Grocery Update

I've done both good and bad with my grocery shopping and budgeting. 

Bad because I still haven't kept track of how much groceries are costing us weekly.

Good because I have made changes for the better.

One of the biggest changes is shopping mainly from the sales flyer each week and stocking up on the loss leaders. Eggs were on sale for 99 cents a dozen so I got 4 dozen. Butter was $1.29 (or was it $1.59? Either way, it was cheap!) so I got the limit of two. When it's a good deal, I'm grabbing and stocking up on several to last us until the next sale.

The biggest change for us is that we make a few trips a month to the local Amish salvage store. What is that, you ask? When a grocery store has items damaged in shipping (dented cans and boxes) or close to expiration dates they often send them to "salvage" where businesses can buy large boxes often by the pound and resell them. While you have to watch closely for the expiration dates (I don't mind a month or two expired as "best buy" dates are often just suggestions) the deals there can not be beat.

The nice thing about this store is that items come from all over the country, so you can find things that you can't buy anywhere locally. You never know what you will find so if there is something awesome I grab them all! 

For example, my last shopping trip netted:

*R.W. Knudsen Organic Blueberry Pomegranate Juice for 75 cents a bottle. I know that our local health food store sells this brand for over $4 a bottle. The expiration date is not until 2016 so I bought all 8 bottles they had.

*A 12 bar package of Clif Kid Z organic brownie Bars for 75 cents. Expiration date of Sept 2015 and the box just slightly dented.

*Celestial Tea boxes. These are "holiday flavors" such as Sugar Plum Spice and Pumpkin Spice. They don't expire until 2016. I bought all the boxes they had, probably 10 in total for 50 cents each. 

*Deliciously Organic Better Baking Blend (Coconut and Cane Sugar). Doesn't expire until July and was just 50 cents for a pound of it. I bought the two bags they had.

*Annie's Organic whole wheat shells and extra cheesy cheddar sauce. 75 cents a box and expired a month. My kids like mac and cheese for lunch sometimes so I bought all 10 boxes they had. These sell for over $2 a box at the store. I think more like $3 since they are the creamy deluxe version.

*Starbucks and Green Mountain Ground Coffee for $3 and $2.50 a bag.

This is just a sampling of what I have bought there. For example...I have chicken in the crockpot for supper and topped it with a jar of natural salsa I bought there for 65 cents. I will add in the Zataran's Red Beans and Rice mix that I bought for 30 cents a box. It will be rolled into a tortilla and topped with cheese for a very inexpensive supper.

Next step is to keep track of my weekly spending. We shall see how that goes! ;)