So this is my “no coupon, its a holiday, we had no electric and lost our entire stock pile, I am totally stressed out, we need food shop”. The next few weeks are crazy busy for us and I need to make sure I have food on hand. I spent $150 total, which is 3 times my normal
At my first stop I picked up veggies and fruit at Produce Junction $29.00. That was not bad at all considering the amount of produce I got.
My other stops were Genuardi’s & Giant where I bought mainly meat, eggs, bread and milk. We recently switched to Organic Milk.. to the tune of $7.99 per gallon. Thank the heavens I only have one child and we use about 1/2 gallon a week. I also picked up yogurt, deli cheese and a few other things. I did get alot BOGO meat, so that helped a bit.
- 2 Whole 4 lb chickens
- 8 lbs of boneless chicken
- 4 lbs of boneless thighs
- 2 Rump Roasts
- 2 2lb Pork Tenderloins
- 2 lbs of Ground Turkey Breast
- 5 lbs of Delmonico Steak
So who wants to make me feel better about my not so frugal shop?
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
just think of ALL the money you’ve saved in the past. don’t feel bad about today. you’ll get your groove back quickly and maybe you guys should look into a small inexpensive generator?
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
@jacquelyn,
Because we don’t have public water we decided to get a big generator that will pump our well so we don’t have to go somewhere to stay when our electric goes out and it does frequently here.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
@jacquelyn,
PS Thanks for the nice note :)
I feel your pain. A few weeks ago, we got a new freezer and my husband unplugged the small one to move it and then didn’t plug it back in. So while the new freezer was getting cold, the food in the small freezer was defrosting. I didn’t find out until 3 or 4 days later. I lost all my stockpile in that freezer. It was a horrible feeling!
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
@Karen,
OMG Karen. I seriously cried the other day as I was loading my food into the trash cans..
Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
@Tina,
:)
my husband would have spent that much and come home without one complete meal! He insists on doing the shopping, because he cooks, but it ends up being cheaper to eat out! I recently started taking over to try to save money.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:42 pm
@patti,
Oh my Patti.. I would have a heart attack.
I did the same thing! I went to WinCo and didn’t use one coupon…..$186 later, I still feel I didn’t get enough. Ugh.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
@Kahra,
Well I know it doesn’t help you, but it helps me feel better.
The way I try to look at it is… all the money we save the rest of the time enables us to spend $150 in an emergency situation… You probably saved that much last week alone! You win some you lose some :) Cheered up at all?
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
@Young, Frugal, and Fabulous,
LOL.. maybe tomorrow.
I don’t know if you have an Ingles supermarket near you, but they sell their organic milk for just a little over $5 a gallon. Are you in the country where maybe you could find someone willing to “give” you a couple gallons a week of raw milk from basically organic cows? (Probably not legal to sell it for human consumption where you are, but you could probably buy it for “dog food” or something like that. Or just leave a “donation”.)
Anyway, cheer up if you can. Recovering from that setback would be really difficult for me personally. Have a refreshing drink and know that you are doing the best you can – and better than most! I think I’ll say a prayer that our power doesn’t go out soon – we just had 400+ lbs of beef from our own farm raised cow put in our freezer, not to mention my regular stockpile of veggies and other meats and things. :o
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
@Karen,
Yes we do have that option.. I am not sure if you know, but we live in Amish country essentially. The farmer I would normally get my produce from just lost his barn and house in the storm. We have decided to get a generator, because we also have a well and no water or electric makes it tough.
home owners policy cover any of that spoiled food?? Life is way to short to sweat the small things.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 4:03 pm
@dawn,
They do but we have $1000 deductible. :(
You have just made ME feel better! I do this every now and then. Even us couponers deserve a break every now and then. Sometimes its just nice to go to the store and look without thinking of numbers and prices and all that mess.
I know its disheartening whenever you get home though and look at your receipt. Sometimes I could scream! But I know that I’ll make up for it and I move on. No worries- its normal of course!
