What I Spent On Groceries - October 2022

 

I have been on a mission to use up what I already have in my kitchen freezer, the pantry, as well as to make do with what I already have on hand before I head out to the grocery store to get something else.  A couple months ago I had stocked up on frozen vegetables and picked up a couple heads of cabbage, carrots and celery which keep a good while in the refrigerator.  To begin the month I really had quite a bit on hand to start with.

 

I love green olives and these low carb queso dips are great on vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower.
I didn't care for the  alfredo sauce, but the avocado sauce is wonderful.  Definitely would by the Herdez items again.

At the beginning of the month I popped into the grocery outlet just to see if they had anything of interest.  I picked up some sauces with decent ingredients to had a little "spice" to my life.  It is nice to have some variety from time to time, especially if I can get things at a discounted price.

Just a handful of fresh items to supplement what I already had on hand plus some cream for my coffee

Mid month I did a tiny produce run to pick up a head of lettuce, a few bananas, an avocado and a three pound bag of mandarin oranges.  I also grabbed a quart of heavy cream for my daily Keto coffee.  I spent less than $20 that trip and was set for quite a while.

 

A beef patty with cauliflower con queso & a side salad with blue cheese dressing

Since I had done a big meal prep at the end of September I didn't do a whole lot of cooking last month.  Instead I did a lot of reheating of freezer meals and averaged actually cooking a meal only about once or twice a week.  Not bad!  Meal prepping is a great way to free up time while making really good use of the food I buy.

 

I scored some great deals on meat in the markdown bin

My next grocery trip near the end of the month I headed off to Albertson's just to pick up a few items I had some digital coupons, which fortunately included produce, as well as a handful of items on sale.  I found three packages of meat on markdown so I added that to my cart as well.  Marked down items are a terrific budget stretcher in my opinion.  Digital and paper coupons are as well just so long as you only buy items you actually use and not items just because it seems like a good deal.

 

I carefully track my grocery spending on a spreadsheet

My final tally for the month came in at just $47.55.  I was quite happy with that to say the least.  My goal is to stretch these purchases as far as I can into delicious and healthy meals, minimize food waste to the best of my ability and try to spend as little as possible next month to supplement what I already have on hand in my freezer and pantry.  I think I can manage that.