My grocery budget is $330 each month, including food, household items and toiletries. Each week I crunch the numbers to see where I stand. Today marks the halfway point of the month.
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Each new month usually entails a very detailed grocery shopping list, based off what staples need to be replenished and the meals planned for the month.
The FIVE different trips to Savemart these two weeks clearly speak otherwise.
I admit – I simply did not have my act together for this month. However in my defense, my meal plan was really the back-up plan. My grandma was visiting and opportunities to spend precious time with her puts our plans on the backburner. Most dinners are at my dad’s house. The few that aren’t are either at our house or a date night splurge.
Since Grandma was the plan, shopping was an after thought and frankly, rather haphazard. Here’s how it panned out.
Whole Foods-$39.78
Organic Black Beans 1.69/lb, 3.46
Horizons Organic Whole Grassmilk, 5.69
Organic Great Northern Beans 1.69/lb, 3.89
Organic Couscous 2.59/lb, 3.42
Organic Whole Chicken, 8.97
Organic Whole Chicken, 8.86
Organic Pumpkin Seeds 4.99/lb, 5.24
A good friend of mine had her second baby the day my grocery budget reset. Coincidentally, Whole Foods was running a special on their organic whole chickens at $1.99/lb – 70¢ cheaper per pound than my usual buy price. Whole Food is also on the way to the hospital… It was meant to be! The kids went to my step-mom’s and I pit-stopped into WF before a hospital visit to pick up the chickens.
While there, I scoped out the bulk bins. WF generally has the lowest price of peptias (pumpkin seeds) and couscous so those were a must-have considering the chances of making it back to WF this month were slim. Turns out their prices on beans are pretty good too, and the fact that they were organic was a bonus. I bought roughly 2 pounds of both black beans and white beans for various soups and recipes for the next couple months. Now that we eat beans at least once a week, I don’t mind having extras in the pantry.
A few weeks ago the ladies at church took a military wife/mom out to dinner to bid her farewell. I started chatting with another lady in our church who I didn’t know very well and wouldn’t you know – she’s a real food foodie too! Kefir, kombucha, raw milk, coconut oil… she knew EXACTLY what I was talking about! She told me about Grassmilk, a pasteurized but non-homogenized milk. She found it at WF, which is why I picked up a half-gallon, but it’s supposed to be at Trader Joe’s too for slightly less. I’ll scope it out and let ya’ll know what I find. Meanwhile, the milk was delicious. I used it mainly for drinking (had to give it a taste test!) and kefir – which is worth noting because this milk make my kefir grains nearly double in size in one week! Definitely worth the splurge.
Savemart – $12.02
Sanitas Tortilla Chips, 2
Daisy Sour Cream 24oz, 2.50
Dryer’s Grand Chocolate Ice Cream, 3
Large Hass Avocado, 1.50
Green Bell Pepper, .69
Red Bell Pepper, .69
Cilantro, .99
Jalepeno, .65
The weekend before my grandma came in town, my dad had a free night without plans or the company of my step-mom for dinner. Mr. Crumbs and I took advantage and invited him over for dinner. It was a last minute invitation with “leftovers” written on the meal plan, and not wanting to serve my dad totally unglamorous leftovers, we decided to make chicken tacos with a quick stop at the store. We unpacked the bags in the middle of making tortillas, so there’s no picture. Everything you see was on the list specifically for dinner with the exception of one thing. Want to guess what that one thing was? Here’s a hint: Mr. Crumbs did the shopping. 
Savemart – $38.15
Sparkling Water 1L x2, 1
CRV, .20
Grandma’s Molasses, 3.99
Sunny Select (storebrand) Unbleached Bread Flour x3, 1.98
Sunny Select Unbleached All-Purpose Flour x3, 1.98
Fage 2%Yogurt, 1.79
Organic Whole Milk, 5.98
Organic Fuji Apples bag, 4.99
Bananas .79/lb, 3.79
Minneola Tangerines .99/lb, 3.24
This trip was a few days before my grandma came in town. I knew that I’d have a few hours sans-kids to take care of the bulk of my shopping while she was here, but we were low and/or out of a few things and a hold-us-over trip was needed. Water for mock Italian sodas and six packages of flour at an unbeatable price (only 10¢ more per pound than Costco, but they’re all unbleached!). Yogurt to make our own (I’ve really gotta be better about setting some aside for a starter…), milk to make yogurt and produce for snacks, lunches and smoothies. I was pleasantly surprised by the tangerines – that sweet/pucker/tang was deliciously addicting! (I ate three one day while the kids were playing at the park, lol.)
Savemart – $2.45
Pork Back Fat 2.3lb, 2.45
Materials for a science experiment. Really! This is how it turned out.
CVS – $7
Gevalia Coffee x2
Definitely not the best price in town on coffee, but I had store bucks that were expiring and our coffee stash was low.
World Market – $3.99
Mediterranean Sesame Tahini
“HELP! Get me out of World Market! I can’t stop wanting everything I see! LOL!”
That was the text I sent a friend while shopping for tahini (for homemade hummus). I knew there was a reason why I didn’t shop there often – everything is too cute! Fortunately I made it out without zero-ing out our bank account. It took restraint though. Serious restraint. Note to self to send the husband next time who seems to be immune to all the cute-ness inside.
Costco – $100.95
Mineral Water, 8.79
CRV, 1.40
KS Chocolate Chips 56oz, 6.99
KS Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2L, 11.49
President Crumbled Feta 24oz, 6.99
Fage 0% 35oz, 4.89
Half & Half 1/2gal, 3.39
Garbanzo Beans 109oz, 3.49
Parthenon Kalamata Olives 53oz, 7.39
California Sun Dried Tomatoes 34oz, 7.99
Bananas x2, 1.39
KS Organic Butter 2lb x2, 7.59
Earthbound Farms Organic Celery 4 hearts, 2.99
English Cucumbers 3pk, 3.89
Taylor Farms Organic Baby Kale 1.5lbs, 4.49
Organic Granny Smith Apples, 7.99
Ah, the big Costco trip of the month. Glancing at the list on the fridge, I knew this would be an expensive trip. The list was long and each item was priced in the $6 and $8 sweet spot.
