$10 a week groceries? Not this time.

I went shopping on black friday. I haven't done that in ages and ages. I didn't go to the mall or electronic and toy stores like everyone else. I went to the grocery. There was hardly anyone in the grocery. Maybe a dozen people all together. I drove my brother's van and went with my sister in law. (she doesn't drive) As you can see..... I bought a lot.

It's sitting on the table in my studio ready for me to put it away. A couple of bags that belong to my sister in law made their way to my house. My brother is going to pick those up later today.

Some bags had to go onto the floor because the table was out of room.

I bought $458.27 worth of groceries. I paid $205.32. I tried to take a picture of the receipts so you could see the total and the savings but the pictures keep coming out blurry. I paid less than half the normal cost. I took advantage of sales, coupons, and discount bins to get all this food. Only a few items were non-edibles. Furnace filters, frozen food carry bags, laundry detergent, bleach, and napkins.

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Now please don't think all this food is just for me. I was trying to restock my freezer but I also share my foods with my daughter. Sometimes she "shops" at my house. I also bought some things that will be shared with others.

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Some of these groceries will be made into Christmas goodie boxes for my nephew and my neighbor. Neither one of them know how to cook. They can microwave and can make very simple foods but are basically lost in the kitchen. Both are really trying; yet, they are struggling to pay their bills. Their hours have been cut at work so the money just isn't there. I bought foods I wouldn't normally purchase because I knew it would go to those two guys. Can you see the convenience foods? The Bob Evans, the little sausage links, and the frozen cookies? Most of that's for those guys.

There is one more person who will be getting a Christmas goodie box. It's a single mother that my daughter knows is having a hard time right now. She's working full time but her salary just doesn't stretch as much as it used to. My daughter is going to pick up three grocery gift cards to go with the goodie boxes and some diapers for the single mother. The gift cards can be used to buy milk and bread or whatever they need. I didn't buy gift cards instead of the groceries because the guys would pay regular price instead of searching for bargains.

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Normally I would have made my own convenience foods (to be zapped in the microwave) to give to the guys. It doesn't take much time to make a big batch of biscuits and sausage gravy that can be frozen. I can quickly make up a batch of cookie dough too. I just don't have the time right now. I'm too far behind schedule.

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The really urgent food to put away today is 10 heads of cauliflower. These were selling for $2.50 each but on the discount table they were .25 cents each. I bought 10 to equal the amount I would have spent on only one.

I also found green peppers on the discount table. I gave $1 for 8 of them. A slight blemish here and there that's easily cut away. For 25 cents I can deal with cutting away a blemish.

I was really hoping to find bananas on the discount table. I've had the urge for banana nut bread lately. Didn't find any though so I guess I won't make the bread for awhile.

If I deduct the cost of the items for the goodie boxes.... I spent $80 on stock up items for myself and my daughter. This would include the discount meat and produce along with the non-edible items. All in all it was a pretty productive day. I got three major Christmas gifts that I hadn't planned to get before. The rest of my Christmas shopping was finished months ago. So now it's time for me to get into the kitchen. If I'm fast enough I can get the produce in the freezer and still have time for the quilting.

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