To read more about my personal grocery shopping challenge for the month of October and to read about Week 1, start here. Go here for Week 2 and Week 3.
Well, this week I officially went over budget. I knew it was coming. However, I will remind you that I am still spending less than I normally spend so even though I'm over my target range of $175-200 total spent all is not lost. I continue to learn more each week about shopping frugally by forcing myself to stay committed to my goal.
This week I'm thinking about potatoes! My grocery store ran a sale on 10 pound bags of Russet potatoes for $2.99, which is the typical cost of a 5 pound bag. So, I bought 10 pounds of potatoes. There is no way we'll eat all of them before they start to shrivel so I'm trying to think of recipes that I can make with the potatoes and then freeze. I'm planning to prepare mashed potatoes, twice-baked potatoes, and potato soup. If you know of any other good potato recipes that freeze well please leave a comment! I'm wondering, can I peel, chop, and blanch potatoes then freeze them to use later in soups? Can they be frozen peeled, chopped, and raw? What about baked potato wedges/oven fries? Can I partially bake and then freeze them to re-bake and use later (isn't that what Ore-Ida does)? Please speak up if you have any tips.
For those of you who are buying diapers on a regular basis Target has name-brand diapers on sale this week for $8.49, which is really just an okay price, but if you buy 3 packages then you'll earn a $5.00 gift card. So, you get three packages of diapers for $20.47, that's $6.82 per package. If you have some manufacturer's coupons you can get them for even less!
Week 4 Shopping Trip
Spent:
- $29.96 at the grocery store
- $16.38 at CVS
- $8.71 at Walgreen's
- $55.05 was my grand total for Week 3
- total spent so far this month -- $237.70
My best shopping deals:
- 10 pounds of Russet potatoes for $2.99 -- that's $.30 per pound
- 4 boxes of Post cereal for $1.69 each
- 1 large pork loin, which I cut into halves and froze, for $5.98
- 1 pack of Huggies for $7.50
- 1 pack of Pampers for $7.99
What I've learned so far:
- That I CAN successfully complete a grocery shopping trip using coupons with both boys in tow!
- I'm slowly venturing into the world of earning CVS Extra Care Bucks. It's a bit overwhelming for me but I'm learning. I hope to be able to get many of our toiletries for free using coupons and earned Extra Care Bucks.
*photo caption -- Russet potatoes, 10 pounds for $2.99
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