Mineral water, chocolate chips, olive oil, half & half, bananas, butter, celery, kale and apples are all staples in our house and we completely out of most of them (including chocolate – EEK!). Feta, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers were for the Greek night planned on the menu. This was the night we hosted dinner, so bulk was needed to accommodate all the couscous I knew we’d be eating.
I ran out of time to make yogurt, and then strain it for Greek yogurt (for tzatziki), so I ended up buying the Fage. The garbanzo beans were for homemade hummus. I could have soaked and made my own, but time was against me (again) and believe it or not, Costco’s price on canned beans beat out the price of dried beans elsewhere. I bagged up the leftover beans and have enough for four (or five?) meals. Definitely going the canned route for these beans again.
Savemart – $1.75
Russet Potatoes x4
Why I thought I didn’t need to buy potatoes at Costco while I was there when they were on the menu for that night’s dinner, I don’t know. Clearly a brain fart – baked potato soup does required potatoes, right?
Grocery Outlet – $6.76
Horizons Organic Unsalted Butter 1lb x2, 2.99
Elbow Pasta x2, .39
A new Grocery Outlet opened up near Costco and I swung in during the trip without kids. Elbow pasta was on my list, but the butter was a surprise find! It’s pretty tasty too, closer to Kerrygold than any other brand I’ve tried (and very yellow too). At $3/lb, I held back at only two. The fact that I had just picked up two pounds at Costco helped a bit too.
Savemart – $1.99
Basil
A trip yesterday for the tomato basil soup on the menu. A very delicious recipe if you haven’t tried it already. Basil is kinda like the potatoes – required.
Total Month to Date – $214.84
So far, so good. We’re well stocked on lots of things, but a trip for produce and milk will definitely be needed. I’ve noticed that when I say “we’re set for the month” I usually end up going over, so I’m not saying that this time in case I’ve been jinxing myself this whole time. Instead I’ll close with “we’ll see what happens.” A statement that teeters between optimism and pessimism, so maybe that will bring luck!
How are you counting crumbs this week?
I just found your site last night from gnowfglins Simple Thursday (at least I *think* that’s how I found you
). Thank you for sharing all you do here. I really, really….ok, REALLY need to get a handle on our grocery budget somehow! Granted there are 9 of us in our family, AND we are on GAPS, but seriously, I spend close to $500 at BJ’s alone, for our two week shopping!!!!! Nevermind Walmart, Aldis and Whole Foods. Maybe I should assign everyone a day they get to eat? ha, ha!! Just kidding. I think I should have to get stricter about menu planning. Menu planning was my thing…until GAPS. I think it is just too depressing to see the same meals over and over and over again, ad nauseum. So I haven’t done one in a few months. Sorry, didn’t intend to write a novel 
I’ve been encouraged to get more on top of things, so thank you for sharing!!
Blessings,
Kerri
Welcome Kerri!
I LOVE your novel! You’re certainly not the first to publish their work in the comments section, lol.
Getting a firm grip on the grocery budget is *I think* key to getting a handle on what we put in our mouths. Knowing you only have so much to spend makes us think twice about expensive and sometimes unnecessary items!
Seeing your GAPS plan in writing may be boring, but it will definitely help with having a purpose behind your purchases. You can do it! Thanks for coming by Kerri; I hope to see you again! ~Tiffany
I got back on my menu plan this week. I’ve also rededicated myself to using up what we have and getting a handle on our food waste. It drives me batty when I have to throw something out because I didn’t follow my “plan” for it.
Amy,
Way to go on getting back in the groove! Don’t be afraid to pencil in a leftover night. With my grandma in town, I cooked TWICE the entire week – every other night was either dinner at their house or us eating leftovers from meals at their house – including all the lunches! She’s been gone for 2 days and we finally finished it all. I’d rather eat leftovers for a week than throw away food. It drives me batty too! ~Tiffany
I also have a love/hate relationship with World Market. They have so many things that I remember from my childhood. (I grew up in the military and so the food section is like a trip back to shopping with my mom).
Did you know that you can make tahini at home at it is super easy. We thought it would take a lot of time and special equipment but you just need an oven and a food processor. We buy the sesame seeds from Sprouts and make our own all the time. And it saves a ton of money.
I knew it, but didn’t realize how easy it was. Whole Foods sells sesame seeds so I’ll price those out the next time I’m there and need tahini. I can imagine how fun it would be to shop at World Market, recognizing all the fun different foods! ~Tiffany
Tahini is really easy to make and a lot cheaper than buying it. All you need is sesame seeds and olive oil, and a food processor. Toast the seeds (either in the oven or in a dry frying pan over med-low heat, stirring occasionally), then grind them up in your food processor with as much olive oil as it takes to get to the consistency you like – drizzle it in as it’s running. You’ll have to scrape the edges down a few times, but it’s super easy and pretty quick. It also lasts a long time in the fridge, so you can make a large batch at once and have it on hand for whenever you need it.
Emily,
Thanks for the awesome tutorial! I thought it was easy, but haven’t had a chance to look it up. I’ll have to give it a try when this bottle is gone. Thanks again! ~Tiffany
Can you give us your homemade hummus recipe? Our family has just started enjoying hummus. Homemade will probably be better and cheaper!
Sure can Leah! I’ll swap that for another I had planned for this coming Tuesday.
~Tiffany