Groceries

[livingdeb]

I am sort of copying Tam and showing you a picture of my groceries for the week. I am not, however, doing any of Tam's lovely analysis of calories, price per day, or servings per food group, even though I would kind of like to see those numbers. I can tell you I spent $34.37 for what is shown.



(I swear there are only two packages of cheese; it looks a lot like four packages of cheese.)

This is somewhat misleading because I did not buy the hamburger that goes with the other ingredients for taco soup and for spaghetti (that would be about $6 more?) or the peanut butter and pumpkin butter that goes with the bread or the cocoa and sugar that goes with the milk. On the other hand, I don't always get this much produce. Nor have I used yeast in years (I'm hoping "bread machine yeast" is the same as regular yeast used for making bread).

My favorite buy was the dried basil, bought in bulk, which comes to $0.11. I probably needed $0.13 worth to completely fill my spice jar. The canned goods and grape juice are also cheap and the blueberries are in season (i.e., relatively cheap). I paid extra for hormone-free milk, very sharp cheddar, free-range eggs, and fiber-filled bread.

I also pay extra for most of the things I mentioned that I'm already stocked up on (hamburger to have a low fat content, peanut butter to have no added anything but salt and sometimes to have it in an (easily recycled) glass jar, cocoa to have it grown using some method other than slash-and-burn, and sugar to be somewhat less processed than usual). I spend less on pumpkin butter now that I make it myself.

None of this was on sale. Nor did I use any coupons.

Comments

[llcoolvad.livejournal.com]

So I have questions! Is this food just for you? Or do the two of you share? Also, does this cover all your meals for the entire week?

1. Breakfast .. toast every day? Eggs sometimes? Or do you also have cereal?

2. Lunch .. do you bring lunch to work every day, or do you eat lunch out? What does a typical lunch entail?

3. I take it you eat the same thing several times per week for dinner? I live with the fussiest eater in the world so we never do that. Using up leftovers is a huge challenge.

Sorry for the questions -- I spend usually at least $80 per week on food. My bill sometimes comes to more than $120, but I buy cat food, cat litter, diet soda in bulk, and snacks (which don't count as "food" in my mind), so when I take all that out it's more like $80 for food. We buy a lot of prepared food and a lot of produce (especially fresh fruit), and I get stuff for my lunches every week (like lunch meat, stuff to go with it, etc.).

Add in the Dunkin' Donuts stop I make regularly (for breakfast) and my week is pretty expensive.

[(Anonymous)]

Very cool and fun to see. I'm glad you posted it!

Tam

[madspark.livejournal.com]

Dang, I'll eat that much in a _day_

I have a powerful metabolism... 'spensive.

[madspark.livejournal.com]

Okay, maybe not QUITE that much, but I certainly must eat a lot more than you do...

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

This food is basically just for me. The lemon juice is for Robin, and he'll have some of the milk. This week he's also having some of the spaghetti. He buys things for me, too, sometimes.

1. Usually I have chocolate milk for breakfast every day. This week I'm having a thin slice of carrot cake (leftovers my sister brought over) and regular milk. Sometimes I have cold cereal and milk and sometimes I'll have oatmeal and milk. Robin likes to take me out for brunch on weekends.

2. Lately, I usually have a peanut butter and pumpkin butter sandwich for lunch. That is too small for a lunch, but I also have snacks. Lately my snacks have been blueberry muffins. I also have vegetable juice. Sometimes I eat out fast food. Sometimes I have a sandwich and then have a supplemental taco. Sometimes I eat my sandwich for a snack and then eat lunch out. (My usual lunch out costs $2.15 or so, cheap but evil.)

3. Yes, when I am doing well (and actually cook something), I eat the same thing every day for dinner. This week it's spaghetti. (Last week I also had strawberry ice cream daily.) I also make one-time dinners like macaroni and cheese, scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese, cereal, a smoothie/milkshake, or chili dogs. I also eat out on Mondays and sometimes other days.

Sometimes I spend double this amount (or more). This batch doesn't have many of the expensive things: no meat, no toiletries, no vitamins. On the other hand, I am lucky that I like to drink water.

I have one of the worst diets ever; I don't recommend copying me!

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

I could eat almost that much in a day if it were turned into pizza. I'm pretty small, though, and don't exercise much.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Glad you enjoyed it. I really posted this just because I thought you'd want to see it.