Living Frugal, Not Cheap

I ended last week with $14 left of my allowance to spend on the Thanksgiving turkey. Wednesday morning I went and picked it up, it came to $11.46. I was shocked. I honestly expected it to cost much more. I also had to get milk (again!) and that cost $3.86 with a coupon that was on the carton, making my total for the day $15.32.

I went over by $1.32. I did not count the $40 or so worth of loss leaders I bought the week before the holiday. We did not use any of it in November, and if I'd had to use "benefits" to buy them I would not have.

What have I learned?

-- it is possible for us to eat the way we are accustomed to on $50 a week with a good stockpile. There's no way I could have done this without a freezer full of discounted chicken and roasts.
-- we did miss some treats, the snacks I bought went very quickly and I did not buy more immediately, but we did not go without.
-- shopping sales is the key to keeping costs down. Coupons help but cannot be relied on.
-- menu planning is essential, there's no room for last minute changes or spur-of-the-moment splurges

For the month of November, I estimate I spent $100-$150 less than I normally do on groceries, primarily by not purchasing meats and snack foods and by cutting back on the number of sale items I stockpile.

Wed. after the shopping DH prepared the turkey. He wants to do this every year and I am happy to let him. Then we went out to dinner because I wanted to. I could say that I just didn't want to mess up the kitchen, but we haven't eaten out once in nearly two months and I was sick of eating in. We went to a very inexpensive local place and because it was a weeknight we were able to use a coupon for a half-price 2nd entree.

Thanksgiving day was lovely but I woke up with arthritis aches and pain and got a very late start on dinner. I also cut back on the number of side dishes I had planned to make. We had a lovely meal nonetheless, and I can use those extra vegetables this weekend as we finish off the turkey.

I looked at the store ads for next week. The one store has no specials advertised at all. The second has two pages of "football season tailgating" items like chips and beer. I guess I'm just going to have to see what the best prices on real foods are when I get there.