$50 Grocery Haul 01/17/2015

01/17/2015

I'm a jew frugal person, and recently I stumbled across grocery haul vlog posts. The best part? The ones I've seen aren't done by the people who make it on shows like extreme couponer, or extreme cheapskates. The entries I've seen and loved are by "normal" people who are trying to make healthy choices on a budget, and some of them have it down to an art!

I stumbled across the grocery haul vlogs and I must say there are quiet a few impressive ones... but they all have something, stores I don't have near me (and the reason 1/3 people in my state are obese!) Despite having a lower cost of living than many states we don't necessarily have cheaper food, or as many options for healthy food... but I digress.

I prefer blogs to vlogs because I can multitask and I read fast! After I found the vlogs I typed a general search into google to look for some blogs and stumbled upon this. I'm taking the SNAP challenge in Febraury; I know, I know, that was SO two years ago! I never got around to taking the SNAP challenge because honestly well I have that I want to do it, it also looks hard so I didn't want to do it! Well, poorgirleatswell writer Kim Morales does $25 shopping hauls. Her grocery hauls aren't all inclusive, she mixes the things she buys on the trip with items she already has on hand. Her hauls inspired me to do one of my own!

I originally planned on doing a $25 grocery haul, but then I saw some clearance items and figured that there are two of us and one of her... so it's only fair that I double my budget right!?

I shopped at Kroger, which if you are a loyal follower you know it is because it is the best choice in my area... and really pretty much the only one other than Walmart.

My total after my kroger card was: $56.42. Thinking I failed my mission? Yee of little faith! Of that $7.49 (and tax on that amount) was for my dogs, so my grocery total comes to right around $49!

The picture above, although nice is NOT my haul. It is a picture I found doing a google search because I haven't done my counter reveal post yet. The picture to the right is what my haul looked like carrying it out of the store. That is right guys, I remembered my reusable shopping bags and even brought enough!!!

Now Here is my haul:
ST Sliced Ham $3.50
ST PB x2 $1.69/ea
ST Almonds x2 $2.99/ea
6 Grn Bell Peppers (bag) $1.99
Crackers $.99 (some healthy kind)
ST seaweed snack .39
Bagged garbonzo beans $1.29
Strawberries $1.99
Organic Banana's $1.51
ST walnuts $2.99
Yogurt Raisins $1.99
Glory Greens .79
Romaine Lettuce $1.55
Lettuce, Red Leaf .61
Bagged Lentils $1.29
Salad Shrimp $4.99
Lunchable $1.00
Hormel Chili x2 $1.50/ea
Pasta x2 $1.00/ea
Bagged Great Northern Beans $1.39

For my dogs I got
7 HUGE cans of pumpkin for $1 EACH!!!
and a wet dog food for .49.


This haul is different than my usual grocery shopping! The key differences in this and typical is        1. This is pretty much ALL healthy food without my usual deviation
 2. Bagged beans
 3. Loose Lettuce

During my grocery shopping trips I will usually buy some junky items, whether it is prepared foods, hot cheetos, soda, candy, muffins, pop tarts, frozen pizza's, lean pockets, hot pockets, or pizza pockets some items that aren't the healthiest always seem to wind up in my cart. This time I didn't even walk into ANY center isles except the one for pasta/beans and to grab my husband some chili (he loves the stuff and I need to learn how to make it!)!

I always buy lettuce in bags or plastic boxes, and look for it on clearance. My last grocery shopping trip I found a clearance romaine lettuce in the plastic box. I didn't pay close attention and was surprised upon opening it to find it was Romaine hearts not cut up lettuce? I was more surprised to find I prefer it that way. This lettuce was still good 2 WEEKS past the "best buy" date. I don't like the white/clear center part so this way I just leave it out of my salad when I'm preparing it, and it is perfect for sandwiches. I found the loose lettuce hearts for .99/lb today so $2 total for my romaine and red leaf lettuce!

