Hurray, a neat win!

No I am not talking about Democratic Primaries, but about my $43.06 this week! :-)


Do you remember me? Yes, I am cash. I know I am not popular around here with that cute little plastic thingie you all carry around to swipe. But let me tell y’all something, I am the real one with a capital r.

So girls, guess what. I just impressed myself. Gave myself a pat on my back! Imagine I cut down my weekly grocery purchase to a $43.06.

How I did it? Read on…

Though I didn’t plan what to make, I thought of buying vegetables that can be made both as curry and as a side dish. Making something in curry form means I can feed more people with less stuff. I asked around and found that the Wal-mart and Publix near the Indian stores are much cheaper than where I live. Also, CVS has a better deal on milk.

I decided I am going to go only to one Indian store this week. Also, I relaxed and took my time to shop around. Otherwise I will be in a hurry and won’t even look what the price is. I have this major problem, i.e. if I see something as $2.99, in my mind it gets registered as 2 dollar. In fact, it is 3 dollars. I just don’t see that extra dollar. So how much ever I calculate, the final bill would turn out to be much bigger. That is what always happens.

I bought vegetables only for one week, planning as I examined at the price of each of them and I had taken last weeks receipt with me, so I had a clear idea what each costs at different stores. For eg; bananas costs lesser at Publix. Green beans cost lesser at Publix. But tomatoes, onion etc cost more at Publix than Walmart. Indian stores carry the red onions which costs much lesser than both Publix or Walmart. This way I made sure I checked the price of each item before buying.

Now I know if I take my credit cards, I would splurge. So I took only 50 dollars with me and left the cards in the car. My plan was to aim for a 40$. I kept the extra 10$ as a buffer. That’s what made this whole thing a success. The cash thing! So I calculated each item before loading the cart. This way, it is much better to keep a check on yourself.

That’s a total savings of $24.34 from last week. Hurray!!!

In recent developments, last week President Bush declared during a speech that it was because Indians are eating more these days, food prices around the globe are peaking. Well Mr. President, I am an Indian living in U.S and I cut down my grocery bill. How about you Sir, cutting down some of that spending?

(Data shows U.S consumes five times more. Well, who cares about statistics and data?)

Why you might ask? Why save a twenty dollar? There is a big reason for me. It will clearly show how much I waste and how much I could save. Remember a 20$ might not be big deal for you per week, but it could feed a child here or here.

Now, dont you girls out there wanna beat me? C'mon. Compare your bills and let us have some fun!

$21.22 - The final bill

Hopefully this is my last shopping for this whole week if not surprised with guests. I do have milk I think will last me through the week and little bit of this and that. I was supposed to do all this on Saturday and didn’t get time on Sunday too. So had to do my usual shopping on Monday and Tuesday.

This shop is a little further away from my home, but a Kerala store where we get Malayalam Films for rent and all Kerala stuff and the shop owner greets you with ‘ah, enthokke undu, kore naalayallo kandittu’ which means, ‘Oh Hello how are you, long time no see’ – even though we go there almost every week :)

I buy frozen grated coconut, fish chutney, snacks etc. from here. For me, it is a whiff of Kerala and a psychological thingie. Until I visit this shop, I don’t feel I have shopped enough :).


So here it is $ 21.22. That’s a total of $67.40 for a week. Remember I haven’t got any stuff like rice, dhals, spices etc. I will just stay this way for next week so I can make a good comparison on such stuff alone.

As an anonymous asked, how many people at home? 4 people at home.

Feeling huh? Read this please.

$29.84 - My next bill

My next stop was Wal-mart for the non-Indian things. Buying Indian ingredients is much cheaper in local Indian stores than the usual stores. After posting about the event, I am a little surprised since even though I said I would do my normal shopping, I am a little cautious I believe. Usually my bills at Wal-mart would be 40$ or so and at Indian stores around 30$. But I already see a difference in the way I shop.

One thing I have noticed is prices are different at different Wal-marts. It depends on the area. If you go to low income living areas, the prices are much cheaper. Anyway I went to the store near my place, will do the comparison next week to be sure.

I have some milk and eggs left over from last week, so it looks like I might not need to buy milk this week. I bought some pear, lime, tomatoes, ice cream, mussels, pineapple, shallots...the ususal stuff. So this is my week’s purchase. I dont go with any planning, since most of the times I just pick up stuff I see and plan only when I see the stuff.



See you with the next one.

Wondering what in the world is going on? Read this please.

$16.34 - First round of shopping

This is my normal routine. I buy vegetables, fruits and other supplies from Wal-mart, Publix and two Indian stores.

Yesterday I got a small supply of vegetables from the first Indian store. These vegetables would last me for 2-3 days. Total bill comes to $16.34

Now I have got to buy milk, eggs, potatoes, tomatoes, frozen coconut etc from other stores.

As others said we all waste a lot of food. I never used to know how to plan it properly. My mom is super efficient in it, she won’t waste even a small inch of a carrot.

I always used to buy in piles to last for 2-3 weeks as if it is war time and there will always be spoilage. Especially since in U.S, you don’t get vegetables that fresh. So a quarter of it always goes to the waste bin. My husband hates to see me wasting stuff like that, so I cleverly put the spoilt vegetables when he is not there and cover it up nicely with newspapers :)

After some time, I started to realize it and now I don’t buy vegetables for more than a week. One advantage I have is, most of the stores are nearby so I can buy on my way to work or so. This method has taken care of a lot of food wastage, which is the first step towards having a good budget for your grocery.

In India, we are lucky; we get fresh vegetables daily, and that too brought by street vendors to your own homes. You don’t have to store anything and this saves a lot of food wastage. You have to only plan for two days at the most.

One thing I noticed is planting your own herbs is a big money saver. Herbs costs a lot in U.S. I have curry leaf plants, mint etc. so that’s taken care of.

See you with the next bill. Do share your experiences on your blog or with comments. Thank you. Let us all learn together.

No idea what is going on? Check this out.

Grocery Bill Event

It is happening. There is food ration even in the U S of A. Look where oil politics have brought this world into. People are struggling in many parts of the World due to this global food crisis. U.S is the most gluttonous nation of all. Even here, the crisis is creeping into our daily lives in alarming rates.

To be prepared, like everyone else the first thing that came to my mind is to check my grocery bill.

I buy my weekly supply of groceries on every Saturday. I am going to check my grocery bill from next week starting Sunday 27 April to next Saturday May 3rd. I will spend like how I do it in normal times. Then I will start the same thing the following week, pinching every penny, thinking about how to get the most of something, looking for cheaper alternatives, planning ways to cut short my grocery bill from Sunday the 4th to Saturday the 10th.

I will compare two weeks bills online on my food blog. I will update most days on what I cooked for these two weeks. This way I can share my tips with you and collect ideas. The intention is simple, this will make me and you and them learn how to live smarter in changing times.

If you want to join me, come along. Or you can just watch the show or do something similar in the following weeks.