My last couple trips to the store have been a bit whacked out compared to our normal shopping. We had not done any real shopping for a good 18 weeks around here. Slow work, low paychecks and all those other budget-crunchers. We were buying the absolute barest of essentials. I've always loved Dave Ramsey's advice on finances, but really, a beans-and-rice/rice-and-beans menu gets rather monotonous after the first month!
The list from just this week at Wal-Mart:
3 bunches of Romaine hearts
2 boxes of GV Butter Crackers (we had some summer sausage I'd made)
2 bottles of ketchup
1 box of beef patties (not all that delicious, but they work great for quick 'salsbury steaks')
2 bell peppers
1 cucumber
1 block GV Monterey Jack
1 block GV Mild Cheddar
1 dozen GV cream of mushroom soup
2 loaves GV Wheat sandwhich bread (yes, we bake our bread but once in a while it's just nice to have sliced bread around)
1 mega pack Parents Choice diapers
1 mega pack White Cloud Pull-Ups
1 large box 33-gal trash bags
1 large box 13-gal trash bags
1 24-count pack Angel Soft toilet paper (didn't go to Sam's or I'd have bought a case there)
2 bottles GV dishwashing liquid
a can of Repel bug spray -- there are more fleas around here than animals right now and they eat me alive outside!
A trip to Save-Alot netted me this:
4 5-lb rolls of ground chuck (sale priced)
3 boxes of shell pasta (it was all they had aside from spaghetti and egg noodles)
2 boxes of Raisin Bran (for muffins)
2 large cans pumpkin (for muffins)
2 packages hot dog buns (yes, I could have and should have just made them...)
2 jars mushroom pieces
And we stopped at the farm stand and bought 2 boxes (about 40 lbs) of red potatoes and a bushel of Granny Smith apples for that pie filling we made.
All in all, I spent around $120. Not my best effort at shopping, but not my worst either.
Coming up, late October, Miss Emily will have her next follow-up visit to LeBonheur's in Memphis and we will make a mega shopping trip at a little Sam's Club there. I swear, it must be one of the first ones -- looks like a true little warehouse and nothing like the mega Sam's Clubs with all the fluff and nonsense in it. It's stocked full of things I can't get at our local Sam's.
We will pick up the large restuarant-zized cans of veggies there --
a dozen peas
a dozen potatoes
a half-dozen mushrooms
a dozen sweet corn
a dozen kitchen-cut green beans
4 2-lb pkgs of dry yeast
2 containers of baking powder
2 bags of baking soda
4 cider vinegar (we add it to the chicken's and goat's water)
2 cases of TP
5-lb tub of real butter
2 cases of eggs (15 doz. each -- that's a month's worth of eggs for us)
4 bags of frozen broccoli
1 case hot dogs and 1 case hamburgers for the freezer stock
4 jugs of Olive Oil
4 bags of bread flour *
2 bags of sugar *
3 containers each of Beef Base and Chicken Base
2 large bags of rice
2 large bags of pinto beans
2 25-lb pails of lard
I'm hoping to get to the butcher in Corinth for a case of ground beef and a case of stew meat for canning as well. We'll see how that goes when the time comes. For other meat needs, I'll get several bags of cut up chicken, 2 cases of the 1-lb rolls of ground turkey, a case of the small turkey hams and I'd love to find 4 really od, decent-sized rolled roasts. I haven't had a truly good beef roast in years. The beef around here seems so small. Pork is the local meat d'jour.
Some other needs would be things like 6 tubes toothpaste, at least 6 bottles of shampoo, and 2 large bundles of a mild bar soap. I'd like to find someone carrying Kirk's Castile locally, but so far, nadda. I need 6 boxes of Washing Soda and 6 of Borax for laundry soap, as well.
I'd like to stop at Ada's for some grains as well. If I do, I'll call ahead on prices for their high gluten flour and fructose, instead of the smaller bags at Sam's. I need some more Tea Tree Oil and some dried catnip and chamomile for tea, too. Ada's has a great selection of 'supplements' like that.
I'm good on cornmeal and have a bucket of popcorn to grind and add to it. We seem to be good on the miscellaneous pantry things like a small variety of canned vegs (in normal-sized cans like the rest of the world buys) and BBQ sauces, pasta sauce, etc.
Now to get with D and find out more about the #10 cans of powdered milk! I stock up on the Wal-Mart loxes when I can, but Sam's quit carrying any, and really, GV isn't our favorite brandtaste-wise. It's one we can live with, but if the finds are there and we can, we'd prefer something different.
As to the funds...well, if things go as planned on the budget for next month, we have an extra paycheck. A great bonus would be having some over-time start, but that's not likely at this stage of the game. I juggled around the payments as I could where I only needed a full tank of gas for Emily's Memphis appointment that particular week. The rest of the paycheck is all gravy in the budget.
