Feeling Up the Icebox

I mean FILLING!! πŸ˜‰

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 ofΒ Hell Wal-Mart

2% cottage cheese, canned salmon,Β prosciutto,Β 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?

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39 Responses to Feeling Up the Icebox

  1. Frio looks perfect! πŸ˜‰

    You did a great job!!! I love everything you got too!! Especially the Ezekiel bread! That is SO good! πŸ™‚

    I choose to splurge on nut butters. πŸ™‚

  2. 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. πŸ™‚

  3. 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!

  4. 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!

  5. I wish I had the patience to coupon cut and go to lots of different grocery stores. Wanna do my shopping? Please πŸ™‚

    • 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!

  6. Frio looks amazing! I love what frio’s got in store for ya πŸ˜‰

    What in the world is a pummelo??

  7. lindsay says:

    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

  8. 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!

  9. Catherine says:

    Do I see the top shelf sagging a little under all that food? πŸ™‚

  10. Janine Powers (mom) says:

    Beautiful frige!! Come clean out mine and stock it up for me!!

  11. danica says:

    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 =)

  12. Mrs. Fish says:

    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!

  13. Kayla says:

    I WISH my mom would let me splurge at the grocery store!! Haha

  14. Jenny says:

    Nothing better than a fully stocked fridge! Is it weird that I get more excited grocery shopping than clothes shopping?! πŸ™

  15. Namaste Gurl says:

    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!

  16. 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!

  17. ohh i loved this post! i’m so nosey, its nice to see what others buy! i think you did good πŸ™‚
    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.

  18. 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!

  19. 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 πŸ˜‰

    Your food looks delish as per usual! πŸ™‚ and I LOVE the name Frio πŸ˜‰

  20. sophia says:

    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!

  21. 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!

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