Bagged beans aren't something you normally find in my cupboard, I don't know how to cook them or any recipes that use them. I do know beans and rice are cheap staple items and I NEED to learn how to use them! I have ST beans in the cupboard but I came across some blog posts about canned versus dried and I am interested. I'm trying them both and who knows, maybe I'll blog my findings. According to the posts dried are cheaper and healthier!

My Volunteer Work

01/15/2015

I think everyone should volunteer, whether it is time or money! We should all invest in our community and in our world! I chose to volunteer to benefit animals (and the people who love them), K9's in specific.

I have volunteered at an animal shelter walking the dogs, for my local shelter taking pictures of their dogs and cats so they can put them up onlines, and now I work with a rescue. I have fostered two puppies which you will see below and I'm currently processing app's because fostering isn't for my husband!

 This was my first ever foster Keya! She was 2 years old and still hadn't been potty trained, so she peed all over the carpet in our brand new house!

She was SUPER sweet and loving, and SHY! One time when my FIL was over she wouldn't come out of her cage, then I went to get treats to get her out and she had snuck out behind me ninja style!

Sweetest dog, and gorgeous!

To the left is both my dog, and our latest foster Annie! Annie wasn't so sweet at first, she was a biter and wasn't used to being pet, and as a puppy she wasn't potty trained!

She warmed up and quickly decided snuggled up to me on the couch was a good place to be! She also loved playing with me and my other dogs and snuggling with shadow!

If you can't tell, although both dogs had their issues the experience was 100% worth it. These dogs are now both in homes with owners who absolutely ADORE them! These dogs may have needed some training but they were both 100% sweetness!

I'm a little disappointed we won't be fostering again (at least not until I can talk my husband back into it). I won't lie it is HARD work, you have to watch them with EVERYTHING and Keya destroyed her share of my things! That being said it is 100% worth it, rescues save lives! Every life matters, not just our own!

I guess I'm posting this not only to share more about myself, to give you an idea of who I am, but to encourage anyone reading this to do their part to improve their community. 

Where I live my work is important because not enough people spay and neuter so we have an abundance of strays!

Identify a problem in your community and help solve it, whether it is making a community garden, raising funds for homeless, a battered women's shelter, reading to a senior citizen ETC. Together we can make this world a better place!

How to Pick a Dog Food

01/14/2014

When our dog Shadow was still a puppy he had horrible "hot spots" on his forearms, he was also a handful! When we went to see a trainer she immediately realized it was an allergy and started talking to us about dog food, lets just say looking back I can't believe I EVER gave my dogs Purina... but I didn't know! I think many people don't really realize that animal food is like people food and that just because it sustains them doesn't mean it is actually healthy and good for them!

When buying your next bag of dog food ask these questions (The more yes answers the better):

1. Does it contain Named Meat sources?
2. Is it Completely grain free/ OR One named grain only?
3. Does it have Fresh Fruit/Veggies?
4. Is this free of Chemicals?
5. Is it Corn/Soy/Wheat Free?
6. Is it GMO Free/antibiotic free/hormone free?
7. Is this free from By-Products?
8. Is it free of artificial colors

Also check for recent recalls and/or contamination reports and what has been done to correct the problem.

Make sure that the company does not use any ingredients from China.

Check your label out and see how many yes answers you get.  (More is better)

Check your label and see where meat falls on the list (especially with an active dog you want meats on the first 2/3 ingredients  at minimum and ALWAYS as the first).

                        yesterday in Petco I actually had a conversation with a lady whose dog also suffered from a grain allergy... the associate "helping" her was not only dismissive of the grain allergy calling it a "fad" and saying MOST dogs that are said to have it don't really, she also said that high protein causes kidney problems, which new studies refute. The lady only followed my brand advice due to the misinformation spread by the Petco associate, and got a subpar food that was low in protein! My point? Just because someone works in a Pet Store DOES NOT mean they have done research and know what they are talking about!

