Today, Eva and I stopped at The Dollar Tree because I wanted to start stocking up on survival snacks for my Atlanta road trip.
I will have a small food budget, but I have several days driving to do and several nights in Atlanta to consider. I’m getting nervous because it looks like the hotel charges $35/night parking, $12 a day for internet, and has no free breakfast. I have to remind myself to breath and trust it will all work out.
But since Eva lost her job yesterday, it’s hard not to stress.
So I spent $16.25 at the Dollar Tree:
I bought two small cans of generic Spam and this small bag of coconut flour for the pantry.
Eva loves Spam, so I thought these cans would be useful for when she’s cooking for herself when I’m gone.
And the flour– I have trouble passing up good deals on specialty floor.
The Road Trip Snacks:
Four bags of snak club tajin gummies. Sweet and spicy to help keep me awake if I get tired driving.
Two bags of Harvest Snaps, the protein from the snap peas will help hold off hunger.
Two bags of peanut butter filled pretzels, same logic as the snap peas.
And the two boxes of fiber bars? That’s 6 little birthday cake bars that really do taste like dessert.
Today I had some adventures to attend to: I promised Nan I’d use my CVS coupon magic to buy her some Excedrin, I had lunch with some of my Stitch Fix colleagues planned (and it’s Southern Candy’s birthday tomorrow) and if I felt really flush with money and ambitious I wanted to stop at Grocery Outlet while I had my car.
CVS deals
CVS did not meet my usual expectations but I found a CVS Health Brand Migraine Relief, which is exactly the same thing as CVS Extra Strength Headache Relief. 200 pills for 16.99 and a use-by date of February 2026. I had a coupon for 40% off a full price item, another for $5 off a $30 purchase, $1 off CVS pain relief and $1 off two bottles of sparkling water.
And my favorite KIND breakfast bars were on sale for $5.99. I bought a pack of those, the waters, the pills, and a 30 pack variety pack of Starburst flavor mixes that retails for $5.79. That brought my total to about $32.
After coupons, it was less than $21.
Mission accomplished.
Friends and angels
Next, I headed to my lunch date where I had a lot of laughs, learned about rattlesnakes, and had a yummy dish of chocolate chip pancakes. And one friend gave us green beans from her garden.
Now earlier this week, a friend had shared some of his recent profits with me from a project I encouraged him to do. He did this with the express desire that I buy Eva some meat. I agreed, but did so with the stipulation that I added $10-$20 worth of meat to my next few shopping trips and not splurge on some fancy meats all at once.
I refuse to give up my frugality.
So I headed to Grocery Outlet to fulfill my promise and grab what odds and ends I could.
I managed to get 3 pounds of organic chicken breast, a pack of turkey bacon and a frozen bag of cheeseburger-seasoned meatballs for less than $15.
I spent more than I intended to. I had mentally prepared to spend $30, but due to the nature of some of the things we needed and the deals we found I allowed myself some splurges.
I ended up spending $63.85.
Meal planning
I hear a lot of people complaining about the price of food– and it sucks that food is expensive. But one of my tricks is to refuse to buy expensive things. Eva would have preferred “real” bacon, but the turkey bacon was $1.50 cheaper. I wanted ground beef, but the prices didn’t suit my budget so I skipped it in favor of packaged meatballs.
I bought a cute head of iceberg lettuce. All the iceberg lettuce was on sale for $1 a head. There was a smaller head starting to brown on the outside that was reduced to 50 cents. I peeled off the brown layers and about four or five leaves deep it was crispy and fine. Then I chopped it and I plan to make a salad tomorrow of iceberg lettuce, cucumber ranch dressing I have in the fridge, slices of turkey bacon and some of the local cheese. And if anyone has any garden fresh tomatoes I will add some diced tomato. Simple and delicious.
The leftover bacon can be used for sandwiches, eggs, or even a by itself snack as leftovers. So we’re looking at 2-3 meals for the two of us for $4 plus staples and ingredients already in the house.
What I bought at Grocery Outlet
(Most items on this list are around $2)
12 Clif bars chocolate brownie flavor, for Eva, $6.99 (I was going to buy her the 15 count for $9.99 but she doesn’t like the one flavor. Then I did the math. In the 15 count pack each bar is $0.67 each. In the smaller box, each bar is $0.58 each.)
Generic tuna in water, small cans, 2, at $0.69 cents each. (I hate the thought of how finding out how sustainably or ethically these were caught)
Parmesan cheese, grated, $2.49
Glen Muir organic tomato sauce no salt added, probably 12ish ounce cans, 3 of them, $0.99 each
A box of instant mashed potatoes, $0.99 (an easy way to make a cheap meal more filling)
Small bags of pasta, each bag will be one meal for Eva and I, one bag mini-shells and one bag tiny elbows, $0.50 each
one bag Goldfish crackers, $1.49
2 quarts of vanilla cinnamon chickpea milk, 10 grams of protein per serving, $0.99 per quart
A big old bottle of cheap laundry detergent, $6.99
one small head iceberg lettuce, $0.49
One pretty big bag frozen avocado chunks, $5.99
Cheeseburger-seasoned meatballs, $3.99
meatless chickn fries, $3.99
Cabot cottage cheese (I love this stuff so much), 2 containers, $2.49 each
a quart of half and half, $2.49
a half gallon of milk, $2.22
turkey bacon, $3.49
Tillamook unsalted butter, $3.27
2 packs organic chicken breast, each almost 1.5 pounds, $3.11 & $3.13 after markdown.
I ran through the store in about ten minutes and restocked my pantry and got some tide-us-over grocery items. I have never spent more than $35 in a Dollar Tree.
But here’s the deal– for some items, like snacks especially, I prefer having the smaller bags because then I can’t eat 800 calories in one sitting. And for other items, like condiments, it’s just the two of us and we don’t always agree so I don’t need a big bottle.
Shopping at Dollar Tree is low stress. I know the price and I weigh the size of the product with what I normally spend. For instance, I know I can probably get a larger loaf of cheap white bread for a similar price, but only my daughter eats the white bread so half of it will end up in the trash if I buy the “better value.”
I typically go to Dollar Tree when I have a tight budget for groceries. I had $120 in my grocery/discretionary money account and at least $60 cash, so I figured I’d let myself go wild.
Which I could not do in Wegmans.
I don’t eat much meat. I prefer to eat vegetarian, but my daughter could live on fruit and meat. I don’t like much fruit. Eva, the former The Teenager of this blog, works as an in-home pet caregiver, dog walker and animal trainer so she spends a lot of time away from home and on the go. I recently started the Omada program and am trying, once again, to shed oooooh 10 pounds as soon as freaking possible to 35 pounds longterm. These factors influence my choices.
Peanut Butter Sandwich Flights
When I got home, I planned to cook but Eva wanted to take the various ingredients from Dollar Tree and make “Peanut Butter Sandwich Flights” with apple crisps. She used her white bread, mine were on the cheap wheat.
We each had one half peanut butter and fluff, one half sandwich of peanut butter and hazelnut creme/cookie butter spread and one half peanut butter and honey.
A tasty evening meal on a hot summer day as she had been applying new contact paper on the kitchen counters.
Meats/Proteins
Hot smoked sausage
Basic Bologna (They had a thin sliced and this one might have been regular, but I swear it said basic.)
Chicken hot dogs
Tyson Honey Chicken Tenders ($5)
Small jar creamy peanut butter, ten ounces
small jar honey peanut butter, ten ounces
Special K Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar
(two cans) Planters Salt and Vinegar peanuts, six ounces
honey roasted peanuts, 7.5 ounces
three bags of nut blends (energy, protein and ‘yogurt’)
Skippy salted nut roll bar
refried beans, 20.5 ounces
Fruits and Veggies
Frozen California Blend
Frozen straight cut french fries
Frozen pepper/onion stir fry mix
Frozen mango, strawberry, blueberry mix ($3)
tropical trail mix (5 ounces)
freeze-dried fruit, three bags (two mixed fruit and one apple)
apple cinnamon crisps
lightly salted harvest snaps
snack boxes of raisins
two cans of Del Monte creamed corn, 14.75 ounces
two cans of Del Monte no salt added corn kernels, 15.25 ounces
can of petite diced tomatoes with green chiles, 14.5 ounces
Condiments/spreads
Marshmallow fluff
hazlenut/cookie butter spread
Miracle Whip, eight ounces
garlic aioli mayo, nine ounces
butter flavored cooking spray
Drinks
Dr. Pepper
Diet Strawberry Watermelon Juice (two quarts-ish)
Mango-flavored coconut water (one quart)
Strawberry banana nectar (one quart)
Crackers/snacks
Chicken-flavored crackers
Vegetable-flavored wheat thin crackers
lemon creme sandwich cookies
mini nutter butter cookies
peanut butter breakfast biscuits
birthday cake fiber cookies
spicy ranch pretzel crisps
Veggie crisps chips
Lance cream cheese and chive sandwich crackers
tortilla chips, six ounces
chili lime gummy bears
Pantry items
20-ounce box of rotini
Gluten-free spaghetti
box of baking soda, Arm & Hammer
salmon-flavored lickables for the cats (we’re teaching them to use a cat wheel)
potato gnocchi
two ultra thin pizza crusts (which I could make cheaper and better but these are for a quick easy throw together meal)
This is going to be one of my cooking and grocery shopping posts, so if you’re not into that, you can feel free to skip this one. I was laid off from my warehouse job in September, unemployment expired in March and I’ve been surviving off my small publishing company (and editorial/writing/journalism clients) ever since. Being a small business owner, especially when it’s a new small business, is not for the faint of heart.
I had a loose plan of what I wanted to do today– get up, go get my coffee at Panera, swing by the Dollar Tree and maybe Grocery Outlet. I had $48 in my wallet and The No-Longer-a-Teenager complained that we had no food in the house except for the weird crackers and local cheese (local cheese from Joan Zachary’s cheese CSA).
My Panera iced coffee turned out to be the most perfect sip this morning, but the Dollar Tree next door was not open. I could go to Shoprite down the street but my $48 would not yield what I needed it to yield there.
Yesterday I prepped some seasoned white rice and teriyaki salmon, some lentils/split peas, and some pasta salad. My hope is that Eva, the college student and no-longer-a-teenager, and I can have a little bit of all of that for dinner. I thought picking up some tortilla shells and chips could mean some Mexican meals from the leftovers.
And we needed milk and half and half.
And then after all that cooking, I had a deep craving for spaghetti and super basic red sauce. So, I made some.
Creativity and patience are often the secret to making meals out of nothing. It’s often useful to designate some cooking time where you can coordinate some basic items that can be reused later– because making the decision to try and build a meal out of nothing while hungry usually ends in disaster. (I was a vegetarian for eight years until my daughter was born, took vegan cooking classes, and have incorporated some vegan choices into my life, so that helps me navigate cooking with minimal items.)
And like that bowl of spaghetti– sometimes the most simple things are the most satisfying. Sometimes you want a feeling in your belly or a specific spice more so than an item. That’s part of why I buy a lot of weird sauces and I love to keep on hand smoked paprika (for those ‘meaty’ desires), everything bagel seasoning (that can wake up those bored taste buds), and sesame oil (a must have if you enjoy Asian flavors). We all have our favorite seasonings.
Right now I’m drinking about 15 ounces carbonated water I made in my soda stream, with about 2 ounces of mango coconut water (from Dollar Tree), 2 ounces Seagrams ginger ale (leftover from Eva’s birthday party), and about 1 ounce fresh lime juice (limes cheap from Aldi). It’s refreshing in this hot day and different.
