Grocery Shopping

 I have been asked to post about how we live on a small grocery bill each month. There is only my husband and I though I do fix meals for anyone that is working with William each day. I will try to post my menus each day this month so you can get a better idea.
Grocery shopping was quick this month. My friend gave us lots of produce for us and the animals yesterday. I didn't have to buy  veggies or fruit except potatoes. Our potatoes didn't do well in the drought this year. The produce market won't close until Dec 31st so we won't have to purchase much until the first of the year plus I have lots of canned and frozen veggies from the garden. I also had plenty of ground beef and chicken left in the freezer from last months shopping trip so only had to purchase a few meats. After all was said and done I only spent $132.18 for this months groceries! Well except the turkey for Thanksgiving. I don't know how many if anyone will be here for dinner so am waiting so I will know what size turkey I need. It also includes paper,personal,and cleaning items as well as catfood. We have 3 meals a day most days though there are some days things happen and we have a really late breakfast and just have two meals on those days. Breakfast is usually juice, eggs, sausage, with grits or gravy, toast or biscuits. Lunch is usually soup(homemade) of some kind, homemade lemonade or tea and a sandwich. Dinner is a meat and at least two veggies and bread. Most everything is made from scratch because its cheaper, tastes better, and healthier. We both are guilty of grabbing a snack in the afternoon or evening when we sit down at the computer desk. There is always fruit, ice cream, homemade cookies or muffins. We really need to cut back on the snacks! I always keep a pad on the side of the fridge so I can work on my grocery list all month as I run out of something. I try very hard to purchase only what is on my list but if I happen to see a special sale on meats or something we use then I will go ahead and purchase extras. I don't use coupons because I find they are mostly for mixes, prepared foods, or brands I don't use. Some things that work for one family may not work for another. I am blessed to have a friend that can get us lots of fresh produce and that I have veggie and herb gardens. I also am blessed to have chickens that supply us with fresh eggs and goats that give us milk for drinking, making soaps and cheeses. This saves us lots of money. Today's menu:
Breakfast: biscuits and gravy, juice, hot herbal tea (flour for biscuits and gravy is Pillsbury Self rising ($2.24 5lb bag) I don't use a lot of self rising so only buy in 5lb bags. juice made from oranges given us with other produce, milk from goats used in gravy and tea is made from herbs I grew and dried.

Lunch: homemade chicken soup, grill cheese, crackers, ice water I buy a bag of chicken leg and thighs and divide and freeze when I get home. I get enough for 6 meals. Used one leg and thigh to make a small pot of chicken soup for lunch. used carrots, celery, and onions from produce given us. cheese made from goats milk. Crackers from a box of saltines I purchased last month for 1.18. We get racks of bread ($5 each) each week to crumble up and feed the animals. I take some loaves of wheat bread, buns, rye bread, and raisin bread from the racks for our use. The bread for the grill cheese came from that.

Dinner: sweet potatoes,white potatoes,turnips,baked in chicken broth, stuffed bell peppers, cole slaw, sliced tomato and cucumbers, green tea   All the veggies of course came from the produce given us by our friend. The ground beef was from a 10lb package I bought last month. I divided it into one pound packages to get 10 meals.(I paid 6.98 for the package) Used home canned sauce over stuffed peppers. Green tea I bought in the spring online from a bulk place. Don't remember the price but will check and see. I do know it had to be very inexpensive for me to purchase it online.

For snack this evening I had celery with pimento cheese and ice water. Celery from the given produce. Pimento cheese was purchased today. (usually make my own but this was on sale) a pound container of locally made pimento cheese for 4.14.

Hope this gives you a clearer view of how our grocery bill is so low each month. I plan on spending $150 each month but most months spend less. I like to see how much I can get for the least amount. We never go hungry and if something were to happen we have enough in pantry and freezers to feed us for up to 6 months. I always rotate and replace items so we won't be left without if there ever was a emergency. I think the real key is cooking from scratch as premade, mixes, fast foods are a lot more expensive. I try to fix several dishes when I have the oven or stove on to save on electricity. I also use our woodstove in the winter to cook on since it always has a fire in it keeping our home warm. Frugal doesn't mean doing without. If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment and I will try my best to answer them. Don't forget to count those blessings!!