After all of the medical issues here, our diet has changed. Because of that I donated a lot of food that we will no longer eat. Instead we are stocking up our current weeks meals and stocking for the future with the items that we now eat. That is why you are seeing so many grocery hauls.
Because prices are rising so rapidly, I am trying to get stocked now. I believe that prices will continue to rise well into 2023. If the rail workers or trucking workers go on strike, we could also see really empty shelves in the markets.
I am already seeing massive shortages in dairy. You all know how I looked for a long time for heavy whipping cream. None of the grocery chains had it. Even the local family run business where I found it, is getting low. Eggs are also in short supply here again. A lot of other items are hit or miss!
So over the past couple of days, I have been shopping while running other errands. Yesterday, I had my 6 month dental check up and cleaning. As some of you know, we had no dental plan for a long time. Our dental bills were outrageous. Then our dentist started offering a dental plan that includes Hubby and I. It has saved us so much money. My total out of pocket for yesterday including X-rays was $ 36. Hubby has an appointment next week and I assume his will be the same amount.
The dental office gives us these samples every time we go. We have electric toothbrushes but these other ones are easy to use when we travel. We have at least two years of floss stocked up and plenty of denture brushes. The small samples of toothpaste also get used for travel. When I see that we are getting a large amount of them, we start using them up daily. These all save us money in the long run.
On the way home from the dentist, I stopped at Niagara Produce again. I wanted to replace a quart of heavy whipping cream that we had used up. Hubby wanted strawberries. They of course are not in season so they were expensive just like the heavy whipping cream. The cream was $ 6.29 and the strawberries were $6.99. We also have not had shrimp in a long time. This package was $ 9.99 but it is giving us two meals. Last night we had shrimp cocktails and salad for dinner. I will use the other half of the package in shrimp fra diavolo one night. I always check their meat for markdowns because it is the only store in my area that once in a while I can find them. Both the burgers and the steak tenderettes were reduced for quick sale because they were expiring in 2 days. They quickly got put in my freezer for future meals. My total was $30.51 for all.
Walmart had a heck of a deal on broth! I ordered 8 of the beef and 8 of the chicken below. They were $ 1.00 each. I have Walmart + so they ship for free. I haven’t seen them at that price here in years. I only use them a little bit at a time in meals. An opened carton keeps for a very long time in my refrigerator.
They are good for over a year.
On Sunday, I went to both Aldi’s and Top’s. This time of the year, I like to stock up on cranberries. We make our own cranberry orange relish and we also make muffins with them. Aldi’s had them for $ .99 a bag so I snagged 4. Fresh brussel sprouts were $ 2.29. The bacon was $ 3.99 a package which is a terrific price for here. I got 3. I picked up my last 3 lbs. of butter that I needed to stock my freezer for a year and 3 lbs. for my son who uses a lot of it too. His 3 are not pictured. They were $2.49 a lb. The bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese was $ 2.99. My total was $ 36.15.
At Top’s I picked up 2 zero sugar Reddi Wip at $ 2.50 each, 1 Hellman’s mayonaise for $ 3.49 after a doubled $ .50 coupon and 2 Brown and Serve sausage for $ 1.50 each. My total was $ 11.49.
Ninety nine percent of the time, I buy sale items. But sometimes you just have to pay full price for things that you want. I am using the heavy whipping to make Keto ice cream and Hubby really wanted the strawberries. If those things make him happy, I am willing to pay the price.
Are you seeing shortages where you live? Did you save any money on groceries this week?