When I was buying groceries for the first 9 months of last year, I wasn’t buying them with the intent of trying to spend only $100 a month for groceries this year. I was simply stocking my pantry because I loath shopping during the holiday season {October- December}.
Then, a few days before January of this year as I was preparing my list of goals for 2022 I got the idea in my head that we should try to get through the year by only spending $100 a month on groceries.
After all, prices were going up {and quickly!} and since I knew I wanted to concentrate on gardening this year, spending as little as possible on store bought food just seemed like a good sort of challenge.
After all, it wasn’t that long ago that most people {our parents and grandparents generations} had large gardens, ate in season and cooked at home more often {not relying on packaged food like a lot of people do today}.
Food didn’t cost as much. Partly because people grew/raised much of what they ate, and also, more importantly, they ate meals made with simple ingredients.
And so here we are. Early April, and so far so good. I’m still doing it. Still on target to only spend an average of $100 a month on groceries this year and having a bit of fun with it.
Big {and only} grocery purchase of the week: $2.69.
Let’s just say, it takes tremendous willpower to walk into a store and only walk out with a half gallon of milk.
A plain loaf of Dutch oven crusty bread. I LOVE making this!
Grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread and canned peaches.
The last of the butternut squash and sweet potatoes I stashed down in the basement last fall.
HH: Is it still good?
Mavis: It depends on who you are asking. If this was 1932 {a few years into the Great Depression} I’m pretty sure just about everyone you asked would say of course it’s still good. Just cut off the bad part.
Some people see a rotten sweet potato. Some people see a sweet potato that is 95% edible. Which one are you?
Salmon, buttered rice and roasted sweet potatoes with cinnamon and brown sugar.
Buttered rice and a boatload of Brussels sprouts. Dinner does not need to be complicated.
Spinach raviolis.
Boiled potatoes with cabbage and bacon {the HH can’t get enough of this stuff!}. We had it 2 nights in a row.
Remember all those potatoes I boxed up and stored in the basement last fall? Well we only have about 3 more usable pounds to go {that we’ll probably finish this week}. I had no idea how long 50 pounds of potatoes would last 2 people. Now I do. 🙂
Our mail lady gifted us a dozen eggs {awesome!} and with Easter right around the corner, I suspect eggs will be on sale in next week’s flyers so I have a feeling there will be a lot of scrambled eggs and egg salad sandwiches on the menu this month.
I don’t know about you, but I LOVE eggs. Hard boiled, scrambled, even pickled. They’re good for you and they’re filling too.
The only thing on sale in the flyers this week are avocados and English cucumbers. So hopefully there will be some deals on fruits and vegetables next week.
Hot chocolate, hard boiled eggs, dried apricots, almonds and a slice of cheese. Now that’s a solid dinner if you ask me. 🙂
And last but not least… a wild blueberry pie made with a puff pastry crust. Did you know you could use puff pastry as a crust? This was my first time giving it a go and my pie turned out fantastic.
So how did YOU do in the dinner department this past week? Did you keep it simple, or make anything exciting? Have you noticed the deals getting a little harder to find in your area? Curious minds want to know.
Here’s to a happy and productive week,
~Mavis
Total Spent This Past Week on Groceries $2.69
Total Spent in April on Groceries $2.69
- Total Spent in March on Groceries $114.12
- Total Spent in February on Groceries $94.64
- Total Spent in January on Groceries $96.58
- Total Spent on Groceries in 2022 $308.03
Jamie says
Eggs went way up here in Northern Illinois, bird flu is affecting our area & I always think they mark them up even more around Easter!
Lrose says
Yep! 1.5 dozen store brand eggs cost me $6 the other day! The week before…$3.50!
Sarah says
I was absolutely floored when I saw a dozen of plain white eggs for $2.49. I am so glad I have my own chickens that lay for me. Just bought 4 more chicks to add to the flock. Any abundance that I do have, I sell to the neighbors.
Margo says
I just paid over $3 for a dozen…on sale! Crazy!
Mavis Butterfield says
I saw a “Fresh Eggs $5 a dozen” sign yesterday. That’s the highest I’ve ever seen it.
Jennie says
I would be floored too! I have to pay $4.80 CAD for a dozen small eggs.
veronica says
We’ve had far more success with our geese. Our geese roam our yard eating grass, not grain, and each lay 3 huge eggs/wk. Our chickens were so expensive to feed it was costing about $13/doz counting the racoons dining on hens. 1 goose egg is enough for 2 people’s breakfast.
Eileen says
The pie looks delicious in that photo but the best part is those two little puppy feet standing guard–just in case anything should fall on the floor. 🙂
Kathy says
Can you post that recipe for the blueberry pie with puff pastry crust?
