Winco.......fill in stop

yesterday, we went to Winco.  I  had purchased 2 packages of tomatoes, they were all gone and we were having tacos, non fried- refried beans and rice for dinner.    The ice  was leftover from shrimp stir fry the night before  and I made beans yesterday.  

This is hat the trip looks like .....

1. I splurged and bought the turnovers that we used to have as a treat when we were kids, they were cheap....but not as cheap as the .10 they were then! 
2. Grape tomatoes were 1.58.   They were 3.00 last time at Fred Meyers.   
3. Green grapes were .99 and looked good. 
4. Alfredo sauce was 197 and I had a dollar coupon, making it .97 ,
5. cheese and jalapeño roll for our lunch for .50.   ( we added fruit and veggies )
6.  Two rolls for roast beef a jus were  .76.  - no waste 
7. 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce @ ..29 a down from .33 at Fred Meyers 

Total 11.40.   Less the turnovers would be 8.72.  

The splurge was ,,,well, a splurge.   Its necessary every now and then to indulge.    The operative words are every now and the .  The family will eat most of them because Tueynare not  on my diet.   

I'm not on a diet because I'm "soecial".  I have diabetes.    

Grape tomatoes was what I went for in the first place.    I almost never buy one thing at the grocery store unless it's in bulk and a great price.   I do try to save more than the gas it takes to go to the store if that's the only errand .   

Green grapes were a given.   They are a healthy snack ( wash  them) .   

Alfredo sauce with a coupon was as cheap as I can make it.   Having some things in the shelf that are really easy staves off the fast food demons,      

Rolls  from the bulk bin if you don't have a large family saves because a whole bag of specialty rolls can go to waste.    If I find something going to waste because we can't eat it all, I opt for a solution of buying just what we need of possible, freezing, or drying the product or doing my best to incorporate it into our meals.   It seems too much of a waste to make bread crumbs out of specialty rolls and they would take a lot of room on the freezer.    It made more sense to buy just what we needed.   It also made more sense to buy sliced roast beef from the deli because beef is sooo expensive and my husband and I are the only ones that eat sliced beef.   

Tomato sauce for .29 was the cheapest I have seen in a long time.  They used to be a quarter every now and then when we had Albertsons and Safeways.   I'm not seeing that price at Alberways,   You would think that merging would give them more buying lower and prices would go down,   

I digress, having a small can of tomato sauce   saves opening an full can  of a tomato product to make a small amount of pasta or top a pizza.   I have pizza sauce in the freezer that I froze in ice cube trays, but a small can works too.   The rest of it can be lit into meat balls, meat loaf or soup.   

It was a small haul, but thought out to maximize our money.   Again, knowing the RBP of things you 

Muse in a regular basis is the key to maintaining a pantry on a low budget.    

My money spent on food is less than the USDA stats for my husband and I.   I maintain a large stock, and supplement daughter and granddaughter.    

Actual money for food eaten at home is about three dollars a day.    

Thanks for stopping by 

 Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck.