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 May 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.
These tallies below only include the groceries I eat.
MAY 5, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I went to Fruiticana for a few produce items that I like to keep on hand.
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Bananas | 2.75 lb @ 79¢/lb | $2.17 |
| Baby Carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Total | $6.75 |
The weird thing about going in today was the woman in front of me had over $100 in groceries! Wow! Several bags worth. A clerk came over to help her take it all out to her car. She had all kinds of items that came from the bulk bins, and this store only has a small number of bulk bins where you can choose dried foods. They looked like snack type foods. I just thought it was weird because most shoppers here are buying produce and maybe a couple of dried goods items, probably totaling $20 to $40.
MAY 8, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I headed to the Walmart at Grandview Corners. I was running low on dog treats – not listed below because I don’t eat them!
I’d also run out of milk, green tea, frozen pineapple, and pickles and needed to stock up. Yuck! That sounds like the makings of a nasty smoothie!
| Cashew Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Dark Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Frozen Green Beans | 1 bag | $1.98 |
| Frozen Peas | 1 bag | $3.98 |
| Frozen Pineapple | 1 bag | $3.77 |
| Krema Vanilla Greek Yogurt | 1 | $3.48 |
| Dill Pickles | 2 jars @ $2 | $4.00 |
| Peanut Butter | 1 | $3.47 |
| Condensed Milk | 1 | $2.67 |
| Almond Milk (shelf staple) | 1 | $1.97 |
| Chocolate Almond Milk (shelf staple) | 1 | $1.97 |
| Lipton Green Tea Lemon Ginseng | 1 box | $5.98 |
| Lemon/Lime Drink Mixes | 3 boxes @ $2.57 | 7.71 |
| Bananas | 1.215 kg @ $1.46/kg | $1.77 |
| Total | $49.75 |
I didn’t have canned fish on my shopping list, and I forgot to walk down that aisle. Usually I remember to check out if tuna, sardines, kippers, or salmon is on sale.
I needed condensed milk to make my trail mix granola bars, and Walmart was sold out of the usual brands – like their own and Eagle. I picked up another brand that I’ve used before. Now Walmart usually screws up with stocking the shelves but I’m wondering if there’s a condensed milk shortage going on. Last week I tried to buy the coconut condensed milk I usually buy off Amazon and they were out.
Luckily, today the multi discounts were working at the check out and Walmart didn’t rip me off on milk, pickles, or dog treats!
MAY 10, 2021 GROCERY BILL
I detoured over to the Real Canadian Superstore today because I used up the last of my apples, and this store sells bagged apples at the best price. I checked their online flyer before going and noticed Pink Lady apples on sale for $4.96.
Also saw natural peanut butter on sale for $3.87, and Coca Cola on sale. Sale prices in effect until May 12, 2021.
| Coca Cola | 6 pack x 750 ml | $2.99 |
| Recycle Fee | on the Coke | .12¢ |
| Deposit | on the Coke | .60¢ |
| Blue Corn Tortilla Chips | 1 bag | $3.48 |
| Gala Apples | 1 bag (6 pounds) | $5.98 |
| Tax | 5% GST on Coke and Chips | .33¢ |
| Tax | 7% PST on Coke | $.22¢ |
| Total | $13.72 |
Clearly there was a big discrepancy on the sale prices on the online flyer and the price on the product on the shelf. The bag of Pink Lady apples cost $7.98 and the Kraft Natural Peanut Butter cost $5.78 according to the price tags on their shelves.
What a rip off! But I also wasn’t at my preferred Real Canadian Superstore location, so if I’d gone there I might have had better luck!
So I skipped the peanut better altogether, luckily I’d bought some two days earlier at Walmart for $3.47! And I bought a bag of gala apples instead that were marked down a bit.
MAY 11, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I stopped in the Dollarama in Cloverdale, mainly because I’m running low on suet cakes. Those birds are eating me out of house and home!
I’m planning to make more peanut butter, chocolate chip, and pretzel granola bars, so I needed more pretzels. I was also out of mints and plantain chips. And then I saw the jelly beans sitting near the mints. Oops!
