Well, I’m 18 days into my “no spend” grocery month and so far so good. Is it weird that I don’t even miss going to the grocery store? 😉 Why didn’t I try this sooner?
I was going to make a shepherd’s pie with beef and a mashed potato topping one night but then I realized I’d be left with just 2 potatoes until the end of the month so I made a beef stew in the crock pot and used half as many spuds. I know it’s just a little thing… but still, when you know you won’t be going to the grocery store for another 2 weeks making adjustments can really make a difference.
I’m out of frozen bananas and blueberries but I still have 1 more bag of frozen peaches and a couple more bags of strawberries and some raspberries in the freezer for my fruit smoothies. I am hoping by the end of the month all our frozen fruit will be gone and I’ll have the room to add fresh fruit later this summer.
We also have a few Granny Smith apples left in the refrigerator from last fall {I bought a bushel} so I think I’ll make an apple pie later this week to try and use them up.
We are officially down to 1 gallon of milk. I LOVE a splash of milk in my tea with my morning cuppa{s} but since we are expecting temps in the upper 70’s-80’s I think I am going to exhibit a little self control and drink iced tea in the mornings this week. I think I can do it. 😉
I am home more, spending less and enjoying trying to come up with alternatives to the things I thought I “needed” to complete a meal. If you’ve never tried a no spend grocery month before…. I think you should give it a go. You’ll be amazed at how much food you don’t need to run to the store for. It’s liberating I tell you. And it feels good.
Here are the meals I ate last week {minus the snacks}:
Monday
Breakfast – Chocolate brownie, smoothie
Lunch – Lentils and Rice
Dinner – Beef stew and garlic bread from the freezer
Tuesday
Breakfast – Bacon and eggs
Lunch – Smoothie
Dinner – Leftover beef stew and bread
Wednesday
Breakfast – Oatmeal with frozen logan berries
Lunch – I have no idea
Dinner –Â Halibut and roasted butternut squash
Thursday
Breakfast – Steel cut oats
Lunch – Split pea soup from the freezer
Dinner –Â Pancakes and Sausage
Friday
Breakfast – Smoothie
Linner – Bacon cheeseburger and fries {date day with the HH}
Saturday
Breakfast – Smoothie
Lunch – Cookies, cookies and more cookies, fresh pineapple
Dinner – Beef soft tacos
Sunday
Breakfast – Eggs and sausage
Linner – Ham, mashed potatoes, corn and homemade Parmesan bread
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $0
- Total Spent in April $0
- Total Spent in March $136.58
- Total Spent in February $106.85
- Total Spent in Janaury $105.36
Freebies we’ve been gifted or were earned in 2016:  $200
- $100 gift card to Whole Foods {Christmas gift from my parents}
- $100 gift card to Trader Joe’s {Christmas gift from my parents}
- 22 packets of vegetable seeds
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Jenny says
I could probably do it…but fresh fruit and milk are a must in my house…
Mavis says
I totally get that. Maybe apples/oranges and stock-up on milk prior?
Staci A. says
I simply adore the chocolate brownie at breakfast time….. :-Do
jennifer says
I did a no-spend month last year fairly successfully without stocking up. It was via NW Edible Life’s blog. Her intent was to decrease the pantry stores before canning season more than it was to save $$. So stocking up wasn’t part of the gameplan. With these (rather significant) accommodations for family sanity, we made it the whole month: I could buy milk, sandwich bread (son’s lunch), and fresh veggies and fruit from the farmer’s market only ( we keep very little canned/frozen), and we could go out for dinner as a family a couple of times.
This month I totally failed, fast and hard. Again, we didn’t stock up ahead of time. Then, within a week I discovered I was out of flour, rolled oats, bread (dinner rolls, french bread, stuff like that), breakfast sausage, bacon, and all dairy but milk. So there would be no desserts other than fruit compotes, there would be no pancakes/biscuits/muffins, etc., for breakfast, and so on. Sanity went out the window and I caved. We still haven’t purchased any meat though, and we’re still working through other freezer items, beans, pastas…
Marcia says
I recently got a bunch of free meat from my neighbor, but I’m still almost out of (or out of), maple syrup, mustard, mayo, and …? Something else. I wrote it down. Somewhere. It was a condiment of some sort.
Marcia says
I’m pretty sure I’ve never done a no-spend month, but I have done maybe no-spend weeks? Or close to that. It’s hard with the boys, sometimes they eat so much!!
I’m quite impressed with what you put out there. I think challenges like these really help you get to be more creative. I mean, it’s just easier to go to the store and buy milk, cereal, yogurt, bananas, eggs, chicken fingers each week. I *could* instead make muffins and bread, beans and rice, curried lentils, soups, etc. Although it’s been kind of hot.
I do get pretty creative before vacations though! I was discussing the sad state of our grocery budget with the hubs, and he asked me what changed, or what was the part that sent us south? I think it’s a few things:
1 The produce box. I love this. It’s convenient (they deliver), delish (fresh!) and good for the environment (local!), but it’s $40. Prior to this I was probably spending $20 on the same amount of produce (I won’t call it “equivalent” because it certainly wasn’t as good.)
2. My boys are eating like mad (the 10 year old is in baseball and decided it would be *fun* to join the elementary track team!).
3. I’m kind of tired with a super busy schedule, so it’s been harder for me to continuously shop around to find the “deals”.
4. I’m trying to lose a few pounds again, and that means less carbs and more produce and protein = which are more expensive.
It’s so bad that I don’t even enter the receipts into my spreadsheet every week anymore. Ugh.
NancyB says
I thought I could totally last a month without any problems. In reality, we have gone out for lunch too many times already. If nothing else, it is an exercise of self discovery. My husband has eaten all the crackers in the house, with the exception of Ak-Maks, which he thinks tastes like cardboard. We have gone through more milk than I would have thought. I stocked up on organic milk which has longer sell by dates due to ultrapasteurization before we started this, but we have been eating cereal and used it up. Maybe the organic milk just tastes better and we’re using it more. We are finally seeing some empty space in the fridge, which is a good thing. We are out of oranges, but have some apples in the fridge. We are using the frozen meat and poultry in the freezer, opening up some space. My mother used to go to the air base commissary only once a month, and it worked out fine. I think she went to the store from time to time to pick up milk and eggs. Anyway, I caved and bought milk, wheat hamburger buns, and a tomato today. I think we will soldier on at this point and try to finish out the month without grocery shopping.
Jen Tremblay says
I love this idea! At this stage in life, it would be really hard to do this and keep DH and the kiddo happy though.
DH goes through a lot of fresh veggies and some fruit with his juicer, and our 6-year-old DS eats a lot of fresh fruit (which I’m thrilled about!). Obviously we could cut these if financially necessary, but I would much rather they have the fresh stuff on hand for snacks. And DS really enjoys having a variety of fruit – berries, melon, pineapple, etc, in addition to the more shelf-stable apples and bananas. Plus if I’m honest, I also really enjoy having salads several times a week. 🙂
I have been making a conscious effort to eat down our pantry and freezer this month though. Lots of last years garden bounty still in there. I’m hoping to drop our grocery spending by about half this month. I love seeing all the great ideas you have!
Sue says
This maybe a strange question, but how do you keep your apples fresh for a long time in the frig? Any special thing that’s needed?
Mavis Butterfield says
I just stuck them in the crisper drawer.