Tracking household grocery expenses - what do you spend?

I’m always amazed how much nicer Californians are, compared to Ontarians. :joy:

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Smiling ruefully. I always let someone with only an item or so go ahead of me in checkout. And the next hopeful looking shopper. And if I’m not in a hurry, “Okay, you too” to the third. But then I dig in my heels, totally ignore the next Johnie Come Lately, who shoots daggers at me until I’m checked out. Deal with it, Sweetie. I’m finally outa here!

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I do, too, unless I am running late for school pickup :smile:

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Loss leaders? Right now, out of season of course, $5/ each in NW Rockies. Avocados at our Costco $10.99/6 up from $8.99/ 2 weeks ago. Regular gas staying at $2.89/gal for low grade. Canned cat food, the kind I buy, 78¢ a can.

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Our gas in Ontario is the same price as yours right now, when I convert the money. It’s unusual for you to be paying as much as we are.

I think the 5 avocados in the net bags are usually a little too small or seconds.

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Mine came from an Imperfect Foods box. They lived up to the name. As an addendum- the 2 organic tomatoes I got last week were the worst ever. They reminded me of the tomatoes we used to get in cellophane tubes in the grocery store 50 years ago - rock hard and flavorless.

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I’m fussy about choosing out produce. I haven’t tried the imperfect packs because of that.

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You’d be disappointed, trust me, but during the pandemic (I stayed in for an entire year) those boxes were heaven-sent. Gnarly treasures.

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I tried the imperfect packs delivery. Too much randomness for our needs (e.g., ordering 2 and getting 8 of items we couldn’t use up, out of stock non-delivery of items) and inconvenient Friday afternoon delivery day the only option. The final straw was a (pre-pandemic) completely missed delivery, with no notice. I’d carefully shopped mid-week for a weekend special meal and had to shop again on a busy Saturday for the key missing produce.

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Yeah, I’ve experienced all of that. Since their merger with Misfits Markets, they’ve changed their plans slightly. Mine is now a la carte; if I don’t affirmatively order anything, noting is sent by default. Frankly, I just keep the account open as a back up if things get bad again.

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A few Stupid Bowl specials at our local grocery store today through next Tuesday:
Avocados 6/$4.99 in a net bag, identical to Costco’s the other day
Roma tomatoes, 98¢/lb
Sour cream 98¢ for 16 ounces
Party size Lays or Doritos chips $2.98 per bag, limit 2
Selected Pepsi products in a 12 pack, $3.98

Speaking of Stupid Bowl…one of our churches used to have a ‘Souper Bowl & Pie’ event at noon for many years. I can’t remember when it ended (it was before Covid). It sure was the type of belly warmer for the pre-game crowds.

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This afternoon there was a knock at my door and my neighbor handed me a bunch of apples. He had purchased a monster bag of them (warehouse club – not sure which one) and couldn’t finish them. I’m going to peel, core, slice, soak in a lemon & water solution, then freeze them for later use. Sunshine is already asking for another apple cake, so I know I’ll use some of them for that – but YEA!! Free Apples!!

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A local Congee joint has a Super Bowl Congee year round.

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I had to run some errands this morning and popped into a local grocery store – just to see what was on clearance.

I found six large pork chops for $4 – I’ll use two tomorrow and freeze the other four – SCORE!!

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Today at Costco Santa Cruz many of our staples had noticeable price increases: Kirkland greek yogurt and Daisy sour cream up around $1, avocados $10.99 for conventional, $13.99 for organic. Name brand toilet paper $30.99; out of other brands. Bought avocados anyway because they’re from California, which I try to buy exclusively. We’re feeling it.

Desert-Dan, have you tried Dorrie Greenspan’s French apple cake?

I think it’s life-changing! Custardy and delicious!

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Thank you for the recipe, I printed it out.

Is there a substitute for the dark rum, I don’t usually stock rum?? Or can I just leave it out??

Note that the text of the recipe says you could double/triple the vanilla if not wanting to use rum… However, the rum is, in my opinion, an essential flavor for that cake although I did not use dark rum. Those little “airline bottles” from the liquor store are good to get when a cooking recipe calls for something you’d not otherwise drink.

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My problem is just the opposite. I’ll buy a large bottle of something when I only need a small amount of something for a recipe and then drink the rest.

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Most of our bottles are for cooking not drinking straight so I’ve used other hard alcohol’s (grand mariner, spiced rum, calvados). I agree that alcohol elevates the flavor and is, for me, essential. Use whatever you have, it will be great!

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