Obviously, not including the bird food here because I’m not eating it. What really irks me is I planned to buy dog chews and I forgot. Poor Shadow! She really likes the ones from Dollarama. They smell funny, like cigarettes.
| Mini Pretzels | 1 bag | $1.50 |
| Plantain Chips | 2 bags @ $1.00 | $2.00 |
| Jelly Beans | 1 bag | $1.25 |
| Mints | 1 bag | $1.00 |
| Tax | 5% GST on all the above | .29¢ |
| Total | $6.04 |
MAY 13, 2021 GROCERY BILL
I ran out of spinach so a quick stop at Fruiticana. I almost always buy bananas whenever I’m shopping. Mostly the bananas are green so if I have one bunch that I’m eating, hopefully by the time I run out the green bunch will be ripe.
| Baby Carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Bananas | 2.86 lb @ .79¢/lb | $2.26 |
| Total | $6.84 |
MAY 17, 2021 GROCERY BILL
I was out of cashew milk already! I make a lot of smoothies! So I stopped at Walmart to buy more.
Except, being Walmart, they’re not so good on keeping things stocked up – even well before the pandemic! Out of cashew milk, so I subbed in almond milk instead.
| Almond Milk | 2 @ $3.50 | $7.00 |
| Frozen French Fries | 1 bag | $3.48 |
| Total | $10.48 |
I haven’t bought a bag of frozen French fries in about three years, but have been craving them lately. Bake them in the oven, not in an oil fryer. Eggs and fries used to be one of my go-to dinners. If I’d really be thinking about it, I’d have bought a dozen eggs while I was there!
MAY 18, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Made a run back to Dollarama in Cloverdale to pick up the dog chews that I forgot the last time I was in there. Plus a few items for me!
| Mints | 1 bag | $1.00 |
| Ramen noodles | 1 | .25¢ |
| Tuna | 1 | $1.00 |
| Veggie Chips | 1 bag | $1.25 |
| Tax | 5% GST on mints and chips | .11¢ |
| Total | $3.56 |
I was planning to buy a bag of plantain chips, but it looks like a former Walmart employee in charge of ordering groceries is now working at Dollarama! I ended up with a bag of veggie chips and ate them all that night for dinner. Yikes! It’s just a small bag, like two ounces.
I decided to try the instant noodles because they had vegetable flavor to see what it’s like. Once I do, I might buy them in the future if they’re decent. But, bottom line the name brand noodles at Walmart and the Real Canadian Superstore are the same price.
Then I noticed Dollarama is carrying flavored tuna. In this case it was spicy Thai which is not my favorite, but I gave it a try. It was OK. And a good price. The flavored tunas are closer to $1.50 in most stores, so I watch for when they go on sale. I particularly like lemon pepper tuna and lemon dill tuna. Too bad Dollarama isn’t stocking other flavors.
MAY 21, 2021 GROCERY BILL
I used up the last of my spinach in my Instant Pot vegetable barley soup in the morning, so I needed to stop at Fruiticana to pick up more.
The chickpeas were on sale, and dry beans have a long lifespan. I knew I was getting low on home because I make chickpea cakes a lot, so I grabbed a bag.
| Baby Carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Bananas | 3.44 lb @ .79¢/lb | $2.72 |
| Chick peas | 4 lb bag | $2.99 |
| Total | $10.29 |
MAY 23, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I wanted to stop at Save On Foods in Cloverdale and pick up some dog bones. Save On calls them soup bones. They’re not going into any soup I make! They’re frozen and the vet seems to think the dog needs more bones, sooo….
Weather is cooler and overcast so it’s a good time to stop for groceries and keep the dog in the car without worrying about the heat. Don’t worry, her window is halfway open and the sunroof is open!
Today I was bad. 🤷♂️
I knew that ice cream was on sale, so I thought I’d grab some for my freezer, and hopefully it’ll last me a long time. The sale? Western Family (Save On brand) is $6.49, and marked down to $3.79, and I know from the past this brand has an excellent chocolate peanut butter ice cream. I also noticed another brand, Righteous Gelato, non dairy ice cream, regular price $9.49 marked down to $6.99. Again, I went for chocolate peanut butter cup, but I was really eyeing the mango pineapple flavor too.