On Wednesday, Eva and I will receive a “meat box” from Hungryroot and we have a lot of leftovers from the in-law’s picnic yesterday (including half a ‘litter box cake’).
We needed some items to spice up our eating, preferably some fresh fruit, so how did I spend my $48 at Aldi?
Actually, I spent $38.53.
4 small cans of plain tomato sauce, 47 cents each.
4 cans chunk tuna in water, 85 cents each.
Everything bagel seasoning with jalapeno, 1.85
generic Spam, 2.15
larger can of chicken breast chunks, $2.69
quart of half and half, $1.98
half gallon of 2% milk, $2.22
two individual servings of Chobani Flips, chocolate chip cookie dough flavor, $1.38 each
8 ounces New York Sharp cheddar, $1.75
Deli pack slices of provolone cheese, Eva’s favorite, $1.65
Hummus Crisps (no idea what these are but they look like pop chips), $2.19
Veggie Straws, ranch flavor (for Eva), $2.35
frozen broccoli florets, $1.15
cotton candy grapes, a big container, $3.98
multipack of fresh limes, $2.29 (cheaper than lemons)
bunch of bananas, 2.04 pounds, 90 cents
2 avocadoes, 65 cents each
A dozen large eggs, $2.04
One of my guidelines is to look for items around $2. You will see that the grapes are the most expensive item on this list. By setting a mental guideline, I force myself to pause and consider whether the item on my list is worth the price. I ask myself questions like how versatile is this item? How many servings will I get out of this item? How healthy is this item?
For example, the grapes were an easy yes, because that is cheap for those grapes. They are one of the few fruit items I will eat. Eggs, also a solid choice, can add an egg to a lot of meals for extra protein. Even Ramen suddenly looks like a decent meal if you do it “egg drop” style. I chose limes over lemons to save a dollar, but buying them also meant I could transform the avocado into avocado dip/guacamole/toast spread. And the Chobani was also a splurge and has more sugar than I need, but it is also a great snack if you are craving cheesecake or ice cream or canolis.
It’s been an emotionally hard week– in the anxiety-inducing way. Not in a bog panic attack way, but in the quiet worry eating you up inside way.
Tomorrow is Friday and out of my five goals I set for this week: I achieved one, ignored one, did the bare minimum on another, devoted 90% of my attention to the one and the final… Somehow, I forgot and thought I would do it tomorrow all at the same time.
So, I think tomorrow morning I’ll head over to Panera, have a good cup of coffee and force myself to do an hour of work on the project that I’ve been procrastinating and two hours-ish on the one I could have done more on.
I went grocery shopping yesterday. It’s probably not what everyday people consider grocery shopping but I went to Grocery Outlet and used their $5 off a $25 order coupon on $50 worth of groceries, half of which were for the Teenager who now has an ear infection after attending her first college fraternity party Friday night.
I snapped this photo while I was there because Stitch Fix always had these cookies in the breakroom and I got my trainer Andrew kind of hooked on them.
It felt good to at least get a few things into the house.
When I arrived home, I got the auto insurance bill last night and was shocked to learn my premium had gone up another 400– so that now for The Teenager and I it would cost $3785 for six months of car insurance.
This morning I had to call my former insurance carrier and see if they could beat the rate from my current one and they dropped it to less than half of what it was, though I took an increase in homeowners to do it but I now have better coverage. But that was a relief.
I also got a letter last night from OVR– the state Office of Vocational Services– confirming that I did indeed qualify for services and that I was classified as “most significantly disabled.” That’s merely a classification among the disabled people applying for service, which are also people looking for help with finding a job, receiving training or acquiring assistive technology. So, it’s a category within another specific category in a way.
But there’s a certain dehumanizing that happens with paperwork and services– and it doesn’t matter whether you are applying for a job, for disability-related services or care, or for food stamps. Just like in grant-writing, people and programs and outcomes are reduced to statistics and outcomes. Things that are measurable. Not the personalities or the feel-goodedness.