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 4:16 pm
@Amy (Saving with Amy),
Thanks Amy! Good to know you do it too.. Now I can say well Amy does it too! LOL
Do you have a Costco or Sams nearby? We have two under the age 3 and we buy organic milk too. We get 2 gallons for just under $10 at Costco. WAY better than paying full price at the local grocery store.
Also, you chose meats that make great more-than-one meals. I know a whole roasted chicken makes our family of four one dinner and a couple lunches. You could roast a chicken and pull whatever is leftover to make enchiladas with. Cream of chicken soup and sour cream make the sauce, top slightly with shredded cheese or leave it out completely (to stretch what you have). Add veggies inside to beef them up (we use frozen spinach).
I hope that helps a little bit… PS – I really like your backsplash!!
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 4:37 pm
@Tiffany,
The enchiladas sound delish! We don’t have them close enough that it would make sense for us to run to Sams or Costco.. fortunately we just have Evan, so we will see how the milk goes.
Oh and the backsplash… a total frugal thing, I should write a post about it.
We bough leftover tiles and my husband did it $130 for the entire backsplash!
I think this is a very good bit of evidence for why we do what we do. You had an emergency, period, no questions asked. You likely had the $150 to spend due to your consistent frugal living and good purchasing habits as well as choices.
This is one of the places where we see the long term benefits of what we do every week. It’s also a good reminder to keep it up even when we feel like tossing in that coupon towel.
I started couponing in January of this year. I have saved about $765 so far (I keep track on a spreadsheet). So, since I started running my own home at 18 (12 years ago) just think that I have spent at least $100 a week on groceries because I was too lazy to figure out how to use coupons properly or thought they were only for old ladies. lol. So, just try to be happy that you learned about couponing when you did and that you have saved so much since you started! That should give you some comfort in spending extra due to an emergency.
I went and got meat, beer, pop, etc – stuff I don’t often get coupons for Saturday night for our cookout yesterday and spent $120 even w the few coupons I did have. I didn’t feel bad at all because I was thinking “Hey, at least I am not doing it every week anymore”.
I know it feels awful but try to look at the positive, as hard as it is.
Shannon Reply:
July 5th, 2010 at 4:39 pm
@Cheryl,
I was about the same age as you are now when I started couponing. Before that I just bought whatever when I shopped. I too never thought it was worth it to coupon. WRONG!
You are right.. it is a luxury and not a lifestyle now!
Good to know you have money to spend when you need it the most. This looks like a good reminder of how much people pay when they don’t have stock piles and don’t use coupons.
I swear, couponing has completely changed my outlook on spending and on money. Yesterday I got a gallon of milk, a huge can of store brand baby formula (regular price $15), dawn detergent, and 6 sobes all for $6 . Before that, I got a big box of Luvs diapers and 2 Veets for about $10 and got back $6. I got 4 Olay Effects body washes the other week for $1.54 . (Ok, I’m NOT trying to make you feel bad – honest) =) I never want to pay full price or sale price ever again for stuff. I resent other people making me feel guilty for using coupons, because at the end of the day, they aren’t going to pay for my children to go to college. They aren’t paying for the food on our table. On the flip side, think of all the money we save doing what we do. Like other people said, it makes it “ok” when we’re in an emergency situation and couponing isn’t an option or isn’t on our minds. We do our couponing so that that we have money to handle the emergencies. All the work you’ve done in the past has allowed you guys to get through this and be fine. Be proud of yourself! =)
It happens to us all! If it were my husband doing the shopping, it would happen in our house every week!
As momma bears we have the innate need to take care for our family and ensure we have more than enough to provide for our family. This is our modern form of hunting and gathering ;-) If spending a little more on the essentials give you peace of mind, then so be it.
Side note about organic milk – Shoprite sells gallons of their organic milk for $4.99 near me (S. Jersey). Not sure if you have any near you.
@Marcy – No kidding.. my boyfriend has started to pick-up some of my good spending habits, and while he was trying to show me all of the great deals he got, tried to hide the sliced ham for $3.49/lb. Lol….
