Today my basket contained: (the prices in parentheses are what I would expect to pay for the produce in a retail store)
($2.80) A 5-pound bag of Russet Potatoes (+3 extra)
($1.69) A head of green leaf lettuce
($2.50) An 8-ounce package of mushrooms
($4.50) Spaghetti squash
($2.78) 2 cucumbers
($1.35) 5 bananas
($3.00) A mini watermelon
($5.00) 2 pineapples
($2.80) 5 apricots
($2.80) 5 plums
($3.75) Green grapes
($30.17) Total estimated Retail price
I paid $16.50 (plus a $3.00 newbie fee)
Plus I paid extra for some blueberries. I got twelve 6-oz clam shells of beautiful blueberries for $14.50 (That is just $1.21 each! You can't find them in the stores for that price.) Usually I find them for about $3.00 a piece.
($36.00) Twelve 6-oz clam shells of blueberries
($66.17) Total estimated Retail price (blueberries + above basket ingredients)
-$34.00 my contribution
$32.17 My total savings.
Honestly, I feel like I saved more than that, it kind of depends on the store. I rarely would find all of the above on sale during any given week.
The only downside to the basket is you don't really get to pick what you get. (Other than the blueberries) I had no choice. So, things like spaghetti squash and green leaf lettuce made their way into my home and they wouldn't normally. I got an extra pineapple, because sometimes there are extras and the volunteers just throw them in a basket. (There were other baskets that had extra lettuce, but I'm just hopeful I'll get through one head of lettuce let alone two.)
In a way though, this will force me to try new things. I will have to look up some recipes for spaghetti squash, if you have one, shoot it my way. :)
Now I have to figure out how many of the blueberries I am freezing, and how many I am keeping in the fridge. Riley and I already devoured one package. :) He saw the rest of them after his bath and got really excited. He would eat them all day if I let him! :)
I plan on cleaning all of the fruit using this tip I found on Pinterest. Oh my do I feel thrifty today! Hopefully Riley will allow me to get all of this done.
**UPDATE** After I posted this (and Riley went down for a nap) I started unloading my haul and noticed I had miscounted: there are 3 cucumbers, 7 plums and 11 apricots. Also, the price I used on the grapes was for 1.5 pounds and I actually have 2.5 pounds. Here is the updated tally:
($2.80) A 5-pound bag of Russet Potatoes (+3 extra)
($1.69) A head of green leaf lettuce
($2.50) An 8-ounce package of mushrooms
($4.50) Spaghetti squash
($4.17) 3 cucumbers
($1.35) 5 bananas
($3.00) A mini watermelon
($5.00) 2 pineapples
($6.16) 11 apricots
($3.92) 7 plums
($6.20) 2.5lbs Green grapes
($36.00) Twelve 6-oz clam shells of blueberries
($77.29) Total estimated Retail price
-$34.00 (my contribution)
$43.29 my total savings!
That's a little better. ;)
