Groceries thus far...

We have been really focusing on eating healthy with the new year and I'm hoping to get back in the habit of posting our grocery shopping spending. Our goal is to keep it under $300 a month for food and household items and to buy as much organic items as possible... so hopefully no more than $3,600 for the year.

Our Grocery/Household items did average $300 for 2013 but we only started including organic items in the last couple months. We are hoping if we go with more basic and scratch cooked meals, incorporating more "real" foods in our diet, and reducing our glutenous portions, that maybe it will keep even for the year.

While we haven't been able to take pictures of what we are eating for dinner, I'm hoping to start doing that again soon.

The Details

Thus far we have spent $103.31 on groceries and $27.41 on household supplies for January. Since we came home from Utah to an empty fridge we have been buying a lot of produce... I know there isn't much "meat" or things like "bread" listed yet, but our freezer and pantry were stocked up fairly well from November and December before we headed out so were still eating a well balanced diet, even though most of our shopping looks like rabbit food for the moment. (WE LOVE OUR CHEST FREEZER).

Dairy $39.77

 Fruit $14.76

Vegetables $30.00 

 Grains $11.79

 Protein/Meat $10.48

 Other: $1.75

You might be wondering why that doesn't equal $103.31 for food, after I told you that is what we spent. That's because I had $12 in Fresh & Easy Rewards that I redeemed.

• $2 from prior purchases (you get 1 point per dollar spent in the store so 100 points = $1 off. My "friends" card had 200 points on it.)
• $10 from scanning a special 1,000 point bonus coupon they sent me in my e-mail. 

So I used that coupon to really get 1/2 a gallon of Organic Fate Free Milk, 1 lb Organic Strawberries, 64 oz of organic apple juice,  14 oz of organic tortilla chips, & a dozen organic large eggs all for $1.97


We also got a nickle off our shopping trip from bringing our own bag to Sprouts.

With the new ownership of Fresh & Easy, I'm not sure how long we will continue to shop there since they:
A) Stopped mailing us a weekly ad... which means no weekly coupon for $5 off $25 or $10 off $50...
B) Started raising prices on regular items...
C) Stopped posting a printable coupon on their website for $5 off $25 (which I would use if my purchase was not enough to use the $10 off $50 or because I only had one $5 off $25 coupon and was buying a lot)...

So we will see. I'll be buying some items there since I have another 1,000 point bonus coupon, a 500 point bonus coupon... but I may skip the week were the only coupon is for 3x your points spent in the store.

Plus Sprouts has a much larger organic produce selection... and Fresh and Easy has limited Organic Dairy options.