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 September 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.
Those are the items you won’t see here. If it’s not something I’d put in my mouth and chew, it’s not included on the Vegetarian Cowgirl’s grocery bill.
SEPTEMBER 9, 2021 GROCERY BILL
The first shopping trip of the month was to Walmart in Grandview Corners, Surrey, BC. If I hadn’t needed canned dog food, I’d have put the shopping trip off longer!
And what is wrong with the shopping cart escalator and the elevator beside it? Both have been out of commission for months! Which means if you have a shopping cart, you have to walk around to the other side of the lobby and use that elevator to ride down to the underground parking. In other words, shoppers are exiting through the entrance. With all the profit Walmart makes, you’d think they’d keep the people and shopping cart movers in good operating order.
I normally buy wet dog food from Newmac Feed in Cloverdale, but with a full time job it’s getting harder to stop in. The other problem is the cans of dog food are getting more and more difficult to open. I buy these ergonomic can openers that are supposed to be easy peasy to operate. On the canned dog food, it seems every can opener I try either doesn’t clamp into place or it just turns in circle after circle, not fully opening the lid.
My solution? Look for pop top canned dog food! I picked up 6 cans at Walmart, and my dog gets half a can daily with her dry food. It’s how I mix in her supplements! Anyway she’s loving the new True Instinct brand made by Purina One. And I’m loving the ease of getting the lid off the can!
While I was there, I had other items on my grocery list to pick up.
And a few items not on my grocery list that I picked up too.
Once again I noticed green tea Kit Kat on sale. Two for a buck fifty. How could I resist? The green tea Kit Kat is usually full price. I still have one left.
And then I got sucked in by an end cap of cookies. They saw me coming a mile away, right? I bring the cookies to work and leave them in my desk.
And hallelujah – after waiting two months, canned pumpkin is back on the shelf!
| Dark Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Cashew Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Frozen Strawberries | 1 | $3.77 |
| Can Pumpkin | 1 | $4.27 |
| Tuna | 2 cans @ $1.17 | $2.34 |
| Barley | 1 | $1.67 |
| Flaxseed | 1 | $3.00 |
| Strawberry and Cream Cookies | 1 | $1.97 |
| Green Tea Kit Kat | 2 @ .75¢ | $1.50 |
| Bananas | 1.218 kg @ $1.48/kg | $1.77 |
| Plantain Chips | 2 bags @ $1.27 | $2.54 |
| Tax | 5% GST on Kit Kat and chips | .20¢ |
| Total | $30.03 |
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Today I stopped at Fruiticana in Cloverdale because I’ve been out of fresh spinach for about a week. And really craving a salad!
| Bananas | 3.14 lb. @ .79¢/lb. | $2.48 |
| Baby Carrots | 1 bag | $1.59 |
| Spinach | 1 bag | $2.99 |
| Total | $7.06 |
SEPTEMBER 23, 2021 GROCERY BILL
Tonight I went to the Walmart at Grandview Corners in Surrey. There were some household items I needed to pick up, even though I didn’t desperately need any groceries. Well, other than being out of milk and yogurt at home. I keep a grocery list on my phone so I knew I had a few things to pick up.
I managed to avoid being tempted by cookies on sale on the end caps tonight – yay me! I did pick up a Dr. Oetker spinach pizza on sale. That makes four pizzas in my freezer.
After being out of canned pumpkin for weeks, Walmart had it in stock, again, for the second time this month. And better still, on sale. So I bought a couple. I need to make more chocolate chip pumpkin muffins soon.
Nice seeing the yogurt on sale, but the expiry date was closing in a couple of weeks. Oh well, I’ll eat it before then.
| Cashew Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Chocolate Almond Milk | 1 | $3.50 |
| Pizza | 1 | $2.97 |
| Krema Vanilla Yogurt | 1 | $3.48 |
| Pumpkin | 2 cans @ $2.87 | $5.74 |
| Breton Crackers | 1 box | $1.97 |
| Lemonade powder mix | 2 boxes @ $2.57 | $5.14 |
| Triscuits | 1 box | $2.47 |
| Ryvita crackers | 1 box | $2.97 |
| Bananas | 1.3 kg @ $1.46/kg | $1.90 |
| Plantain chips | 2 bags @ $1.27 | $2.54 |
| Tax | 5% GST on chips and drink mix | .38¢ |
| Total | $35.56 |
GROCERY BILL, SEPTEMBER 26, 2021
I needed mints so it was time to stop by Dollarama. I also picked up pretzels because I keep planning to use them in granola bars.
| Mints | 3 bags @ $1.00 | $3.00 |
| Pretzels | 1 bag | $1.50 |
| Tax | 5% GST on snacks | .22¢ |
| Total | $4.72 |
TALLY IT UP!
And the final amount for my groceries in September, 2021 is … ta da!
$77.37
And four times I went inside stores to do grocery shopping.
Wow! This is the lowest month of the year in dollars spent. Which is a good thing because August was the highest dollars spent! I felt like I stocked up a lot in August, and the good thing is I still have a lot of that food left in the freezer or cupboards.
It was also the fewest shopping trips during a month that I’ve made this year.
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 July 2021 Grocery Bill
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 |
| September | $77.37 |
| 2021 Total | $1,524.62 |
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 October 1, 2021.
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