Being Frugal: At the Grocery Store 3

You'll see a dramatic dip in the amount I spent last week...and I'm even contemplating NOT going to the store this week (minus picking up milk) because I have so many things stocked up. (Although thinking about missing the great sales is making it tough!!)

I'm also going to try to get these out earlier...like a week earlier, when the sales are still going on. Although, I don't think HyVee has the same sales at every store? So I'm not sure how helpful that would be...

On my shopping trip on Feb. 9th, I spent $18.23. Here's what I bought and why:

Sour cream - $0.88
This was for the Cubed Steaks Paprika (bottom of this post) that I made last week. I still have 1/2 the container left. 

3 Boxes Cake Mix - $2.97
This is a super easy dessert to have on hand...whenever we get invited somewhere and get asked to bring dessert, I'll probably use a box cake mix to make something delicious, like German Chocolate Lava Cake. 

2 bags HyVee corn chips - $3
Jordan's still working on his Rotel dip, plus this is great for the Heiberger-favorite Texas Skillet, and Jordan's mom gives us jars of homemade salsa, too. $1.50 is a really good price for chips. 

HyVee Pizza Sauce - $0.98
It was an endcap, I'd just bought those 2 pizza crusts mixes a couple weeks ago and I figured what the heck. One jar is enough for 2 pizzas, so I'll just use half of it and freeze the other half for the next time.

1lb cheddar cheese - $3.99
I divided out the ounces and the cost and the 1-lb brick was the cheapest per ounce. Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches have been my fall-back dinner option recently. And I just found another pound of ham lunch meat that Jordan froze a while back, so I guess there's no shortage of that!

Celery - $0.98
A great price for celery, plus I used it in the roast (bottom of this post) I made last week (it fed us for 1 dinner together plus 4 lunches for me and 3 lunches for Jordan). It only called for 2 stalks, so I'll probably freeze the rest and use it as I need it in recipes. I'm also thinking about making a cream of celery soup, as I have a fabulous recipe for cream soups. Yum.

1.65 lbs Pink Lady apples - $1.62
Weekly fruit for lunches, cheapest in the fruit section at $0.98/pound. 

Box of mushrooms - $1.99
This was also for the Cubed Steaks Paprika (bottom of this post) that I made last week. I still have 1/2 the container left.

Thanks to a tip from my friend Jess, I bought milk at the Walgreens by our church (which is 30mins from our apartment) and it WAS cheaper than the grocery store! The store is usually $4.08/gallon and Walgreens was $3.87/gallon, so we'll be picking up milk every Sunday after church. This will also help because I'm the type of person that if we run out on Friday, it'll be too bad so sad until Sunday after church! When The Gas Stop had Milk Mondays in SF (yeah, they still have them, but they're not ANYWHERE as good as they used to be), we'd run out of milk early a lot and we'd just have to go without until Milk Monday!

I'm always looking for ways to save more, and you all have given me (and others!) a lot of great ideas! From buying milk elsewhere to getting avocados for $0.38/each at Aldi to using powdered milk in recipes instead of real milk to buying dried instead of canned beans...keep sharing your tips! I'm excited to hear them!