What?? I didn’t buy any produce at Costco? How did that happen?
I guess I didn’t need any that day. This is bizarre because I have a terrible time keeping up with fresh produce at our house. We eat fresh greens like crazy (well, we drink them, actually) and we go through fresh veggies and fruit by the ton.
Bananas, berries, grapes, apples, pears, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, salad mixes, spinach, spring mix, kiwi, melon, broccoli, potatoes, oranges – I always get so much produce that I could almost fill an entire Costco cart with produce every time I go. But then there was…
That Time I Didn’t Buy Any Produce at Costco
Last week, I went into Costco, loaded an orange flat cart with items, and not one of those items was from the fresh produce section. Did I just get a couple of items that day? HAHAHA. No, I wish. My cart looked like this, and I got what I went in for and then some.
I mainly went in for cases of diapers, toilet paper, and other non-food items. But then I kept finding food staples on sale because so much is discounted right now during Back-to-School season. Knowing that I didn’t need most of those items now, but that I could buy them at a discount and freeze them for later – I kept piling up more onto my cart.
Did this make me go over my grocery budget this month? Oh yes it did. But will it save me in the long run? Absolutely it will. Plus, it feels really good to be so stocked up right now. This frees me to focus more on helping our kids as they transition into our new school routine. (Our kids’ past trauma makes every transition more intense. Gimme that frozen pizza.)
So hooray. I’m all stocked up!
Except for the produce.
I already had a lot of fresh produce at our house at the time of this particular shopping trip, so I didn’t think twice. Until two days later when – well of course. We’ve eaten up almost all of our fresh produce. (We do have a beautiful abundance of wonderful tomatoes and squash from friends’ and neighbors’ gardens!)
Looks like I’ll be heading back soon, making my August grocery bill even larger. As of today, I’ve hit a whopping $1553 for the month. (This is the grocery budget we shoot for with 11 people at our house.) I’ve gone way over, but there are other months I’ve been under, so it all evens out. Also? We need to eat. I have to buy food. And I strive to be wise with every purchase. :)
Stay tuned for our final August budget number – and to see what my next cart full of produce looks like!