With July just a day away, I went through my pantry to sort out my grocery list for next month. As I go through my pantry, I have a lot to keep in mind. For starters, I have dietary restrictions, a diet plan, and a way I like to cook. After that, I have to be mindful of my overall monthly budget of $200, which is all covered by food stamps. Of course, if I have to, I can add about $40 from my Disability income. Not to mention, I do not own a vehicle, which leaves me to rely heavily on walking and bus schedules.

My food restrictions come down to my serious allergies vs foods I’m sensitive to and should be very careful about. For example, many weight-loss diet programs and food-replacement alternatives rely on a fruit I am severely allergic to. Which is: bananas. I can go into anaphylaxis shock by eating a banana. At that, I am so allergic that touching anything related to a banana triggers an immediate allergic reaction. Funny enough, plantains are made of a different protein structure, so I can eat them cooked, of course.

Other foods I’m allergic to with severe to mild reactions are: mushrooms, kiwis, tree nuts, and marijuana.

My other food restrictions are foods that I am highly sensitive to that can lead to allergic reactions. I am sensitive to the nightshade family, but that sensitivity depends on how the food is processed. For example, I can not have raw tomatoes, but I can have ketchup. I can tolerate potatoes to an extent, but not on constant rotation. I hate eggplants with every fiber of my being since I discovered what they taste and smell like. I hate eggplants so much that I can identify it in any form and will immediately refuse to eat.

Under the nightshade family are peppers, which are a strange one for me. I love spicy food. So it really comes down to how each type of pepper is processed for me to consume it. But it’s not completely out of my diet. In fact, many Dominican dishes rely on a variety of peppers and cooking styles. Making my nightshade sensitivity reasonable, as long as I space out how I consume them.

The other food I am sensitive to that can cause me near-allergic reactions is onions. So much so that I have to rely on processed onions rather than fresh ones. Not only that, when it comes to green onions, I only use the green parts because they are safe for me to eat.

Now, when it comes to the grocery shopping itself, there are a few things that make it rewarding and difficult for me. like I said I do not own a vehicle, yet I live in a vehicle dependent town. I rely heavily on walking everywhere and taking the limited buses that Grants Pass, Oregon, has. Speaking of buses, they only run on weekdays. I am originally from New York City, so I am accustomed to 24/7 buses and stores. So when I stated my walking travel time, I am using my typical NYC walking speed of 3-4 mph. Thankfully, I have a shopping cart for my grocery runs.

Supermarket	Walking	Bus Going	Bus Back	Price	Stock Type
Albertsons	45 minutes	1 hour	25 minutes	$$$	All
Safeway #1	15 minutes	0	0	$$$	All
Safeway #2	45 minutes	25 minutes	1 hour	$$$	All
WinCo	2 hours	45 minutes	1 hour	$	All
Walmart	2 hours	45 minutes	1 hour	$$	All
Grocery Outlet	2 hours	45 minutes	1 hour	$	Specialty
Fred Meyer	2 hours	45 minutes	1 hour	$$	All+ Specialty
Dollar Tree #1	2 hours	45 minutes	1 hour	$	Limited
Dollar Tree #2	1 hour and 10 minutes	30 minutes	1 hour	$	Limited
Bi-Mart	20 minutes	0	0	$$	Specialty
Cartwright’s	30 minutes	0	0	$$	Specialty
Farmers Market	20 minutes	0	0	$$	Specialty
Dollar General #1	1 hour	1 hour	1 hour	$	Limited
Dollar General #2	1.5 hours	1.5 hours	1.5 hours	$	Limited

Seeing this all laid out like this, you would think I would go to one store more than the other, or even travel to places closer to me. For example, even though Dollar General has a constant travel time, its locations are in weird places, making it more difficult to get to than you would think. Sure, Safeway is considerably closer to my home, but even with membership sales and prices, they still tend to be overpriced or out of stock on certain items. Yet I find certain things cheaper in Safeway. So I like to shop around.

At that, you would think I would rely on delivery services, but I can’t. For starters, I can’t afford to give drivers tips or the tax that comes from such services. Then there’s also the fact that when I have used the services, I have gotten outdated items, been told an item wasn’t in stock (when it was), and items priced higher than stated. Plus, when I shop in person, I find more deals and can personally make sure I’m not overpaying for something that was listed a few dollars less.

Now let’s look at an at-a-glance view of what’s in stock in my pantry.

The light color is what’s in my fridge, while the dark is in my freezer. As you can see, I have a long list of seasonings, teas, and sauces. I did have pre-made seasoning packs at one point, but I ran out so often that I decided to buy the individual seasonings to make my own blends. Plus, some are from me finding an interesting recipe I wanted to recreate.

You’ll also notice that I have things under “On Hold” and “Debating”. These are items that I don’t use often enough. The On Hold items are those I might restock eventually if I find I am using them more regularly. While the debating is what I’m strongly considering, I might never buy it again.

Speaking of not buying again:

This is where it gets interesting, because of why I’m not buying these again. Among the complete trash are items I didn’t like. I rarely use ground white pepper to the point it’s pointless to have. I might as well buy whole white peppercorns. The replacing side is just those I’m buying non-ground versions of. The Italian bread crumbs are just old, and I didn’t like the brand. The Szechuan pepper salt + “spice” blend is a weird one for me, which is why it’s under Replace instead of Complete Trash.

Now, here are things that I have to replace in my pantry.

Everything under Immediate Replace are items that I can’t live without. Granted I could find ways to substitute, like buying non pickled yellow tiny peppers. But these are essential for my cooking over the course of a few months. Where everything else is more of a buy-as-I-go type of thing. Everything here that needs to be replace is due to the fact as I was doing a pantry inventor check I learned all these have expired. And I was really looking forward to summertime because it is typically inventoryade prep season.

When it comes to my actual restock list, it’s broken down into what I need monthly vs what I need over the course of a few months. That is why it’s listed as: Immediate, Can Wait, and Nice to Have. Immediate are my core items, from protein to vegetables to fruits to what I’m completely out of. For example, whole coffee beans last me roughly 3 to 4 months, while eggs last me a month. At that, I can get some of these items cheaply (non-brand), which will help with my overall budget. I rarely get name-brand unless it’s the only thing with a texture and flavor profile I like. Besides that, after buying everything on the Immediate list, I can slowly tackle items on the other list if my budget allows.