. I decided to post each of my weekly shopping trips to show you what I get for my budget.

Since we started our more frugal living we have cut our grocery budget to $50 a week, this is for two adults. We could possibly do it even lower but this is enough for us to build up a nice stock so maybe some weeks in the future I may not even need that much. And considering we don't really go out to eat anymore, we needs lots of snacks and stuff for lunches at work and dinner.

My grocery shopping schedule is mostly done on the weekends. I would love to go on a nice quiet Wednesday at 10am when no one is there. But I can't. I work Monday through Friday, getting up at 4:30am to exercise before going to work and not getting home until 6pm at night. So when I do go on the weekends I try to go as early in the morning as I can to avoid the crowds. Every week on Sunday morning I go to ShopRite for some staples and if they have any good sales. I find that ShopRite is the cheapest grocery store in our area. So I make them the main stop on my schedule.

Saturday morning I pick what other store I feel would fill in the gaps in my stockpile for that week. Sometimes its Dollar Tree for its cheap rice, jars of peppers, and cake mix, sometimes its SuperFresh if they are having triple coupons or if I need to stock up on meat. Superfresh has the greatest manager's meat specials. Sometimes it is the produce market to stock up on cheap veggies and fruits. Every once in a while I may go to Aldi's if I need canned goods or cheap Mexican food components, and also every once in a blue moon its Acme, if they have a good deal, but I don't go there too often, too expensive.

You all hit me on an unusual week. I actually stopped by Acme on Friday night because I read there was a great deal on frosting and Chex mix.


6 tubs Betty Crocker frosting 6 for $6.00 - .50 q's doubled = FREE
5 bags of Chex Mix 5 for $5.00 - .50 q's doubled = FREE

Total cost of trip = $0.00 (can't get better than that)

Saturday morning I went to SuperFresh first, as I actually had a pinch bit of room in my tiny freezer and decided to fill it with a few meats. Some okay deals.

3 lbs ground beef $5.09
1 package of 14 chicken drumsticks $3.38
1 packages of Chorizo sausage (manager's special) $1.99 each = $3.98

Total = $12.45

After SuperFresh I ran over to Aldi's. Its about a 10 minute trip but I think it was worth it today.
I hadn't been there in a while, and surprisingly on a Saturday it wasn't busy at all. My husband and I are huge Mexican food fans. So I was very happy with the Mexican staples they had and the prices they were at.

Cannot find my receipt. Its in my box somewhere but I can list what I got and the total.

1 bag of Tater Tots (found lots of good recipes for this, and I just like them, so nah nah nah)
1 bag of pinto beans
2 frozen Mexican dinners (good for lunches for the man)
1 dozen eggs (the cheapest I have seen them)
1 jar of honey (we were completely out of it)
2 cans of chili beans
3 cans refried beans
2 cans corn
1 can peas (I absolutely HATE peas, but I have a few recipes that ask for them, so I gave in)
2 boxes of corn dogs (more treats for the husband)
6 boxes of cornbread

Total $24.70

And then lastly on Sunday I hit ShopRite as usual. In the last few weeks I have spent under $20.00 at ShopRite, just getting a few things to wrap up our meals. But this week they had a few things I couldn't pass up.

Milk $2.19
2 gallons Turkey Hill Ice Cream $2.74 - $1.00 off 2 q = $2.24 each
4 packages Farmland Bacon $1.69 each (no q's for this boo hoo, but still the cheapest in a long time and we had no bacon on stock)
Lemon juice .99
2 containers of Daisy sour cream $1.29 each - .50 q's doubled = .29 each
1 Dole salad = FREE with coupon I won on a game on the Dole website
2 bags of Utz cheese curls (my husband's addiction) = .89 each
2 bags of Domini brown sugar $1.59 - .50 q's doubled = .59 each
4 GUM toothbrushes .99 each = .75 q's doubled = FREE
1 Rotisserie chicken $4.99

Total = $23.99


Total spent for this week = $61.14

Of course the first time I put my whole shopping budget on the blog, I go over my budget. Last week I was $10.00 under, but did I post that, of course not. Oh well. That means I have to behave myself a little next week. But I did get alot of stuff to stock up on. And this is a world of a difference compared to what I used to spend on groceries for just two people.

Also we do have a alot of fresh veggies and fruits frozen in our freezer that we eat all the time, so I don't want you all to think we eat just junk all the time. But I did notice we needed some snacks to keep hubby happy.