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 August 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 of 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.
August 2, 2021 GROCERY BILL
The first shopping trip of the month was a quick stop at London Drugs in Cloverdale. I was getting low on cashews – and they were on sale – Yippee!
I also noticed green tea Kit Kat on sale. Well actually quite a few Nestle chocolate bars were on sale, but the green tea Kit Kat is usually full price. Due to the hot weather, I had to eat it pretty quick so it wouldn’t melt!
| Cashews | 1 jar | $9.99 |
| Kit Kat | 1 | .88¢ |
| Tax | 5% GST on both | .54¢ |
| Total | $11.41 |
My next stop was the Honeybee Centre to pick up a jar so I can make my chocolate peanut butter crunchies.
| Honey | 1 kg jar | $13.99 |
| Total | $13.99 |
AUGUST 3, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I drove over to my favorite Real Canadian Superstore in Pitt Meadows. Often the Superstore has some good sales on groceries I like to buy, but generally their regular prices are higher than Walmart’s groceries.
And keeping up with Walmart’s theme on out of stock and empty shelves, there were no bags of broccoli coleslaw. Actually the entire salad section was pretty much wiped out. It’s been really hot this past week, though not as hot as the heat wave at the end of June.
I was hoping to get a bag of apples, but they were too high priced.
Taking a page out of Walmart’s book, the Real Canadian Superstore was also out of cashew milk. The Silk milk was on sale for $2.88 each so that might have been the reason why. The cashew is the best flavor, and I’m not the only one who thinks so! There was a limit of 4, and I took 3 cartons: unsweetened almond, an almond/coconut mix, and dark chocolate almond milks.
I was happy to see the Lipton Lemon Ginseng Green Tea in the 64 count on sale. They’re regularly priced at Walmart at $5.99 and the Superstore’s regular price is $6.99, so guess where I always buy it! $4.98 is a good sale price so I grabbed two boxes. There was a limit of four. I thought about it, because I usually go through a box a month, but I stayed with two.
| Plantain Chips | 2 @ $1.28 | $2.56 |
| Dill Pickles | 2 jars @ $2 | $4.00 |
| Craisins | 1 bag | $6.28 |
| Peanut Butter | 1 | $4.50 |
| Lipton Green Tea | 2 boxes @ $4.98 | $9.96 |
| Silk Milk | 3 @ $2.88 | $8.64 |
| Veggie Chips | 2 bags @ $1.97 | $3.94 |
| Bananas | 1.13 kg @ $1.46/kg | $1.65 |
| Tax | 5% GST on snacks | .64¢ |
| Total | $42.17 |
Yes, the veggie chips were on sale too. All the above except the green tea were on my shopping list.
I still don’t have the produce items I was looking for.
And while I was in the Superstore, I get a phone call from one of my credit card companies thinking there is fraudulent transactions and wanted to verify if it was me. Uh, no it was not! The scammers hadn’t quite cracked the code so my credit card company cancelled my card. This is so annoying because I don’t even carry that card on me. It sits in a drawer in my house and is used for occasional online purchases. I think I need to write another post on compromised credit cards!
AUGUST 4, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Tonight I have to stop at Fruiticana and get some salad stuff. The apples were too expensive, so passed.
The spinach was too close to expiry for me to buy and same with the baby carrots that were actually looking older than their baby years.
I picked up a big bag of red kidney beans, but I have a sinking feeling I saw a similar product for cheaper last night at the Superstore. Oh well, can’t win them all.
| Bananas | 2.28 lb @ .79¢/lb | $1.79 |
| Coleslaw | 1 bag | $1.49 |
| Dried pineapple | 1 bag | $3.99 |
| Kidney beans | 4 lb bag | $8.99 |
| Total | $16.26 |
AUGUST 14, 2021 GROCERY BILL
After spending time with my horse, I head to Walmart in Grandview Corners to stock up a few things that weren’t all groceries.
