Preface: I wrote the italicized portion of this on Friday 2/22... the rest is the real story on Tuesday 2/26. lol.
I am so glad I chose to do this for Lent.
I has really kept me thinking before I make unnecessary purchases!
I have consciously avoided the thrift stores and have been re-wearing some of my favorite clothes. I know this sounds terrible and vain and extremely wasteful, but I don't like to re-wear things. I re-wear pants and skirts and dresses I guess, but tops..... they typically get worn like once every 6 months and I never re-wear complete outfits. I don't know what it is. It's not that I think I'm so cool or that I'm going to get a full page spread in Life and Style if I'm caught re-wearing something.
So this is why I LOVE thrifting! I can get a couple new shirts every single week for a few dollars and never have to re-wear what I've got.
How dumb is that?!
I must stop!
I've been doing really good with groceries, only buying what we need and no extras.
I've been creative with my meals using up what we have in our freezer and pantry. I have all this stuff that I no longer deem as "healthy" but we're too poor to throw it out! So I've been trying to make it as healthy as possible. For instance that big box of pancake mix that I will never buy again.... but we already have... I made strawberry, blueberry, banana pancakes! All 3 in one!
And those two big bags of tortilla chips I've been eating with some healthy, yummy salsa and made taco salad with ground turkey and lots of veggies the other day.
And then I asked Lee to go to the store with me after church on Sunday.................dun dun dun.
I heard things like:
"wow! didn't know black berries were so cheap!"
"let's buy the really BIG thing of coffee, we'll save money in the long run"
"Vodka sauce?! I love vodka sauce!"
"oooh spices for meat rubs are on sale"
and when I reminded him of the budget he said "well that'll teach you to take me to the store again!"
He's so cute, and doesn't ask for much and never gets anything for himself.... so I let him get the spices and pasta sauce :)
I went over budget :/ but since we bought a lot of stuff on Sunday I shouldn't have to go to the store much this coming week! It'll balance out. At the end of the 40 days I'll do a total amount I've spent and if it's less than $300 I'll consider it a win. right?
Here are my purchases for the week:
Kroger - $9.44 - I went in for cheese (for taco salad) but found so many great deals I didn't have to shop again for a few days! My best purchase was a whole roasted turkey breast for $2.99! We ate that thing for DAYS! Turkey on salad, turkey quesadillas (with spinach and tomatoes, so good!), turkey sandwiches...
Aldi's - $40.58 - the shopping list included: coffee, tomatoes, banana, lettuce, milk, almond milk, cereal, bread, and spinach. we also bought - 2 things of pasta sauce, blackberries and blueberries, spices, olive oil, and guacamole.
Wendy's - $5.15 - this was an impulse stop... should have skipped it, but I didn't and it put me over budget. Lee and I did a lock-in with the teens Friday night and I stayed up from 7am on Friday till about 1 pm on Saturday and on my way home I was starving and there was traffic and Wendy's was there calling my name! Stop it Wendy's!
Kmart - $4.47- yes I went back to Kmart, like I said I wouldn't, but they had donuts on sale for $3.49! a $1.50 cheaper than Kroger! and I bought some clearance Hershey's hearts. sue me. The Sunday School kids are like way too happy when there are donuts that I can't bear to disappoint them now. They really are a sweet group of teenagers. I'll do a post about them soon. (oh and I saved the milk and oj I bought last week in the church fridge so I didn't have to buy that again!)
Total: $59.64
$9.64 over! so disappointed... but I'll only spend $40 next week. or attempt to. I'm going home this weekend and getting my hair done, but my beautiful, sweet friend from high school does it and sometimes I don't even think she charges me enough to cover the supplies she uses, so I may just make it under $40!
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groceries. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Fat Tuesday
I'm not Catholic but since college I've enjoyed participating in Lent.
Giving up something for 40 days.
Something that is a real sacrifice.
Something that you desire and without it in your life you feel a void that you are able to fill with God and prayer and discipline. Something everyone can benefit from, no need to be Catholic!
