Breakdown of my grocery spending
A friend of mine(Hi, Tamika!) asked for another one of these types of posts, so I dug my receipts out of the recycling bag. Keep in mind that this is not everything we'll be eating this week, nor will we eat all of this over the course of the next 7 days. Some of the food we're eating this week is from my pantry or freezer, and some of what I bought this week will go into the pantry or freezer.
I know I just posted pictures of this yesterday, but I thought this post would be easier to read if I included them again.
Here's what I bought at Weis:
-two larges boxes of Frosted Flakes(I know, that is not a nutritious choice. =P)-$2.99 apiece, but I had a $½ coupon, so they were $2.50 apiece
-1 quart generic buttermilk-$1.29
-a small can of generic beef broth-$.60 on sale
-a box of generic sandwich bags-$1.29
-a bag of frozen pearl onions-$2.34
-two bags of Chex mix-$2.39 each, but they were buy 1 get one free, and I had two $.50 coupons which got doubled. So, I paid $.39 for both bags
-2.5 pounds of bananas-$1.48($.59/lb)
The apples were free...each kids gets a free apple each time we shop at Weis. It's part of their kid's club program.
And here's what I got at Aldi. Unless noted, all of this is generic.
-two dozen eggs-$.99 each
-bag of Hershey's minis-$2.65
-8 oz. deli ham-$2.50
-8 oz. deli roast beef-$2.50
-ice cream(for Lisey's b-day)-$2.69
-two 12 oz frozen OJ concentrate-$1.25 each
-29 oz can peaches-$1.39
-gallon 2% milk-$2.49
-jar of tomato sauce-$.99
-half gallon of not-from-concentrate OJ-$2.39
-bag of navel oranges(three pounds, I think)-$2.99
-64 oz. 100% grape juice-$2.29
-4 grapefruit-$.39 each
-42 oz quick oatmeal-$1.79
-package of broccoli crowns-$1.99
-bananas(not sure how many pounds)-$2.14 for what you see in the picture
-1 pkg. mushrooms-$1.19
-8 plum tomatoes-$1.89
-pancake syrup-$1.39
-small jar of peanut butter-$1.39
-cheese crackers-$1.39
As you can see, coupons are not a large part of my grocery shopping strategy...I only used $3 worth this week. I usually find that it's better to buy generic foods, especially the generic foods at Aldi. And of course, generic foods generally do not have coupons.
Q&A will be up tomorrow. 😀
Thanks for the breakdown. It makes me realized prices are more expensive here in the Northeast. Our eggs are 1.99 a dozen, and milk is 2.99 a gallon.
What are you going to do with all those bananas?
I saw the $0.99 eggs at Aldi but my dad told me that they didn't like them. I'll have to double check what we pay at BJ's.
I see Banana Bread in your future. 😉
I wish we had an Aldi here! The cheapest I can get a dozen eggs is at Trader Joe's for $1.79, and milk there (also the cheapest regular price) is $3.69. The NYC metro area is way more expensive. Where are you?
I paid $2.49 yesterday for just one quart of organic nonfat milk in lovely Redmond, Washington, home of Microsoft (and my home town, though we don't live there any more). I don't remember how much a gallon was but it has to be over $4, closer to $5. I'm always telling my husband that Seattle is too expensive, so your blog is more ammo for that argument. 🙂 We don't have Aldi, either.
P.S. when is the giant pretend black spider going to make another appearance in the photo? I miss it! 🙂
I'm glad to see all those bananas! Aren't there four kids and two adults in your family? That works out to 3 or 4 bananas each for the week. I have a friend who tries to eat a banana every single day. I can never manage that because they're only perfectly ripe for a couple of days.
But I was wondering this about the bananas- why did you get two bunches at one store and one at the other? The Great Banana Mystery continues...
We have a Weis right by our house but I've never heard of their Kid's Club... I even went on their website and I saw no mention of it. How do you sign up? I'm in PA. Thanks!
I freeze my banannas for smoothies, after they get too ripe for just eating.
I also puree bananas that are a little *too* ripe and store them in bags in the freezer/ I puree 4 at a time and then bag - perfect for pulling out later and making muffins and cake. I had a huge banana surplus a few weeks ago and posted a wonderful recipe for banana cake here:
http://myfriendoprah.blogspot.com/2009/03/banana-birthday-cake-or-what-to-do-when.html
Emily-we will eat the bananas, and use them in yogurt smoothies. We currently have about 5 left. lol Banana use is not a problem here. I usually end up wishing I bought more!
Battra-we only use eggs as ingredients, so I don't tend to notice the taste! They're certainly fine for baking.
Denise, I'm in the Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis area. And I would TOTALLY be paying the prices you mentioned if I went anywhere besides Aldi. You just need an Aldi. 😉
Julia-my milk was not organic. A few years ago, a gallon of org. milk was $5 at TJs, but I haven't checked there recently. I alerted Joshua to the request for the spider, so check back. 😉
Angela, I usually buy some at each store, depending on the ripeness. Sometimes Aldi will have really yellow bananas, and Weis will have green ones, so I pick up some of each. The price difference is negligible on bananas.
Cindy, I signed up in my store at the customer service desk.