This week was not so great on the grocery budget. We ended up at the high side of our budget limit at $60.
We had to stock up on some monthly necessities. We’re also out of chicken stock just as soup season has begun, which means we need to roast a whole chicken this week to make some stock.
We ended up picking up two whole chickens at Costco essentially for the price of one. We’ll use one for dinner and chicken stock tonight, and freeze the other for later. Buying two drove up our costs for this week, but it was ultimately a better buy. We cook a lot of soup in the colder months. Next time we need stock, we won’t have to buy another chicken.
Another reason for our high grocery costs? We finally picked up some reusable shopping bags. They were on sale for 99 cents each, and I really liked the size and stability of these bags. I’ve been keeping an eye out for affordable, good quality reusable bags for some time now.
We’ve tried to reuse the plastic bags, but our cabinet has become overrun with them at this point. They’re too flimsy to make it through more than a couple shopping trips, and other household uses just don’t use them up quickly enough. We’re just not using them as quickly as they’re accumulating. Overall, this is better for the environment and it’ll cut down our kitchen clutter.
Here’s a picture:
Aren’t they cute? They hold an amazing amount of food. One of these cloth bags holds about as much as three or four plastic bags, which makes it much easier to juggle our groceries when we carry them inside.
Obviously, they’re capable of holding much more weight than plastic bags, too. We bought five, but really could have fit everything this week into three. It’s good to have a couple extra, though, for bigger shopping weeks.
The soft cloth handles also make it much more comfortable to carry our groceries up three flights of stairs. Those plastic bags can be so painful when they cut into your hands, and I’m always terrified they’re going to rip!
We’ve seen similar reusable bags at the other grocery store where we shop, but they have the store’s logo plastered all over them. I didn’t like the idea of becoming a walking advertisement for the store. I liked that these have a generic logo.
Obviously I highly recommend that you go out and buy yourself some bags like these. Honestly, I bought them because I wanted to cut down our clutter and plastic waste, but they ended up making it so much easier to carry our groceries. Not only that, but we feel really good about the environmental benefits of reusable bags.
They’re now tucked away in the trunk of our car so we’ll have them on hand for the next shopping trip. Yay!
And now on to our menu plan for the week:
Sunday: Oven roasted chicken and potatoes
Monday: Chicken noodle soup
Tuesday: Leftovers/sandwiches
Wednesday: Chicken quesadillas
Thursday: Spaghetti with meatless marinara
Friday: Homemade pizza
Check out OrgJunkie for more menu plans!
I was so happy to discover the exact same thing regarding how much the reusable bags hold. I love mine. Now if only I could remember to bring them with me when I go shopping!
very nice! i thought about buying some bags, but we also like to use plastic to clean the litter box =/ lol
Great looking menu! :D Yum!! We need to ge tsome more bags to use, too.
Have a great week!
Sherry
Found your blog via Menu Plan Monday.
Great buy on the bags. I love those bags and use them for more than just groceries. I also bought them just to reduce our stash of plastic bags and now I use them for almost everything! Also, the local grocery store gives a 5 cent discount for each bag you bring in. So the bags pay for themselves after a certain amount of trips.
Looks like a very yummy yet simple menu plan!
Sounds like a yummy menu!
I have a few bags but tend to forget to grab them when I go to the store. Maybe I need to leave them in the trunk!
Glad to hear you are on the reusable bag band wagon. I have purchased many bags (and my mom has as well) to reduce our use of plastic bags. The key is to remember to take them in with you which seems to be hardest for me at the drugstore?
I love those reusable bags. I plan on picking some up at Fresh & Easy. (our family’s favorite grocery store)
Those bags look great. We have a few but they are not very sturdy and can’t hold much more than a plastic bag.
Your week sounds delicious.
That is a great menu you have planned. I like to buy the whole chickens when they go on sale and keep a couple in the freezer for future meals. There is just so much that you can do with the whole bird.
I have bought quite a few of the canvas bags over the years and take them with me into the stores. I keep the stored inside another bag so that they are easier to carry in. They stay in the vehicle and if I’m thinking clearly I take them from the back to the front where they stay with my purse so I don’t forget to take them in. If I do forget I usually have at least one kid with me that I can send out to get the bags before checkout.
Two of my grocery stores here give .05 back for each bag you reuse and while that isn’t a lot of money it is still that much left I’m spending. Then there is the whole bag reperduction that seems to happen in my house w/the plastic bags.
Pingback: Menu Plan Monday & Grocery Round Up - 11/2-11/7 « Living Well on Less
Where did you purchase these bags? What prices? Thanks, Jennifer