Shopping Semi-healthy to stay Semi-wealthy and wise….

I haven’t posted on my grocery store savings in a while.  I’m not quite as nutty as some of those people you see on that TLC show, Extreme Couponers, but I must say I do my fair share of clipping, researching, and list making, to make sure I get the best bang for my buck. AS for the picture to the left, maybe I am a wee bit obsessed.  But I promise some out there are worse!

Yesterday was my first big savings in a while. I spent most of my summer focusing my savings within my garden. I was eating all the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers I could. I simply love knowing I’m saving money on fresh and healthy food, and it stinks that the one thing that is so hard to coupon for are items in the produce section. Nevertheless, there is still a way to save.  As I have mentioned in the past, I try to focus on savings when I shop, but not so much that I’m eating processed crap 24/7. There is a fine balance!

The items that are healthy and good for our bodies are typically found around the perimeter of the store.  If you want to shop as healthy as possible, stay away from the lanes! Next time you go to the store stay on the outside the WHOLE trip and only buy from there. I try to do this once a week to make sure I’m still buying things that are wholesome and nutritious. Think about it, in my store the main areas are Produce, Meat, Dairy, and Deli.  You will hardly find a coupon for zucchini, salmon, or a dozen eggs, but these types of food are good for us, and unprocessed for the most part. If it were easier for me I would go to a farmers market every week for these items, but I just can’t do it all!  SO how do I save?

1)  SALES!  I look for whats on sale. Many items in the produce department are seasonal and therefore will go on sale throughout different times of the year. Have you ever noticed how strawberries are sometimes $5 and then other times only $2? Instead of making a list for what I want, I grab what is marked down for the week.  This week I grabbed some bananas and cherry tomatoes. The first batch of tomatoes I bought in 4 months, <SIGH> bye bye gardening season.

2)Manager Mark Downs – My store marks items down as they near their expiration date. Some people might get a little freaked out by this, but if it’s not expired yet, it’s ok! I just know I either need to eat it ASAP, or throw it in the freezer. This week I snagged up a bag of salad (please note bright orange and yellow sticker on bag in picture below), more tomatoes, and some stuffed peppers made in the meat department.

3)Coupons. They do happen! Kroger will send me coupons every now and then. Inside I will find “Best Customer Coupons”! Once a month they will send me a FREE coupon for something in this “perimeter area” of the store amongst other coupons as well. Last month I got a coupon for a free dozen eggs!

So never fear! Savings is possible in a healthy way, it may just not be as great when you shop like this…

How do you say no to Toaster Strudels when they are only 5 cents a box?? Ahh, the childhood memories 🙂

The breakdown?

Total before coupons = $83

Total after coupons = $52

BONUS!

$10.75 received in Kroger Dollars for buying participating items!

I saved about  $40. That’s nearly 50% off! I’m always happy when I hit that 50% off mark 🙂 Now I’m going to have a toaster strudel for breakfast….and YES….  WITH the icing! Don’t judge me….. 😉 I’m off to reward myself!

Gardening… what a way to Live wise and Spend wise!

I guess this is just an update on my gardening project more that anything else and I must admit, gardening is one of the best things I do that completely matches up with the title of my blog.

My last Garden update was May 10th and although I am posting today, please note I took these pictures June 29th.  It has been 7 weeks since the last posted pictures and these I am posting today and boy oh boy what I difference we have!

PEPPERS!  If you remember, in my last post I mentioned I was having trouble with something eating the leaves of all my peppers plants. I picked up some Captain Jack, which is an organic spray, and it seemed to have helped a little.  Overall however, my peppers are the slowest plant I am growing.

Jalapenos – They are coming along. The plant hasn’t taken off like it did last year, but I have peppers! I assume by August I will have a ton more.

Bell Peppers – Last year I did a green bell pepper. This year I went with a green bell and a red bell. They are still showing no signs of peppers or blooms. Last year they took forever as well so I’m just being super patient.  Fingers crossed.

Hot Banana peppers – This guy has been a slow grower as well.  I got one tiny pepper so far and that’s it.  Over all I think I need patience with all the peppers.

I’m hoping throughout July, they will go nuts! Any advice?

Tomatoes – My tomatoes are booming, but they are slow turning red.  Just look at all the grape tomatoes I have!  They are just so green. I want red!  Even the roma hybrids are green.  Again, I need patience, or advice.

