Are you curious to see what food a single woman who’s watching her pennies is buying? If so – you’re in the right place today! It’s the Vegetarian Cowgirl’s April 2021 grocery bill!
Why am I a Vegetarian Cowgirl instead of a Pescatarian Cowgirl, which is more accurate? Not everyone is familiar with the term pescatarian. Basically, it’s a vegetarian who eats seafood, but no meat products. If it has claws or hooves and walks on the land, a pescatarian doesn’t eat it!
To break it down further, although I will eat seafood, I don’t eat it often. Too expensive is the main reason. Generally I follow a plant based diet, but it doesn’t bother me if foods contain eggs or dairy products.
I’m also an Urban Cowgirl. Kind of a play on words on an old John Travolta flick, Urban Cowboy. Generally these are people who like to dress up for the part, but not active participants.
Wannabe Cowgirl? Sometimes I think I’m a fake because I’m not a working cowgirl on a big cattle ranch somewhere.
When I track my spending on a spreadsheet, the grocery category includes all expenses I made at grocery stores and drug stores. That doesn’t mean everything is edible. I buy cleaning products, food wrap, dog treats and more that all get allotted to my “grocery” spending.
These tallies below only include the groceries I eat.
APRIL 3, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I went to the Walmart in Grandview Corners in Surrey. At least I didn’t get ripped off on the Silk non-dairy milk like I did March! The discount shows at the bottom of the receipt, 2 for $7, but they ring up at $4.17 each. It’s hit and miss whether Walmart will get it right with the multi discount!
| Cashew Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Dark Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Frozen Strawberries | 1 | $3.77 |
| Can Pumpkin | 2 @ $3.97 | $7.94 |
| B&J Netflix ice cream | 1 | $3.97 |
| Dill Pickles | 2 @ $2 | $4.00 |
| Applesauce | 1 | $1.97 |
| Stevia | 1 | $2.97 |
| Lime powder mix | 1 | $2.57 |
| Pink lemonade powder | 1 | $2.57 |
| Vegetable soup cubes | 1 box | $1.27 |
| Sunflower seeds | 1 bag | $3.00 |
| Bananas | 1.190 kg @ $1.46/kg | $1.74 |
| Que Pasa Tortilla Chips | 1 bag | $2.97 |
| Tax | GST 5% on the snacks | .50¢ |
| Total | $46.24 |
I was hoping to buy rice paper wraps, aka sandwich substitutes, but Walmart was out.
And then I was bad. I spotted Ben & Jerry’s on sale and a carton of Netflix ice cream hit the shopping cart.
Is it more annoying that Walmart is out of stock, or all the people who ignore the directional arrows in the aisles and just go whatever way they want?
This is part of Covid-19 safety measures, people. Thanks for not caring about your own health or the health of others!
APRIL 4, 2021 GROCERY BILL
The next day I had to make a run to the Superstore to pick up the things I couldn’t find at Walmart! It was Sunday afternoon and first I went for a walk on the Fraser River dyke in Pitt Meadows. Kind of a chilly afternoon.
I was bad two days in a row! My first mistake was spotting chocolate bars for 66¢ while standing in line for the self check out. Yeah they got me! I couldn’t resist a bag of M&Ms peanuts! My second mistake was I have a $25 gift card that I left at home. Ah well, next time.
I was glad I stopped in today. Frozen salmon fillets were on sale with a maximum purchase of two. I also grabbed a tub of Becel margarine, plant based made from oat milk. I was planning to buy my usual Greek yogurt, the Krema Vanilla but it wasn’t on sale. Regular price $4.99, when it was $4.48 at Walmart, so cheaper there. However, I spotted a different brand on sale today and bought that instead.
| French’s onion toppers | 2 pack | $4.48 |
| M&M’s Peanut | 1 | .66¢ |
| Rice paper wraps | 1 | $3.28 |
| Becel oat margarine | 1 | $3.98 |
| Oiko Greek Vanilla yogurt | 1 | $3.96 |
| Frozen salmon | 2 bags @ $5.96 | $11.92 |
| Tax | 5% GST on those M&Ms | .03¢ |
| Total | $28.31 |
APRIL 7, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I stopped at the London Drugs in Cloverdale because I needed toothpaste and my doctor recommended I start taking Vitamin D.
Does anyone else take Vitamin D?
As a vegetarian, I keep nuts in the house. They’re also good for an anti-inflammatory diet for people with arthritis. I usually take a swing down the aisle the nuts are in to see if any are on sale. Coincidentally, chocolate bars and potato chips are in the same aisle. I managed to resist the Lindt Excellence chocolate bars that were on sale!
| Hazelnuts | 1 bag | $4.99 |
| Tax | 5% GST tax on nuts | .25¢ |
| Total | $5.24 |
APRIL 12, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today was a stocking up day. Mostly I needed to buy canned beans for a cowgirl casserole recipe I wanted to try. I mean if some guy who does medical weight loss in Philadelphia can come up with a vegetarian cowgirl casserole – I need to try it.
