End Of Week/End Of Month Grocery Recap

I finally did it!  During the last week of March, I didn't buy any food we didn't need!

Here are the numbers for Week 4:

Needed:  1 gallon milk, 1 dozen eggs, 2 lbs. butter and a loaf of oat bran bread because I let time get away from me and didn't bake any from scratch.  

Not needed:  Nothing.


I bought all of this at Aldi.  Total spent for food = $9.09.  


If that's the good news...and it is...then the bad news is that I think our deep-freeze is crapping out on us.  Some high-fat and high-salt foods (sausage, bacon, cheese) has not been freezing solid, and there was a lot of frost built up inside, so we defrosted it.  That didn't do the trick.  Those kinds of foods are still not freezing rock hard.  Fortunately, they are all still within their refrigeration dates so we probably won't have to throw anything out before Shane has a chance to look at the freezer.  It's a big ordeal because it will have to be pulled away from the wall in our very cluttered and full garage.  At least the freezer is emptier than it was at the start of the month and will make Shane's job a little easier.


Here's how I did in the other categories.  (Remember, all of these are separate from our grocery budget):

Health/Beauty/CoPays - 2 more Rx for the problem on my foot*, 2 pair Rx eyeglasses ordered from Zenni Optical**  = 83.57
Paper products, cleaning/laundry supplies - $0.00
Cat food/litter -16 lbs. Nutro dry food (will last about 6 weeks) - $22.35
Lawn/garden - 4 pk. of blueberry starts =  $21.18
Dining out - Fast food lunch for me last Monday - $3.28



Since I won't shop again until Thursday or Friday, I'm able to recap both the end of the week and the end of the month today.  Here are the totals of all categories for the entire month of March:

Groceries - $102.55
Health/Beauty/CoPays - $131.90
Paper products, cleaning/laundry supplies - $0.00
Cat food/litter - $43.12
Lawn/garden - $85.63
Dining out - $47.85


* The culture done at Urgent Care came back negative for bacterial infection, but a week after that, I started having problems on more toes and across the top of my foot, which was very swollen and sunburnt-red.  I went to my PCP and she said the initial problem was fungal (may have entered at the site of that bug bite last summer), but I'd developed a bacterial infection as well (despite the negative test 10 days earlier).  Anyway, an antibiotic (safer, IMO, than the one Urgent Care prescribed) and an anti-fungal were prescribed.  The bacterial infection is almost gone already; we'll see if the anti-fungal takes care of the recurring blisters I've been having for months.

** This is my third time ordering from Zenni Optical online.  They are really inexpensive, and when my optometrist checked them, said they were spot-on with my (bi-focal) prescription.  Historically, Wal-Mart has had the best deal on glasses for us when combined with our insurance, but for the same amount of money, I can get TWO pairs at Zenni Optical without insurance.  And I may even be able to get our insurance to pick up the tab on those.  I'll post more about them when they get here.