Monday, May 16, 2011

$50 a week

Welcome all!
Since my bike is up and running it's been my mission to bike as much as possible.  I live pretty close to my favorite produce stand here so there is just no excuse for not riding up there.  The twins are now at the age where they ride pretty good and take directions well so they usually tag along with me.  Plus the weather has been so beautiful making our bike trips something to look forward to.  This week I used no gas what so ever to get any of our food. Sweet! I didn't keep track of my budget very well this week and you will see why.

MARKS NW PRODUCE

.50 Celery bunch-leaves were wilted so he was selling cheap to get rid. I simply cut off the leaves.
.50 Cilantro bunch-Never liked cilantro till recently. Loving it now!
.99 Green Onions bunch-Been a while since I have used these. LOVE THEM.
.99 cents per lb-2 medium peppers-love these and they add a nice kick to all dishes.
2//$1 Cucumbers-great snacks for the kids
.99 Green Bell Pepper
.75 Red Bell Pepper -both bell peppers were chopped up with onion and put in the freezer. Add a tiny bit of these to any meal to add a fresh flavor. Yummy!
.99 per lb Navel Oranges-still have some from last week so only bought a few. These are for school lunches.
.99 per lb Fuji Apples-Used in school lunches
.50 Lemon-Don't normally buy these. Will use in anything possible.

TOTAL=$10.50 WHAHOO!

TRADER JOE'S

$1.49 Sunshine Dairy Half n Half -Hormone free and a local company to me
$5.75 Organic Trader Joe gallon of milk-wouldn't normally pay that price but since I biked I saved money.
$3.99 Double Roll Toilet Paper-usually buy the 12 ct pack but couldn't fit it into my bike basket or backpack.
$1.39 each Organic Pasta-Picked up 2 packs.

TOTAL=$14.01

GRAND TOTAL=$24.51


I took another trip up to Marks NW Fresh Produce when they first opened up just to say hi to Mark and see what he had in season. I took only a $5 bill just in case even though I already bought my produce for the week. Mark knows that I like to get whats in season and on sale so he will usually tell me what needs used up first and sell it really cheap. Love him for that! I didn't plan on finding anything since he was only open for a few days and I thought everything would be too fresh to get any deals. I was wrong.

$1 per lb for strawberries that needed used that day. I bought 4 packs.
.25 cents per lb for fresh green beans that needed used .  I bought 4 lbs.

GRAND TOTAL=$5.00 Whahooo!
If you add this to my total for the week it makes it $29.51 and still under budget!!! I simply took them home, cleaned them, chopped them up and put them in the freezer. Strawberries are great for smoothies or just for snacks.  Green beans can easily be thrown in any meal and since I cut them up it saves me time as well.

So as you can see shopping at a local produce stand can really save you money.  Just make it known that you will buy things that need used quickly and after a while they will know you and just give you the deals.  Support your local produce stand because you are also supporting local farmers.  Don't forget to bike as much as possible!

Where do you shop for produce?

How do you save money while buying fresh produce?

Any tips on how to preserve your deals?

Share any good deals and how you used them!!!!

2 comments:

Blair said...

I would love to see the meals you prepare on occasion. It's inspiring to see how your grocery savings materialize. Here's something simple we do in our home: using our bamboo steamer, we make a layer of steamed greens (available from our garden) and another of yukon gold potatoes chipped slightly larger than bite size. Steamed 20 minutes with homemade mayo, some cheese and bread-we are all very happy.

Surviving and thriving on pennies said...

You got it! I usually take a picture of our meals and post them on my blog facebook account. Look up Surviving and thriving on pennies and like me.