Surprisingly, pretty good! Tasty enough to add to my meal rotation.
| Cashew Milk | 2 @ $3.50 | $7.00 |
| Frozen Green Beans | 1 | $1.98 |
| Frozen Corn | 1 | $3.98 |
| Frozen Peppers | 1 | $1.98 |
| Great Value Maple Beans | 2 @ 67¢ | $1.34 |
| Clover Leaf canned tuna | 8 @ $1.17 | $9.36 |
| Heinz beans | 2 @ 97¢ | $1.94 |
| Dark Chocolate Chips | 1 | $8.47 |
| Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips | 1 | $8.97 |
| Slivered almonds | 1 | $8.97 |
| Ryvita Crackers | 1 | $2.47 |
| Bananas | 1.680 kg @ $1.46/kg | $2.45 |
| Total | $58.91 |
I didn’t have tuna on my shopping list, but when I see them on sale, I’ll add a few. They were different flavors like lemon dill, lemon pepper, and a salmon salad. Thanks Clover Leaf!
The good news is Walmart didn’t rip me off on the plant based milk, like they did in March. A carton of milk costs over $4 unless you buy two and then they’re 2 @ $7.00.
The bad news is Walmart ripped me off on the slivered almonds! The last time I bought them they were $5.99 and that’s the price on the shelf. They rang through at $8.97. Rip off!
In the greater scheme of things I’m still ahead due to the morons in Walmart’s head office screwing up!
APRIL 21, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today it was just a quick stop at Save On Foods to grab a container of my favorite yogurt that was on sale. Not that I would have bought it at Save On’s too expensive regular price of $5.39 – Yikes!
| Olympic Krema Vanilla Yogurt | 1 | $3.99 |
| Total | $3.99 |
APRIL 24, 2021 GROCERY BILL
It’s been awhile since I’ve had spinach in the fridge and I’m really craving my salads! I also messed up by not grabbing bananas at Save On Foods a couple of days earlier because I’ve been out of them for a couple of days. And I still have to wait because the ones I bought today at Fruiticana aren’t ripe enough to eat or put in a smoothie.
| Bananas | 2.75 lb @ .79¢/pound | $2.17 |
| Baby carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Total | $6.75 |
GROCERY BILL APRIL 25, 2021
Today I had to stop at the shopping plaza where Dollarama is located, so I ran in to buy a few things.
I checked out the seeds to plant in my garden, and today I’m happy to spot zucchini seeds! Price is 99¢ on the envelope, but it rang through at 34¢ just like the watermelon and pepper seeds I bought here a couple of weeks earlier. There were no zucchini seeds that day though.
I was also happy to finally spot baking soda. I was getting low at home and Walmart was sold out the last time I was there. Wow! You’d think it was a year ago with shortages. Unfortunately Walmart doesn’t do a very good job of keeping the shelves stocked, and that’s been going on for years before anyone ever heard of Covid-19.
| Baking Soda | 1 | $1.25 |
| Mints | 1 bag | $1.00 |
| Pretzels | 1 bag | $1.50 |
| Plantain chips | 2 bags @ $1.00 | $2.00 |
| Veggie chips | 1 bag | $1.25 |
| Tax | 5% gst on snacks | .35¢ |
| Total | $7.35 |
I buy mints to help me stop eating so much. Which kind of defeats the purpose why I bought plantain and veggie chips. I like them when I’m eating a salad or wrap. Though I’m really trying to stick more with popcorn for crunchy snacks.
The pretzels? Well yes, they’re a low calorie, inexpensive snack, but mostly I wanted to buy them for my no bake chocolate chip peanut butter and pretzel granola bars.
TALLY IT UP!
And the final amount for my groceries in April, 2021 is … ta da!
$156.79
And seven times I went inside stores to do grocery shopping. Although most of them were very quick trips, and all but Fruiticana have self-check outs, I still thought that was kind of a high number of shopping trips for groceries during Covid and trying to self-isolate.
Wow! I’m still wrapping my head around that. Seven shopping trips! And yet, it seems like I hardly did any shopping. Well, not quite true. I had to stock up a few things like frozen foods which ended up in the freezer anyway.
It’s pretty much about the same number of trips I hit the stores during normal times!
I’m not fearful of shopping. I wear face coverings and I don’t spend a lot of time inside the stores. As soon as I get in the car I use hand sanitizer, and I wash my hands when I get home. And I wash my hands again after I unpack the groceries.
I feel like I’m staying safe. It’s hard to justify paying extra money to have someone else do the shopping and either deliver to my house or for me to pick up at the grocery store. It’s kind of inconvenient. It also prevents me from noticing a special on at the store that I might want to stock up on.
How are you doing with you grocery shopping? Do you still shop or have you switched to deliver or pick up service? Do you find you’re spending more money or less money on groceries?
LAST MONTH’S VEGETARIAN COWGIRL’S GROCERY BILL
OLDER GROCERY BILLS
To check out previous monthly grocery bills, click on the links below. This is a new feature on The Lifestyle Digs starting in 2021, so not too many to click yet!
The Vegetarian Cowgirl’s February 2021 Grocery Bill
The Vegetarian Cowgirl’s January 2021 Grocery Bill
2021 MONTHLY TOTALS
Here’s how much I’ve been spending on groceries in 2021.
| January | $173.86 |
| February | $122.38 |
| March | $196.85 |
| April | $156.79 |
| 2021 Total | $649.88 |
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on May 1, 2021.
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