Tales from the grocery store

It's been a while since I categorized what we bought at the store (in this case, Costco), so I thought I would post it again. I'm training for a 1/2 marathon, so there are a few more high energy snack options mixed in this time around. We're also out of almost everything, & I'm hoping to stock the freezer with a few extra meals this weekend.

Household:
Laundry soap - $14.69
Body wash - $11.49
Total household spend (including tax) = $28.81
Total percentage of spend = 15%

Pantry items:
Rice - $5.49
Diced canned tomatoes - $5.93
Canned black beans - $5.79
8 pack of spaghetti noodles - $8.59
2 pack of tortellini - $9.39
Pickles - $3.89
Total pantry items = $39.08
Total percentage of spend = 20%

Bread items:
Two loaves of wheat bread - $3.99
Tortillas - $4.99
Whole wheat English muffins - $3.79
Total bread items = $12.77
Total percentage of spend = 7%

Dairy items:
Milk - $4.93
Romano cheese - $8.89
Fage yogurt - $12.49
Eggs - $3.85
Total dairy spend = $30.16
Total percentage of spend = 16%

Produce:
Clementines - $6.99
Pears - $3.99
Apples - $5.99
Honeydew melon - $3.99
Kiwi - $5.99
Pineapple - $2.99
Cucumbers - $2.99
Bananas x2 - $2.78
Mushrooms - $3.99
Lettuce - $3.49
Six pack of peppers - $5.49
Total produce spend = $48.68
Total percentage of budget =  25%

Snack items:
Nugo bars - $18.49
Cashews - $14.99
Total snack spend = $33.48
Total percentage of budget = 17%


Total spend = $192.98

Breakout of categories:

• Produce - 25%
• Pantry - 20%
• Snacks - 17%
• Dairy - 16%
• Household - 15%
• Bread - 7%

Both our pantry & snack categories are higher than normal, but the pantry is to be expected given my meal stock up. I'll have to keep any eye on our snack spending.

What about you? How have you been doing at the grocery store lately?

Tales from the grocery store

We hit Costco yesterday to do our weekly grocery run. Unfortunately, we were out of quite a bit of meat, which adds up so quickly.

Here's how the spending broke out:

Meat/Fish:
Hot Dogs - $12.95
Meatballs - $15.89
Chicken - $11.99
Fish (tilapia) - $14.99
Total meat/fish spend = $55.82, or 44% of the overall spend.

Snacks:
Dip - $6.99 I'm obsessed with using tzatziki sauce as a dip for my vegetables.
Total snack spend = $6.99, or 5% of the overall spend.

Produce:
Bananas - $1.39
Cucumber - $4.29
Pineapple - $2.99
Clementines - $5.99
6 peppers - $6.99
Onion - $3.29
Broccoli - $4.29
Grapes - $8.79
Total produce spend = $38.02, or 30% of the overall spend

Bread:
Tortillas - $4.99
Total bread spend = $4.99, or 4% of the overall spend

Dairy:
Greek yogurt - $6.99
Sliced cheddar cheese - $8.49
Milk - $5.13
Total dairy spend = $20.61, or 16% of the overall spend.

Although we're menu planning, and following our list, minimizing snacks, and trying to focus on whole/healthy foods (for the most part), we're still spending more than our budget. A few suggestions for myself for next time:

• Buy a brick of cheddar and slice it myself. I don't have a cheese slicer & am notoriously bad with cutting myself, so I'll likely invest in a slicer, but should save over the long run.
• I've tried making my own tzatziki sauce, but it's just not the same. Sticking with the store bought for now. The dip really gets me to eat additional servings of vegetables, so I'll keep it.
• I can make my own meatballs. Meatballs are one of the few proteins my four year old will eat, so he frequently eats that while the rest of us eat chicken. I'm going to experiment to see how long it takes me to make/prep a big batch. Meat is expensive, so not entirely sure how much we'll save, but I know it will be healthier.

Other suggestions for cutting back? How do you save money at the store?

Tales from the grocery store

M went to Costco yesterday, & here's what we ended up with. I swear, we go ALL the time, but we're always out of some type of produce. If we buy too much at once, it goes bad.

• $3.99 - minced garlic
• $3.79 - whole wheat English muffins
• $3.29x2 - honeydew
• $2.99 - pineapple
• $5.29 - pears. Unfortunately, M missed the unused bag we had in our downstairs fridge, so we'll be eating *a lot* of pears this week. :-)
• $5.99 - clementines
• $5.49 - two dozen bagels
• $9.79 - almonds. M's snack of choice.
• $1.39 - bananas
• $5.99 - torta rolls for weekend sandwiches

Total spent = $51.29

How about you? Any great grocery store runs, or are you paring down the list this week, post-Thanksgiving?

Your Grocery Bill Is Getting Higher

Did anyone happen to see this article about how the price of groceries is going up? I don't think this is terribly shocking information to anyone who regularly tracks their grocery spending, but I did find some of the specifics and forecasts interesting.