Regrets? Not so far! But I also haven’t gotten into them yet!
| WF Ice Cream | 1 | $3.79 |
| Righteous Gelato | 1 | $6.99 |
| Total | $10.78 |
MAY 24, 2021 GROCERY BILL
After I’d bought the gelato yesterday, I checked out the Righteous website. I was happy to see a raspberry lime sorbetto that looks pretty yummy. I also noticed their price is $12 plus another $20 for shipping, due to dry ice and fast shipping to get to its destination before melting. I also checked out the price at the Real Canadian Superstore which is $9.48, so Save On’s regular price of $9.49 seems in line. Sale price – even better!
I also needed to pick up a couple of things, not all edibles, at London Drugs, which is in the same Cloverdale Crossing plaza.
Save On Foods grocery bill:
| Raspberry Lime Sorbetto | 1 | $6.99 |
| Total | $6.99 |
London Drugs grocery bill:
| Cashews | 1 jar | $12.99 |
| Tic Tacs | 1 | $3.99 |
| Tax | 5% GST on both | .85¢ |
| Total | $17.83 |
I was out of cashews and that’s the sale price. Regular price $14.99, so I saved $2, but sometimes the sale price is better.
Aw groceries. Always going up in price. 😒
GROCERY BILL MAY 30, 2021
I had to run into Walmart at Grandview Corners for a few non-grocery items, but I had my grocery list with me and grabbed what I needed.
And what I didn’t need too! Yup, I made a few impulse purchases in the cookies department while I was cruising the international foods aisle.
| Cashew Milk | 2 cartons @ $3.50 | $7.00 |
| Dill Pickles | 2 @ $2 | $4.00 |
| Bread Crumbs | 1 can | $2.77 |
| Nestle Strawberry Syrup | 1 | $4.77 |
| Coconut Oil | 1 | $2.97 |
| Peanut Butter | 1 | $2.97 |
| Condensed Milk | 1 | $1.97 |
| Tuna | 1 can | $1.37 |
| Tuna | 1 can | $1.47 |
| Tic Tacs | 2 @ $3 | $6.00 |
| Lime & Pink Lemonade mix | 3 @ $2.57 | $7.71 |
| Sunflower Seeds | 1 bag | $3.00 |
| Lemon & Dill Tuna | 4 a $1.25 | $5.00 |
| Breton Crackers | 1 | $1.87 |
| Ginger Snaps | 1 box | $2.47 |
| Veggie Straws | 1 | $1.84 |
| Plantain Chips | 2 @ $1.27 | $2.54 |
| Orange Cream Cookies | 1 | .77¢ |
| Jin Jan Biscuits | 1 | .57¢ |
| Bananas | 1.585 kg @ $1.46/kg | $2.31 |
| Tax | 5% GST on snacks | 1.12 |
| Total | $64.49 |
As for the tuna being two different prices, 10¢ apart, I didn’t notice until later that one was low sodium.
For some oddball reason I’ve been craving ginger snap cookies lately. Not my favorite, but I’ve been thinking about them. What’s up with that?!
The other two cookies were small, snack pack things. I’ll be starting a new job soon and I figured they’d be good to keep in my desk in case I have the munchies.
TALLY IT UP!
And the final amount for my groceries in May, 2021 is … ta da!
$207.52
And twelve times I went inside stores to do grocery shopping.
Yikes! This is my highest month of the year both in dollars and trips.
Maybe I’m getting a little more comfortable since getting my Covid-19 vaccine.
Wow! I’m still wrapping my head around that. Twelve shopping trips! And yet, it seems like I hardly have anything to show for it. I seem to be going through a lot of cashew or almond milk. I’m making more smoothies with the warmer weather, I suppose.
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.
I’m happy to report as of month end that I still haven’t opened up any of the cookies, ice cream, gelato, or jelly beans.
But I’m sure thinking about them, especially with hot weather in this week’s forecast. Maybe sorbet and a ginger snap will hit the spot!
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 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 |
| 2021 Total | $857.40 |
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 June 1, 2021.
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