Friday: April Grocery Shopping Week 4

This morning, I was woken up by a phone call - it was my oldest half-brother, calling from Sri Lanka to check on me!  That was a nice surprise!  He's 16 years older than me, and my mother used to say that when I was a baby and I'd cry, he was about the only one who could get me to stop! 

Later in the morning, I took the car in for a service as the "maintenance required" light had come on.  They did the usual oil changes, tire rotations, etc. and said everything was fine.  It was good to hear that!  It was all covered under the extended warranty, so I didn't have to pay anything today. 

Afterwards, I did my grocery shopping.  I rarely make a meal plan and then go grocery shopping for the ingredients; I tend to do that only for special meals like the prayer gathering dinner or the almsgiving.  Usually, I just buy what appeals to me from what is on sale that week and then, plan meals based on what I bought and have on hand.   I went to the Armenian ethnic store, today, to get some fresh produce and milk because that's what I needed.  


As usual, I bought what I needed to round out what I have on hand, and I chose to buy that from what was on sale this week.  I needed some bananas (the two remaining bananas from the Week 3 grocery shopping trip have become a little too ripe for my liking) and at least one additional fruit for the week (still have 1 pear and several oranges in the fridge).  So, I chose to buy the apples that were selling for $.39/lb. this week, as opposed to other varieties of apples that weren't on special that were selling for $.89/lb.  I might go to a different store over the weekend for cat food and they are advertising a type of mangoes that I like for $.25 each, so I might buy some mangoes, as well.

I didn't need any meat (I have chicken, ground beef, fish, ground sausage, and shrimp in the freezer), yet, when I saw that the smoked sausages were on sale for $1.89 each, I bought a package!  Bacon was on sale for $2.89/lb. and I was tempted to buy some as I don't have any bacon on hand, but I  decided to wait on it, since I was getting the smoked sausage.  They had eggs on sale, too, for $.99/doz. and I put a carton into my cart and put it back, again, as I still have most of the dozen eggs I bought earlier. The prices are good through next Tuesday, so I might change my mind and go back for those, over the weekend! 

April 21 Grocery Shopping

I bought:

1 pkg. (12 oz.) smoked sausage = $1.89
1/2 gal.(1.89 L) milk = $1.99
1.3 lb bananas (4 bananas) @$.49/lb = $.64
2.08 lb. apples (3 large apples) @ $.39/lb = $.81
1 cucumber = $.20
.54 lb. tomato (2 tomatoes) @ $.69/lb = $.37
.52 lb green beans @ $1.39/lb = $.72
1 cabbage (1.4 lb) @$.20/lb. = $.28
1 bunch spinach = $.50
Total = $7.40

April 21 Receipt

Amount spent to date = $22.24 + $21.87 + $4.55+ $23.48 + $7.40 = $79.54
Balance left in the April grocery budget = $83.07 - $79.54 = $3.53

Cutting it close, this month, aren't I?  But that is OK.  I don't think I'll be needing much more, next weekend, other than more fresh produce.

I was tired after grocery shopping, so, after I finished my work for the day, I took a short nap!  I woke up when my gardener friend came over to do the garden.  We spent the next hour or so trying to put together a trellis I had in the garage - it was bought years ago and I never assembled it!  We couldn't finish putting it together as one piece was wrong (the item was bought too long ago to try and return it!)  I spent another hour or so, trying on my own, before I got too tired and gave up for the night!  I'll work on it more, tomorrow. 

Today, I am grateful for:
- Phone call from half-brother
- The car was serviced and didn't need any additional work done
- Afternoon naps
- Time spent in the garden
- Texts from cousin, emails and phone calls from friends.

How was your Friday?  How are you coming along with your April grocery budget?