In years past I've given up mostly food items.
One year Lee and I gave up meat. At midnight the last night we were chowing down on KFC and hamburgers. haha. it was pathetic.
In Grenada I gave up smoothies... because they are the most delicious thing I can imagine and I wanted to drink one every single time I went to the store.
I've given up pop, candy, and lots of other unhealthy things.
This year I have been sticking to my New Years Resolutions quite well and when I thought about Lent I couldn't think of any food I felt I really needed to give up... for a split second I considered giving up pizza, but since that is my ONLY guilty pleasure left I decided that was unnecessary torture ;)
Today I went to Target and somewhere amongst the 70% off rack I realized that I love to bargain hunt. way.too.much.
Weekly I make my rounds to the thrift stores in the area. We have the BEST thrift stores!
And on this healthy, clean, eating kick I've been spending a little more than I should at the grocery store too!
It's no secret that Lee and I are poor. poor, poor, poor. and somehow every month we are able to pay all our bills and still have money left over for me to spend at the thrift store. But should I be? I have literally every single thing I could ever want in life and probably more!
I've been doing well saving each week. I bank with PNC and they have a great website and make it so easy! I have a certain amount auto-deducted from my account each week and it goes directly into my savings account. The plan is to keep increasing it each week and hopefully by the end of Lent I will have my savings over $1,000. maybe. hopefully. miracles do happen.
So here are my Lent guidelines for myself:
Spend a max of $50 a week, including groceries!
AND continue to eat healthy!
Things not included: rent, gas, electricity, and phone bill.
Everything else has to be bought for less that $50! If I go over, the next week is less that amount.
This means Target is totally out. My thrifting is majorly cut back (except I have a 50% entire purchase coupon at Value World next week that I'll probably use... so we'll eat rice and beans and out of the freezer that week :) and we'll have to think long and hard about going out to eat.... good thing it's $5 foot long month!
Think I can do it?
I'll try to keep myself accountable on here.
ps. I went to the grocery store today and spend $50.... so I'll be a leg up going into this week b/c I just did a big shop! That's not cheating, is it?
Giving up something for 40 days.
Something that is a real sacrifice.
Something that you desire and without it in your life you feel a void that you are able to fill with God and prayer and discipline. Something everyone can benefit from, no need to be Catholic!
In years past I've given up mostly food items.
One year Lee and I gave up meat. At midnight the last night we were chowing down on KFC and hamburgers. haha. it was pathetic.
In Grenada I gave up smoothies... because they are the most delicious thing I can imagine and I wanted to drink one every single time I went to the store.
I've given up pop, candy, and lots of other unhealthy things.
This year I have been sticking to my New Years Resolutions quite well and when I thought about Lent I couldn't think of any food I felt I really needed to give up... for a split second I considered giving up pizza, but since that is my ONLY guilty pleasure left I decided that was unnecessary torture ;)
Today I went to Target and somewhere amongst the 70% off rack I realized that I love to bargain hunt. way.too.much.
Weekly I make my rounds to the thrift stores in the area. We have the BEST thrift stores!
And on this healthy, clean, eating kick I've been spending a little more than I should at the grocery store too!
It's no secret that Lee and I are poor. poor, poor, poor. and somehow every month we are able to pay all our bills and still have money left over for me to spend at the thrift store. But should I be? I have literally every single thing I could ever want in life and probably more!
I've been doing well saving each week. I bank with PNC and they have a great website and make it so easy! I have a certain amount auto-deducted from my account each week and it goes directly into my savings account. The plan is to keep increasing it each week and hopefully by the end of Lent I will have my savings over $1,000. maybe. hopefully. miracles do happen.
So here are my Lent guidelines for myself:
Spend a max of $50 a week, including groceries!
AND continue to eat healthy!
Things not included: rent, gas, electricity, and phone bill.
Everything else has to be bought for less that $50! If I go over, the next week is less that amount.
