FOOD TOWN (Tuesday):
- 2 pkg. marked down Oscar Mayer Bacon Dogs @ .99 each - $1.98
- 1 pkg. marked down ground chuck @ 1.99lb - $2.89
- 4 pkg. marked down ground beef @ 1.88lb - $12.91
- 1 red onion - .62
- 1 bunch celery - .99
- 1 head cauliflower - $2.49
- 1 tube Colgate toothpaste @ 1.19 (minus .50 coupon) - .74
TOTAL - $22.62
HEB (Tuesday):
- 1 quart heavy cream - $3.56
- Sugar free Passion fruit drink mix - $1.88
- 2 cans marked down coconut milk @ 1.00 each - $2.00
- 2 bags pork rinds @ 1.49 each - $2.98
TOTAL - $10.58
Walmart (Thursday):
- Clean Shower spray - $1.97
- Dish soap - .97
- 4-pack 100wt light bulbs - $3.88
- 18 eggs - $2.88
- 1 3/4 pounds Farmland smoked ham pieces @ 2.38lb - $4.07
TOTAL - $14.33
Kroger (Thursday):
- Sugar free lemon ice tea mix @ 1.87 (minus 10% discount) - $1.68
- 5 CARBmaster yogurt @ .40 each (minus 10% discount) - $1.80
- 2 8-ounce shredded cheddar cheese @ 2.50 each (minus 10% discount) - $4.50
- Parmesan cheese @ 2.77 (minus 10% discount) - $2.49
- Boneless chicken thighs @ 1.79lb - $4.56
TOTAL - $15.03
GRAND TOTAL FOR THE WEEK - $62.56
I usually make a batch of Mock Rice Pudding whenever Kroger has cottage cheese on sale. It's easy to make and my husband loves it (I do too). I usually double the recipe and put in a 16-ounce container of cottage cheese. If I have a 24-ounce container of cottage cheese, I'll double everything else and put in the whole container of cottage cheese.
Oops! I was just about to post another favorite recipe when I noticed that I'd never posted my menu for this week. I typed it out but forgot to post it here on the blog in all the excitement over the new stove.
SUNDAY:
Ham & Swiss Cheese Quiche
Leftover Mushroom Burger Scramble
MONDAY:
Mushroom Chicken & Sausage Casserole
TUESDAY:
Leftovers
Mock Rice Pudding
WEDNESDAY:
Texas Sweet Onion Quiche
Leftovers
THURSDAY:
Italian Meatball Burgers
Vegetable
FRIDAY:
Leftovers
SATURDAY:
Pork shoulder roast
UnPotato Salad
There will also be CARBmaster yogurt, cheese, pork rinds and plenty of eggs to make things like egg salad, deviled eggs to have on hand for snacks. I can also cook things like eggs, low carb pancakes and muffins, etc. if we need them. My husband tends to only eat two meals per day so a piece of quiche and some sort of main meal is all that I really need to plan for most days.
Here's a preview of what I bought today. I'll post the details at the end of the week.
Just a quick post to say that the stove was installed this afternoon and I used the stove top and the oven to make Mushroom Burger Scramble. It works great!
Click HERE to see my old stove.
I'm done with my shopping for the week. It's kind of odd because I didn't buy any non-food items at all this week. I do have a few items that I need to restock soon but I decided to wait so that I could spend my money on a few good deals this week. I did spend a bit more than I should have but I didn't want to pass up that marked down ground beef on Tuesday.
I don't think I did too bad but I should try to keep to a budget of $50.00 per week or less. We're having to make do on $200 less per month that our son was paying for room and board plus I now have an added monthly expense of about $39 per month for Obamacare. I chose the absolute cheapest plan that didn't have an outrageously high deductible. I could have chosen one of the zero monthly premium plans but the deductibles were thousands of dollars. The one I have has a $500 deductible. If I don't end up having to use the insurance at all this year, maybe I'll switch to a zero premium plan next year. That would save me over $450 per year but that's assuming that the rates don't go up and/or my subsidy goes down next year.
