Thursday, March 13, 2008

Still doing hospital visits

It's almost 3 weeks later and my household is still making daily and semi-daily runs to the hospital. I am fortunate because the hospital is on my route to/from work, and I can run lots of errands on my way home. I feel like I am on auto pilot at this point.

It has been difficult to run a frugal household while having a sick loved one in the hospital. One thing I have discovered, the hospital volunteer shop is cheaper on snacks than the hospital cafeteria, and cheaper than the vending machines. I came out with 2 bags of Chex snacks and a bottle of water for $1.72. I know I would have paid at least $3.00 anywhere else, so it pays to have an open mind.

My grocery bill has been higher due to buying convenience foods. We don't always give in to eating fast food, although my waistline says "time to give it up". Last weekend, I bought lots of veggies for myself - easy to microwave and nutrition packed yams, potatoes and acorn squash. Also, I've been able to catch some of the lower salt microwave meals at $2.50/item, which is also much cheaper than eating out.

Anyway, say a prayer for my family. We've still got a long healing process for two family members during the next few weeks.

Take care,
Terre

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Terre - found your blog via searching for frugal grocery shopping in Houston. I live in Copperfield... it seems you may too. Hope the incident with MSRA is over sooner than later. But I'd like to give you a tip. At Randall's there is some very good tasting frozen meals for 5 for $10. I'm currently using those as lunch with something fresh (fruit) on the side. Maybe this could help you cut back on the convenience spending while on hospital runs. I think the brand is Eating Right.

Anonymous said...

Michaelle,
I love those Eating Right meals, and you are right, they are available at Randall's.

I'm learning how to cope better during this round of mom's hospitilization. I'm excercising more, trying to make lower fat eating options, and trying to make comfort foods lower fat.

Thanks to you both for giving me feedback.

Take care,
Terre