Weekly Shopping Out of Town - $81.19

I just am getting home from a 17 day road trip.  Here's how it went:

Day 1 - Travel
Day 2 - Oregon
Day 3 to 9 - Yosemite National Park with my side of the family
Day 10 to 15 - Anaheim visiting DH's side of the family
Day 16 - Travel (including lunch with friends from San Jose)
Day 17 - Travel home

I tried to plan carefully for our trip to Yosemite knowing we were in a timeshare unit and would only have the food we brought with us.  I did pretty well, I thought, only spending $70 for several reasons.
1. I had to buy chicken TWICE
2. I bought Bisquick, bread, and spice packets that I would normally make from ingredients already on hand.
3. I bought 2# of shredded cheese for $6.99.  That kills me

For our trip to DH's family I knew my Mother-in-Love would have all the staples in her kitchen and I would just need to buy groceries to supplement what she is always willing to share.  I was so surprised and delighted when she revealed a budget set aside for grocery shopping!  I had to spend very little all week, but even so we shopped together and found some screaming deals.  I also tried to shop carefully so as not to take advantage of her generosity.

• We found 20 oz. packages of taco seasoned ground turkey marked down to $1.49 each!  We bought all three for our big family party at the end of the week and I cooked it up that night and tossed it in the freezer.
• I bought only one quart of creamer for DH and he used it all week.
• We found clearance vanilla yogurt cups (my kids' favs) for $1.11 per 4-pack
• We found organic milk for half price - which reduced it to the same price as regular milk
• MIL got some great additional discounts because of her JustForU rewards.  Combined with an email nudge from a friend, I think I'm convinced I should try some of the digital coupons.

Here's what I DID spend all week: $ 3.60 at Wal-Mart on hot dog buns and macaroni & cheese.  We didn't even eat the mac'n'cheese and it's still at MIL's house.  I also went the FIL one day for diapers and ice.   I bought the ice for $3.99 since I hadn't bought anything else all week!  I also ordered my 40# box of chicken from Zaycon Foods for October delivery.  It cost $73.60.

Total Grocery Cost for Week 36: $81.19
Total Grocery Cost YTD for 2013: $3,732.72
Average grocery spending per week in 2013: $103.69