Good morning! I should say "Good very early morning". It's 3:45 am, as in A.M I insane! Uh yea. Well. I just couldn't sleep. I slept like a rock until about 1 a.m. I woke up and my mind started racing thinking of everything from the chickens, the garden, baking, to a song I haven't heard in YEARS! Now what triggered that!? Seriously. My brain is always trying to entertain me. Problem is, it thinks I need entertaining in the middle of the night.
I gave up trying to go back to sleep at about 2:30. Instead, I came into the kitchen and made a batch of Granola and currently have dough rising for some bread. I also made coffee. Ummmm good coffee. Don't worry, coffee doesn't keep me up. It probably figures "why bother" the brain is handling that issue.
While puttering around in the kitchen, and listening to a podcast, I began to think of pantry things, grocery store things, etc. I've kinda had my own version of a pantry challenge this month. It isn't a "No buy" challenge, but rather a "Buy only what's on a good sale" challenge. It's served us well in that I have a little over $100 left in my grocery budget and 2 weeks left before I get my next allotment. I'm saved this week in that there is absolutely nothing on a good sale this week.
Last week, I did pick up a few things on sale, and gathered a few pics of what I saw.
STOP!
We interrupt this post to tell you that we have moved forward a few days since the previous was written. That's what happens sometimes. Plans change, things have to be adjusted.
Okay, carry on.
As you can see in the above pictures, even my neck of the woods isn't immune from the current supply line issues plaguing the world. Because of that I made some changes yesterday and decided, since there was nothing on sale and I still had plenty left in my budget, I opted to add to the pantry anything I was running low on IF the price was still unchanged and it was still in stock. Yesterday was that trip, and I have to say the shelves were low, low, low at Aldi. Some things I managed to add were baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, canned tomatoes ( garden didn't produce all we needed), sweetened condensed milk( still cheap at Aldi and the only canned milk available), and Worcestershire sauce. Things missing from their inventory? Half their meat counter was empty. No containers of yogurt except some of the non fat individual containers. Their salsa had gone up a bit in price and there was one flat of mild salsa available. Nothing else. The bread isle was about 25% stocked. Cracker isle about half stocked. Coffee section had been reduced to one shelf set and one shelf of that set had coffee on it(still not full). There were a lot of bare areas, and raised prices. You could see where they had spread items out to fill shelf space to cover bare areas. Still left out of there with $20 in grocery money left. So that was good.
While I did pick up a few things at the store, my focus has been on using up items in the pantry and/or repurposing leftovers into new meals. I've also been making sure to make more of what we need to have here.
I've also had to get creative with how I purchase groceries. I bought another 50lb bag of carrots from a local produce store recently.
Because I bought such a large amount I got them for .50 a lb. That's a great price even before inflation. I've canned all but about 15lbs. The 15 lbs will be used for roasting. Alas I did discover that canned carrots don't make the best roasted carrots.
Since milk here is around $3.15 a gallon, I checked at the local produce store to see if the price for the non-homogenized milk had risen. It hasn't...yet. It still remains $4.99 gallon. With that small a difference, I'm opting for the non-homogenized. It's better for us, and tastes way better too. I did some figuring and found if, in addition to drinking, I use that milk for making yogurt instead of buying yogurt, I'll come out better than buying the less expensive milk and yogurt. Granted I could make yogurt too with the less expensive milk, but I prefer the non homogenized if I can get it. Plus, with both the carrots and milk I'm supporting two local businesses. Now if things get really crazy or the price of the non homogenized milk goes up(and it probably will), I'll have to switch back, but for now; this works.
Watching for sales has helped immensely. The one caveat is that I need to be at the store the day the sale starts. If I'm not, chances are I won't get what I'm going after. Sometimes I still don't. One thing I've noticed is the independent stores in my area tend to have a better supply of sale items than their corporate competitors. That may be because their over all prices are higher and so the cheaper stores; Aldi, Walmart, and Kroger get picked over first. Not sure if that's a reason, but maybe. It does make me feel better to be able to shop the independent stores for some things to support them if I can. They are local and tend to buy local. Unfortunately, I can't afford to do all of my grocery shopping there.
Gas is still a factor, and so many times I find myself opting to buy something that may be a few cents more simply because I would spend more in gas to get the cheaper item. Yesterday's trip to Aldi only came about because I was already in the area. Within a 10 mile (one way) drive there is a Walmart, Kroger, Ingles (independent store), and Quality foods (independent store). To get to an Aldi or Sams, I would need to drive almost twice that one way.
I ramble on about all of this to say; I'm handling inflation and Bare Shelves by:
1) Thinking outside the box when it comes to how I buy groceries. Buying in bulk can help, but look at the price per ounce, lb., unit before you do. Bulk isn't necessarily the best price. Don't assume it is. That being said, if it works out to be the case; jump on it if you can.
2) Make more at home from scratch!
3) Watch for sales!
4) Support local businesses when you can
5) Factor in more than just price when shopping; i.e. time, gas, etc.
6) This one I didn't list, but it's through out my post and that is stick to whole food items rather than highly processed items. Stay away from boxed cereals, boxed dinners, ready made snacks, etc. You can buy much more whole food with the same dollars used to buy the boxed/ processed. Opt instead for your own recipes (or ones on the internet), Granola, cookies, cereal bars, Popcorn!
7) Trade in your sodas, bottled water, and other bottled drinks for home brewed ice tea (made with real sugar! and you control the amount), homemade lemonade, or just plain water. Trade in your fruit juices for whole fruits or infused water that you make with tap water and sliced fruit (sliced oranges are our favorite)
8) Opt to get as much as you can from whatever your buy. I saved the peelings from the carrots I bought to use in making chicken or beef broth. I found beef ribs marked down at an independent grocery store in my area. Their marked down price was the same as the price for beef soup bones. I opted for the ribs because I can cook them, removed the meat and use the bones for beef broth to can or freeze. Buy whole bone in chickens and use every last bit you can from it. You can get meat, broth, fat, and even chicken livers for your hubby to use when fishing( sometimes). Same goes for beef. Get the bone in, which is usually tastier and cheaper anyway, and save the bones in the freezer until you have enough to make a batch of broth
Hopefully you've found something in here worth while. My over all point is to think over what you can do in your situation to stretch that penny. Pinch it til it screams for mercy. Tis fact still holds true. If you earn a penny; it's taxed. Only a saved penny is truly earned.
So how are you pinching pennies? Comment below and let us all know!
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