If you’ve been around these parts for a while now, you might remember the little debacle I had with grocery shopping around February of this year. As a new wife, I had absolutely no idea what kind of grocery budget I should have, if I should even have one, or if I should throw all cooking plans out the window and order take out every day for the rest of my life. Feel free to get yourself acclimated to the Grocery Shopping Blues series here.
To bring you up to speed, I figured out that a $300 a month grocery budget works best for the Husband and me. It allows us to get the necessities as well as splurge every once in a while on things we might not necessarily “need”. When I first started my shopping excursions, I would buy only what I needed for that week. What I found was that was not working for me at all. I like options and have not been meal planning as religiously as I was in the past, so I many times will cook on the fly depending on the time I get home from work or what I am in the mood to eat that night.
Instead of buying just what I need for that week, I have been doing a larger “front loaded” grocery shopping trip in the beginning of the month, stocking up on dry and canned goods, and crossing my fingers I will only have to go to the store for things such as produce for a few weeks.
This weekend, I made my first large purchase for the month of November (even though it was still October — shhh) and ended up spending a pretty penny. I went to three places for my groceries — the farmer’s market, Trader Joe’s, and Costco.
I was a little sad going to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday knowing it was the last week this fall it would be open. I tried to stock up on my favorite squashes (squash? can someone give me the plural form here?) as they keep for a really long time and they were fairly cheap. I ended up spending $21 at the farmer’s market and bought the following:
- 2 five pound butternut squash ($2 each!)
- 3 acorn squash ($2)
- 4 sweet potatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 4 broccoli crowns
- 4 carrots
- pint of baby portabella mushrooms
- red potatoes
- 2 onions
When I went to Trader Joe’s, I wasn’t expecting to get as much as I did, but I guess we were out of a lot of necessities. I had to stock up on items such as almond/soy milk, vegetable broth, canned beans (dry beans are just too much work these days — too much planning needed), coffee, etc.
I also hadn’t bought any meat for the Husband in a month or so (he’s been living off some reserves in the freezer), so I figured I should be a nice wife and cook some for my omnivore husband. All the groceries from Trader Joe’s was $72.
My last stop for groceries was Costco. My mom graciously lets me borrow her card whenever I need it! I needed to stock up on a lot of items the Husband regularly eats — lunchmeat, cheese, potato chips, and wraps — as well as a few staples for me, Greek yogurt and hummus.
My trip to Costco resulted in $48, bringing my grand total for groceries at $141.
And I am not freaking out that I almost spent half of my grocery budget for the month. I know I won’t need a lot of restocking in the next few weeks, and our Fall CSA is beginning in the next week, which will keep buying produce at a minimum. I’d be surprised if I spend more than $30 at the store within the next week or so.
I feel like I’ve finally gotten into some sort of rhythm with grocery shopping on a budget — and hey! It only took me 15 months to get there. I’m doing good.
Question: Do you have any grocery shopping tactics or do you just get whatever kinds of food you want? Do you shop on a budget?
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