35%. Spent $176, saved $95. I earned a $10 Baby Bucks certificate for next time. And this week ShopRite From Home gives you $15 in free produce if you spend $150 (note: you usually have to place your order Sunday or Monday to get these promotions). Hello red grapes, apples, bananas, watermelon, organic blueberries, onion, and bag o’salad. Now I just have to make sure it doesn’t go to waste.

I actually took a picture of the food I had to throw out when cleaning out the fridge on Sunday. I have seen some blogs where the writers always take a picture of their food waste, in order to prod themselves to stop wasting. So here it is:

You see egg noodles and broccoli that I instructed my mom to make the kids for dinner when she babysat Saturday night. I don’t know if they didn’t eat it or she made too much. Usually they love it. Also leftover mashed potatoes, leftover American cheese and shredded Cheddar cheese, green beans that I totally forgot I bought, and some fruit twists that expired in April. They are probably still OK. There have been many articles lately like this one explaining how most food expiration dates don’t mean anything. So one of my goals is to get back to common sense regarding when to get rid of food. Because throwing food away is really like throwing cash away. Some waste is inevitable, but a lot can definitely be avoided. (But I still threw away those twists. I don’t know why.)

Best deals this week: free French’s mustard, Barilla pasta for 75 cents/box, Reynolds recycled aluminum foil for 99 cents (for 50 sq. ft.), Turkey Hill ice cream for $1.77.

I’m happy to report that for the month of May, I came in at just under $800 for food! Hope I can repeat that this month.