Thursday, August 2, 2012

Monthly Grocery Shopping in Pictures!

   I have blogged in the past about how I only shop once a month.  I have been asked a lot of questions but one people keep saying is "I would love to see that".  Well, here you go.

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Groceries on the bed
     This may not look like a lot of groceries but mind you, this is a KING sized bed and it is full from side-to-side and end-to-end.  I drive an older Mercury Sable and my trunk and back seat were full and I had to call my mother-in-law to meet us at the store because I had no more room in my car.  We filled up her trunk also.  I usually am not able to get this much but I found a LOT of sales.  I spent the exact same as always but got more (We live on a strict budget).

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Baking supplies

     These are the baking supplies I buy for a month.  Some months I buy more of one thing and other month's I buy less.  I actually ran out of brown sugar and powdered sugar last month so I bought 2 bags a piece this month.  I also bought a 25 lb. bag of flour and a 25 lb. bag of sugar this month.  Again, I usually do not buy that much but after all the good sales I found, I had extra money and I like to stock up when I can.


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Cabbage and leaf lettuce.

    I know that looks like very little produce but we do have a garden.  We also do our own canning and dehydrating so we did not buy much produce this month.


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Canned goods
    This is the canned goods we bought this month.  That is mainly soups, etc.  I did not buy any canned veggies this month.  I could not find any on sale and we have plenty still on the shelves.  If I had found some on sale, regardless of how many I had back stocked, I would have bought more.

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Cereal
     We bought a total of 7 boxes of cereal.  I have one little one that does not eat omelets, breakfast burritos, breakfast quinoa, etc. so he eats a lot of cereal for breakfast instead.  Please do not write me and complain about the sugary cereals I purchased.  We try to eat healthy but if he won't eat it, I am not going to waste my money.


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Cheese
     There are 2 bags of mozzarella shredded cheese and 6 bags of shredded cheddar cheese and one pkg. of sliced cheese.  We use a lot of cheese in the baking that I do.  Cheese makes everything better.  :-)   I have at least 5 other packages of shredded cheddar already in my freezer because last month they had them 50 cents a bag (yes, you read that right) and I bought a BUNCH!


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Potato Chips
    Again, I know potato chips are not the healthiest thing to buy but we do not eat them as a snack.  I have MS and we eat soup and sandwiches for one meal a day and I let everyone have potato chips with their sandwiches.  I bought 6 bags to last the month.


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Crackers...
     We do eat a lot of soup, yes, even in the summertime so we need crackers.  I bought 4 boxes of regular crackers and the oyster crackers are for when I cook chili.


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French fries and hashbrowns
      I use hashbrowns in a breakfast casserole and the french fries in a supper time casserole.



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The meats
     This is the meat I bought for the month.  Four packages of lunchmeat for our sandwiches.  Two whole chickens, lots of round steak (we make steak fingers, etc.), it was on sale.  I bought those packages you see on the left middle for $2.00 or less a package.  Three packages of sausage (on sale for $1.98 a pkg.) and misc. other things.  The corn dogs were an added purchase because of all the sales I could buy a treat for the family.


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Kraft Macaroni and Cheese
    Yes, I bought a lot.  Fifty-four boxes in fact.  They had these on sale again this month for 3 boxes for $1.00.  How can I pass that up?!  Add them to the ones we bought last month and did not eat all of we now have 92 boxes of the stuff.  They taste good and make a great side dish.  If we eat one a day, then we have enough for the next three months.  Good shopping I think.  (Yes, the store still had plenty when I left.  As I already said, they had these on sale since last month so people have had sufficient time to buy some if they wanted some).  Normally even generic brand costs 2 for a $1.00 so this is an awesome purchase.


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Juice
     Five bottles of juice and 2 things of grapefruit juice.  I normally don't buy grapefruit juice but these were on sale for 50 cents each.  Naturally, I bought 2 of them.  Not our favorite to drink but a coffee cup size for breakfast will be a nice change. I give my boys one glass of juice a day so these should last a month.


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Milk
     We normally do not buy soy milk but the store had these on sale for 50 cents a piece.  They are one quart size so basically just $2.00 a gallon.  WAY cheaper than regular milk.  Even if everyone in the house does not like the taste, I can still use it in cooking, etc.  There were actually 3 more of the Silk Milk that is not pictured here.  So I bought a total of four gallons.  We freeze our milk to last the month.  I have 2 more boxes of milk still from last month, another gallon in the refrigerator and 2 more in the freezer.  We also keep powdered milk on hand in case of emergencies.


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Misc. stuff
    This is a shot of misc. items.  Peanut butter, creamer, spices, beans, etc.  You get the idea.


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Potatoes
    We are Southerners and love our taters.  The smaller bags of small, new potatoes were on sale for 99 cents a bag.  I still have 5 lbs. of potatoes left over from last month.  We did not get too many taters from the garden this year so have to supplement it.


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Rice and quinoa
     A 5 lb. bag of rice and a bag of quinoa.  We use rice for burritos, side dishes, breakfast, etc.  The quinoa  I use to make breakfast quinoa.


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Ronny and Scooby Snacks
   My son was THRILLED that I bought him a box of "Scooby" snacks.  We had a little extra and he helped so much at the store I couldn't deny him this purchase.

   BTW, I realize that this is a lot of processed food but I am disabled (with MS) and am currently not able to make my own bread and cook properly.  If and when my health improves, I will go back to buying things differently.  Please refrain from harsh comments...

    Thanks for allowing me to share with you!

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27 comments:

  1. where in the world did you find a store with these sales???

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    1. Our local Mom & Pop grocery store called "Kimball's". I know you can't always find deals like this but I do get really good deals at Wal-mart every month too. That is where I generally shop is Walmart but it is 45 minutes away from where we live and I have a bad tire so I just stayed in town this month.