And will wonders never cease? After two months, Walmart finally has Silk Cashew milk in the refrigerated section! Woo hoo!
| Cashew Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Dark Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Krema Vanilla Yogurt | 1 | $4.67 |
| Pickles | 2 jars @ $2 | $4.00 |
| Green Beans | 1 can | .97¢ |
| Applesauce snack pack | 1 | $1.97 |
| Pumpkin cookies | 1 | $1.67 |
| Ryvita Crackers | 1 | $2.97 |
| Pink Lemonade Drink Mix | 2 @ $2.57 | $5.14 |
| Instant Noodles | 4 @ .25¢ | $1.00 |
| Plantain Chips | 2 @ $1.27 | $2.54 |
| Veggie Chips | 2 @ $1.97 | $3.94 |
| Bananas | 1.125 kg @ $1.45/kg | $1.64 |
| Tax | 5% GST on snacks | .58¢ |
| Total | $38.09 |
I got sucked in by cookies on the end cap of the aisle again. I swear I don’t go down the cookie aisle! Pumpkin spice cream center, Walmart brand, dropped in price to $1.67.
AUGUST 28, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Wow! It’s been two weeks since I last bought groceries. I’ve been out of spinach and bananas for awhile. Though I had frozen bananas I was able to use for smoothies up until a couple of days ago.
My favorite smoothie, of course, is the chocolate peanut butter and banana smoothie! Tastes great with either fresh or frozen bananas, but it’s thicker with the frozen.
Today I went to the Fleetwood Fruiticana, the first time I’ve been inside this location. I usually shop at the Cloverdale Fruiticana. The Fleetwood store has a larger grocery section. The produce section seemed smaller than Cloverdale’s. And there were no mushrooms! Though I was there after 3:30pm, perhaps they’d sold out of mushrooms. Oddly, I didn’t see an empty place in produce where mushrooms might have been. A sign would have been a big clue. A little annoying because I was planning to make a pizza and I love mushrooms on my pizza!
Fortunately I have a can of sliced mushrooms in my cupboard. When living frugally, it’s best to combine, fresh, frozen, and canned foods depending on what’s on sale, and to always have foods you eat a lot of on hand in the house.
The Fleetwood Fruiticana shares a parking lot with a lot of other stores in this strip mall, including a Starbucks. It wasn’t as easy to park here as it is with the Cloverdale Fruiticana. This location is a good second choice for me.
| Red Grapes | 1.88 lb @ $1.98/lb | $3.72 |
| Orange Pepper (one pepper) | .26 lb @ .98/lb | .25¢ |
| Roma Tomatoes (two tomatoes) | .37 lb @ .98/lb | .38¢ |
| Bananas | 2.26 lb @ .79/lb | $1.79 |
| Baby Carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Total | $10.70 |
AUGUST 30, 2021 GROCERY BILL
I wasn’t planning to do another grocery shop before month end, but I was out of dog treats that Shadow likes.
Chewrrific!
And she was getting low on Beggin’ Strips. What can I say?!
I keep a grocery list going on my iPhone for those times when I stop in a store to remind myself I am out of or running low on some things.
I wasn’t too good today.
🤦♂️
I fell into temptation on cookies and Wagon Wheels on sale. A box will head into work to keep in my desk. I also bought these pretzel bites, a new Joe’s Tasty Travels product that looks similar to Maltesers or Whoppers. Yummy!
I also bought a lot of frozen foods. I had pizza and strawberries on my list. I saw a couple of things on sale that I wanted to try/buy. I’m running against time. With a full time job and dealing with a horse daily mostly due to an injury, I’m not coming home until closer to 8pm. And hungry for dinner.
Sure a spinach salad helps to have in the fridge, but sometimes I’m really hungry. That’s what my freezer is for – storing meals!
