Money Spent

Hey friends,
So, Barbara's blog says that we're dangerously close to the $70 limit ($62)...  I'm sorry... as I planned out them menu with the three chicken nights - one pizza, one soup, one salad, and a meatless night, and our standard fish night, and one beef night, and then the "clean up the frig" meal, I figured we'd be well under.  The chicken is $.79 per pound at Aldi, so since you're boiling it anyway, make a bigger one and have more meat, that's what I did as I actually made my soup with about a 5.5 lb bird. 

Also, you will have left overs... assuming you bought a 3 lb. roast, the average adult is suppose to eat about 4 ounces of meat ... after shrink/fat reduction in cooking, etc., your 3 lb roast will easily feed six people.

As I've blogged about before, I have a large stockpile of food that this project is helping me work my way thru.  Also, for some pretty important reasons to be revealed in the coming weeks, I'm really working hard to keep my entire grocery budget below $95.00 per week.  I'm on track so far!  Anyway, my grocery list, after weeding out what I didn't need was seven items (four of which I really doubted Aldi had anyway).  I needed the fish, the tortillas, the colored peppers, and the pitas, the chipotles, the red onion, and the ginger root (the last four which I doubted Aldi had).  So my husband, armed with his Catalina's he's earned from smart shopping at Jewel the past few weeks (blog to come about his couponing!), headed off to Jewel.  The tortillas were $.89, the pitas were expensive at $2.39, the chipotles were $1.79, and the onion and ginger were $1.10 and $.28.  I will be going to Aldi later in the week to pick up the peppers, and fish - we'll need milk again by then - every third day we need another gallon of milk!.  So, his portion of the shopping is $6.45, and I expect mine to be about the same.  That means I spent about $13.  Now, I realize that not everyone has the meats on hand... that's why Barbara let you know about the Jewel deal.    See, there is always gonna be some ebb and flow to the shopping list.  There's no way we can know what's in your pantry, and more than anything we want you to check your pantry before you shop... it's the only way to prevent the waste and overshopping that can break the budget.  Don't leave home without the following:

     1)  My shopping list I've made for you
     2)  Your "green bags", or whatever you call your reusable bags
     3)  A full stomach...

Hope you enjoyed the soup ... no complaints, and lots of compliments here in the Heron Home.
night!
K