I went grocery shopping this morning (Saturday morning) because I wanted to check out one of our local Farmer's Markets. I've been wanting to go for some time now and finally decided that today was the day. Liam was pretty excited about it because one of his favorite books is about a little fox who has to go to the market for her mother to buy vegetables. So she takes her little red wagon and pulls all of the vegetables in her wagon. I've read it to Liam a least a thousand times. So he was excited to go. I was worried the prices would be really high but I was surprised to find that most of the prices were very close to what I normally pay at Kroger. And because they were locally grown without all the nasty chemicals on them, I was happy to pay a little more.
Most of the stands that were selling fruit though were all priced way too high for my budget and I had to pass on them. I was able to buy a cantaloupe though because it was only $3 which is a good price. I wanted some peaches but they were charging $5 for about six peaches and there was just no way I could spend that much. A lady that was standing next to me must have overheard me telling my Mom that I couldn't afford them because she came over to me a few minutes later and handed me a bag with a few peaches in it and said that the peaches there were so good she just really wanted me to have a few to try so she bought me some! It was such a sweet thing for her to do!
One of the stands had soaps...amazing, wonderful smelling soaps. They were made mostly from goats milk and honey. I had to buy two bars. Liam loves smelling soaps and candles so he was really excited about that part of the market as well. He actually told me before he went to bed that "the soaps" were his favorite part of his whole day today. Such a simple little thing to make him happy :)
Here is what we ended up buying at the market:
Cantaloupe $3
Onions $3/pound
Peaches - Free
Corn $50/each
(I haven't bought corn since I started THM, but Liam & Ruy have been begging me for corn so I got it for them)
Basil
(I honestly forgot to check how much this was. My mom grabbed it and I didn't look at the price. It smelled amazing though so that's what I was thinking about apparently)
Cucumber $75/each
Tomatoes $3/pound
Total came to $20.50
Soaps $5/each
Total $10
After the market we headed out to Sam's Club. Here is what we bought there:
1 container strawberries $2.98
1 box spinach $4.48
2% cottage cheese $3.38
Maple Syrup $12.98
Bananas $1.39
Heavy Cream $3.82
Mozzarella Cheese $10.69
18 ct eggs $2.78
(I won't have a chance to get our fresh eggs until Monday so I bought some eggs just in case I needed some over the weekend. We went through 50 eggs last week!)
Total after tax $43.56
And then we went to Kroger...are you exhausted yet because I certainly was by this point! :) I actually had to keep stopping and bending over because I kept getting so dizzy and lightheaded. The lady at the cash register was very concerned for me and thought I was going to have the baby soon. Not yet...three more months to go!
Here is what we got at Kroger:
2 jars of all natural peanut butter $1.79 each
2 boxes of Dreamfields pasta $2.69 each
Whole wheat flour $2.59
1 jar of pizza sauce $.99
1 container of cupcake liners $.99
1 gallon skim milk $2.18
1 gallon whole milk $2.71
2 bags frozen cauliflower $.77 each
5 boxes of cream cheese $1.00 each
1 bag clementines $5.99
2.92 lbs of peaches $2.88
3.43 lbs of gala apples $3.40
2 lbs of plums $3.36
1.10 lbs of grapes $2.19
Total after tax $44.35
And then earlier this week I had to go to Wal-mart to get a few cleaning supplies. I am making the switch over to using vinegar & tea tree soap for my main cleaning supplies instead of all the other things I usually buy. I'm pretty tired of worrying about my kids getting hurt if they swallow any of the nasty chemicals that are in most cleaning supplies. I'll do a post on that whole subject later though :)
Here is what I bought at Wal-mart:
I lost my receipt over the course of three days so these prices aren't to the penny but it's pretty close.
Vinegar $3
Spray Bottles $1/each
Sponges $3
(these did not work well for what I needed and I'm sad I spent the money on them)
Miracle Cleaning Eraser $3
Utility Clothes $3
Total with tax about $20
Ok so now how did I do with sticking to my budgets???
Well I had $23 leftover for the house items budget from last week. I spend $20 & $10 at the market on soaps so I went a little over my monthly budget of $100. My $100 starts back over next weekend when I go grocery shopping.
My grocery budget is $125/week
$44.35 at Kroger
$20.50 at the Market
$43.56 at Sam's Club
Total $108.41
I did really well with staying under budget again on the weekly spending so I don't feel too bad for going over a little on the house items budget.
If you want to see my previous shopping trips and spending breakdowns, you can go to the "topics" bar on the home page and click on "menus".
And here is our Menu Plan for this week:
Saturday
L-Moes (I had every intention of going home and making lunch but after being out grocery shopping for three hours, I was exhausted and ended up eating out) (Cheat)
Sunday
B- Overnight Blueberry Oatmeal (E) (Everyone)
L-Out to eat (My Dad is treating us to lunch)
D- Homemade Spaghetti & Salad (E) (Everyone)
.... I made my own spaghetti sauce for the first time. If it tastes good, I'll share the recipe. If it doesn't taste good...I'll try again :)
.... I made my own spaghetti sauce for the first time. If it tastes good, I'll share the recipe. If it doesn't taste good...I'll try again :)
Monday-
B- Cinnamon Muffin In A Mug with Cream Cheese Frosting (S);
Kids: WholeWheat Banana Muffins
L- Loaded Fotato Soup with turkey bacon crumbled on top (E) Everyone
D- Leftover Spaghetti & Salad
*Pack Nathan's meals for work tomorrow
-Shake for breakfast, Ham & cheese sandwich & yogurt with fruit for Lunch, Peanuts & string cheese & apple for snack,
burger (no bun) & salad for dinner.
Tuesday - Beach Day with Nathan's Mom
B- Scrambled Eggs, fruit (S) Everyone
L- Me: Chef Salad, yogurt with fruit (S) Kids:
D- Taco Bake (S) Everyone .... I'm planning on making this ahead of time so that I don't have to come home from the beach worried about making dinner.
Wednesday
-
B- Me: Trim Healthy Mama Pancakes with fruit & yogurt
(E); Kids: Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes
L- Grilled Cheese & Ham Sandwich, fruit (Crossover from the cheddar cheese & bread) Everyone
D- White Chicken Lasagna (S) Everyone
*Pack Nathan's meals for work tomorrow
Thursday-
B- Baked Peanut
Butter Oatmeal (I've only ever made this with sugar but I'm going to try to make it on plan since it's Ruy's favorite and he's been asking for it. I'll post a recipe if it turns out!) (Crossover from the oats and PB) Everyone
L- Chef Salad & fruit, Kids: PB & Jelly, fruit
D- Chicken Tacos with homemade shells
Friday- Fun day out with my Mom to celebrate her birthday
B- Ham & Cheese Omelets, fruit (S) Everyone
L- Apple muffins, fruit, nuts (I'm still looking for an apple muffin recipe but I want something simple and easy to pack for our lunch. I'll let you know if I find a good recipe)
D- Homemade Pizza & salad (E) Everyone
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