This means Target is totally out. My thrifting is majorly cut back (except I have a 50% entire purchase coupon at Value World next week that I'll probably use... so we'll eat rice and beans and out of the freezer that week :) and we'll have to think long and hard about going out to eat.... good thing it's $5 foot long month!
Think I can do it?
I'll try to keep myself accountable on here.
ps. I went to the grocery store today and spend $50.... so I'll be a leg up going into this week b/c I just did a big shop! That's not cheating, is it?
Thursday, December 16, 2010
SPLURGE!
and by splurge I mean.... buying extra groceries :)
today Lee and I went to the grocery and he acted just like my Dad!! he said "its Christmas! get it!"
haha... I think I've told him how much fun we have at the grocery with my Dad enough times that he thinks its a great tradition to carry on :)
unfortunately we live in Grenada and our splurging capabilities are limited.
so we bought:
a 2l of pop, which we haven't bought in months. iga brand of mountain dew of course
chocolate chips for cookies (they're expensive...)
M&Ms to put in cookies
tons and tons of flour for baking
tons of butter (lots of baking going on around here)
parchment paper (b/c the gas oven is not my friend)
the jumbo log of cream cheese
2 packages of chicken and 2 pkgs of beef (!! lol)
2 different kinds of pitas for spinach dip for a party tomorrow night!
and whole gallon of milk!
not much of a splurge, huh?
I need to take better advantage of the "it's Christmas!" thing
we did get a smoothie on the way home though
banana peanut butter
deliciousness in a cup
it's more like a milk shake and less like a smoothie
the best smoothie by far is still watermelon or cantaloupe.
and when we got home I baked two loaves of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!!
the sugar cookie dough is made and in the fridge to roll out tomorrow! I'm so excited to spend tomorrow night decorating cookies! hopefully my homemade icing turns out :/
still on the docket are chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, and oatmeal cookies.
and whatever else I think of.
today Lee and I went to the grocery and he acted just like my Dad!! he said "its Christmas! get it!"
haha... I think I've told him how much fun we have at the grocery with my Dad enough times that he thinks its a great tradition to carry on :)
unfortunately we live in Grenada and our splurging capabilities are limited.
so we bought:
a 2l of pop, which we haven't bought in months. iga brand of mountain dew of course
chocolate chips for cookies (they're expensive...)
M&Ms to put in cookies
tons and tons of flour for baking
tons of butter (lots of baking going on around here)
parchment paper (b/c the gas oven is not my friend)
the jumbo log of cream cheese
2 packages of chicken and 2 pkgs of beef (!! lol)
2 different kinds of pitas for spinach dip for a party tomorrow night!
and whole gallon of milk!
not much of a splurge, huh?
I need to take better advantage of the "it's Christmas!" thing
we did get a smoothie on the way home though
banana peanut butter
deliciousness in a cup
it's more like a milk shake and less like a smoothie
the best smoothie by far is still watermelon or cantaloupe.
and when we got home I baked two loaves of pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!!
the sugar cookie dough is made and in the fridge to roll out tomorrow! I'm so excited to spend tomorrow night decorating cookies! hopefully my homemade icing turns out :/
still on the docket are chocolate chip cookies, banana bread, and oatmeal cookies.
and whatever else I think of.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Adventures in grocery shopping...
Yesterday I went to Foodfair, another grocery store in Grand Anse, but not as popular as the IGA.
It's actually a nice store & easy to get to & cheaper!
They don't have quite the same selection as IGA, especially not of American brands, but they do have a lot.
I think it is actually less hassle to get to than IGA because if you take the Mont Toute bus it drops you off right in the parking lot at the front door! No need to even push the buzzer to get the bus to stop :) and if you've heard that Mont Toute is a bad area, you will be totally fine on the bus, and the Foodfair is in Grand Anse right along the main road.