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  2. Great shopping Melody. I thought I was a good shopper but you are definitely the best I have ever seen. Well done.

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    1. Thank you. I do not always do this good on so many things. My hubby and best friend always remark that I always show up to stores/garage sales, etc. at the perfect time and have a nose to find deals. I appreciate you stopping by....
      Melody

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  3. We usually shop at the local Walmart and Harps ( next-door to each other) and we shop for a month at a time too. This month however we went to the bigger walmart about 45 minutes or an hour away, they had so many more choices especially in fruit and veggies. However, we are now running on a bare frig and cabinets and still a week away. I think the prices are just enough higher there that it really hurt us. We spend the same amount on food every month as well. However with 5 kids and two of us I am sure it is a lot more than you do. We have a Suburban and end up packing it like you said your car was and the kids hold things as well as the adult passenger. I love finding sales like that my husband thinks i am crazy because I will make a list every month and menu for the month but when I find something on sale like you did the mac n cheese I change thing on the list and buy a butt-load like you :-) I cannot wait for my garden, poultry, and rabbits next year as to not have to buy as much anymore. This was a really cool posting and I found it interesting to see what we do the same lol.

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    1. Kaci, thanks for your comments. We are incorporating rabbits this fall ourselves. The price of meat and other things are getting outrageous. I love to hear about others doing similar things to us. Affirms that we are on the right track! :-)
      Hugs,
      Melody

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  4. Wow, that's alot of shopping. What is your monthly budget and do you always stick to it? What types of veg do you grow? We have peppers, tomatoes, rhubarb,onions, raspberries, apples and various herbs. I wish we had a bigger plot of land to grow more.We budget $190 a month for 2 adults. Cheers Mr.CBB

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  5. Incredible! I'm thoroughly amazed and humbled. I go once a week and probably overspend. I'm trying to do better though. You've inspired me!

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    1. That is awesome. Little steps and little changes make a big difference!

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  6. WOW! You are amazing! Sadly I can't get most of what you buy due to a low-sodium diet (heart condition) so we stick with less processed foods, but I can still get good deals. Like your family, we eat a lot of cheese! The deals you got were amazing though. Wish we had a yard to grow a garden for the fresh produce. Have you thought about saving for a juicer or bread machine? I make my own juice and find it to be so much better tasting than store bought. You can grow many fruits and veggies to juice, which helps with cost. As for the bread, I love home-made bread but don't have the energy to make it so use a machine. Thanks for being so inspirational!

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    1. I used to have a bread machine but I prefer to make my own homemade bread. I have a very easy recipe that allows me to make 2 loaves in an hour. Check my recipe page for the recipe.. Have you ever thought about doing a container garden or at least growing herbs on your windowsill? That is an option you may want to look into.

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  7. You are a talented shopper:) I shop at our dollar general but sometimes Walmart has better buys, so I shop between the two of them, but the bulk of grocery shopping is done at Aldi's. We have a garden and can quite a lot of our produce when it is a good year. This year we were in a drought so I bought green beans and other veggies when they were on sale. You're right...when it's on sale, you gotta grab it cause when we need it, it will be full price.
    I am canning pears from my Mother-in-laws tree this afternoon. We like them with cinnamon and redhot candies. They turn out such a pretty shade of pink and cinnamony...is that a word? My kids love them this way. Thankful to God for all his blessings. Hope you feel better soon...will keep you in my prayers. You are so "real" and I look forward to reading your blog. You inspire me:)

    Tammy:)

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    1. Tammy, I hardly shop at Dollar General any more. It seems when they were bought out, their prices really increased. At least around here. The drought really hurt our garden too. It was a poor producing year and we didn't get a single peach off of our tree. :-(
      I really appreciate your comments and prayers.
      God bless,
      Melody

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  8. This was a great trip! The benefit of living in a city area is that everything is really close so I don't have to drive 45 minutes to get groceries like I had to when I was growing up. The bad thing is that means that you can go to the store whenever you need something. I do try to limit it to a list and do a lot of couponing so that I keep my monthly grocery budget to $160 per month. That is a great haul and I am sure that it kept you going for the month!!

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  9. Looks like a great shopping day.I shop 2x a month and I also look for deals like it's a game and I like to win.Your right the deals are out there you just have to look.Just found your site,great site hope to learn new tricks to saving.

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    1. I appreciate it and hope you find more things that are useful here!

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  10. Goodness, you should not think you have to defend your shopping habits. I think it's awesome. I am trying to be frugal, too, so your monthly shopping list is encouraging. It's hard to do where we live right now (Germany until summer) but I will use those tips when we move back to the US for sure. Thank you!

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  11. Great job.. [Bty... I don't think your grocery shopping implies you are not eating healthy... You bought basic things..and we ALL by the occasional snack.. nothing wrong with that]
    I try to stock my pantry and freezer, when I find things on sale.. I hate to pay regular price for things.. I also comp ad [price matching] at wal mart.. This really helps me to not have to go to a lot of different stores.. But still, I occasionally will stop at a store and get things that are on sale...while I am in town..
    Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips.. I try to read blogs to help me..My kids are grown and gone..But hubby and I are living on retirement now..Not like our payroll checks were.ha

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    1. Thank you Judy. Sounds like you have it figured out which is good.

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  12. What an interesting read! You shop the way my mother and grandmother used to shop although I know they went more frequently than once a month. You are right, there is quite a bit of processed food in there but you have explained that and heck! sometimes it's difficult to avoid it, especially with picky kids. I agree that sometimes it's not worth the battle. Kudos to you and your family.

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  13. What's up, just wanted to mention, I loved this article.
    It was practical. Keep on posting!

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