One of the biggest holes in my spending habits is food. I am out and about all over the city every day, and I have tended to buy food on the go. On the occasions when I do get my act together and make a shopping trip, I generally don't buy too much because I can only fit so much on my motorcycle (I must look pretty funny zipping past with a backpack on my front, a messenger bag on my back, and a canvas bag on my shoulder!)

Lately I have had occasional access to a car because my new roommate has one which she lets me borrow, so today I did a big trip to the supermarket. I admit that I was sucked into this spur-of-the-moment trip by a promotion - I got a coupon in the mail for 10% off any $50 or greater purchase total at the Safeway around the corner from me. Get this - it was only good between 4pm and 8pm TODAY! That's right, just four hours! It was to generate interest in the remodel they just completed.

Well, being a good internet-savvy student of savings, of course I checked over the weekly flyer on their website to do some planning before I left. I only bought stuff that had a club card discount. When I got home I felt pretty good when I calculated that I had 39lbs of food for $42! The sack of potatoes and the sack of apples brought my average price-per-pound way down, though it was balanced by the jar of Kraft parmesan cheese I splurged on (pricey processed food.) On a per-bar basis Ivory soap was $.29 each ($3.50/doz.) which is well below my trigger price so I stocked up on that.

I felt pretty good that I had gotten so much stuff for barely over $50. This will easily keep me going for more than a week, so I think I will make it a new goal to eat healthy on $160 a month, and only drink home-brewed coffee.