Zucchini – WOW, do these plants get insanely huge.  This thing has not been shy about growing enormous. Just look at it! It’s neat to see the blooms open up wide like this in the morning hours, but then in the heat of the day they will close back up.  As big as the plant is, I have been waiting and waiting to see a zucchini. Finally, this past weekend as I was working in the garden I did a double, almost triple take and noticed two of the biggest zucchini hiding way up under the plant.  I had them this past Sunday and man were they yummy!

Cucumber – It’s a good thing I gave my cucumber room to crawl and fencing to climb. This by far, has been my most productive plant. I have had a cucumber almost everyday for nearly two weeks now.  I’ve even given some away and they aren’t stopping. I just plucked all the ready ones before this picture, but look at the blooms still coming! I’m about to have to make some pickles and ask for recipes 🙂 Anyone had cucumber slices in their water??? YUM!!

The watermelon is looking pretty healthy thus far. I forgot to take a picture but there isn’t much to show other than a vine going crazy. She gets the least amount of sun, so we will have to wait and see if anything is to come from her. I saw a few blooms the other day, but that is it.

So there you have it.  So far I feel like I’m doing ok for only my second year at this hobby.  In addition to growing the plants, I also have had to fend off weeds. I spent last Friday in the 104 degree weather (yes I’m nuts) doing major weed control. I got tired of pulling weeds so I went with plan B. Time to smother them! I put down 2 rows of newspaper and lots and lots of mulch.  It actually made a huge difference and even looks prettier 🙂 Im just back from my parents lake house and Im already anxious to head to my BF’s house to check on the garden. I wrote this post a few days ago and saved it as a draft. Now I’m posting it a few days later and ready to see what has changed….Here’s to hoping for more produce after the storms from the week!

Garden update….

So it’s been three weeks since my last garden post, but it hasn’t been three weeks since I have tended to the project. I just slacked a little on my updates…..oops.

I last left off with a post showing my bed ready for planting. This was April 18th. The following day I headed off to the store to purchase my summer produce! I thought about what I grew last year. Some things worked well. Some needed a better gardener (me!), and some items just weren’t for me. I picked a variety a plants and went to play in the dirt for the day.  Three weeks later, here is what we have going on this year compared to last year.

 

 

 

Jalapenos – They did awesome last year! I love my spicy foods! Deciding to plant these again was simple. I’ve got a bud coming already!

 

 

 

 

Bell Peppers – Last year I did a green bell pepper. This year I went with a green bell and a red bell.

Sweet Banana peppers – This was another easy plant to tend to and just would not stop producing. I actually had to give away and throw out some of these because they went crazy! I switched it up and planted a hot banana pepper this year.

Help me please!  Of all my plants, my peppers seem to attract pests. I already have holes in my leaves 😦 Any tips? I’m trying to stay as organic as possible.

 

 

 

 

Tomatoes – These are my favorite. Nothing taste better than a fresh grown garden tomato! This seemed to be my most versatile plant last year. I had so much fun creating recipes in order to use my tomatoes. At one point I thought I was going to turn into a tomato I was eating so many! This year I went with a variety in my sizes. I planted cherry, grape and a hybrid Roma. Look! I already have a cherry tomato!  Thanks you May showers!

 

 

 

Zucchini – Last year I meant to plant zucchini and accidentally bought a squash. The squash did mediocre and it isn’t my favorite anyway. This year I made sure to get the right plant. I love zucchini and can’t wait to see how well it does.

Cucumber – Last year my cucumber did mediocre, just like my squash. I didn’t realize how much the 2 would spread. Because I expanded my garden this year I was able to spread my vine plants out and give them more room to creep and crawl as they wish.

This just in! I only planted veggies last year.  This year I thought I would try my hand at fruit too! I know, I know….tomatoes are technically a fruit.  I also added cantaloupe and watermelon.

 

Alas, my cantaloupe has already disappeared so I have one man down. I have no clue what happened. Literally, it disappeared. I didn’t go out to find it brown and dying, but completely gone. Poof! So weird!

 

 

The watermelon is looking pretty

healthy thus far.

 

 

 

So there you have it.  So far I feel like I’m doing ok for only my second year at this hobby.  Bad news..I’ve had one casualty. I also  still a few holes to fill (hee hee) with my pepper problem. Good news, I’ve got tomatoes popping and flowers blooming on my jalapenos.  My watermelon, cucumber, and zucchini look rather healthy as well!

 

For a kind little addition and gift to my boyfriend, I also spruced up his deck with some marigolds… 🙂