Groceries/Menu Plus a Funny Flip-Flop Story

I went and did my first September grocery shopping Saturday (even though it’s still August, I’m counting the cost in our September budget). While at HEB my right flip-flop broke, so I scooted my foot around the store trying to keep my sandal on. I thought I’d just buy a new pair while I was there, but the only ones I could find were Texas Tech and Texas Long Horn ones (and I’m not really a sports fan). I didn’t really want to spend $8 on a pair of flip-flops I didn’t even like, then I turned around and there was tape for 98 cents! I could just buy some tape and tape up my flip-flop, that’d be cheaper than $8 and I could use the tape later for other stuff. After buying my groceries and shuffling out to the car I taped up my sandal and headed to Albertsons…well in Albertsons my amazing shoe repair failed me. I re-taped it once I got back out to the car.

“If I can just tape it enough for it to hold at Sam’s club I’ll be good to go”, I thought. Well I didn’t even make it into Sam’s, it broke in the car before I even got my door open. So I decided to give up and just go home, after all I only needed a couple of things at Sam’s and they could wait.

But what was really funny was when I was checking out at HEB a coupon printed out with my receipt…a coupon for Pay Less Shoes!! It was like the machine knew I needed a new pair! So later that day I went and bought a new pair of sandals with the coupon…and they’re much cuter than the football ones.

Okay…enough of my humiliating flip-flop saga and on with the groceries!

At HEB I spent $69.38 ($53.23 on food and $16.15 on non-food). And here’s how I saved:

• Saved $1.85 by buying generic brands
• Saved $2.06 by buying on sale items
• Saved $3.00 with coupons (in-store toilet paper coupon and 2 V8 coupons I printed out)

At Albertson’s I spent $17.15.

• Saved $9.75 by buying sale items

So my total food groceries is $70.38.

Here’s my 2 week menu plan:

Breakfasts: Oatmeal, toast, yogurt, fruit, smoothies or eggs

Lunches: Sandwiches or leftovers with veggies and dip, fruit, trail mix, cheese, juice, etc…

Suppers:

• BBQ chicken, salad and corn on the cob
• Chicken Tortilla Soup (recipe coming!) salsa and chips
• Stir fry
• Bean burritos, chips and salsa and cantaloupe
• Salmon patty sandwiches, steamed carrots and corn on the cob
• Taco potatoes and sautéed zucchini
• Fried egg sandwiches and fruit and maybe homemade oven fries if I feel like it
• Ranch style beans topped with cheese and crackers, and sweet potatoes
• Giso (rice, chicken and potato dish) and salad
• Leftovers a few times

And if you noticed the fabric softener in the picture, I used that to make my own Febreeze!! It was the first time in my life that I’ve ever bought fabric softener. I’m gonna share the directions for the homemade Febreeze tomorrow, but if you can’t wait, check it out at Fake-it-Frugal where I got the idea! Someone on my facebook page suggested using scented oil instead of the fabric softener to make it more natural, I may try that sometime too.