For example, food is projected to rise 4-5% this year, and another 2-3% next year. . .
Can I just say YIKES to a potential 8% rise in food costs over the next year? Holy smokes - that's a huge dent in any budget. And, it looks like beef (up 10% from last September) & produce have been impacted the most: "Fresh fruits and vegetables costs 7.6 percent more in September than a year earlier, while processed produce prices were up by 4 percent over that same period."

How will you adjust your grocery budget for 2012? Will you cut things out? Bake more snacks/breads at home? Cut down on produce or meat consumption?

I've been working on our 2012 budget, so this question is at the top of my mind. We don't buy too many snacks (Pirates Booty, Zbars for the kids before sports practices, the occasional bag of trail mix from Trader Joes, etc), but I will likely consider baking our own bread (learning how to successfully bake bread is going to be on my 2012 goal list after an utter failure in 2011 :-)). I've also started to cut out Crystal Light, both because I know it's artificial & not good for you, and because it's expensive. We've cut way down on our waste this year, so I need to keep that going & look for other creative ways to shave 10% percent off our bill in order to keep the dollar figure about the same as prices rise. . .

Tales from the Grocery Store

M went to Costco yesterday, & everything we bought was food. Here's what we ended up with. Total spent = $149.04.

Dairy - $23:

• $8.49 - Sliced cheddar cheese (used to make the kids' lunches)
• $4.69x2 - Organic eggs. We typically go through 4 eggs/breakfast, and I additionally use them for baking.
• $5.13 - Milk. The kids' primary beverage. They don't drink juice, so we only have water or milk for drink choices in the house.

Meat - $35.09:

• $17.21 - package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. We use these to barbecue in giant batches & use for quick meal preparation.
• $17.88 - package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Same purpose as above.

Snacks - $6.99:

• $6.99 - Pirate's Booty. Kids' lunches or snacks.

Produce $50.98-

• $8.49 - grapes. Snacks
• $3.49 - romaine lettuce. Salads with dinner.
• $3.99x2 - 3 pack of cucumbers. Salad with dinner, and my kids' absolute favorite snack - with a light sprinkle of salt.
• $4.39 - broccoli. Salads.
• $4.99 - roma tomatoes. Salads & on the occasion sandwich/burger. I love tomatoes.
• $1.39x2 - bananas. Breakfast.
• $6.99 - clementines. Snacks.
• $5.29 - pears. Breakfast/lunches/snacks.
• $3.29x2 - honeydew. Breakfast.

Random/Misc - $32.98:

• $22.99 - Olive oil, used in cooking.
• $9.99 - gingerbread house. Putting it together with the kids this weekend. :-)

Percentage breakdown by category (rounded):

• 34% - Produce
• 23% - Meat
• 22% - Random/Misc
• 15% - Dairy
• 4% - Snacks

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the category breakout. It seems we always need at least one stock up/random item, and I am always pleased to see produce as our top category. We buy meat fairly sporadically, but do typically eat it with all of our dinners.

Do you track your grocery spending? By category?

Tales from the grocery store

I generally try to recap what we purchase each week, because I always find it fascinating to see what you folks purchase. I will try & start taking pictures, but I keep forgetting!

M made a Costco run a few days ago, & here's what we ended up with. M spotted a few items that we've been looking for as Christmas gifts, so he picked them up. I also shop for my mom's Christmas gift for the boys, so we will be getting reimbursed for some of it. I'm irritated with myself, because I didn't notice that we had an unopened container of Roma tomatoes in our downstairs fridge. We didn't need the package M bought today, so waste of $4.99. We will definitely be eating a lot of tomatoes this week! Luckily, every one in the family is a tomato fan. ;-)

Produce:

• Tomatoes - $4.99
• Cucumber (3 pack) - $3.79
• Bananas (x2) - $2.78
• Plums - $5.99
• Pineapple - $2.99
• Gala apples - $5.99
• Pears - $5.29
• Honeydew melon - $3.29

Dairy:

• Milk - $4.29
• Organic eggs - $4.69

Christmas gifts:

• Lego Black Pearl Pirate ship - $79.99 (this will be my younger son's "big gift" from Santa)
• Casio Keyboard - $79.99 (this will be my older son's "big gift" from Santa)
• Lego Alien Ship - $49.99 (this will likely be my mom's gift for one of the boys)
• Erector set - $43.68 (this will likely be my mom's gift for one of the boys)

All told, we spent $318.11, with $47.18 spent on groceries & $270.93 on Christmas gifts. In excellent news, I'm done shopping for both of the kids & my husband!

Christmas shopping
For my older son, we got him: several games, a few books, a kids chess set, & his keyboard. For his stocking, we got him a few other books and a toy. For my younger soon, he'll be getting: games, a couple of drawing kits, the lego set, and for his stocking: a few books & a toy. I feel like it's the right balance of fun stuff, practical items (they LOVE books & games), and the right amount of presents for a 4 & 5 year old. (Keep in mind they get plenty of gifts from other family members.)

