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

The art of feeding teenage boys

All of this raising a boy stuff is totally new to me, even almost 16 years later. Why? I grew up in a household of all females, except for my father.

My main challenge these days is keeping my teen son fed. Last night, a pound of ground meat fed the boys sloppy joes and bolognese sphaghetti for me. This is one of my frugal mom secrets - he hates sphaghetti and I hate sloppy joes. One frugal sauce can sometimes produce many meals. Last night there was nothing left over. The good news? Where can you feed 3 people for $7.50 if we were eating out?

The other thing I've learned about feeding a teen is to NEVER, ever stock up the whole household at one time. If you do, you'd better have a locked cupboard somewhere. It doesn't matter how much food I buy, it's never enough for the bottomless pit. 90% of the food bill belongs to him, 10% of the other stuff is mine. My stuff is on the outside ring of the grocery store, his is all the inside, expensive stuff.

One thing I've gotten smart on, if my son will cooperate. Go feed him a meal at Sonic and then make a run to Dollar General. Teen junk food and beverages are a lot cheaper there. I'm talking $60.00 at DG vs. $100.00 at the local grocery. Sometimes I can persuade him to make the 99Cent Store run with me, but those days are very rare. He has to be in desperate need of cheap electronics and chocolate to go there.

Happy living...T

Houston gas prices - grocery shopping deals

This weekend in Houston gas was down to $2.87 a gallon in the Copperfield area, and I believe at the HEB at Highway 529 & Barker Cypress, I saw $2.77/gallon. I'm wondering if July 4th Holiday is going to magically raise those gas prices again?

At my local super market, orange juice has gone up to $3.00 for a 1/2 gallon, even for the generic brand. Grocery prices in general are hitting the home budget this summer. In addition, my May electric bill just came in at $179.00. Youch! And the hottest summer weather hasn't even hit yet.

My parents noted a good local deal at the HEB supermarkets. If you pay attention to either the store ads, or the store displays at the front of the market, HEB allows you to buy a bundle of items such as items for a BBQ and then you get a couple of the items free. HEB tends to be less expensive than the other stores, so this might work out well, especially when you are cooking for a crowd.

I'd love to hear from readers about prices in your region of the U.S.

Gas...$2.95/gallon

This week in Houston, gasoline prices are hovering between $2.95 - $3.10/gallon, depending on location and demand. $2.95/gallon is here the local neighborhood where there is high demand; $3.10/gallon was noted on long stretches of open road in northwest Houston.

I did okay last weekend during the Memorial Day specials, spending only $85.00 at my local grocery store compared to $100.00 the previous week.

This week the items in the dairy and cold sections of the store had gone up significantly. Shredded cheese was back to 2/$5.00, rather than 3/$4.98, lunch meat was up to $4.00/package rather than 2/$6.00 or 2/$7.00 and milk was back up into the $3.89/gallon or higher range.

Items at the 99 cent store that had previously been $2/.99 have now gone back up to 99 cents. It made for double the bill when I hit the checkout - GULP, so watch those prices. I need to take my own advice next time, and "think before I buy"!

Sticker shock, everywhere !

I just came home from the grocery store after using all my best shopping skills to shop frugally at my local store without driving 10 miles to the superstore. Total Price: $100, for one adult, one teenager, and one dog. Kitty didn't get anything this weekend. And, I still need to go back Sunday night for one more week's worth of school lunch supplies. It's all frustrating at best.

Currently, gas here in West Houston is $2.94/gallon, so that made me think twice before running my Honda all over town to go bargain shopping. So, I'll probably do more bargain shopping on Sunday after church, while I'm out in the area of town where two of the good discount stores sit side by side (Dollar Tree and 99 Cent Store). Believe it or not, sometimes the sacks of potatoes I buy for .99 are better quality than the ones at my neighborhood market. Also, the dollar stores are a great place to stock up on canned goods for hurricane season.

I'd be interested in hearing what's going on in the rest of the USA, as far as gas prices and grocereis go. Take care, Terre