I guess I've done a bit of shopping Part 4 of 4

I’m not really the biggest fan of groceries at discount stores like Target and Wal-Mart in part because they only provide the most commercial of products. One of the reasons why I like Berkeley Bowl is that they have a lot of fresh produce and farmer’s markets are even better for that reason. But I won’t ever try and deny that places like Target have great prices on what they do have.

What I usually don’t buy at Berkeley Bowl because it gets overpriced are items that are manufactured/pre-packaged. This tends to include dried goods and whatnot so is pretty much all I really bought from Target.

• 1 box, 1lb Penne Pasta $1.29
• 1 box, 1lb Shell Pasta $1.29
• 1 bag, six hoagie rolls $2.69 ($0.45 each)
• 2 cans Starkist White Albacore Chunk Tuna $2.18 ($1.09 each)
• 1 bag granulated sugar $2.34
• I ran out so I needed to buy more. Like oil, salt and pepper unless I use a huge amount I won’t factor the cost into my breakdowns.
• 2lbs ground beef (it was either 80/20 or 85/15) for $5.59 ($2.79/lb)
• I don’t need nor was I was planning on buying meat/ground beef but I couldn’t resist. The ground beef was actually priced at $7.59 or $3.80/lb (so not much different than at Berkeley Bowl) but it had a sticker for $2 off on it. I’m assuming it was either sell the ground beef or throw it out (the best by date on the package was a few days later than when I bought it). When I got home I portioned the meet out into ¼ pounds and threw them in the freezer ½ lb per Ziploc.

Total: $15.83

In four shopping trips I spent:
$23.77+$6.85+$24.66+$15.83= $71.11

Woah, I didn’t realize I spent this much in about two weeks. This is why it such a better idea to think ahead about grocery shopping and what not. I essentially went in without a plan to the farmer’s market, second Berkeley Bowl trip, and to Target (other than wanting pasta). I have a pretty well stocked kitchen now (especially a lot of protein) so hopefully I won’t have to go grocery shopping again soon, except for maybe some more produce which is fairly inexpensive.