After I tended to my horse, and took Shadow for a short walk, I went to Walmart at Grandview Corners in Surrey.
| Veggie Pizza – rising crust | 1 | $4.87 |
| Veggie Pizza – thin crust | 2 @ $3.27 | $6.54 |
| Veggie Bowl | 2 @ $4.50 | $9.00 |
| Frozen Strawberries | 1 | $3.77 |
| Sweet Potato Fries | 1 | $2.47 |
| Tuna | 11 cans @ $1.17 | $12.87 |
| Cocoa Powder for baking | 1 | $3.47 |
| Chocolate Chips | 2 bags @ $9.97 | $19.94 |
| Pumpkin Spice Cookies | 1 | $1.97 |
| Cafe Au Lait Cookies | 1 | $1.97 |
| Wagon Wheels | 1 | $1.97 |
| Peanut Butter | 1 | $3.77 |
| Tetley Berry Tea | 1 | $2,47 |
| Condensed Milk | 1 | $1.97 |
| Brown Sugar | 1 | $2.87 |
| Frozen Jalapeno Rings | 1 | $2.47 |
| Poppy Seeds | 1 | $1.97 |
| Chocolate Pretzel Bites | 1 | $4.00 |
| Spinach Perogies | 1 | $1.88 |
| Lemonade Powder Drink Mix | 2 @ $2.57 | $5.14 |
| Plantain Chips | 2 @ $1.27 | $2.54 |
| Veggie Straws | 1 | $1.97 |
| Tax | 5% GST on snacks | .68¢ |
| Total | $100.57 |
And why does Walmart still not have any canned pumpkin on the shelves?
AUGUST 31, 2021 GROCERY BILL
It looks like I started and ended the month on a grocery shopping bang!
Today I stopped at Save On Foods in Cloverdale because I knew the large size of yogurt I like is on sale. A tub of Krema Vanilla Yogurt is normally $12.69, but it’s on sale for $9.99 and I think the sale ends today. The smaller size I usually buy is also on sale at $3.99, but I’ve been eating a lot of yogurt lately, so I went with the bigger size.
Then I went past the baked goods and noticed Key Lime Pie on sale, marked down a couple of bucks to $7.99 and I thought I’d come back and grab one. But, I was good and walked away.
But not entirely good. I checked to see if the cheese crunchies they sell by the bag in the bulk section were on sale, and lucky me. Or maybe unlucky me, because they were on sale and I grabbed a bag. They kind of go with my salads, and it’s been awhile since I’ve had any.
| Cheese Crunchies | 1 | $3.49 |
| Krema Vanilla Yogurt | 1 | $9.99 |
| Tax | 5% GST on the crunchies | .17¢ |
| Total | $13.65 |
TALLY IT UP!
And the final amount for my groceries in August, 2021 is … ta da!
$246.84
And eight times I went inside stores to do grocery shopping.
Wow! This is the highest month of the year in dollars spent. I feel like I’m gravitating to comfort food, junk food, and frozen dinner solutions.
Coronavirus fatigue. We’re all getting tired of wearing masks and staying close to home. We look for food to make us feel better.
There has been a huge increase of Covid-19 cases, particularly the Delta variant. On June 30, 2021 there were 43 new cases of Covid. On August 27, 2021 there were 867 new cases, so quite a jump in just under two months.
On August 25, 2021 British Columbia returned to a health law of mandatory masks/face coverings inside buildings that are open to the public.
Like grocery stores.
Doesn’t matter whether or not you’re fully vaccinated. Hopefully this will only be temporary for a few weeks because British Columbia has decided to go with creating one of those controversial vaccine passports. That will generally exclude unvaccinated people from entering grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
I’m on the fence about a vaccine passport. I’m fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and I’m OK with sharing my medical history and issues but I can see why people might think that’s violating their privacy. I’m an older person and getting coronavirus is a concern for me, so I like the idea of knowing when I go inside a store, or movie theater, or casino that I’ll know everyone else around me is also vaccinated.
Just one less thing for me to worry about.
I expect there will be an increase in online grocery shopping, though I’m comfortable going in the stores.
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 June 2021 Grocery Bill
The Vegetarian Cowgirl’s May 2021 Grocery Bill
The Vegetarian Cowgirl’s April 2021 Grocery Bill
The Vegetarian Cowgirl’s March 2021 Grocery Bill
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 |
| May | $207.52 |
| June | $214.54 |
| July | $128.47 |
| August | $246.84 |
| 2021 Total | $1,447.25 |
How are you doing with your 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?
Published by Cheryl @ The Lifestyle Digs on August 31, 2021.
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