Really, do not feel bad about it! I tend to have a “bigger than normal” shopping trip about once every 2 months. We have put off our Sam’s Club membership for about 7 months now but there are just some things that we get waaaay cheaper from there and things we can’t find in our local stores. I think we’re about to splurge and buy the $40 membership again (but we’re trying to find someone else to split the membership cost with to at least save us on that aspect!) I would love to eat healthier but it seems like most of the couponing is for junk food (anyone notice that?) Yeah, once in awhile they have some sort of crazy produce sale or meat sale but I rarely walk out with free health food. I guess it’s a price we pay and once in awhile there are going to be emergencies where we actually have to shell out some real cash for things… we work hard enough that we shouldn’t have to worry about it!
Shannon,
try not to feel too bad about it, this happened to me back in march when we lost power for 5 days and the day before I had just filled my freezer and done a big meat shopping! lost everything, I know how you feel. I really work hard at saving money and it was very distressing to throw everything out, but I kept telling everyone that I had the cleanest refrigerator and freezer in town, gotta look on the bright side. I haven’t restocked my freezer to capacity yet, waiting on this heatwave to be over, I live very close to shopping and I don’t want to think about what will happen if we lose power again. I have heard of blackouts in Toronto because of the excessive heat. Thanks for all your tips, would never have saved so much at rite aid if not for your postings.
ausI am sorry :(
its not the same thing but any mom that has breastfed knows how hard it is to build a stockpile in the freezer. My daughter ended up being allergic to my milk and I had to throw away 150oz of my pumped milk. I cried…literally. I couldn’t donate it because you have to go through a bunch of medical tests before.
Don’t feel guilty! I know you feel that you’ve thrown money away, but that’s how I feel everytime I have to buy gasoline. My husband and I live in a very rural area and have to drive 40 – 50 minutes to work. We spend $800/month for gas! Now, doesn’t that make you feel better :)
OK, am I the only realist here? I have a family of 6 and looking at the picture plus all the meat you got I think you did a great shopping trip. I do not buy any type of health and beauty anymore (that is for drug store deals) and I can make meat stretch reeeeeeeeaaallly far so I can keep our groceries to between $50-$75 a week. If I was buying all that you bought I would have spent that much too. I think sometimes we get so used to getting such great deals that we dont give ourselves room for reality. And the reality is that crisises and emergencies happen and when they do we need to just cut ourselves a break. My heart goes out to you, b/c it wasnt only the cost of all the food you threw away but the time and energy you spent stockpiling all of it, and now you feel it was all wasted. These things might just happen again and perhaps you can or be a better friend or neighbor b/c you know what this feels like. I think you did an awesome job. Go to Walmart or Giant or Weis and look at how much the average person spends on a small load of groceries and feel better. Thanks for all your hard work – I really appreciate it!!
Aw, Shannon, I’m so sorry! I would have cried too throwing all that food away. I nearly cried recently when my husband accidentally unplugged the freezer for 24 hrs. and I had several gallons of ice cream that was good for nothing more than milkshakes. (Course I’m pregnant and hormonal which didn’t help!) Anyway…glad you’ll have a generator for next time!
My meat trips suck… but you gotta do them sometimes
http://beadandelion.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-meat-run.html
Hey I’m going through coupon burnout … I think I’m going to go out and buy the most expensive things I can find just outta rebellion!!! … lol. People who are not die hard couponers just don’t understand! It’s an addiction! I am sorry for your loss … geesh I sound like someone died … lol
@Tiffany,
Wish our Costco had organic milk at that price! Ours is $10 for 1.5 gallons (3 half-gallon cartons).
@Shannon,
So sorry you lost all your hard work! Hoping you “recover” quickly and you get some good deals in the coming months.
Shannon,
I’m so sorry! It is so frustrating when something like that happens after you work so hard and are so purposeful in being so careful with your shopping. I wish there was some way I could help you after all you do for my household with this site!
I will give you one idea to buy you a little time if this ever (hopefully never) happens again…
Two words: DRY ICE. You can even use regular ice if you can get a hold of it during your outage (sometimes where we live when the power goes out, it doesn’t necessarily do so in all the surrounding communities so we can get it from somewhere). When the power goes out, and if you can drive to a place to get dry ice, it lasts a fairly long time and can usually get you through a couple of days until power is restored.
