I mean FILLING!! 😉
Hey hey everybody! I loved reading you guys’ comments about your foodie must haves! Let me just add oatmeal to my list! I just noticed that I’m running a bit I’m now starting to get nervous! Haha!
I figured since I finally came out about my relationship with my dear refrigerator (his name is Frio, by the way) yesterday, that tonight I would “take it to the next level” and officially introduce you to “him”.
This is what Frio looked like before I went grocery shopping today:
Haha! Just kidding! This is what he looked like after I cleaned him up!
So fresh and so clean, clean!
THIS is what my poor foodie stock was pre-shopping:
Check out my ginormous pummelo!
I was on a mission today…to be more spending conscious at the store and not just impulsively buy everything around the corner. So, I did a little planning!
Sale ads, grocery list, coupons…check, check, check!
I hit up 3 stores in 2 1/2 hours…it should NOT have taken me this long, but that’s what I get for starting at noon on a military payday weekend! Blarg!
Stop #1: SAMs Club
Organic spinach, ports, mini peps, steebies, peas, & cuties!
Yes, I did buy the 5lb bag of mandarins!
Anyone up for a bet if I’ll finish them all before they croak??
Stop #2: My own version of Hell Wal-Mart
2% cottage cheese, canned salmon, prosciutto, vanilla AM,
golden/reg raisins, canned tomatoes,
lemon ginger & decaf green (hiding) teas,
nanners, cauliflower (99 cents!), avocados (50 cents a piece!),
artichoke, organic zucchini, organic scallions, organic carrots,
2 tangelos, bloobs, 3 pink ladies, and organic cage-free eggs
Stop #3: Kroger
Peach Chobani (hiding), 2 Oikos Greek yogurts,
Yoplait Greek yogurt (never tried this brand before, but I had a coupon),
Ezekiel bread (no sugar!!), Lundberg brown rice cakes,
Lightlife Smart Ground, roasted red peps,
coconut agua, 2 bags unsweetened shredded coconut,
Baker’s unsweetened chocolate,
2 organic maters, and
Celestial Seasoning Mandarin Orange Spice (my fave!)
Reading Chelsea’s blog earlier this week about grocery budgeting, got me thinking about my own spending habits. I tried to be mindful of what I was putting in my…buggy. Yep, that’s what I call them! No, they are not “carts”!
My goal was to only spend $100. I figured a lot of the items will last me for 2 weeks or more and I’m hoping to see my monthly spending below $250 for the month. I know that sounds like a lot for one person, but for me, it works. I rarely ever go shopping or out to eat, so I allow myself to splurge on what I really love…FOOD!
I ended up spending $114.97 with $14.o9 in savings and the only non-food items I purchased were TP and toothpaste. I think I did pretty good, especially since I wasn’t really keeping a tally while I was shopping!
Now Frio is looking nice and full…JUST the way I like him!
I think we have a nice “give & take” relationship!
BEST part about grocery shopping…new snackage!
Brown rice cake topped with sunflower butter & sweet mini pepper
1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 1/2 square Baker’s chocolate, &
2 HUGE steebies that were impressively juicy and sweet for being out of season!
How do you think I did? What do you choose to splurge on in life?
Frio looks perfect! 😉
You did a great job!!! I love everything you got too!! Especially the Ezekiel bread! That is SO good! 🙂
I choose to splurge on nut butters. 🙂
Yes, I love the Ezekiel bread! My fave is the cinnamon raisin! Nut butters are definitely worth the splurge!
Eating healthy is expensive. I mean, it’s not like eating cheap frozen dinners or anything. You are investing in a healthy body so $115 isn’t bad. 🙂
My thoughts EXACTLY!!
Okay, so I usually hate words that are short for other words (sammy, breaky, even bloobs kind of squicks me out a bit), but steebies is CRACKING ME UP. I am gonna hafta steal that one for sure! xo
Loving your grocery haul, as usual! And way to go on the conscientious shopping!
I don’t know, maybe I’m just lazy or I just worked at a supplement store for too long surrounded my tags/labels for “STBY”…I just can’t look at the little buggers and make myself pronounce the whole word! Lol!
Whoa, you got a ton for that money! I’m keeping all of these tips in mind when I move out. I don’t stick to a budget now, although I really should!
I’ve never really made a budget before, but I am curious to see how this month goes. Sometimes I wonder where did all my money go?
I wish I had the patience to coupon cut and go to lots of different grocery stores. Wanna do my shopping? Please 🙂
This was actually the first time I’ve hit more than one store in a single trip! It was…interesting to say the least. I think next time, I’ll try to get out earlier, or maybe revert back to my college years and go after 1am! haha!
Frio looks amazing! I love what frio’s got in store for ya 😉
What in the world is a pummelo??
