new favorite: grocery deals

Back in September (Hunger Action Month, and back when I had a job), I read an article that made me pause for a moment to think & feel...and then (arrogantly) decided I had done my gracious thinking moment for the day, felt socially conscious, and conveniently moved on with life and kinda forget about it.  

Until I lost my job.  

And then it's interesting how life gives you a new perspective and appreciation on things.

I learned through the article that SNAP recepients receive about $25/wk in food coupons...about $3.50 a day.  And in September, people were accepting the challenge of retooling their diets & grocery budgets to live off of $25/wk themselves, by choice.

So with no cash coming through the door right now (other than unemployment income - and man that first check takes a while to arrive...), I'm on a mission to stretch my dollars to the max.  

My latest goal:  to eat healthy, well-balanced meals...on $25/wk.  

I'm learning that getting acquainted with the who, what, where's of deal shopping takes TIME!!  Some moments I'm not sure of the cost-benefit of sifting through coupons, burning gas in driving around, and pawing through junky clearance racks is worth it.  But now that I'm finding where the consistent deals are located, it's getting quicker/easier to duck in, grab, and go.

Some of my new favorite grocery deals have been a bit unexpected, and it's becoming a bit of a game for me to see where I can find even better deals.  I'd love to hear from you if you have ideas!  Here are some finds that left me yelling "score!!" on my quest to fix meals off of $25/wk...

-  The bakery clearance section, tucked far back in the rear of the grocery store:  here I find my favorite pumpernickle dark bread, made with whole grains and no preservatives, as well as some other wholesome semi-fresh baked goods.  I can usually find a loaf of bread for $0.50.  Grab a couple extra for the freezer, and I bolt to the register like I'm heading for the end-zone before someone tackles me to steal my bargains!  Sometimes the loaves are not sliced, though.  So I find that if I smile nicely at the bakery boys on the way to the registers, they'll do a nice job of slicing it for me - for free.  :)

-  The wine aisle, during sale week:  sadly, this and chocolate fall into my "splurge" category in my revamped grocery budget.  But I've managed to pick up a few (albeit undrinkable) deals for cooking.  For instance, the red wine in my spaghetti sauce, that added the nice depth of flavour?  I picked that up for $1.75/bottle.  (Don't groan & moan, Shawn - I KNOW what you're thinking!!  Desperate times call for desperate measures.  LOL)

-  The dollar store:  this shocked me, and is one of my favorite surprises.  Next to the best-priced Chevron in the area for gas ($2.41 yesterday) sits a large dollar store...with a grocery section.  Yesterday, for a dollar each, I made off with:  a gorgeous head of dark green lettuce, over a pound of carrots, a carton of mushrooms, a bag of eight (count 'em: EIGHT!!!) kiwis!!  Four bucks.  Totally stoked.  :)  I can remember kiwis back home going for $1-$2, EACH!!!  The dollar store also has cartons of peppers that look gorgeous.  I still have 2 red ones I need to finish off first, but I'm definitely heading back for more.

I haven't taken tally yet on where I'm at on making my food budget for the month, but I think I'm pretty close.  Might be a little over (I've caved and bought some frozen yogurt and a few other goodies on sale), but all-in-all, not bad.