I also figured out what to get my husband (a running jacket + a watch for running). Practical, but fun little splurges. And, I know he's been coveting this particular Under Armour running jacket, so I found both items online for a great deal & ordered them. Yeah!

Goals for today:
I did work out for 60 minutes yesterday, which made me feel amazing. I also ate well (1500 calories and lots of healthy food choices). The mini daily goals really helped, so here's what's on my list for today.

• Call about an appeal on our tax assessment
• Schedule an appointment for a (free!) massage
• 60 minutes of cardio today
• Arms strength training
• Clean the fridge
• Finish another development project at work
• Hopefully receive the final numbers for our refinance and closing for our vacation house
• 1500 calories or less!

Tales from the grocery store

Or, tales from Costco, rather.

It feels like we were out of a lot on this trip & had to stock up, but I swear it's like that every week. Not the same items, but this week we were out of various cheeses, tortillas, pancake mix, and picked up candy for Halloween. It's always something. :-)

Here's what we got:

Dry goods/snacks:

• Pancake mix - $6.45
• Candy - $12.89
• Z Bars (like Clif Bars, for kids) - $10.79

Bread - $21.46:

• Bagel thins - $5.99
• Bagels - $5.49
• Tortillas - $4.99
• Two loaves of Italian bread - $4.99

Dairy - $29.81:

• Goat cheese - $6.29
• Eggs - $4.69
• Brick of sharp cheddar cheese - $9.59
• Brick of mozzarella - $4.95
• Milk - $4.29

Produce - $45.61:

• Pineapple - $2.99
• Oranges - $9.99
• Bananas (x2) - $2.78
• 3 pack of cucumbers - $3.29
• Roma tomatoes - $4.49
• Fresh cranberries - $4.99
• Brussel sprouts - $4.79
• Grapes - $6.79
• Apples - $9.99

Total = $131.50

Evaluation of the shop:
We did end up with two unnecessary items. My husband (M) is in love with crostini, and picked up more bread & goat cheese for this weekend, even though it wasn't on the list. (We had both items at home.)

I'm realizing that we spend more than I expected on bread. I always think of bread as a time consuming process, and not something I can take on right now. Am I right, or lazy? Is it something you can quickly whip out? I would love quick & easy recipes!

We needed a bunch of cheese (and actually, M forgot to pick up an additional kind that we needed). I'm in charge of soccer snacks this week, am bringing two casseroles to a family event, and I need to make snacks for two Halloween parties next week, so this is around where I thought it would be.

I buy as many fresh cranberries as I have room for, freeze them in individual serving bags, & use them year round to make Fresh Cranberry Muffins. Swoon.

Please share your favorite/easy/quick/beginner bread recipes! I'd love to eliminate or reduce some of these costs!

Groceries

Oh my, have grocery prices gone up lately! We eat out fairly rarely, and plan most of our meals. Our grocery budget is generous ($600/month), and that includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks for 2 adults and two kids. We eat A TON of produce. Seriously, a ton. We do most of our grocery shopping at Costco, as we can easily go through large quantities of produce. :-) I also try to menu plan, and bring my lunch to work most days, I pack lunches for the kids.

The husband ("M") is the only with a varied lunch schedule. He frequently has work events where lunch is catered, but I'm considering packing his lunch a few days a week. He doesn't spend much when he eats out, but I think he'd prefer a healthier lunch from home. We'll see how that works. :-)

I do try and batch cook, double recipes & freeze the other half, and we barbecue 15-20 pounds of chicken every other month or so and freeze it for recipes. I love having the chicken in the freezer for quick casserole additions, etc.

Here's our current menu plan:

Dinner Menu:

·         Tuesday – 10/18 – Leftover tomato/goat cheese pasta + spinach salad

·         Wednesday – 10/19 – Beef & cheese manicotti

·         Thursday – 10/20 – Tomato paella (freezer) + barbecued chicken (freezer)

·         Friday – 10/21 –  Leftover manicotti

·         Saturday – 10/22 – Anniversary dinner - out!

·         Sunday – 10/23 – Lubia polo (freezer)

·         Monday – 10/24 – Baked ziti (freezer)

·         Tuesday – 10/25 - Cordon bleu & tomato paella (freezer) + crostini

·         Wednesday – 10/26 - Giada chicken pastina (Freezer) + spinach salad

·         Thursday – 10/27 – Leftover Giada pastina

·         Friday – 10/28 - Fiesta chicken

·         Saturday – 10/29 – Visiting family, I am bringing a pasta dish that's in the freezer

·         Sunday – 10/30 - Leftover fiesta chicken

·         Monday – 10/31 – Baked Ziti (freezer)

I try to plan our meals two weeks out, and rotate through what's in our freezer. Our freezer is currently stuffed, so you'll see more freezer meals than normal on the list as I try to empty it out. :-)