First Grocery Shopping of 2014

Okay, here it is, our first grocery shopping of the new year. And we did it on the coldest day that I can remember. It was -26 C (about -15 F for those of you who might be metrically challenged) according to the readout in the truck but it was at least nice and sunny. It almost seems pleasant now because it is storming outside again today. The wind and snow are bad enough that they have sent everyone home from work. Good thing I'm still on holidays! I’m just hoping the electricity stays on.

The first groceries of 2014.

It was nice that I got to go shopping, though. Usually, Hubby does the shopping by himself after work so that we can avoid having to go on the weekend. I love reading labels and squeezing produce but he really gets grumpy if we have to fight the crowds to check out. So we had a nice afternoon at the Superstore and I got some healthy ingredients for my new diet. Have a look at that picture, not a single bit of junk except for the oven fries and the cheese slices and those are all Hubby's! The cheese slices were on sale, $3.00 instead of $6.99 so it was a great time to stock up. I don’t use them very much but Hubby has them in sandwiches all the time.

The veggies are always a staple in our house but I purchased more because of the new diet.  The pantry, as you can see, is full of temptation from Hubby’s well wishers this Christmas. I think they are trying to kill us with kindness. These I will have to remove from my view because there is so many good chocolates calling my name. They will make excellent Games Night prizes.

The Temptation

After the madness of the Christmas spending spree we're back to budgeting. I'm serious about paying of our mortgage this year. We figure that if we can put down $5000 against the principal this year, we can be done by November. This sounds more than doable. We have both cashed out our banked overtime (hundreds of hours each) and will use that, with some savings, to fund this year's RRSP contribution. The tax rebate will be used to pay down the mortgage.

 

The Bill

The Total

With that in mind, I spent some time earlier looking for a way to track our spending. I found a good spreadsheet on Sqawkfox's site to analyze my monthly and annual spending and Hubby made one using mostly her categories to track daily spending. Now I just need to be diligent in filling in what we spend everyday. Retirement is still on the near horizon and I have to know how much we'll need to survive.

                                                            

Daily Expense Form

So, the diet starts on January 6. That's when I return to work. Unless I win the lottery, then I’ll just jump for joy and book a flight somewhere warm and toasty. Of course I’ll have to buy a new bathing suit. No, forget the suits, we’ll go to a private beach where no suits are required. Oh to dream as it’s storming outside and everything is closed. Hope you are all safe and sound and your vehicle starts.

Last Groceries For The Year.

Well, this week we did our last shopping for the year. For a change, I was able to go with Hubby who usually does it by himself after work. Shopping is just another chore for him but because I only go while I'm on holiday I always look forward to it. I love to go and read all the labels and squeeze all the fruit; Hubby just fumes and tries to get it over with as quick as possible!

"Grocery" shopping at Shopper's Drug Mart

This week Shopper's Drug Mart had great sales on coffee, peanut butter, paper towels and toilet paper. I saved $56.90 on just 14 items! As an added bonus they were having one of their 20X Optimum point promotions and now I am only a few points shy of saving another $60.00. It still feels weird though to be doing this kind of shopping in a drug store.

Shopper's bill

We were shopping in the Big City this week, and because it is cold outside, we were able to get to our favourite fish mart. They close so early on the weekend that we are usually not finished with our day by that timeand you really don't want to have a bag of fish sitting in a hot car for hours so we come home fishless. This week Hubby bought six pieces of salmon side fillet (enough for three meals) for about $24.00. I'm looking forward to a salmon dinner later in the week.

Yummy, yummy salmon fillets!

The rest of the shopping.

The rest of the shopping was done at the regular old grocery store and while the bill was over $108.00 it did include some expensive items like freezer bags, parchment paper, cocoa powder and corn flake crumbs. Nothing much was really on sale except for the cheese slices and the steak (4 striploins for $11.50). I'm all set now for a good start going into January. It's time to use up the freezer stuff. You know the items bought weeks ago that have migrated really far down to the bottom of the freezer. Yeah,  those items. Time for them to come to the top and get ready for menu planning. I'm not going to buy any meat for at least two weeks.

Superstore grocery bill.

I don't know about you but I  haven’t made any resolutions for 2013 because I really don’t stick to whatever plan I come up with. That in itself can feel disappointing. Lead a good life, appreciate what I have and love the people around me, that's essentially what I try to do every day anyway. So I'm going to go with that. What about you, dear reader? Have you made any resolutions, or any that you think you will be able to keep?

One thing that I am going to do next year is to try some new recipes. This week I am going to make a dish from the Pioneer Woman's site for "Zannie's Black-Eyed Pea Dip". It looks delicious and a good way to start the New Year off with some good luck from eating the black-eyed peas.

So, New Year's Eve is tonight and usually I would maybe have a visit from Granny New Years but, honestly, I have it all and don’t need anything else but love, good health and great friendships and the odd funny joke and a game to be played. C'mon Granny, bring me all that you can of that! Life is good.

Happy New Year!!!