Monday, October 6, 2008

The anatomy of a grocery bill

Ok so I ran the grocery store this afternoon to buy a few groceries. Barney was kind enough to do the bulk of it by himself (such a big boy) on Sunday so we'd have enough to get us through to today when I could go myself.

I spent 85 bucks!!! I remember the day I could run to the grocery store, buy a few groceries, and spend only 40... What the FUCK!!!

Ok so here is my bill..I thought it would be interesting to go through it and analyze.. yes i'm that bored.


1 lb Land O'lakes White American Cheese 6.09 Holy Shit face! When did a pound of cheese start costing more than 2 gallons of gas. Are you kidding me?

2 cans of Delmonte Corn 3.18 What? Wasn't corn 50cents a can at one point? ugh

Glade Scented Plugs Ins Apple/Cinnamon 11.36 WTF? I had a 1 dollar off coupon but seriously? Should I spending more than 10 dollars to make my house smell good? For some people that's an entire hour worth of working.

Generic Whole Wheat Bread 1.49 Ok so that's reasonable, however I had intended on buying my usual Country Kitchen brand until I glanced at the price, which I'd never done before, 3.89 a loaf.. and I usually buy 2 a week.. so yeah, generic from now on people!

Generic Complete Pancake mix - 1.89 I think that's a good deal.. that's at least 10 meals worth of pancakes.

Store brand Skim milk - 2.95 That's alot better price than the 3.85 for the name brand milk. I go through about 2 gallons a week with a toddler... so that's 6 dollars worth of milk. I guess I can't complain because formula was 25 dollars a can.. and that only lasted a week... milk is way cheaper!

I can't Beleive Its Not Butter Spray - 2.99 I bought the large bottle.. and this will last me a month or more. So I think that's an ok price. right?

Oven Fry Chicken - 1.69 This is a premixed breading for chicken... I guess its ok.. but do I really need to spend money to put breading on my chicken? Not really but it is yummy.

Sprite 12 pack 2.99 That's not bad.. i'll pay 2.99 for a 12 pack... That's only 25 cents a can.

Viva Paper Towels - 2.19 Ok so when I first started buying the Viva brand paper towels they were only 99 cents a roll. I love them because they're soft and feel almost like a thin wash cloth. I've actually accidently put them through the laundry and they come out clean and reusable! haha I'm ticked that they're 2.19 now.. but I bet its because people have realized how much they rocked so they've raised thier prices.

Wise Cheddar Popcorn 2.50 Remembe when a large bag of chips was 99 cents??? grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr


Softsoap Hand soap Refill 2.77 This is a large bottle to refill my bathroom handsoap.. it'll last probably 4 or 5 months... so not to bad.

90%Lean Ground Beef 4.46 I'm not sure the weight on this, but its more expensive because I buy the leaner version. Still, the price of meat has sky rocketed and its vomittish.

Boneless Chicken Breast - 5.31 Ok so the price of chicken makes me furious. I remember when I could get a package with 3 breasts for 4 bucks.. now I get 2 for over 5.00!!! Damn chicken fuckers!

Chocolate Covered Pretzels - 80 cents. It was only a few.. for a snack haha no more expensive than a candy bar.. however I also remember when I could get one of those for only 50 cents.

Dried Mangos - 2.99 I have become addicted to these, even though they're not cheap. I figure its better than eating crap all day and Rowan thinks they're candy haha

Maine White Potatos 5 lbs 2.99 I think this is a steal. I'm making Sheppards pie out of them tonight and will probalby have 1/2 a bag left over for a side dish with dinners... I figure that's only about 50 cents per meal.

Gourds - 2.64 Ok so this was a total luxury item... probably not worth the money but they do look super cute on my coffee table

Mini Pumpkin - 69 cents.... also in my gourd bowl

Large Carving Pumpkin - 5.99 Total rip off.. but again, looks so nice in my fall garden

Star Fruit - 4.98 Only 2 of them folks, they're super expensive and they're in the "exotic fruit" section. But my daughter loves them and when you slice them they look like stars... any opportunity to get her to eat fruit!

20 pack of Postal Stamps 8.40 I had no idea they sold stamps at the grocery store! I was so excited.. the old man ahead of me bought them so I did too... saved me gas from having to drive to the post office. :) (ps.. remember when a stamp was 25 cents?)

I can't remember what this one was.

Brkstn Act Cttg Pnap 2.89 But whatever it was, i'm sure it wasn't worth it

So that's my grocery bill. It totalled at 84.70 I had a 1 dollar coupon, and also was credited 20 cents for my grocery tote bags..

I also just noticed that the tellar accidently credited me 3 1.oo dollar coupons.... sweet!

4 comments:

*~*Lis*~* said...

It's ony been the last few months that I too have started actually looking at the prices of things. Did you know that grapes are like $4 a pound! I know you had a BJ's membership for formula and diapers - if you still have it start doing more "regular" shopping there. Everything is a deal if you check it out right - Ground Turkey (which is much tastier and much better for you than beef :) ) is $7 for 3lbs and you can freeze what you don't use. Bounty paper towels (which also go through the wash and can be reused! :) ) $16 for 24 rolls.

It really is worth it if you shop right :) Oh and welcome home!

Katrina said...

I agree-- BJ's is definitely the way to go in some cases. A lot of times Ethan & I will buy our toothpaste and other such various items in bulk because it works out to be cheaper.

I want to cry looking at my grocery bills haha-- but I also find if I write EXACTLY what I need on a list before I leave I generally stick to that list and it saves me money. I'm less prone to impulse shop.

Monica said...

Holy bleep, I love this concept! This so rings true. I've totally looked at stuff before and been like, what the eff was THAT, costing me $5.29 or whatever? And they you forget about it and move on. Grocery stores could totally be jacking all of us, for all we know. Except Trader Joe's, of course, which loves each and every one of us to pieces.

Anonymous said...

hahah we dont' have trader joe's around here.. I would love it my grocery store loved me though hahaha