How I'm Keeping My Grocery Budget Low, Low, Low

 

I literally watch the grocery sales ads like a hawk and shop seasonally.  When I find what I want at a super low price I stock up.  This time of year is a good time to stock up on nuts because baking items start going on sale.  I was out of pecans so I picked up a couple bags on sale for $3.99 each.

 

Anytime cheese goes on sale I will usually buy it.  It stores for quite a while but it also freezes well too so if I have more than what I can use right away I just tuck it into my freezer.  I almost always have grated cheeses in my freezer.  This time around I also had store coupons to use so the cheese ended up costing me only 99¢ per package.

 

I watch for markdown items, especially in the meat department.  This time I found some uncured smoked sausages.  These are package as a twin pack with four sausages each so I froze one and put the other in the refrigerator.  At a $1.29 these were a great buy.  I also picked up a large package of sliced ham and turkey which I'll divide up and freeze most of it.  I thought it would be nice to have on hand for Cobb salads and to make sandwiches for picnics and hiking trips.  This ended up being the only meat items I bought during the month of September.

 

Fruits and vegetables are at their best price if you only buy them seasonally.  Most vegetables are available year round, but fruit tends to be more expensive in the winter than during spring and summer.  When it is high I will often turn to frozen berry options instead of fresh.  Most of the time I take stock of what I already have and fill in with just what I need.  In this case it was green onions and some fresh cilantro.  The cilantro is mostly for our bunny, but she shares.  In turn I share carrots.

 

I picked up mandarin oranges on sale, $2.98 for a three pound bag.  I don't get them often, but they make a nice sweet treat every once in a while and they work great in a pack for when I'm out hiking.

 

The price of cream went down a bit and by doing the math it was much less expensive to buy pints at $2.29 instead of quarts at $5.49 this time.  The dates are far out there into December so I grabbed three to keep in the back of my refrigerator until I need them.  Butter was on sale for $1.88 a pound so I picked up two pounds and added those to my freezer.  I try to stock up on that whenever it goes on sale too.

 

At the beginning of the month I stocked up on fresh and frozen vegetables.  I picked up a head of green and a head of purple cabbage as well as some kale and carrots for chopped salads.  These vegetables keep for a good long time in the refrigerator and I can use them in a lot of other recipes.  A couple onions, some bell peppers, a large bunch of parsley (again most of it was for our bunny), a large of avocado and a head of iceberg lettuce.  I used up the peppers and avocado first so they didn't go bad, but everything else kept me going through to the end of the month.

 

I also keep plenty of frozen vegetable options on hand so I didn't need to make extra trips to the grocery store.  Frozen broccoli and cauliflower florets are a mainstay at my house.  I can use them in so many different ways.

 

A simple meal of roasted vegetables with chunks of meat seasoned with minced garlic & soy sauce

I keep my meals pretty simple so my grocery lists are pretty simple too.  The majority of what I buy is produce and frozen vegetables.  Some meat and dairy. By keeping it simple and only shopping the sales I keep my grocery spending quite low.