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Kathy,
All I did was line the pie plate with 1 sheet of rolled out puff pastry, add the filling and topped it with another layer of rolled out puff pastry and bake as I would a pie. Here is the recipe for the filling: https://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/the-best-blueberry-pie-recipe/
Margo says
According to what I read yesterday, supply chain issues and bird flu are going to affect chicken and egg supplies this year. So if you see a sale on either, might want to stock up. We are having a problem with lactose free milk, it’s not on most shelves right now. Found a half gallon yesterday and froze it. Small challenges I suppose compared to what’s happening around us.
Luke says
Have you tried ultra pasteurized milks like Fairlife? I haven’t noticed any issues with getting those. They are also lactose free. I like them better because they remove part of the broken down lactose, so they don’t taste overly sweet.
Tanya says
Margo I just bought a bottle of lactase drops from Amazon. I have to have lactose free milk and this allows me to make my own when I can’t find it. There is a great video on YouTube about how lactose free milk is made. https://youtu.be/wYyqZWWU9GU
Rosemary Calhoun says
There usually aren’t too many good deals on food before Easter. I guess the stores know we are going to buy food anyway because a lot of us will have big family dinners on Easter Sunday. But after Easter, those are the sales that I am waiting for.
Our budget went out the window in March! We did catch some good sales and did some stocking up . . . but I am hoping April will be a more reasonable month.
Supply issues: is anyone else having a problem finding chicken wings? I see plenty of legs, thighs and breasts but no wings. If it is a bird flu/supply issue why would there be other parts of the chicken readily available? Inquiring minds want to know . . .
PSUCHIC06 says
I have seen wings…around d 12 to 14 bucks for a 3lb bag and flash frozen ones. Fresh…around the same. I am in Lebanon County pa! I’ve seen similar prices in Lancaster & Berks too (the adjoining cou ties)
Jennifer says
Our Harris Teeter had a dozen eggs on a store sale for .97, limit 4. I snatched up my four and will go back today and get 4 more with ds’s store card!! We love egg sandwiches and egg white omelets, so this is a huge blessing as our WM has an 18 CT carton for over $3!
Note: We only eat the whites – what can I do with the yolks?
Diana says
Make Noodles. The Amish make angel food cakes to sale with the whites, and noodles with the yolks.
Ronda says
Or get some lemons and make some lemon curd with those yolks. Or really any citrus curd is delicious.
Brianna says
Alton Brown Cinnamon rolls or yellow cake or lemon curd will use those yolks up.
Erin says
Homemade ice cream!! It makes it so rich, its amazing. I use a rice pudding recipe that calls for yolks as well. So good!
Ashley Bananas says
Chocolate mousse. When we make homemade buttercream we only use egg whites, then we make chocolate mousse with the egg yolks.
JulieP says
Mash potatoes with egg yolk it’s delicious and saves the butter and milk for other things
Diana says
As a single person, whatever I make usually lasts anywhere from 4-7 days. I have a pretty limited repertoire of food, but am trying to expand. I’ve copied a few of your recipes that look really good and one of my goals for this year is to make them, lol. This past week was chicken sandwiches on bagels for linner, the usual Shredded Wheat with chocolate mild for breakfast and whatever cookies/fruit I had on hand for an evening snack.
This week is pizza for one more day and egg salad for the rest of the week, lol.
Ah well…
HollyG says
I’ve been trying to make it on $100 a week (4 adults), but have only moderate success. I keep finding things we use for great prices and stocking up in the freezer and pantry. We are doing better than we were at our grocery spending so I’m going with the idea of ‘progress, not perfection’.
Erin says
I’d lean into the stocking up mentality if you find good deals.
Angie says
I notices eggs at Publix were almost $4 a dozen but they had a sale on Eggland’s Best – 2/$5. We have a neighbor down the road who sells fresh eggs for $4/dozen but I keep looking for sales – when I see them I will stock up.
We have been focused on stocking our pantry back up after our move. I purchased 25 lbs of rice, 8 lbs of oats, 25 lbs of sugar, 40 lbs of flour, Crisco, vegetable oil, olive oil, 3 pork sirloin roasts, 10 lbs of ground beef, several kinds of frozen veggies to hold us over until our garden is planting and producing & summer veggies begin to be readily available.
Prices are crazy but I am doing my best to focus my shopping and meal planning on items that are on sale. I also made homemade bread for my family rather than purchasing store bought. We are gobbling up all of our leftovers and not letting anything go to waste. I will certainly be canning everything I can get my hands on in the coming summer season – it is delicious, usually less expensive, and necessary in these times.
Sue says
Mavis, have you ever played around with a solar oven? It doesn’t require it to be hot out, only for it to be bright and sunny.
I’ve used mine for all sorts of things, but I use it regularly for hard “boiling” eggs — no water needed!
I think you might really get into it. I tried to attach a photo of mine cooking a dozen eggs right in the carton, but don’t see how to do that, darn.
Marie says
The puff pastry for pie crust sounds amazing, but isn’t it a tad expensive being one box (2 sheets) is $5.25 at Walmart??
PSUCHIC06 says
Has anyone noticed as prices have gone up …the weekly coupons to.clip have gotten thinner? Seems like a great time to build customer loyalty?