Here is a link to a website you can go to and locate a place that sells dry ice near you: http://www.dryicedirectory.com/usa.htm
Also, it is helpful to keep regular bags of ice in your freezer anyway if it is large and you don’t have it completely filled — a couple of bags of regular ice helps take up the room in your freezer and the more at capacity it is the more unlikely it will defrost too quickly (the more full it is also keeps it more energy efficient).
In the event you lose power again (although I pray it doesn’t happen!), and you are able to get to dry ice, then pack the dry ice all around on the top of your food because cold “sinks” (as opposed to how heat rises).
I hope this is helpful to you, but moreover I hope this doesn’t happen again for you to need it!
Shannon Reply:
July 6th, 2010 at 7:50 am
@Denise,
Someone suggested this to me when it was happening. Our biggest problem is our freezer is in our garage. It was 95 degrees and things got so hot so fast out there. I had much better luck with things staying cool in our chest freezer, this is an upright and things don’t “touch” each ofther, if you know what I mean. In our chest freezer, it was all just packed in there and I think it would have lasted longer.
Right now my secondary freezer is empty, so I have the huge task of filling it back up. I am sure it will take months.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
Yikes! I haven’t had that happen since we started couponing but a few years ago, our apartment building had something wrong with the electricity and even though we had let them know that it was doing odd things for a couple of months, they waited until it went out completely before doing anything about it. I had a Calculus III exam the next day and needed the access to the study materials on line for review so we ended up having to stay at a hotel (which they reimbursed) and replacing all our food (which they did not reimburse). It’s expensive enough just to replace basic condiments so I totally can relate!
We have a big freezer in our garage too–I almost had a heart attack when the old one died and we had to throw away tons of food. My mom taught me to freeze gallon milk jugs full of water (same concept as the bags of ice) and keep them in the bottom of the freezer. They keep the freezer cold for much longer, and they double as drinkable water in case there is an emergency. We keep them way down at the bottom where it is hard to reach anyway. They have really saved our bacon (literally and metaphorically) a few times.
Oh my goodness look at all the plastic. I am not having a go please believe me but what I really can’t understand is why you need a separate bag for each vegetable type.
when I was A kid I would go to the shops with my mum who would put loose things into her basket it would get weighed and then all of it would go into one bag, potatoes, carrots , onions etc and then all the fruit into another apples oranges peaches etc. I do this myself now at the super market, it really is no problem at the till.
Sorry but I had to say something as it is one of my biggest bug bears.
Shannon Reply:
July 7th, 2010 at 9:10 am
@Kate,
The produce place has them prepackaged that way – cannot buy them any other way Kate. It is a bulk warehouse, that is why it is so inexpensive, because you cannot pick out your individual produce. They have it by weight. I understand your concerns, but we do our part to recycle and use reusable bags. In this case, this produce would of cost me $100 at the store.
I am so very sorry to hear about your frezzer loss. We had a “hurricane” wind storm one September and lost power for a week. Needless to say the deep freeze, the freezer/fridge in the kitchen and the freezer/fridge in the basement were a complete loss. I was hesitant to refill it. I found out that my home owners insurance would cover up to $500.00 for loss of food. We exceeded that because the price of meat. Also, replacement price for products I bought with coupons was a lot higher. Needless to say, I did fill things back up over time, and then we had an ice storm in January/February of the following year and the electric was out for 10 days. So less than five months later, everything was gone again. I filed another claim, but this time I did not refill the deep freeze. I bought more non-perishables, and to think about all the time spent on making dinners ahead to freeze, only to lose them again was sickening. So, again, I am so sorry, and I completely feel your pain. It costs what it costs and sometimes feeling you have met a need completely (filling the house with food for the family), is very worth whatever the cost. Take care.
Shannon Reply:
July 8th, 2010 at 8:31 am
@michele,
Oh my I don’t think I could handle it happening again! I would melt down.