 All of the worst dog foods will be readily available at your grocery, which also means they are more than likely purchased more often than the healthier choices due to convenience! In general, if its in a grocery store than you DON'T want it... trust me, when I see a different brand at a store I'm in I will check ingredients but I have yet to find a quality food selling at Kroger, Walmart, Dollar General, etc!

                       Worst Dog Food Brands                                   

Beneful by Purina

Alpo by Purina

Ol' Roy

Kibbles and Bits

Purina Dog Chow

Pedigree

Hills Science Diet Original

Now that we have that out of the way lets talk about good dog food, the kind that: your dog is excited to eat, ups their energy level, gives them a good coat, makes them healthy & happy!!

Here are some resources for finding good dog food. Trust me, if you just go to a Pet Store and look at ingredients it can take a LONG time! http://www.dogfoodscoop.com/dog-food-comparison.html is my personal favorite resource, as I think its fastest and easiest. Personally, I will look at the highly scored food on their list then do my own research on the food suggested. I really like that they explain ratings too, which gives you an idea of the reason for their rating and if it is important to you and your pet, like some 2 star food the only reason given for the rating is it was bought by P&G...  so it MAY still be good food, but do your research in that case!

What I use for my dogs!

I personally fed my dogs Whole Earth (the green bag) for 2 years! This isn't the BEST food out there, but it is the best that an 18-19 year old who just moved out of her mothers house and in with her fiance could afford! I would 100% recommend it, because although it isn't THE best, it is definitely a better choice than MANY dog foods (even other brands in a pet store) and is more affordable than many other brands.

I'm in the process of switching dog foods because for just a few dollars more on a big bag I can buy TOTW (taste of the wild)! I found the TOTW with Bison meat on sale on amazon and with prime I have free shipping so I got 2 big bags for $4 or so more than I would spend on Whole Earth and it is better food, with a LOT of protein!

TREATS

Now we CAN'T forget the snacks! 

My vet actually has a list of dog snacks which he advises against due to them containing either onion or garlic. There is a huge debate right now about garlic for dogs, too much CAN be fatal, but in small doses many say it is beneficial. My dogs have garlic sometimes (due to us sharing food) and no negative reactions!

Many treats are just FILLED with grains, fillers, and empty calories! When you chose a treat, try to chose wisely. It is easy to overfeed our pets, but they require MUCH fewer calories than we do and their treats are like our junk food (filled with calories). I recently bought NUTRISENTIALS treats with only 7 calories per treat! I am not necessarily recommending this brand but I 100% recommend finding some low calorie treats, unless you feed dry kibble as treats!

Here you can guess and find out how many calories are in SOME common dog and cat treats! I was surprised to find just 10 per puppy milk bone, that will be a treat in the future. It also might be a good idea to make your own dog treats!

With any option you chose, treat or food, I think it is important to discuss with your vet your dogs daily calorie goal! Nobody likes the thought of counting calories for us or our pooch. Obesity in dogs, like in humans, has MANY bad side effects and is a health concern. With small dogs especially portion control is crucial, and as you upgrade their food you will find they need and eat less!

http://rockcityrescue.blogspot.com/ and the lovely Ms. Casey Carter helped provide some of this information! If you are looking at getting a pet please always look at local rescues and your local animal shelter! If your feeling charitable I highly recommend donating here, you can help sweet dogs like this one I fostered:

Fostering is ALWAYS needed also, so check with local animal shelters in their area and even if they don't do fosters personally they can probably recommend a rescue who counts on fosters to save animals!

Bathroom Remodel (In Progress)

01/12/2015

The last two days have been crazy stressful! We are in the middle of our bathroom remodel, which has been ongoing for over a month now!

You see, when we bought the house the bathroom looked like this... complete with nasty pink wallpaper, a retro green linoleum floor covering, a green counter top, and hanging lantern lights, and lets not forget our chipping porcelain sink!

