Getting Started....

The mission today was to grocery shop (while having vertigo---not a good idea!) for the next week. To purchase enough groceries for 5 days so as not to have to go to the store during the week.  I have come to realize that if you set a menu for the week and purchase everything at once then you will spend less than stopping at the store on the way home from work.

Setting a menu for the week is quite difficult when you have 1 and 1/2 picky eaters to feed.  So I thought what would be the easiest things to cook this week (remember I have vertigo) and would satisfy everyone. First thing I did was check the freezer. Yep surplus of chicken nuggets in the freezer ready for that last minute "I don't like that." Then I set pen to paper:

Sunday-- "My daddy's spaghetti" (no he did not cook it...that would be cheating..it is instead MY version of the spaghetti my daddy cooked when I was little...even though my parents and siblings say it doesn't taste the same I KNOW BETTER! LOL)
Monday-- Hamburger & Fries (remember Nick will eat potatoes disguised as fries)
Tuesday-- Oven fried Pork Chops w/Mac & Cheese
Wednesday-- Chicken Fricassee w/Cream Style Corn
Thursday-- Tacos (using left over veggies from Monday's hamburgers)
Friday-- White Beans & Sausage
Saturday-- Hot Dogs for Family Game Night

Next I made a list of all ingredients needed for each night.  I checked the FFP (freezer, fridge, and pantry) and marked through anything I had enough to last through the week. I also added items like coffee that I knew I needed. My revised list looked a little like this:
Lettuce
Tomato
Tortillas
Mushrooms
Corn-cream style & whole kernel
Kitchen Bouquet (please...no lectures remember I'm a working mom of 2 and I need things quickly)
Chicken Bouillon Cubes (again...no lectures)
Sausage
Chicken thighs
Pork Chops
Ground Beef
Stew Meat
Eggs
Sour Cream
Coffee
Hamburger buns
(notice missing items from the list TIP: When you have vertigo, do not plan on having a mental list of things to get. Because they will slip your mind while you are trying to stand and walk straight without getting sick)

I decided that I did not want to spend anymore than $80. Not only because I want to try to stay on budget but also because that is about all I had to spend. (Necessity truly is the mother of invention!)

I started in the produce department and walked past the bagged lettuce. Because everyone knows that a head of lettuce costs less than a bag of lettuce. But then when you think about how much of the head is usable as compared to how much is in a bag it probably comes out to be the same. I never use the first 2 layers and the center is tossed away (if you have ideas let me know...of course Picky and Pickier wouldn't eat it).  Maybe one week when I have money to throw away (yeah right) I will test out this theory and buy several heads and weigh out what is usable and compare the cost of the heads used to that of a bag. May be quite interesting. But I digress.

My next stop was the Mexican section.  More just to look and see what they had to offer.  I noticed chicken and tomato bouillion cubes. Then I saw that an 8oz jar of granulles cost $2.65 (.34/oz) (next tip: always compare cost per unit whether it be oz, piece, etc) so I put the jar in my basket just in case (didn't wanna have to back track). I went around the store and purchased the items on my list and even thought of a few not on the list (however those darn hot dogs and buns did not want to stay and play in my thoughts). My most proudest find was chicken thighs for .57/lb. I was planning on getting boneless skinless but then when I saw these babies I decided that deboning and skinning thighs isn't too hard.

I wrote down the cost of each item and added them up while I was in line to check out. My pretax total came to $56.37. WHAT?!?! You mean I could have gotten more items? Well its a good thing my items were already on the counter because this is a budget after all! I told the girl that if I was close to her total then shopping for an hour (by myself--what mom doesn't want that?!!!) would have been worth it. She asked for my total and I told her. I said "but that's before taxes so I'm expecting it to be higher". When she hit total s he laughed and said "your total for today is $57.68. Before taxes it was $56.34." Well I was very happy to enter my pin# for that transaction.

So what does $57.68 buy you?

Doesn't look like alot but for a family of 4 to eat 5 plus meals and notice I did get coffee, filters, and freezer bags which technically shouldn't be included because those are things for me and not dinner items.