The spending is coming back down.  We’re also starting to see the fall stock up sales so our freezer is filling up, which is nice.  It will help to balance things out in the future as there have been, for example, a lot of beef sales lately.

• October TOTAL: $1161.96
  • Stop & Shop: $461.50
  • Wegman’s: $284.30
  • BJs: $332.72
  • Other: $83.44
    • Local: $0
    • Star Market: $75.48
    • Trader Joe’s: $7.96
    • Target: $0
    • Other: $0

I made a number of grocery stops this week.  On Monday, I went to BJ’s (left – very small trip), Wegman’s (center), and Shaw’s (right).  This was not my original plan.  I had intended to buy white bread at BJ’s, but they were out.  Wegman’s was in between and I had my list.  I knew I didn’t need anything perishable there so I thought I’d see if they had the bread I wanted.  Nope!  So, I stopped at Shaw’s.  Unfortunately they were low on pizza dough so I’ll still have to head back there in a week or two.

Then on Sunday I went back to Wegman’s for a more normal visit.  We had hamburgers for dinner that used half the ground beef.  I’ll use the rest in shepard’s pie later in the week.  I got a few milks so I can push my BJs trip towards the end of the week.  I got two bags of carrots because I had a coupon for $1 off a $5 organic produce purchase.  Carrots will keep and be eaten.  I got the small bag of apples because I had a $1 off a 3 lb bag which brought the unit price under that of the 8 lb bag.

I also stopped at the farm stand mid week and got broccoli, green beans, swiss cheese, and one heirloom tomato.  But, apparently I forgot to take a picture of that.  After not purchasing much produce for a few weeks, I’m stocked back up in that department.

Dinners this week will be a bit hit or miss.  I have a rough plan, but we have two days with no school, two evening soccer practices, and two evenings that I am out.  So, we shall see.

This is the highest month we’ve had in a while.  But, I think the restocking post move is largely complete and that should balance out eventually.  The bulk of our shopping is swinging back towards Stop & Shop.  The seasonal sales that I stock up on are starting up and Wegman’s has stopped sending their coupon cards that offered $7-8 off each week.  With the farther distance to Wegman’s (though shortened by the move), those %7-8 mattered.

• September TOTAL: $1,399.49
  • Stop & Shop: $542.09
  • Wegman’s: $337.41
  • BJs: $186.69
  • Other: $333.30
    • Local: $135.43
    • Star Market: $145.18
    • Trader Joe’s: $19.90
    • Target: $32.79
    • Other: $0

Grocery shopping is getting smoother; our ongoing issue is milk consumption.  There’s just a limit to the number of gallons one can buy at a time.

Tuesday I went to Wegman’s.  I also got two boxes of cereal and raisins, but they didn’t make the picture.

I also went to the farmer’s market on Tuesday.  The raspberries were gone the next day.  The basil and tomato are used up.  The other items will be eaten early this week (except the apples which will last a bit longer).

On Thursday, I went to Stop & Shop.  I had to go through twice as one could only purchase one roast per checkout and get the lowest price.Cheese was on sale; I would have bought more, but this was all they had.  The frozen veggies are for the baby.

Friday I went to the farm stand.  The bread is for weekend french toast, though we decided that while different was nice this probably wasn’t our favorite french toast bread.  Since the picture isn’t so clear, that’s one pear, two apples, and three tomatoes in the lower left.

Finally, Sunday we were at Wegman’s again to restock on milk.  The dozen gallons of milk are not shown, just the odds and ends we picked up at the same time.

And, finally, this week’s menu.  The soccer schedule has changed yet again as it gets darker at night and they need to limit themselves to lighted fields.

Saturday:
Pot roast
Carrot soup

Popovers

Sunday:
Veal parmesean
Garlic & herb pull apart bread

Monday:
Kids: Mac n cheese
Adults: Homemade pizza

Tuesday:
Chicken pot pie
Green & wax beans

Wednesday:
Baked cod
Carrots & sugar snap peas
Bread

Thursday:
Kids: Chicken nuggets
Adults: Homemade mac n cheese

Friday:
Kids: Eggs
Adults: Homemade pizza

Stocking up is commencing.  And, I’ve bought a few items not on sale that we’d like to have back sooner than they will hit the sale cycle.  That being said, it wasn’t terribly high.  We moved mid month so there were a few days without kitchen stuff.  The dishwasher also failed so I was trying to cook a bit less than usual to take the load off (though I did eventually resort to paper plates).

• August TOTAL:  $1035.29
  • Stop & Shop: $53.54
  • Wegman’s: $430.97
  • BJs: $371.57
  • Other: $179.21
    • Local: $60.98
    • Star Market: $69.87
    • Trader Joe’s: $7.96
    • Target: $40.40
    • Other: $0

On Thursday, I went to Stop & Shop.  They didn’t have our preferred brand of rice so I bought the store brand.  We aren’t fans, but we’ll finish the bag.  As a side note, our local Stop & Shop has been continuing to eliminate specific products I buy.  I’m going to have to start going one town over (about 20 extra minutes round trip and directly past our local one) every now and then to restock these items.  Thankfully, they’re all shelf or freezer friendly.

I also went to the farm stand that day.  I got my Labor Day supply of seconds bananas so I can make a bunch of banana bread for the next few month’s of kids school snacks.

