Shopping List Sept 1-7

Now here's my shopping list, for those who may want to follow the menu plans.  Keep in mind this is not the entire shopping list - this is the list of what I actually needed, plus some items we need for breakfast, lunch, etc.  So, if you were following the menu for the week you'd need to see what you have on hand in your own kitchen and plan accordingly.  For example, we're having pizza, but we have pizza sauce on hand already, as well as the veg for mine.  If you were following my list, you'd find  yourself without sauce at the last minute, which wouldn't be good.  Of course, pizza sauce is easy enough to whip up IF you happen to have tomatoes and Italian Seasoning on hand.  Sometimes in the summer, I'll just put thin slices of tomato down as my "sauce" and sprinkle the Italian Seasoning all over.  But, I'm rambling.

My system is this:  List the items and my guesstimate for how much they will cost (the number after the item).  For example, I have "bacon - 4" on this list.  What that means is I need one package of bacon, which I expect to pay about $4 for.  The averaging works out pretty well, with some practice, and helps me stay on track, budget-wise.  As I'm shopping, I also note each price in a column on the left of my list, and calculate as I go, so I know I'm staying on track.  It's never perfect, but it's a pretty good system nonetheless.

The notes at the bottom of my list are for Wal-Mart's price matching.  Basically, I go through the online flyers right before I go shopping and note any deals on things I need to buy.  Takes just a little bit of time and can add up to some good savings.  I should note, though, that my local Wal-Mart no longer asks to see the flyers as you check out, you just tell them the price and where it's from.  You may need to bring the flyers with you in order to get the price match deals.

For this week's list, I spent $85.  I had some things on hand, but not much.  I will likely spend about $10-15 more through the course of the week.  There is some bread and produce I will pick up mid-week (so it's fresh), and probably a couple of add-ons then too.  Some weeks we go through milk and bananas like the dickens, some weeks we don't.  I'd rather do a quick mid-week shopping trip than have sad looking produce or fruit that goes bad.

As I mentioned, it's not a perfect system, but it's working pretty well so far. Considering my old method was to go shopping EVERY SINGLE DAY this is a vast improvement.  I'd like to do more couponing, and some day eliminate my dependence on the Wal-Mart evil empire, but for now, I'm happy with my plan.  I'm always looking for great new ideas though, so send them my way!

Shopping list

One bag pizza crust - 1
Motz cheese - 2
Broccoli - 3 crowns - 2
Pepperoni - 2
pork roast (2+ meals) - 5# - 9
spaghetti - 1
soy sauce - 2
rice vinegar- 2
snap peas - 2
scallions x 2 - 2
packaged cole slaw - 2
bacon - 4
bag onions - 2
chix bouillion - 2
3# russets - 3
Cheddar cheese - 2
Sour Cream - 1
Ham - 3.5
soft taco shells - 2
taco chips - 2
Mexican cheese - 2
black beans* - 1
green peppers x 2 - 2
rice - 1
chicken sausage - 3.5
egg roll wrappers - 3

Goldfish crackers - 2
NesQuick chocolate syrup - 2
Peanut Butter - 2
Half & Half - 2

Pick and Save
Boneless Chix Breast - 1.99#
Jumbo Sweeties green sdlss grapes - 0.88#
Butter - 1.88
Kraft Shredded or Sliced Cheese - 8oz - 0.88
Bush's Black Beans - 15-16oz - $1

Piggly Wiggly
Deans sour cream 160z - 0.99
bunch cilantro - 0.59 ea

Walgreens
Milk - 2.49
Maxwell House 11-11.5oz - 2.99
General Mills cereal 12.2-14.5oz 1.67


Pick up Wednesday
Panini bread
avocado x3
green pepper x2
lettuce