And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair. ~ Kahlil Gibran



Saturday, January 17, 2009

Frugal Food: Week 1

I admit it...I went over budget. But the prices were so good that I just couldn't help myself. I will do better next week, I promise.

This is a pic of just SOME of the grocery shopping I did this week on my new "stock up and save big/coupon clipping" freakiness. Mr. Barefoot got a little freaked out by how much I was buying, but the fact that I am in the stocking up phase and the deals I got soothed his conscience a bit.

I don't have a good price comparison between what I paid and what I saved, so I will just give you the highlights here.

41lbs pork (ribs, chops, roast) @ $1/lb = $41 I figure that was about a $75-$80 value

5, 3lb bags boneless skinless chick boobs @ $5 ea. = $25 That is a $40 value

14 boxes Rice a Roni @ $.88 ea. = $12.30 Value: approx.$21

9, 64oz bottles juice @ $1 ea. = $9 Value: approx $20

24pk toilet tissue = $5 Value: $7?

5 SoBe Life Water @ $1 ea. = $5 Value: $7.50

4, 8oz pkg cheese (some shredded, some block) @ $1 ea. = $4 Value: $11.96

2 loaves bread @ $1 ea. = $2 Value: $6.38

And on and on it went. Like I said, I ended up spending more than I had planned on, but between stocking up on the deals and getting items that we really NEEDED that weren't on sale yet I think I spent a fairly reasonable amount.

I DID splurge on the curtains, as you can see, but I think I would have just puked if we had to put up the nasty purple ones the previous owner left in the living room again. I can further justify it by stating that Big Sprout needs curtains in her room, and has had her heart set on the purple ones.

Anyway. I am proud....now I just gotta make bills!

6 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Yikes! Where'd you find such bargains? I'm a bid stock up shopper too.

Finding Pam said...

Looks like you did very well with all that you purchased. How long will all that last you? Now that my kids are grown and it's just the two of us, I don't buy as much junk food and all that stuff that kids love.

barefoot gardener said...

Lynne-
I went to the local Cub Foods grocery store for most of it. They were having a big "10 for $10" sale, and they let you mix and match your 10 items so that you don't necessarily HAVE to buy 10 of something that you won't use.

I have also signed up at couponmom.com, which is a site where they match coupons that are valid with sales that are going on so that you can save the most using your coupons. I stole the system that Shauntelle uses on Obsessiveshopper.com to file my coupons, and it is really easy so far!


Pam-
This stuff should last us a couple of months, along with the beef and venison I already have in the freezer and the other foods that I have stocked up on....the trick is that I am gonna keep shopping, though, so that I can build up 3 months of stored food to have on hand at all times....

Finding Pam said...

Thanks Barefoot for the answer to my question. Is that coupon site just for your area? Or can I find it here in Tx.?

You know a lot of my friends are stocking up, but I am not sure why they are doing this?

I lived with a Grandmother that survived the Depression and she had food stored everywhere, so I followed in her footsteps, until I felt a bit OCD about it. So I have no reserves except water,gererator,medical,radio, and those sorts of things. Probably two week's worth of food.

I have some Morman friends that are stocking up too as well as my son in the Air Force, but they have a large family.

Just wondering what it means?

RuthieJ said...

Hi Barefoot,
I commend you on this smart shopping adventure! Do you have a pantry or other space to store your stock-up items? Storage space is the one thing that's really lacking in my house and I would love to have a walk-in pantry or at least several huge cabinets to stock up on items (because I really hate grocery shopping and would love to only go once a month if I could get away with it).

barefoot gardener said...

Ruthie-
No, actually I DON'T have a lot of space for food around here. I have two of those cheap pantry cabinets that you can buy at the big box stores, and they are REALLY full! ;)

We do have an extra freezer in the garage, and that helps, but it is on my list to figure out some shelves or something for canned and dry goods...we are gonna run out of space really quickly at this rate.