Honestly, we need to restock the pantry here in a serious way and not the little ways we've been doing this month. But a part of me is wanting to order the remaining schooling needs (about $300 total, including reading books we have as just a wish-list) then worry about the pantry. Another part of me is screaming buy the materials to enclose the front porch and get the stove pipe for the wood cookstove and set it up!
It's a good thing I have so many weeks to keep this in prayer. If it were today, I'd try to pinch the budget just enough to go stock some more fabric :o) I'm a fabric-aholic. I admit it.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some pantry staples...let me know what you see missing from my list here.
It is good to read about all of your shopping plans. It gets me to thinking more on my own list.
I also shop at Ada's, up on Hwy 45. It is about an hour drive from my place but we also enjoy the drive.
Where is this "different" SAM's store you are talking about? I would love to go by there and shop.
I too am waiting to buy that last few items needed for the complete school year. .......Many needs......many desires.........less money........keeps a person close to God.......
Have a good day down there at your place,
Pat
~~That's the truth, isn't it? Certainly keeps one humble when you have a list of needs...or wants...and The Lord lets you know it's just not time yet.
Ada's is a good hour for us as well, but worth it if I'm buying several things.
That Sam's in in the middle of town...it's on Getwell Road. Store #8258.
Deanna
Edited by HandsNHearts on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 10:28
Just wondering, do you guys have fresh milk there, or do you drink the powdered milk, or just buy milk at the store? Also wondering, I know you've mentioned living in a mobile home, so how do you store all these things? I would love to stock up like that, even though we live in town and less than a mile from a grocery store, but I don't know where I'd put it all.
Blessings, sara
~~No fresh milk here, though I am always on the hunt for a good Jersey or some milk goats :o) We easily go through 9 gallons of milk a week here -- we buy about 4 right now and then mix each half with powdered. The key is to really chill the powdered milk. Mixed half and half with regular milk, it's good. My children will drink straight powder milk, though.
Storage -- I have little in the kitchen. We keep plates, cups and the like, pots and pans for daily use, and small amounts of basics in the kitchen. Everything else is in the pantry -- which is our master bathroom :o) There was a garden tub and a shower -- when we moved in they had been removed. It made for a nice-sized area to line with shelving on 2 sides. If it ever truly gets organized enough, I'll take a picture and share it ;o)
Other ideas we've used in the past -- I had rubbermaid tubs in the bedrooms with bags of goodies inside. We covered them with pretty fabric and used them for nightstands in all the bedrooms.
I've done risers on our beds and placed things in those under-bed storage tubs as well.
I've stacked a closet plum full with rubbermaid tubs, floor to ceiling :o)
Deanna
Edited by HandsNHearts on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 10:37
I saw your egg needs for a month and about croaked! then I remembered your family size and decided that was about right. We probably eat the same amount (percentage-wise) as you do. but no wonder you are so anxious for your chickens to survive! Good luck on the cow or goats.
Wow, it is funny, I just posted about spending $120 today at the store. I don't think I bought as much as you have. What types of food do you make? Is this for a week, 2weeks, or a month? I been spending around $250-300 a month.
I like Dave Ramsey to we been pretty much debt free most of our marriage. We only have a home mortage on a house we built 2 years ago. Sometimes I wish we stayedin our tiny house with a tiny hillside (no yard) b/c we only owed 20K . But I couldn't grow my own food, the kids couldn't run around, ride bikes, or play (we lived right off a busy road.) We want to pay this house off soon. I do NOT like debt and truely believe the borrower is SLAVE to the lender. Your post was refreshing, thanks.
Kristen
No indulgences of self will can be trivial, no denial unprofitable; Heaven or Hell depends on this alone. A parent who studies to subdue it in his child works together with God in the renewing and saving of their soul. The parent who indulges it does the devil's work, makes religion impractical, salvation unattainable, and does all that in him lies to damn his child, soul and body, forever.
Susanna Wesley
At The School Desks
We are a Christian family desiring to raise our children with the primary focus of Training their Hearts!
I have no greater joy, than to hear my children walk in truth... III John 1:4
Train up the child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it... Proverbs 22:6
Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!... Deuteronomy 5:29
Our mission in life is not to go to some far-off foreign land, but to work at home and in our churches and home communities. Our goal should not be to leave behind riches and possessions, farms and homes for our children, but a priceless heritage they will cherish enough to work fervently to pass along to their children. It has been done for generations and with God's help it can still be done. In teaching our children, we are striving toward a deep understanding of who they are In Christ. I am . . . a child of God, a gift to my parents and my country. I'm a person of great value because God made me. I can . . . do all things through Christ who strengthens me. God has made me able to do everything required of me. I ought . . . to do my duty to obey God, to submit to my parents and everyone in authority over me, to be of service to others, and to keep myself healthy with proper food and rest so my body is ready to serve. I will . . . resolve to keep a watch over my thoughts and choose what's right even if it's not what I want.
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