This is What $82 Worth of Groceries Look Like

I have been meaning to make a blog post about the groceries I buy for some time but have never got around to it.  Actually, we usually come back from shopping and hubby puts everything away so fast I don't have time to take a picture but today I went shopping by myself (hubby is doing a four day poker tournament where the way to earn the most money is to sit in your poker seat for an ENTIRE four days--the folks there are looking pretty tired and after 30 hours hubby came home yesterday and slept for 15 hours before heading back to the casino this morning...eeekkk).  Anyway, here is my haul for today at a total cost of $82. I did a lot of shopping at the 99 cent store, and some at Walmart, Smiths, Walgreens, and Dollar General.  I generally don't clip coupons but do keep a note of things on sale listed in the weekly advertisement that gets mailed to us.  Here's what I bought:

• 2 dozen large eggs
• 1 gallon milk
• 18 oz cheddar cheese
• 1 lb butter
• 4 lb sugar
• 5 lb flour
• 1 box chex cereal
• 2 boxes of brownie mix
• 6 oz raisins
• 1 can Bush's baked beans
• 2 cans spaghetti sauce
• 4 cans vegies
• 3 lbs oranges
• 4 lbs onions
• 48 oz cooking oil
• 1 lb grapes
• 1 lb broccoli
• salt
• baking soda
• 2 bottles salad dressing
• 2 cans tuna
• 1 can tomatoes
• corn meal
• 1 loaf cinnamon bread
• 1 box junior mints
• 1 can instant coffee
• 2 lbs carrots
• 1 bunch celery
• 2 lbs limes
• 2 heads romaine lettuce
• 8 bananas
• 1 lb strawberries
• 2 cucumbers
• 1 lb apples
• 1 head cauliflower
• 5 hogie rolls
• 2 lb tomatoes
• grapefruit juice
• dish soap
• 2 lb beef (steak)
• 3.5 lb pork (roast)
• 2.5 lb chicken

I'm not sure if that is a good price or not for all of these items and I really should keep better track of the money we spend on food since that is one of the largest variable expense items in our budget.  Also, just by looking at the list I see where money could be saved (like baking our own bread products, making our own salad dressing, etc).  Finally, the price of meat is shocking!  It seems like the price of most products is relatively stable over time but every time I look at meat prices it seems like the price keeps leaping up and up!