Grocery FAIL

I keep coming back to this space with new thoughts. With long breaks in between, of course, because sustaining efforts is not one of my strong points.

Lately I've been stuck in a rut. It was a long, hot summer here. I don't have air conditioning. I'm busy, tired and lazy. So I've been eating a lot of takeout. Terrible. Just terrible. That needed to change for health reasons but it's also expensive and I need to really watch my budget at the moment. I'm not going to starve but I do need to stop spending $150+ a week on food.

I don't have a specific budget in mind, but the basic fact is that after paying bills I now have about $100 per week for food, gas and entertainment. With gas being as expensive as it is, that really limits the money I should spend on food. I do get occasional mileage reimbursement, so I think a soft target of $50 per week is the "goal".

On with the show.

WEEK 1

Total spent: $36.83
Total spent on food: $30.98

Went to Wal-Mart. I hate shopping at Wal-Mart and this isn't normal. I had a prescription to pick up ($10 not included above) so I bit the bullet and did it. The package of meat tilted so it's not visible is ground beef.

I do have some supplies on hand but not much. I do have a fresh bag of flour and some yeast so I have a loaf of bread going in the bread machine for sandwiches. Pizza dough is probably also in the cards.

There is a definite lack of fresh fruit and vegetables. I planned to go to the farmer's market but the weather was dismal. I will probably pick some up during the week, along with other items needed due to poor planning.