On weekdays the Mont Toute bus runs about every 40 minutes, so plenty of time to go grocery shopping! & in the same shopping center is Rick's pizza. I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard its the best pizza here! and they have FOUNTAIN DRINKS! yeeesssssssss sugary syrupy soda
there are also other little stores in the shopping center... mostly tourist-y shops, a pharmacy, a home store, and a shoe store.
The bus comes back to Foodfair parking lot and you get on and head straight back to campus!
The Mont Toute bus also stops way less than the Grand Anse bus & is not as crowded typically. So it's a quicker ride to and from campus.
Things I suggest getting from Foodfair rather than IGA
Vanilla, sweet&sour sauce, mustard, pasta, spaghetti sauces, cereal (for rice crispy treats & only $6EC!) bread crumbs, cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, penne pasta, plantains, and cucumbers
I also found these amazing breadsticks and buns. they are so good and only cost $3EC each!
It's actually a nice store & easy to get to & cheaper!
They don't have quite the same selection as IGA, especially not of American brands, but they do have a lot.
I think it is actually less hassle to get to than IGA because if you take the Mont Toute bus it drops you off right in the parking lot at the front door! No need to even push the buzzer to get the bus to stop :) and if you've heard that Mont Toute is a bad area, you will be totally fine on the bus, and the Foodfair is in Grand Anse right along the main road.
On weekdays the Mont Toute bus runs about every 40 minutes, so plenty of time to go grocery shopping! & in the same shopping center is Rick's pizza. I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard its the best pizza here! and they have FOUNTAIN DRINKS! yeeesssssssss sugary syrupy soda
there are also other little stores in the shopping center... mostly tourist-y shops, a pharmacy, a home store, and a shoe store.
The bus comes back to Foodfair parking lot and you get on and head straight back to campus!
The Mont Toute bus also stops way less than the Grand Anse bus & is not as crowded typically. So it's a quicker ride to and from campus.
Things I suggest getting from Foodfair rather than IGA
- pasta - I got a bag of penne pasta for $5EC, and a few other bags of penne like pasta for $2EC!
- pasta sauce - (if you're going to buy canned or a jar of pasta sauce) I got a can of Hunt's 4 cheese spaghetti sauce for $5.25EC! I bought a can at IGA last week for $9EC
- spices and seasonings - they have huge selection of spices quite a bit cheaper than IGA. yesterday I bought cajun seasoning, cayenne pepper, and a bottle of vanilla for like $2EC each
- condiments and sauces - they have an entire isle of bbq sauce, hot sauces, chinese sauces (I got sweet and sour!) ketchup, mustard, mayo... and tons of other stuff
- plantains - they always have them & they're cheap
- tropical fruit skittles! hahaha I love them :)
- milk - duh- on Thursdays, I have never seen milk at Foodfair, but maybe I haven't been there the right day
- dairy products in general - I've noticed cheese is cheaper at IGA
- cereal - IGA has a much better selection & some of it is cheaper (except rice crispies)
- meat - I don't know if it's cheaper really... but I trust IGA's freezer/cooler systems much more than foodfair's, it always kinda smells near the meat & it doesn't appear to be too cold.
- frozen foods - pizzas, bagels, burritos all that
- deli items - foodfair doesn't have a deli
- fresh vegetables and fruit - IGA has a really good selection, but go on thursday or friday or they will run out!
- muffins - IGA has the most incredible little muffins in the back left near the cold drinks. $1.78EC each & so delicious & easy to take with you places
I also found these amazing breadsticks and buns. they are so good and only cost $3EC each!
Homade Bakery :)
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wednesday, Wednesday
I now have a cold... it's weird to have a cold in the heat, but I think it makes it a little better... I feel good when I'm outside, but I'm pretty congested. It's because I've been around kids everyday!
Saturday was Beach Day and I went to the Valentine's Day party and did face paintings for kids
Monday we went to Queen Elizabeth's Home
Tuesday and today I have been at the Lime's After School Program.... and I think all these kids have a consistent runny nose. I do sometimes too.... haha so I can't say much.
