What I Bought - January 2011

I'll be back later with my regular Monday post, but I wanted to first do a recap of my January grocery spending.  This is mostly for my own reference, although I know there are a couple of you out there who enjoy this kind of post as well.

I ended January with a total of $129.28 spent on groceries. That includes sales tax, and is just for food items bought at the store to consume at home. It doesn't include any household, pet or HBA items, nor any meals bought away from home. Also, we are a family of three.

Most of the groceries were bought at Aldi.  The rest was bought at other grocery stores when on sale or when I just had to have something not available at Aldi.  We bought very little meat, fruits and veggies because we had a lot of those items in the freezer.  If the food I bought in January doesn't match up with the meals in my weekly menus, that's because I usually pre-buy.  What we ate in January was bought in December or earlier.  What I bought in January will be eaten in February or later.  This is one way I can take advantage of sales and keep my overall costs down.

This month was a bit unusual because Shane worked out of town nearly all month.  While he was gone he received a per diem allowance to cover room and meals.  He roomed with a co-worker and they ate a lot of food from the Aldi across the street rather than going out every day, so they both were able to save a little of their per diem funds and come out ahead.  I did not count the food he bought while out of town in my monthly amount, since it didn't come from our grocery budget.  Because he was gone, that also meant less food was consumed at home this month.

Here's what I bought for $129.28:

MEAT, POULTRY & EGGS
Bone-in split chicken breasts - pounds - 16.5
Eggs - farm fresh - dozen - 2
Eggs - store bought - dozen - 2  (my "egg lady" had no eggs the first half of the month)

SEAFOOD
Shrimp - 51-60 size, easy peel - pounds - 4
Flounder fillets - pound - 1

BEVERAGES
Soda - 2 ltr. - 3
Green tea - 24 ct. bags - 1

VEGETABLES AND FRUITS
Potatoes - pounds - 10
Onions - pounds - 3
Corn, frozen - pounds - 3
Tater tots - pounds - 2
Brussels sprouts, fresh - pounds - 1.5
Asparagus, fresh - pound - 1
Kiwi fruit - pieces - 5

BREADS
Flour tortillas - 8 ct. burrito size - 2
Flour tortillas - 10 ct. taco size - 1

PASTA, GRAINS
Elbow macaroni - 16 oz. - 1
Whole wheat spaghetti - 12 oz. - 1
Macaroni and cheese - box - 3

DAIRY
Whole milk - gallons - 6
Half & half - quarts - 2
Heavy cream - half-pint - 1
Colby-jack cheese, shredded - 16 oz. - 3
Cottage cheese - 24 oz. cartons - 2
Ricotta cheese - pint - 1
Sour cream - pint - 1
French onion dip - 12 oz. - 1
Yogurt - 6 oz. - 1

CONDIMENTS
Spin Blend (mayo type dressing) - quart - 1
Locally produced raw honey - 24 oz bottle - 1
Hot sauce - 16 oz. bottle - 1

SNACKS
Microwave popcorn - case of 28 - 1
Tortilla chips - bags - 3
Potato chips - bags - 3
Pita chips - bags - 2
Corn chips - bag - 1
Saltines - box - 1
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - bars - 2