I have a plan to have another $300 H&G target for November. It might seem austere, but I AM going for healthy and non-wasteful. To do this though, I have to use the odds and ends in my pantry, fridge and freezer, particularly those with a limited shelf life. Prior to my shop after work, my stocks look like this:
Two frozen Sloppy Joe (yes, still from graduation)
1/2 Spiral cut bone in ham
1 bag hash brown potatoes
6 hamburger patties
1 1/2 cups diced chicken
6 Cheddar brats (ended up not making last night)
6 Cheddar brats (ended up not making last night)
odds and end cheeses
Abut 1/4 peck of apples
5 pounds potato's
2/3rds container of plain yogurt
Red Pasta sauce
Spaghetti
small amount elbow macaroni
1 shells and cheese
1 Rotini pasta
1/2 box penne pasta
1 mushroom Alfredo
1 cream of mushroom soup
2 cream of chicken soup
2 tomato soup
2 can corn
2 can green beans
2 cake mixes
1 vanilla frosting
1 muffin mix
1 box pancake mix
1 full syrup (not pure)
small amount of real syrup
flour, sugar, oil, salt etc.
I full jar of white rice
1 pound navy beans
a cous cous salad mix
2 can tuna
peanut butter
tea
hot cocoa mix
tiny amount of coffee
microwave popcorn
marshmallows-mini and full
Rice crispies
graham crackers
Hershey chocolate bars
coconut
sweetened condensed milk
4 lbs chocolate for melting or baking
As this is a top off and gap shop to leave plenty of room for the household items, I want to use up as many things as possible, so will plan around this list. You'll notice fresh fruit and vegetables, other than apples and potatoes, is desperately lacking. My vegetable crisper is practically empty and I've no vegetables tucked into the freezer as all were used this past week, so these top my list. The items towards the bottom are all in good dates and will be used to start the holiday treat making at the end of the month. Not sure why I ended up with so much S'more stuff left after the summer and fall, but I bet there is a recipe somewhere to use them for a holiday treat.
My stocks are kind of all over the place, and I stopped inventorying little amounts after a while/ I have a mish mash of spices left. Regardless, there is a ton of food to work with here for this and the coming months. Plenty of items to bring treats along to cards or a get together. I'll check in on Sunday as to what the menu will look like. I'm sure you are on pins and needles. Is anyone else trying to keep November spending in check so you can indulge a bit more from Thanksgiving to New Year's? What do you have that has to be used up?
As you know, I am trying to recover from every bit of food being sent to the dump! I had everything I needed for Thanksgiving except for turkey. I had plenty of chicken, and I don't feel like it is a sad thing not to have turkey. It is just me. Turkey breast would be my choice over turkey. Every week I buy food and do not have enough food for a Thanksgiving meal. But, I plan to get it all together somehow.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that you had changed your blog, so was unaware of your circumstances over the last several months. I hope things get better for you.
DeleteI am aiming to stay at 350.00 instead of 500-550. DH works out of town so no dinner needed Sun-Thursday, I don't cook just for myself. I should be able to do it
ReplyDeleteI had a very successful Aldo shop yesterday and feel like I might even do better than $300.
DeleteI can't even begin to think about inventorying - I have so much stuff and it's just me. Ridiculous really, but I'm trying to get it down - slowly but surely though. Good luck with your budget. I try to compare that to mine but again there's just me and I'm thinking in euros and it is expensive here, so I guess you have to compare apples to apples and not oranges don't you!
ReplyDeleteI was only in metro grocery stores in France so probably even higher, but I did notice the prices. We also thought the quality was better on average than in the US. I think Euros are worth about 1.22 US dollar, so my budget in Euros would be 366 if my math is right.
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