Yeah, I just keep bashing away at the subject of saving on food but it's something that is really important. Yeah, you better get ready, because I'm about to stand on my soapbox and fuss again.
Here's today's shopping:
I bought
- two five-pound bags of flour
- a four pound bag of sugar
- a pound of carrots
- a bunch of celery
- a gallon of milk
- a dozen eggs
- two pounds of margarine
- two packages of yeast
- three big boy tomatoes
- three limes
- one orange
- a pound of mushrooms
- a large spinach salad with mini-tomatoes and croutons
And here's what I spent:
That's right: 20.57.
- I will make stuffed mushrooms for supper.
- I will make a mushroom loaf to freeze.
- I will make mushroom stem soup.
- I will make six loaves of yeast bread.
- I will make loaves of fruit bread with lime.
- I will make breakfast muffins.
- I will make orange nut bread.
- I will make cat-head biscuits.
- I will make tomato dressing.
- I will make tomato sandwiches.
- I will make yoghurt.
- I will make cream of spinach soup.
- I will make a small spinach salad.
- I will make potato celery soup.
- I will make raw celery snacks.
- I will make carrot soup.
- I will make carrot slaw.
- I will make carrot hot dogs.
- I will make ramen with tomatoes, celery, and carrots.
Yes, I can do all of that (and more) with the few items that I purchased today. (And, yes, I often do have simple soup and bread for supper.)
The key word here is MAKE. My $20.57 will go a long, long way and it will provide me with reasonably healthy food. (Hey, I still don't like that margarine but I use margarine for baking, and it's just fine for that--cheaper than Crisco and actually a very similar product.)
And the reason I'm getting on my soapbox about this again is two-fold--that would be two people I saw at stores today.
One was a man looking worried and complaining about the price of food but he was buying three loaves of grossly over-priced mass-produced bread that has little nutritional value. The price he was paying for those loaves was about the same as what I paid for two bags of flour, the bag of sugar, the dozen eggs, and the gallon of milk. If he'd bought what I bought and got cooking, he'd be eating a lot better, a lot cheaper, and a lot healthier.
The other person was a cashier at another store. When I asked for a price check on a business calendar I was buying because I was being asked to pay $2 more than the shelf tag price, the clerk was a little annoyed at having to deal with such a "small" issue. Apparently she thought I should just let it go. But I figure that it's still my $2 and I wasn't gonna overpay because I cannot afford to waste. She said she guessed she could understand because maybe I could make a sandwich for $2 and have lunch. I told her that I could have a whole lot more meals than that for $2. She apparently thought I was just being a silly old lady. But it's the truth! I know that I can. And if you've read my other Food Budget posts, you know it, too. By the way, I got the lower price on that calendar; the store manager said that I was right about the shelf tag; the cash register computer had it wrong.
It pays to watch your pennies.
Yes, I bought budget brand items (except for the flour for the yeast bread--I don't like to skimp on that unless I absolutely have to because it's an important protein source for me). And, yes, I bought clearance sale veggies--that's how I happened to get the eccentric combination of tomatoes, limes, and an orange in one package.
The important thing is that your values have just gotta be in the right place. You've gotta protect your $2 when you have to, and you've gotta get cooking just because you can. That's what I'm gonna go do.
Life is good.
Value your resources.
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