What We Spent What We Ate...The Beginning

 One of my long-term favorite bloggers, Kristen over at The Frugal Girl, has pretty much always done a weekly feature of showing what she spent on groceries vs what she ate that week. It's always been one of my favorite features, and I'm adopting it here. I need something to hold me accountable for cooking what I buy and have meal-planned for, instead of opting to eat out. Like we did this week (oops). 

I can only save money on grocery shopping and cooking at home if I actually cook and eat at home. Funny how that works, huh?

So this week

I spent

$135 at Walmart

One of the things I want to try next week is shopping at Aldi's. When we first lived in our current location, I loved them; then we moved back to Louisiana and didn't have one. Then Walmart bumped up our associate discount to include groceries year-round, and Mister had to go on a very low-sodium diet. Which, for the longest time, discounted Aldi's even after we moved back to the area. 

Now, though, Mister can increase his sodium intake a bit more, and thanks to apps, I realized that even with the 10% discount Walmart gives us, Aldi's still comes in about 15c cheaper. Which doesn't sound like much, but it adds up quickly. So far this year, we've saved $108 in associate discounts; I'd say about $75 of that is on groceries.  With an extra 15c saved on most of those purchases throughout the year, I'd be closer to that $100

$95ish eating out

I am quite honestly ashamed of this one; however, I'm not going to beat myself up too much over it. This is an odd week for us. Mister is working from home, and we've taken full advantage of being able to get out of the house together more. That said, we really need to do better. 

What we ate

Sunday

I worked this day. I know I ate something small for breakfast before leaving the house, but I can't remember what.  For lunch, I had McDonald's.

Mister cooked chicken spaghetti, which he and Ms H had for lunch, and we all had for dinner. 

Monday

We had Rogan Josh (a venison Indian curry), cumin rice, honey-roasted carrots, raita, and chapati for lunch and dinner. 

Tuesday

Mister and I went to Raising Cane's for lunch. I was already in town and wanted to celebrate not having cavities, and he was more than happy to join. 

Cane's sauce is my weakness

And then we ate out again for dinner at McAlister's.  No picture proof, but I had a BBQ spud that was so yummy. 

Wednesday

Mister and I went to Newk's again for lunch; it's a definite theme for lunches around here. He loves that he can get a pizza that isn't loaded with sodium, with a pretty decent calorie count as well. 

He had his usual pizza, and I opted for the Cajun Shrimp Po-boy with potato salad. 

For dinner, I made blackened catfish tacos, with coleslaw, a corn relish, and Cajun aioli. 

Thursday

Mister and I ate out yet again. This time we headed to Tokyo House for some buffet food.  The only picture I managed to grab was of dessert, which, let's be honest, after the sushi, is the best thing.

I've got to learn how to make this espresso tiramisu. 

For dinner, we ate very light; Mister finished up the last of the curry, Ms H had leftover tacos after work, and I ended the day with a bowl of Cheerios. 

Friday

For lunch, Mister had the last of the tacos, and I ate a scrambled egg sandwich. 

I ate dinner at my bestie's house. She made a paneer curry for me and sent some home for Ms H.  Mister went out for drinks and dinner with some coworkers to let off some work steam. All in all, a good night was had. 

Saturday

Today is the one day I will not feel bad about eating out because I had us slated to do just that anyway. Saturdays are always our out and about days; we generally eat one or both meals out and spend the whole day antique shopping or walking the local parks if the weather permits. 

Today we went downtown, grabbed some coffee, and hit the farmers market on the square. We ate lunch at a local place, taking advantage of a buy one get one free entree coupon.  We both had a fish plate; Mister had his with grilled veggies, and I opted for fish topped with sauce.  Absolutely delish. 

Mister's plate- those grilled veggies are heavenly. 

Not 100% sure what we are doing for dinner tonight. Ms H gets off work in just a bit, and we are picking her up. We may do dinner out, or we may come home, and I'll cook. Tonight's the only night we all have together with no one working, so we will probably end up somewhere cheap for dinner. I'll even wager we end up at Newks.