But then I look back to that photo of the cookies in Grocery Outlet and I can’t help but smile, because these are the moments of life that seem magical.
So, The Teenager’s (now College Student’s) car won’t start and today I needed my car for a 10 a.m. chiropractor appointment. I’ve noticed over the last couple days some of my random hip/leg issues have stopped causing discomfort so that is awesome. The chiropractor is less than a block from The Teenager’s college campus, so I headed out a little early and did the last touches on this week’s Parisian Phoenix Substack newsletter. Are you interested in my little publishing company’s newsletter? If so, click here. Today I talked a bit about technology and privacy.
The Teenager’s first class was at nine, and my appointment was at ten, so that left me the dilemma of how to organize my day into pieces that fit our combined schedule. I completed the computer work I wanted to finish before 9:30 and I even got to watch the street sweeper comb the neighborhood. I read some of Stephanie Parents gothic D/s (of the impact play, not the sexual kind) mystery in the reception area. I found my favorite passage of the book so far:
“The trouble with this sort of exorcism was that when it ended, when Jack stopped spanking her, nothing had changed. She hadn’t split open, and nothing had spilled out from inside of her…”
The Briars, Chapter Nine (Claire)
I left the chiropractor at about 10:15 a.m., and I needed to use the restroom. I also thought I could swing out to the Forks Township Dollar Tree because I need some items, and I’m trying to stock my kitchen on an extreme budget. I have $74 left in my wallet in cash, and anything in my checkbook is for the bills these days.
It’s free coffee with any purchase Monday at Dunkin, but I wasn’t in the mood for iced coffee and that particular Dunkin requires a key for the bathroom. I usually get three munchkins for $1.29 and feed them to the dog. But today, I opted for a Diet Coke from McDonalds. I could just go in the backdoor and use the restroom and leave, but I try not to be that person.
I opened my app and ordered a large Diet Coke for $1.49 plus tax and redeemed some of my reward points from those previous Diet Cokes for a hashbrown. Then I used my “Apple Cash” to pay the $1.58. I didn’t realize that I’ve never stepped inside that McDonald’s– it’s all reclaimed wood with a stone look and oversized cushioned stools at the table.
I headed over to the next plaza to visit The Dollar Tree and discovered they don’t have refrigerated cases. Perhaps because it’s so close to a Giant Food Store and/or because it’s a more upscale neighborhood. I spent $13.08 from my cash and got some staples, some candy and the cornerstone of one meal.
Guacamole Flavored Tortilla Chips
Potato Gnocchi
Hunts Garlic and Herb Sauce
10 flour tortilla
Sandwich slice pickles
Self rising white corn meal blend on clearance for 50 cents
Yoohoo for The Teenager to surprise her
Canned Peas
Canned Diced Potatoes
Black Licorice
Wallably Hot Cinnamon Licorice
(Which reminds me that I made the turkey hot dogs I bought at Dollar Tree last week. Eight hot dogs for $1.25. I fried them in the skillet until they were crisp and seasoned them with garlic pepper, crushed red pepper and smoked paprika. Even the Teenager had to say, “How did you manage to make these taste so good?”)
From there, back to campus to retrieve the Teen. We also stopped at CVS for our medicine ($1). The Teenager made wanting eyes at the Jelly Belly Candy Canes that I thought were $3.99. I picked them up because I had a $3 off coupon I knew would expire before we set foot in CVS again. It turned out they were $5.19! For candy canes! But after my coupons, they were $1.96.
Then we came home and I opened the package from Amazon, of my own books from my own publishing house because Amazon has them on sale so cheap right now I can get them cheaper from there versus shipped from the distributor.
I cleaned up the kitchen, tried to declutter, and then ate the rest of the hot dogs for lunch. After some correspondence with friends, I came out to the sunporch to finish my Diet Coke and let the dog enjoy the porchy porch.