Also, our son is going to have our U-verse TV shut off soon because he was paying for that. We'll keep the internet, which we've been paying for. But, if we drop the TV, AT&T is going to start charging $4-5 more for the internet if we don't bundle it with something else. So, we might pick up their "Voice" phone plan. They have a $25 one that is only a dollar more than our basic phone service now and it would give us up to 200 minutes of local and long distance. Our current plan is $24 per month but then there's another $4.99 for long distance service plus any long distance calls that we make. And, on top of that, we are paying another $17 in fees and taxes. Basically, we're paying about $44 per month even when we don't make any phone calls. It's crazy how much phone service has gone up in the past few years. Ten years ago, the plan that we're paying $24 for now was only $4.55 per month. It's called "measured service" so we can only make so many local calls per month before we are charged a small fee per call. In over 30 years we've never gone over that limit because we rarely use the phone. Anyway, I think we will save at least $10 per month by switching to U-verse phone service plus we'll save another $4.00 on our internet by bundling the internet and phone. We don't own cell phones and the phone plan we have now is the very cheapest option that AT&T offers.
Here's the break-down for this week:
FOOD TOWN (Tuesday):
- 1 package pork steaks @ .99lb - $2.31
- Ground beef @ 1.99lb - $6.07
- 10 ounce bottle Kikkoman soy sauce - .99
- Garlic - .36
TOTAL - $9.73
HEB (Tuesday):
- 1 jar salsa - $1.98
- Quart heavy cream - $3.56
- 2 bags pork rinds @ $1.49 each - $2.98
TOTAL - $8.52
KROGER (Tuesday):
- Ground beef @ $1.99lb - $22.72
- 12 CARBmaster yogurt @ .40 each (minus 3 free coupon + 10% discount) - $3.24 (.27 each)
TOTAL - $25.96
ALDI (Thursday):
- 2 8-ounce containers mushrooms @ .79 each - $1.58
- 3-pound bag onions - .69
- 16-ounce bag frozen thin green beans - $1.49
- 8 ounce Colby cheese - $1.99
- 2 bags pork rinds @ .99 each - $1.98
- 8 ounces sliced smoked cheddar - $2.69
- 1 dozen eggs - $1.19
TOTAL - $11.61
KROGER (Thursday):
- 16 ounces shredded mozzarella (sale price 3/$10 + 10% discount) $3.01
- 2 Hormel giant pepperoni @ $1.00 each (minus $1.00 coupon) - $1.00
- 16 ounce Kroger Deluxe American cheese (on sale for $3.49 + 10% discount) - $3.14
TOTAL - $7.15
GRAND TOTAL FOR THE WEEK - $62.97
 |
| EGG & TUNA SALAD |
This morning I made a batch of my Egg & Tuna Salad to have on hand for snacks and lunches. There is one leftover steak from Sunday and also a serving of Quick Asian Pork Stir-Fry. I made chicken fajitas last week and there is still some Cilantro Pepita Sauce left and a little sour cream. So, for my breakfast this morning, I made myself a yummy "Taco Bowl" using some of the ground beef I cooked yesterday, a little taco seasoning, salsa, some cilantro sauce and sour cream.
I thought I should also post an inventory of some of the non-food items that I buy since they also come out of my shopping budget. I always keep at least one back-up of everything. As soon as I use up the current supply of anything, I add that item to my shopping list and replace it either on my next shopping trip or very soon. I generally buy a replacement right away so that I never run out of anything. I also stock up whenever I see a good sale and/or I've got a coupon.
Here's what I have on hand in addition to the currently being used items:
Bar soap - 7
Blush - 5
Conditioner - 3
Cover stick - 4
Deodorant - 4
Dishwasher gel
Disposable shavers (men's) - 20
Disposable shavers (women's) - 22
Eye shadow - 4
Eyebrow pencils - 12
Eyeliner pencils - 10
Face powder - 5
Foundation - 3
Hairspray - 6
Hand lotion
Kitchen trash bags
Laundry detergent - 5 bottles
Lip balm - 8
Liquid soap refill
Long heavy duty foil
Paper towels - 6 rolls
Parchment paper
Plastic wrap
Q-tips
Regular foil
Shampoo - 6
Shout - 3
Shower spray refill
Tissue - 4
Toilet paper - 3 1/2 12-packs
Toothbrushes - 9
Toothpaste - 4
Twist tie storage bags
Wax paper
There are a lot of other items that I didn't bother to list but these are the main staples. When I post my weekly shopping lists, I will include non-food items on them as well.
Here is a photo of my cosmetics stash. I do have particular products that I like to use so I usually buy more whenever I have a good coupon and/or I see them on sale.