We bought the house with the agreement that it needed cosmetic work... and so in October I got to work. I peeled off the wallpaper layer and the backing to it in a area and discovered some BAD news. When the house was built the drywall was never finished out because they were just throwing wallpaper on it anyway so my walls looked like this under the wallpaper:








That is NOT what you want to see after spending hours scraping wallpaper off of walls! I mean I was sweating, and I don't sweat!

My husband and I argued debated our course of action for the wall. I'm a DIY enthusiast and a Jew so of course I was all gung-ho Miss we can do it! He, however, was all for hired skilled laborers so we spent $155 for someone to fix both this wall, and the other bathroom.

It took MONTHS for us to reach a decision on our course of action, then find the right person to do the job, and actually schedule a time for them to come out and do it! After the walls were finished though I got right on painting them (and the new scraped ceiling) here is a picture I took during painting (notice the trim isn't done in this image).

I have to say the color isn't what I expected. I don't hate it but I'm debating adding beadboard to break it up a little bit. I'm hoping it will look fantastic with the new floor and shower curtain and won't need any though!

During the wall work the toilet in this bathroom started leaking. Not a huge issue, we simply turned off the water to the toilet and stopped using it since we have two bathrooms... but let me just say, both bathrooms in our house are a necessity! I have a small bladder, and someone in the household who is not me but should remain nameless has "stomach issues". Two bathrooms are needed!

Since we had to replace the toilet anyway and were planning on redoing the floor we decided to tackle the project all at once! So we got together materials, picked out tile, measured, I did ALOT of research and here is what has happened over the last two days

The linoleum did NOT want to come up in some areas (especially by the door)... and sometimes the linoleum would come up without the backing! GRR! We spent HOURS on this!


JUST TO DISCOVER

 Do you know what type of "wood" that is? I do, it is PARTICLEBOARD... you know the cheap stuff used to make CHEAP stuff?

Not ideal for any flooring installation, particularly tile!

After a mini meltdown I considered that maybe it isn't the subfloor but an underlayment! Fortunately I was correct so off to buy a tool to remove it we went which gets us to where we are now...

Here

Now that we have it down to the subfloor I have MORE bad news... the subfloor is to bouncy and weak in areas so we will have to get additional plywood to put on top of it....

In un expected expenses for this project we have

drywall finishing: $155
Prybar: $10
Circular Saw: $60
Plywood: estimated $40

Total SO far: $265

This project is almost $300 over budget and we have only done the demo stage of MOST of it!

I'm STRESSED!

UPDATE: It is 11:54 and my husband is still working away. I have to admit he is working more often than me since he is the one using the power tools, and I'm faster. Not to knock him or anything but he took like hours to make the cuts we needed... I might have to learn how ;)

I'll add pictures later, now its just about bedtime for us!

01/14/2015

Alright ya'll! I have to say I'm super excited, I can see the finish line! My husband and I disagreed on tiles and this one was a comprimise and I have to admit, I'm thrilled with it! I don't think my pick would have looked any better.
Today we are making all the cuts to the tiles, and laying them. We have to wait 24 hours for the thinset to dry before grouting, than another 24-48 before walking on them or installing the toilet so by next weekend I'm hoping the bathroom remodel is 100% finished.

Here is your sneak preview:

Here is where we added additional plywood as a underlayment to strengthen the floor and make it less bouncy! I did thinset underneath and we nailed the plywood in for maximum strength and stability.

And the wonderboard:













Here is the dry lay of tiles, once hubby is done cutting them all then we will be laying them for real! Don't they look great?

01/16/2014

UPDATE: After allowing the thinset ample time to dry I was about to start grouting between the tiles when I realized a HUGE mistake! I got the wrong color grout! We grabbed a bag not thinking and the color is a brown (EWW), so tomorrow I'll be exchanging it for a dark grey!

01/20/2014

We have finished the floor and installed the toilet!!!