Frugal Grocery Shopping

I'm not a couponer, nor do I buy in bulk very often. My household consists of two people and two cats. This month my significant other lost his job.  While we are nowhere near destitute (we have several months' worth of savings) I am definitely paying attention to what I'm spending money on.

This month I decided to keep track of our groceries.  I had a feeling I kept our food purchases at around $150 a month, but I wanted to be sure, and I was right! I am currently 4 dollars under $150 and I don't expect to need a shopping trip in the next week.

So we eat on about $2.50 a day each.  Pretty awesome.  I do eat about 3 meals a week at work (free!), and this doesnt factor in the once or twice a week my guy likes to eat out with friends. We consider eating out and junk food "entertainment."

So here's a basic breakdown of what we eat every month.  Mostly guesstimates.  We shop almost 100% at Kroger and Marcs because we live literally next door to them.

Produce:
1 bag organic onions
2 lbs of organic carrots
2-4 lbs of roma tomatoes
1 bunch of celery
4-5 bunches of broccoli
4-6 green peppers
1-4 lbs of berries
4-6 lbs of bananas

Carbs:
1-2 loaves wheat bread
3 lbs of white rice
2 boxes whole grain pasta
5-10 packs of ramen

Protein:
3-4 lbs chicken or turkey sausage
5-7 lbs chicken breasts
1 dozen eggs
LOTS of beans.  I have no clue how much we eat. Will have to keep track some time.

Frozen:
1 bag of tator tots
1 box peirogies
1 box fish sticks
4 cheap frozen pizzas
1 expensive frozen pizza
4 lbs of frozen veggies

Dairy:
1 small box dry milk (equivalent 1.5 gal)
4-6 lbs of cheese (my guy really likes cheese)
1 lb butter

Other:
1 jar pasta sauce
1 jar peanut butter
1 box mashed potato flakes
2 jars salsa
2-3 taco seasonings
1 or 2 random condiments
1 or 2 bottles of V8

Of course we buy other random things too, and I include things like toilet paper in with the tally.  But I'd say this is our basic monthly diet right here.  The reason we can do it?  Well, take a look. Aside from a few frozen thing I cook everything from scratch or near-scratch.  It's more time consuming, but it's a lot cheaper and healthier for you than pre-packaged foods.  Our favorite foods are stir-fry, chili, or a piece of chicken with potatoes and a veggie.

Eating out and junk is kept to a minimum.  We drink lots of tea and water instead of soda. We buy organic where we can afford it.  If something is about to go bad we either eat it, freeze it or dehydrate it, keeping waste to a minimum.

I could get better deals in a few areas of our diet, but I'm pretty happy with how we're eating, and the amount of money we spend on it.