Bargain Buys

I have been all about the deals lately.  Yesterday, I got eight pairs of Victoria's Secret undies for a total of $16.  Right?!  And, I bought The Boy a nice polo and me a summer purse from Express for a total of $54.  (I thought that one was going to be cheaper, but they wouldn't take my coupon on top of the 40% off.  Bummer.)  Today, I went to Old Navy and bought a pair of workout pants, two swimsuit tops, one swimsuit bottom, and a pair of flip-flops for $45 (and $22 of that was for the workout pants).  Shut up!

So yes: I am all about the deals.  (And yes: I am done shopping for quite a while!)

Before we get on to the real post, though, those swimsuits from Old Navy?  They're bikinis.  Normally, trying on swimsuits would be a hellish experience for me, as I generally critique every flaw I find with myself, especially when they're all exposed while wearing two pieces of tiny fabric in front of glaring fluorescent lights.  However, this time was different.  BOTH bikinis look pretty darn good on me, which means that something's working!

Back to the beginning: I have been all about the deals lately.

Every week when I go grocery shopping, I make it a goal to do it as cheaply as possible.  I try to beat the prior week's total, and lately, I've been succeeding.  It's actually kind of ridiculous how competitive (and excited!) I get regarding this weekly adventure.

This week's grand total -- for six "meals" each day for two people -- was a whopping $65.  (The total bill was actually $73.09, but four dollars of that was for a cat toy, and $3 was for hairspray.)

Did you read that correctly?  Sixty-five dollars for a week's worth of groceries for two people.

Here's our dinner plan for the week:

DINNER

Short rib Ragu + polenta + kale salad

Burgers w/ Blue Cheese Mayo and Sherry Vidalia Onions + veggies

TJ’s Vera Cruz fish + sweet potato + veggies

Honey-lime chicken kebabs w/ mango slices + veggies

Sunflower seed-crusted tilapia+ sweet potato + veggie

Fazoli’s (carb load for Dam to Dam)

I must 'fess up to a couple of things before continuing, though:

• Tonight's dinner (short rib Ragu and polenta) is provided by BFF.  Our contribution is bread and cheese, which we still have to purchase.
• I already have Tuesday's dinner (the fish from Trader Joe's) and the tilapia for Thursday's dinner since both are frozen and in the freezer to have for busy nights.
• I still have to buy the chicken for Wednesday's dinner.
• Friday's dinner is courtesy of Fazoli's since I have, oddly enough, found that to be the best pre-race food in the universe.

So, I guess you can tack on an extra $10 for bread and cheese, an extra $6 for the chicken, and an extra $7 for Fazoli's.  But still: I did a pretty darn good job this week.

Here's the loot:

Fridge food includes Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze, blue cheese crumbles, eggs, string cheese, Laughing Cow cheese, half a pound of turkey, and a pound of ground sirloin.

Pantry food includes Ryvita sesame crackers, whole wheat hamburger buns, generic water flavorer, thyme, sunflower butter, and Justin's chocolate hazelnut butter.

Produce includes green apples, tomatoes, mangoes, limes, Brussels sprouts, and arugula.

The string cheese, eggs, sunflower butter, and Ryvita crackers will likely last well into next week, so that's a nice way to save money as well.

I am pretty pleased with all of my money-saving lately.  Woot woot.

How much do you budget for groceries per week?  What are your stellar money-saving ideas?  Fill me in, yo!

Have a fabulous rest of your weekend!