It’s related to the grapefruit only with less of that in-your-face grapefruit bitterness. Super yummy!
totally my style. I will go to 3 different stores just to get the best price. Worth it! Love the “clean, clean” fridge. and the rice cake nut butter/pepper combo- even more my style!
Cheers,
LC
you did great!! WOW! and its funny cuz i cleaned out hte fridge yesterday too! ahah it was YUCK and messy.. so much better now that its clean!
Do I see the top shelf sagging a little under all that food? 🙂
Hahahaha! Touche!
Beautiful frige!! Come clean out mine and stock it up for me!!
ahhh I love a stocked fridge – especially one like yours! oikos, bluebs and lots of veg – it doesn’t get much better!! I just came across your blog and it’s fantastic! I’ll be back =)
Thank you! Your too sweet!
What beautiful eats! When my hubs is home, and I typically end up buying more food, I do a lot more coupon clipping! I typically just go to Kroger. I hate WalMart too! However, I would like to stay more budget friendly with grocery shopping when he’s gone. I usually buy more splurges or things I want to try on the weeks he’s gone.
Great job with the coupons! One time I saved $40, or 50% of our bill. I was so excited.
Sales+coupons = amazing!
I WISH my mom would let me splurge at the grocery store!! Haha
Nothing better than a fully stocked fridge! Is it weird that I get more excited grocery shopping than clothes shopping?! 🙁
Heck no it’s not weird! Anytime I get to go to Trader Joe’s I do my “I’m going to Trader Joe’s happy dance”! Haha!
You did well, girl! I’m intrigued by your exemplifying, budget grocery spending. Unfortunately, I have no Wal Mart near me, so no bargain foodie shopping there. But I do have Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Target and local health food stores in which I get only certain items at, depending on their expense!
I love bakers chocolate, as well. I eat it as a snack almost everyday, as it’s got no sugar, just fat, fiber and iron!
Oh, I would give my left kidney to live near a WF’s and TJ’s! The closest ones are just over 50 miles away!
That was actually my first time trying chocolate straight up! I love the dark stuff, but I’ve never gone over 85%. I was just craving some chocolate and since I’m still in the middle of Sugar Free Week, I thought what the heck! I like it…in fact, I JUST had another piece!
I think you did great considering all of the items you purchased! I spend lot’s of money of food. In my defense, it is better to live a healthy life eating natural foods than waste money going out to clubs, eating out, buying non-sense items I will never use just because they are in a magazine for this month, etc. Y0u get the picture, I have too many friends that do all of the above!
Couldn’t have said it better myself! I just don’t understand why it’s so hard for some people to grasp!
ohh i loved this post! i’m so nosey, its nice to see what others buy! i think you did good 🙂
gosh i wish we could get almond milk etc at regular stores here – we have to go to random health stores that charge 3x as much!
i ALWAYS splurge on healthy foods – nut butters, milks, tempeh etc. i figure i may as well, i’m saving on all that crap food i never buy! haha.
Love to see that you drink soy nog too, love that stuff!
And I am the same way as you, I have to go to 2 or 3 separate stores to get everything that I want. I mean they all have different things, right!
Frio is nicely organized and clean, just the way a fridge should be!
I do not budget or set limits on my grocery spending. My husband just asked me today if I could have free groceries or free gas for life, which would I choose. DUH, groceries! My grocery bill is way more than my gas bill.
Oh yeah, that would be an easy decision for me too! I actually haven’t tried the soy nog yet…I’ve been hoarding it for months! My sister spent the night the other night and had it in a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (if you’ve never had egg nog as your milk in your cereal, you haven’t lived!) and said it was delicious. I can’t have it until after Sugar Free Week, but it smelled amazing!
Prety sure all I ever spend money on these days is food… I have a meal plan at school but the food just is NOT as good as TJs and such! So I buy some stuff outside, which makes me feel kiiiind of like Im wasting money…
But then I eat my eggplant hummus and it’s all worth it 😉
Your food looks delish as per usual! 🙂 and I LOVE the name Frio 😉
Oh you just HAD to rub the eggplant hummus in my face didn’t you! 😉 I need some of that stuff NOW!
And your not wasting your money…your investing in your health! 😉
I splurge on roasted nuts. I’m such a nutty girl!
But dang, your fridge is SO clean and neat. I don’t even want to consider how to clean up my fridge…that would take hours!
Always nice to meet a fellow nut luver! Yeah, I’m a little OCD when it comes to organization!
I’ve got to pick up those peppers next time I’m out! ohmygosh! I almost drooled a little looking at the photo of them on top of your rice cake. ok I totally did drool =) haha!
Fabulous job on the planning! I’m military but I wont shop on or around pay day either… I hyperventilate. hardcore. I can’t brave walmart in a military town. I won’t — last time I cried and curled into a little ball and made my husband promise that I never had to go there again. ahhh but the prices….. mother effer!
Girl, you CRACK me up! Hahaha!
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