Today I thought our transformer blew up.... there was a loud pop and something was burning.... it was scary. I rushed over and unplugged our computers (while Lee sat there looking around...) incase they were gonna get a power surge or something. My computer is my lifeline here. haha what would I do without it!?
But after I returned the transformer to the hardware store & found out that it was working perfectly fine... I came home and found out that it was the serge protector that blew. It DID protect our computers... I'll give it that So I had to go back to the hardware store and get a new power strip and explain to the people there that they were right, my transformer does work. haha. but I had to spend $40EC on a new power bar. ugh.
Limes was crazy today. The kids were bouncing off the walls! I try to be as nice to the kids as possible because I'm sure they get yelled at at school and home a lot.... but MAN today I could have yelled at some kids. Throwing chairs, hitting, screaming... one boy had a nail he was sticking kids with! aaaaahhhhh.
But then there are the really sweet little ones that just want attention and I love it when they sit on my lap and let me hug them :)
Yesterday and today I had the older kids... I'm not really sure how old they are I think between 11-14 or so... a few of them are really good and helpful and actually play the games and then there are the frustrating ones that are 'too cool' for Limes. but they're still there. so they're obviously not too cool. they act like they don't want the snack or the juice... and I know they are hungry so I pretend like it'll make me happier if they eat it. We did multiplication flash cards today & these poor kids do not know their multiplication tables! I guess in school they get to use a chart & never had to memorize them.... jr. high kids! But they started getting the hang of it... at least x0 x5 x11 x10.... the easy ones we have established :)
Tomorrow is field day! hallelujah for being outside where they can run free without fear of them falling out a window! haha
In other news... the grocery store was fully stocked today. And since I had, had kinda a rough day I bought ice cream. They had the like carboard box kid for $14EC... not too bad, considering some of the icecream is like $40EC. They usually don't stock until Thursday but I ran into Sherry and she said she heard they had milk... so I went & they had everything! even cucumbers! I hadn't seen a cucumber the entire time I've been here.
Oh the small victories living in Grenada!
I'm already starting to miss it here.... I know we have to leave in May and I'm sad. and then next December we are leaving for good.....
:( life is too short!
here are some new photo's i've picniked.
Saturday was Beach Day and I went to the Valentine's Day party and did face paintings for kids
Monday we went to Queen Elizabeth's Home
Tuesday and today I have been at the Lime's After School Program.... and I think all these kids have a consistent runny nose. I do sometimes too.... haha so I can't say much.
Today I thought our transformer blew up.... there was a loud pop and something was burning.... it was scary. I rushed over and unplugged our computers (while Lee sat there looking around...) incase they were gonna get a power surge or something. My computer is my lifeline here. haha what would I do without it!?
But after I returned the transformer to the hardware store & found out that it was working perfectly fine... I came home and found out that it was the serge protector that blew. It DID protect our computers... I'll give it that So I had to go back to the hardware store and get a new power strip and explain to the people there that they were right, my transformer does work. haha. but I had to spend $40EC on a new power bar. ugh.
Limes was crazy today. The kids were bouncing off the walls! I try to be as nice to the kids as possible because I'm sure they get yelled at at school and home a lot.... but MAN today I could have yelled at some kids. Throwing chairs, hitting, screaming... one boy had a nail he was sticking kids with! aaaaahhhhh.
But then there are the really sweet little ones that just want attention and I love it when they sit on my lap and let me hug them :)
Yesterday and today I had the older kids... I'm not really sure how old they are I think between 11-14 or so... a few of them are really good and helpful and actually play the games and then there are the frustrating ones that are 'too cool' for Limes. but they're still there. so they're obviously not too cool. they act like they don't want the snack or the juice... and I know they are hungry so I pretend like it'll make me happier if they eat it. We did multiplication flash cards today & these poor kids do not know their multiplication tables! I guess in school they get to use a chart & never had to memorize them.... jr. high kids! But they started getting the hang of it... at least x0 x5 x11 x10.... the easy ones we have established :)
Tomorrow is field day! hallelujah for being outside where they can run free without fear of them falling out a window! haha
In other news... the grocery store was fully stocked today. And since I had, had kinda a rough day I bought ice cream. They had the like carboard box kid for $14EC... not too bad, considering some of the icecream is like $40EC. They usually don't stock until Thursday but I ran into Sherry and she said she heard they had milk... so I went & they had everything! even cucumbers! I hadn't seen a cucumber the entire time I've been here.
