$444.11 to be exact. Well. Sort of.
My first stop was at Walmart, where the majority of what I needed to get was more cat food, which I paid for separately, plus a few other items.
The four, 9kg bags of dry kibble cost $29.97 each, and the case of canned cat food cost $28.77, for a grand total, after taxes, of $166.49
The other items, plus a donation, came to $46.73, but the girls will be paying me back for their stuff, so the out of budget cost will be for the argan oil at $8.17 and my Vit. D3, which was $9.48 – both were on sale – plus the donation. With taxes, it would be between $20-$25 out of budget. I don’t feel like doing the math for the exact amount. 😁
I completely forgot to look for the electric tape that was on my list, though. I didn’t remember that until I checked the list while I was at Superstore. Oops.
The Superstore run was a lot longer. It’s been a long time since we’ve done a Superstore run, and I went through most of the store, then doubled back a few times, looking for things.
What you can’t make out in the photo is the sushi I got for lunch, and the package pf paper towels under the cart.
For this trip, I got coffee and non-dairy milks for the girls, and an energy drink for me, to go with my sushi lunch. I also got paper towels, ground cinnamon and ground thyme, cocoa, brown (well, yellow, according to the receipt), a big jar of olives, a case of Coke Zero, two jars of mayo, a wheel of double cream brie (30% off) and a big block of Old Cheddar cheese. Costco no longer carries blocks in that size, unfortunately. They had a better price. I did find the brand of soy sauce my husband likes, though. I normally find that at the international grocery store.
For fresh fruits and vegetables, I only got bananas and crimini mushrooms. Most of what I saw either didn’t look very good, or was too expensive. I did get their $5 bag of torpedo buns – there’s just something about those buns that I love! – plus a couple of baguettes that were only $1 each. I got a big package of hot dogs, so I got a couple of packages of buns to go with them.
For proteins, I also got a pack of frozen ground chicken (four chubs in the pack that I think are 1lb each), some breakfast sausages and some pork and vegetable pot stickers. For the girls, I got a couple of packages of frozen fish filets.
I remembered to pick up some more no-name Pepto and, last of all, I got some Gorilla brand silicone sealant. The drainage hose on our washing machine has sprung a leak. That’s what the electric tape was supposed to be for; we find it is great for waterproof patching of small holes in hoses. Superstore had all kinds of other tape, but no electric tape. I don’t know if the sealant will work, but if it doesn’t, it will still come in handy for other things!
The grand total for this was $250.89, but I had enough points on my Optimum card to get $20 off, so I actually paid $230.89
So the total for the day, minus what the girls will reimburse me for, was more like $420 plus a bit, than the $444.11 total on the receipts.
When I filled the tank, I also got a couple more jugs of summer windshield washer fluid, which cost me $49.96 in total.
Adding in the cost of the tire ($55.97), my prescription refills (only $14.54 and change, thanks to my husband’s medical insurance) and breakfast ($10.62), today cost the budget just over $550.
Ouch.
Then my husband sprung for burgers, which I picked up in town on the way home, but that didn’t come out of budget. Still, getting two burgers for each of us – nothing else – came out to $85 and change!! Granted, they were all triple burgers, but still… Ouch!
They really hit the spot, though.
So that was my very long, rather expensive day.
The sad thing is, we only have about half of the cat food we’ll need for the month. We’ll pick more up later. Then there’s the fresh stuff we’ll be picking up locally, as needed, throughout the month.
Having the truck is great, but that many bags and cases of cat food, plus our own supplies, is a bit much. We’re already needing to use a garden claw to pull the bags forward so we can unload them. I make a point of laying them across the axle, but by the time I get home, there’s usually at least one bag, or some other item, that’s made it’s way as far as the cab. We could certainly fit everything in the box with just one shopping trip. It would just mean more stops and more driving around, plus having to roll up the cover on the box and climb in to load it, which would make for a much more exhausting trip. Better to split it into two trips.
Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s just the things we need to work around our physical limitations. We do what we can, and don’t stress over the things we can’t.
Well. Mostly. 😄😄😄
The Re-Farmer
The Re-Farmer 
Considering you were shopping for 3-4 people and a gazillion of cats, it doesn’t seem too bad compared to here. Our inflation is through the roof.
But, of course it depends on how long it’ll last you before you need to refill.
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I think your prices are actually still lower than ours, even before taking into account the dollar difference. There are so many things I just can’t justify buying anymore, unless they are on a deep sale. Even just canned food for the pantry. They have more than doubled in price. A pound of butter in Costco used to be around $3.50. Now it’s just under $6. It’s getting really alarming. Especially knowing it’s been our own government deliberately driving costs up.
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