I’ve been spending quite a bit of my free time working on a freelance project for a savvy dentist who writes business books in his free time. While he’s a dentist, his books combine his profession and his work in emotional intelligence and leadership with his business acumen. It’s fairly fascinating.
My life right now is not nearly as fascinating. But it is interesting to me, and it’s been good and perhaps even healing for my soul.
I mentioned a few days ago that I had hoped to develop a regular posting schedule for both my personal and business blogs and to expand my Substack newsletter. And I realized that today is Thursday, and while my particular Thursday (how dare it be so rainy and cold again today? We had such a warm and lovely yesterday) might be dull to the average person… it’s been a good day.
Yesterday I took my friend’s sister to the doctor. She’s nervous to return to her normal bus usage because of some recent knee issues. I had a nice time, and it was nice to get out of the house and drive around on a sunny warm day.
Sundried tomato spinach artichoke pasta
In the evening, I made an amazing sun-dried tomato, spinach-artichoke pasta with a few ingredients from Grocery Outlet and some leftover fresh spinach that had finally started to wither. (To read more about that grocery trip, click here.)
The artichokes, sundried tomatoes and carrots I used in the sauce (and except for the artichokes I didn’t use all) cost me $4.50. The shredded cheese I used as a topper was $1.99. And the spinach I was nursing for the last week had cost $3, but I have already gotten my money out of it. I had the noodles in the cupboard, but I suppose if you included the pasta, the whole meal might have cost $12 to serve 4, with leftovers of most of the ingredients for other meals. (And I had a can of whole black olives in the cupboard I had picked up at the Dollar Tree.
My trick for that delicious sauce was to take several of the artichokes, a clove or so of garlic, and one of the sun dried tomatoes (hand torn) into a skillet with some of the oil from the artichoke jar. I left that simmer on low while I tossed the rest of the jar of artichokes, some carrots, all the remaining spinach, and about half the jar of sundried tomatoes (and as much oil as I could spare from that jar without leaving the tomatoes exposed) into my Ninja food processor. I added a couple olives, then chopped some other olives and added them to the skillet.
Mixed the whole mess up with the pasta, added cheese to taste and delivered to the table.
As I put the leftovers away and cleaned the kitchen, I noticed the fridge was crusty so I wiped up some of those shelves (and then I went as far as to organize items so The Teenager might find them– hummus by carrots, yogurt with milk and pudding for easy snacking, cheese, beverages, bread).
Lending a hand
Yesterday, as I left my friend’s sister’s house, I literally drove my Southern Candy’s house. So I stopped and gave her a hug before heading home to the work I had from the dentist. Today, I visited another Stitch Fix colleague who had some trouble with her unemployment paperwork. She felt terrible to bothering me– but I told her– “I’m glad you felt comfortable calling, because I hope that means we all really will stay in touch. Too many lay offs mean the end of relationships.”
Believe it or not, we laughed a lot while she fought with the government web sites. She even gave me a small Wawa gift card to thank me. She said she figured I wouldn’t take gas money. I laughed and said, “These days, with us all unemployed, I’m not so sure.”
But it is nice to be reminded that we can all work together, and sometimes it’s nice to have people who you can ask for help.
When I got home, I had received a Fix. Now, I figured I would keep nothing from it because of my situation, but my StylePass is active so it costs me nothing to order and return it.
Our typical routine while staying here in Djibouti involves a French-style breakfast of bread and coffee, a late morning juice, a snack from the Nougaprix (and often a protein bar from home) during the afternoon shut-down and a nice evening meal.
Today we headed to Nougaprix for our daily liters of water and I searched for a snack healthier than cookies or chips.
I almost got yogurt but it was the equivalent of $5 for four and I wasn’t sure I wanted four. An ice cream cake was only a dollar or two more.
I checked out the bakery and found a chicken sandwich and a chicken pizza. I figured what the heck… I’d try it. Less then $2.
She even warmed it for me. It was like chicken parmigiana meats shredded barbecue.
Angel Ackerman 