Oh the small victories living in Grenada!
I'm already starting to miss it here.... I know we have to leave in May and I'm sad. and then next December we are leaving for good.....
:( life is too short!
here are some new photo's i've picniked.
Queen Elizabeth's Home - and their new glasses :)
Limes
You can't read it here as well.... I'm going to work on this one
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Great Day in Grenada =)
Today has been good... I went to the University Club this morning, which is a country club type place for professors and people visiting the school to stay (atleast that's what I think it is) anyway, they have a pool and the SOs (Significant Other's of students) get to use it on Mondays and Thursdays... and it is amazing. I went with Amber, my footsteps buddy (who they matched me up with to ask questions before I moved to the island) and she is so sweet, so I lucked out with the footsteps buddy =) hopefully next term I can be one... I want to help people adjust here, b/c it's not that easy.... and I met a couple other SOs there too. We also went ocean kayaking.... in the marina area, not out on the open water (DAD) so that was quite a workout... I wish I still had my underwater camera! uuugh it would be so perfect here. but it broke on our honeymoon =(
the pool at the University Club
the sky looks so cloudy, but I don't remember it looking that way....
The I came home and ate lunch & got to see Lee for about 20 minutes! & went to the grocery to scout out some milk. and was successful! so Thursday is definitely the day for the IGA.
I decided to take a picture of my food I bought...
Sugar and salt come in a plain plastic bag tied shut. but it is pretty cheap! less than $3EC for sugar, so that's around a $1 USD. pretty sweet deal. pun intended.
Bananas, and Banana pop! it's soooo sweet, but I love it.
Macaroni, which I think I like more than Kraft? gasp. the cheese looks like pinkish until you add milk though.Cream cheese.... and they even have starwberry philadelphia cream cheese!
Milk - cold milk in a gallon is a luxury and hard to find
Cereal, which I think this was on sale today b/c I don't remember seeing cereal this cheap before, it was about $3 USD... brand name cereal is like 5 or 6 dollars a box.
Mak-C is like koolaid, but you don't have to add sugar. it's good and cheap.
Powdered sugar, flour, cinnamon -all pretty cheap because they can make it here or in Trinidad
Ketchup, non name brand because Heinz was like $9 US! no way I'd pay that.
Banana Ketchup.... never had it, but it was only $2.50 EC, which is like less than a dollar... and I love bananas, so I thought I'd be adventurous.
Chinese sauce... not soy, not teriyaki... just chinese sauce.lol. it was cheap and teriyaki wasn't so I thought we'd try it.
and an onion.
I think I am a pretty good shopper.... I got all of that for $60 EC, which is about $22. Some people here are such sticklers for name brand that they spend sooooo much money, and considering we don't have any money, I've been pretty frugal. I really really really want ice cream though.. they didn't have any good flavors today... but it's also $15 for a big thing of it, I don't think it's quite a gallon, but $15 US. I guess if you think about going out for ice cream it's so expensive, and we could eat a gallon forever.... but we're also trying to be healthy. so we've been eating jello. haha. watermellon jello is awesome.
A guy in Lee's class offered to pay me to go to the grocery for him... b/c the med students are just soooo overwhelmingly busy they don't even have time to take care of themselves... and Lee was talking about how happy he is to have me so he doesn't have to worry about cooking or shopping or laundry (haha, which is fine, I have accepted my role as caretaker for Lee for the next 4 years... not that I have much else to do anyway) so we'll see what happens... I may have started my own grocery delivery service.
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