Cindy Miller says
I don’t recall how you wrapped up the potatoes for the winter?? I bought 50 pounds for the two of us last year and we ate only about half plus a good amount went bad. 🙁 I froze some eggs late fall. As an experiment. I have yet to try them (for baking only).
LindaT says
I read Ann Frank’s Diary as a kid and remember how thankful they were for shriveled not beautiful potatoes. We waste too much food as a nation.
Amanda says
I agree LindaT! I am trying to train my children to salvage the parts of produce they can, not just toss food that isn’t picture perfect. I so agree that we waste so much as a nation.
CynScotland says
How many pounds of potatoes weren’t useable? I’m curious as to how your experiment with storing them went. If I was single I would probably eat meals like yours but my husband would think I was nuts if I tried to serve him potatoes and cabbage or a plate of Brussel sprouts for a meal.
JulieP says
I don’t wrap my potatoes. They came out of the garden were dried a bit out in the sun, soil rubbed off and placed into brown paper sacks stored in our garage which is frost free but cold. I had three sacks, about 50-60lbs down to a third of a sack now and very few have been wasted maybe 3 or 4 have started to turn but that’s all. They are chitting now but still edible!
Mama Cook says
I’d say the sweet potato is good and cut off the bad part!
My oldest daughter and I are also each doing a grocery challenge. We were just talking today about how it’s fun to see how little we can spend, but when our budgets forced us to spend less, it felt stressful!!!
Perspective!!!
I’m sure there is so much to learn here!!!!!
Patti says
I use phyllo pastry to make a Chicken Spinach dish in my cast iron frying pan. I found the recipe on Imagilicious.com. You line the pan with some phyllo pastry sheets and then add the chicken and spinach concoction and top with more of the sheets of pastry. It is a great way to use up leftover chicken (the recipe calls for 3 cups but I just use an extra chicken breast or about that much meat). I had frozen spinach and the phyllo sheets in the freezer from last year and only used half so we have made it two times so far. My husband LOVES it and I think it is the crispy thin pastry sheets on top! Plus another way to use up leftovers since we are a two person family, too. No waste is my game to beat higher prices.
Carolina Cooper says
Oddly enough, I have found the best local price for eggs here in the “south” (NH/ME line) to be at Dollar Tree! Even though everything there is now $1.25 the price is better than my local Market Basket, Hanneford, Walmart or Target. I realize that not every Dollar Tree in the country carries eggs, but it might be worth checking out for some people.
Joely says
I am squarely in the “cut off the bad part” camp.
Jennifer says
So I have spent $300 on groceries this week! I truly don’t know how you do it. I think when we are empty nesters things will be better. I will embrace cooking once and eating twice or three times. Right now I have a son who eats ALL scraps leftover so it’s a new meal each night and we have to label the food we want to take for lunch lol. And then my other son will be home for the summer. I’m dying over the food costs but I don’t feel like we eat extravagantly at all. I try to stretch everything I can as far as possible. I am constantly shopping the sales – but they are fewer and farther between than ever before. But I am trying to stock up when I do find one.
Ugh, anyway, I guess I just needed to vent as it is so frustrating that I have 2 fewer people here than in the past and my grocery bill is higher than ever.
Tamara says
Forty years ago our 16 year old nephew spent the summer with us. We had a large garden and every evening the supper table was full of vegetables along with a meat, bread and a grain. Our nephew ate two – or three! – helpings and just as I would be finishing up the dishes he would appear at the kitchen door and ask if I minded if he made a sandwich! Teenage boys – you can’t fill them up!
Susie says
I’m also curious how many pounds of the 50 lbs were usable/not usable. Do you consider your potato experiment a success? Would you do it again?
Mavis Butterfield says
About 5 pounds.
Gigi says
Have you looked into permaculture plants at all? Or perhaps starting and orchard? You love gardening, what about plants that return every year, perennial arugula, hardy kiwi, kosmic kale, mangel-wurzels? Sunchokes to get your potato fix? I found a podcast called The Forest Garden and they have a ton of plant ideas.
Lynn Y says
Could not find a ham for our family Easter get-together. However, it no longer matters as no one is coming over–HH tested positive today for COVID. 🙁
Ramona says
Mavis, I’m surprised that you buy a half gallon of milk since the cost is usually just a little cheaper than a gallon. I buy a gallon and divide it up and freeze some. I did buy several half gallons a few weeks ago when they were on sale for .87 cents. Yesterday I saw red grapes for .98 cents a pound.
One thing that drives me nuts is how store ads are you have to buy 5or6 items to get the sale price. Sometimes you can mix or match but often I don’t need or want some of the choices offered. Guess that is why I do most of my shopping at Winco unless there is a really good sale at another store.
Yes, I’m in the group of cut off the bad spots and use.
Christie says
Those are the most beautiful eggs I’ve ever seen!
Debbie says
Pie looks delicious -going to give puff pastry a try for pie crust!
Lrose says
How many people are you feeding on this budget?