My priorities were sales and low-cost staples (ramen, pepperoni for making tortilla pseudo Pizzas):
After my late January
pre-DeepFreeze resupply (Food Haul #2),
my next resupply was in late April (84 days later).
My #1 priority was water, followed by garbage/etc, and food.
I did have sufficient food, however this was my first post-Winter grocery run, so I could buy a much broader range of food. :)
In particular, I was all but out of snacks,
had very little inexpensive & convenient meat,
and was craving veggies. :)
Total spent on food was $122.72, total calories were 98,442 (57.9 woman-days), for a daily cost of $2.12 / calorie-day.
First major food stop was Dollar General
(on Saturday so I could optimize their $25 for $20 sale).
My priorities were sales and low-cost staples
(ramen, pepperoni for making
tortilla pseudo Pizzas):
Total spent: $18.50
Total spent: $18.75 on food, $6.25 (+tax) on hygiene & medical items
This was my only big fail of the trip:
They were completely out of their cheap flour tortillas (12 for $1.25),
which are among my core pantry staples (due to long shelf life, efficient size,
and they are a key ingredient in ultra-easy
tortilla pseudo Pizzas).
Next Dollar Tree visit, they still didn't have any. :(
It wasn't until late May that I found any,
and decied to buy 10 packs, which is above my normal restocking level (of 4-6 packs),
however during both previous visits I had asked about them and the clerks had told me that they too had noticed the shortage for quite a while.
It was prudent to overstock, given that other brands cost more than twice as much.
A lesser fail was the mac & cheese, which I mistakenly assumed was their "deluxe" variety (i.e. with liquid instead of powdered cheese), when it was really the regular kind. Note that it was "family size" (14.5oz) and worked out to a reasonable price.
Total spent: $11.70
The brat was an indulgence, however I optimized it with "extra" fixings (which I used to make BLTs) and condiment packets. :)
The eggs were well above what I would normally pay, however they were my first of the year, and the cheapest local price.
The taco beef was their normal price, and another indulgence, however that's still a decent price for that product.
Their onions and bread prices are well below everyone else, including Walmart.
They usually have some bakery items at "clearance" prices, so I often indulge. :)
Regional grocery store #1:
Total spent: $36.09
I was almost out of cooking oil, so the medium sized canola oil here and smaller Dollar Tree one were essentials.
I still had plenty of cheese, however they were having a sale, and I was out of "brick" cheese, so, as usual, I stocked up. :)
The "melting cheese" was an experiment, that has worked out very well,
particularly in Philly style CheeseSteak sandwiches,
crunchwraps, nachos, and "from scratch" mac&cheese.
That store has had repeat sales on them, and over the course of the summer I bought 31 containers. :)
Total spent: $36.33
Everything that I bought was on sale, including some superb deals on snacks, so I stocked up. :)
This was a very thrifty run, yet provided many tasty snacks and core food items.
After a rough Winter, I was able to make some of my favorite morale meals, including:
crunchwrap supremes, philly cheesesteaks, BLTs.
I was also able to try making a (completely new to me)
Chopped Cheese sandwich,
which worked out very well.
The only fail was one out-of-stock core pantry item (flour tortillas), and as a result I've adjusted my minimum restock level to 10 packs (previously it was 4-6 packs).