With the move coming up, July was predictably lower.  Not ridiculously low as we did still have to eat.  But, no stocking up means no big trips to BJs.  Plus we are our way through any remaining proteins in the freezer.

• July TOTAL: $1012.66
  • Stop & Shop: $360.14
  • Wegman’s: $287.20
  • BJs: $131.62
  • Other: $233.70
    • Local: $113.44
    • Star Market: $120.26
    • Trader Joe’s: $0
    • Target: $0
    • Other: $0

On Tuesday, I made a trip to Wegman’s for the last batch of milk before the move, and a few other items.

Then on Wednesday, I went to Shaw’s and the farm stand.  The juice stock up is for the period we won’t have a fridge.

On Saturday, I made a quick trip to Stop & Shop for that night’s dinner.  We needed one more package of chicken to round out what came out of the freezer.  I also got a few purees for the baby as she doesn’t seem to wait on them until after the move.

I still need to go back and fill in some holes, but let’s get caught up to the present.  May was high.  I don’t know that it felt high in process, but when I started totaling up the receipts there were a lot of them!

May TOTAL: $1,171.01

• Stop & Shop: $273.52
• Wegman’s: $262.04
• BJs: $383.85
• Other: $251.60
  • Local: $43.76
  • Star Market: $153.60
  • Trader Joe’s: $24.93
  • Target: $29.31
  • Other: $0

Maybe to make up for this, I didn’t buy too much last week.  I made one trip to Wegman’s – on Thursday.  We’ve been going through tomatoes at quite a clip so I got two Family Packs; hopefully they’ll last a full week.

This was very welcome after a couple of higher months!  We were still eating out a bit with the house on the market, but not nearly as much as we had been.

• April TOTAL: $
  • Stop & Shop: $823.80
  • Wegman’s: $240.67
  • BJs: $145.69
  • Other: $210.11
    • Local: $37.81
    • Star Market: $129.71
    • Trader Joe’s: $17.12
    • Target: $25.47
    • Other: $0

I only stopped for groceries once this week: Wegman’s, on Monday.  I got my free pastry (in the bag).

This week was not overwhelming in the grocery department.

On Tuesday I went to Stop & Shop.  I think you can spot the post Easter sale items!

Then on Thursday I sent to Wegman’s.  Turns out these protein bars were a fail – too gummy.  I tried Wegman’s brand white grape juice since they didn’t have Welch’s.  It was ok, but we’ll go back to Welch’s, purchased elsewhere.  The other items are common for us.

This is the last month where we have a significant number of family dinners for a while.  Soccer kicks off next month, and then baseball in May.  They’ll occupy our evenings, except for a short respite in late June, until mid-August.

That being said, it was a nice, low month.  I’m starting to try to eat through the fridge/freezer in preparation for moving.  And, I did well on meat with the Easter sales.  In a turn of events, I only went to Stop & Shop once all month, but it was a large bill.

March TOTAL: $843.53

• Stop & Shop: $143.52
• Wegman’s: $311.88
• BJs: $251.61
• Other: $136.52
  • Local: $10.84
  • Star Market: $107.18
  • Trader Joe’s: $13.84
  • Target: $4.66
  • Other: $0

This month we’re starting to balance out after a few higher than normal months.  I did less stocking up, but also was able to take greater advantages of sales, particularly on meats.  One week I was able to get very close to 50% off, including a free package of cheddar cheese slices.

• February TOTAL: $861.28
  • Stop & Shop: $227.36
  • Wegman’s: $296.21
  • BJs: $238.55
  • Other: $99.16
    • Local: $32.13
    • Star Market: $51.90
    • Trader Joe’s: $15.13
    • Target: $0
    • Other: $0

And in the spirit of continuing the budget friendly trend in March, I did no grocery shopping last week!

On the one hand, it could have been lower since I didn’t shop much or at all some weeks.  On the other hand, we’ve been home more (with more people in the house) so more eating is getting done.  I also did some restocking of things that had gotten low.  And, I bought a few things I’d far prefer to buy on sale not on sale because I haven’t been as tuned to them as usual over the past two months and we were running low.  Hopefully that aspect will straighten itself out over the next month or so.

• December TOTAL: $1024.37
  • Stop & Shop: $234.16
  • Wegman’s: $161.13
  • BJs: $359.46
  • Other: $269.62
    • Local: $65.49
    • Star Market: $156.74
    • Trader Joe’s: $7.96
    • Target: $39.43
    • Other: $0

I think this was a pretty normal shopping week.  I still haven’t gotten back to reliable meal planning, so that will have to wait another week.  But, I have managed to keep up with the grocery pictures despite everything else going on.

I went to the farm stand and Stop & Shop on Monday.  With the now three year old in tow I did buy a few things (berries, specifically) that I wouldn’t have otherwise.  But, they all got eaten.

Cheese, pasta, Oreos, and soda were on sale at Stop & Shop.  The ground beef was for shepard’s pie that night so I didn’t mind buying the marked down package.

On Wednesday I went to Wegman’s.  I bought the jicama on a whim.  We’ve been reading Eating the Alphabet a bunch lately (its the example “j” with jalapeno).  Also, last week we had lunch out and ended up with a salad with jicama in it.  Turns out my four year-old is a big fan!  I may buy it again.