Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Weekly Shopping Trip

This weekend I opened my checkbook and thought, "Hmm, it's going to be an interesting shopping trip." Man I love being a business owner. (I wish you could have heard the sarcasm in that.) So I checked to see what I had in all my food storage areas; cupboards, drawers, fridge and two freezers, and I realized I really have a lot to work with here.

So this is what my shopping trip looked like today...



I found I still had lots of fruits and veggies and plenty of meat and baking supplies so I based my menu COMPLETELY around what I already had.
It's amazing how many half-packages I have of different food items that just sit in the back of my cupboards. Half used packages of pasta or beans might not be enough for a whole recipe but thrown into soups can create a whole other meal. I also happened to stock up on meat last week when I had fewer meals to prepare because we were going out of town. And I also happened to get a rebate check from a Costco trip almost a year ago. It wasn't much but I did manage to buy this and pay nothing for it.


So even on a $60 a week budget you can still accumulate a stockpile of ingredients after a while. And I'm really thankful for that this week.

19 comments:

Terri Steffes said...

Excellent job! Using what we have SHOULD be the American way!

mommanator said...

Good going! so organised!

WendyDarling said...

I am so proud for you!! :-) We have been "shopping in our pantry and freezer" a lot more lately as well. Your right, it is amazing what you can put together when you really look at what you have.

And, now you have $60 that can go into savings. :-) Or be used for Thanksgiving/Christmas. ;-)

Latte said...

One week I SOOOO want to do this.

Faith

Miriam said...

totally cool!!

Fishwife said...

That's what I am going to try to do next week. Thanks for your blog, it's motivating me to cut down our grocery bill. If you can do $60 for 6, I can easily do $50 for 2, right?!

Halfmoon Girl said...

I need to do a week where I just shop out of my cupboards and fridge. You impress me.

Holly said...

I am mostly a lurker, but I just wanted to tell you I am inspired by you and your diligence. After reading your story, I decided to look into my budget for groceries and how much we ate vs wasted (in produce & meat) i'm proud to say that I went grocery shopping yesterday for 2 weeks worth of meals and I only spent $80. I truly enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!

Gidget Girl Reading said...

i might have to try that next payday just get the milk,eggs and cheese that we always run out of!

Kari said...

I totally enjoy your blog. You inspire me to buy less and get better use out of what we do have. Instead of buying the extra can of this or that all the time. I have been trying to make my menus based on what we have and just buy the essentials. I am finally seeing my effort pay off by seeing what is almost at the bottom of the freezer...this, is a nice thing. Maybe instead of ditching a bunch of old food, we may actually consume it!

Kari said...

I made chicken soup last night, with extra chicken that I would shred and use later in the week. I was running late coming home and DH had shredded all of it and put it all back in the soup. when I nearly cried that he had so too kind, he totally didn't get why I would cook more meat on a given day than needed in a recipe!! I wish he was a blog reader!

Cyndi said...

wow Great job and very inspiring! I dont plan out a weekly menu but have found that my favorite way to cook is to see what I can come up with out of my cupboards. One other thing that I have done with my deep freezer is to freeze milk jugs of water to keep it full. I have been told that it helps keep the energy bill down since your not freezing empty space plus if you ever have a power outage it will keep your freezer cold longer.

Unknown said...

Gayle, I can't even tell you how much of an inspiration you are to me. I have trouble keeping the budget under $300 a month for just me and my husband! But you are such a great source of recipes and creative ideas. I love your blog! This post makes me want to dig through my pantry because I know we definitely have all kinds of leftover food to use up. :-)

Anonymous said...

we are a family of four in California, need I say more but you inspire me every week to spend less. Thank You.

ConservaChick said...

You are awesome Gayle! Honestly, I have so much food in my freezer, I could do this for a month... I'm inspired! ~K

American Dreamer said...

Great job Gayle. We always eat from our pantry and freezer. I only stockpile the cheap and free things each week that I can get and show them on my blog along with what coupons I used so that other people can also benefit and get the same deals!

Cyndy said...

AWESOME!!! I may be in the same boat in about a week...you are very inspiring!

Lisa B. said...

All my stockpile areas are full. I'm too scared to let it get too low. We use it a little of it every week, but nothing major.

Michelle said...

Great job! I love those weeks when I don't have to shop too! :)