Monday Q&A | Sunday Meals, Grocery Shopping, and Snack Foods
Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you'd like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!
I'm curious about your Sunday menus...they always seem quite light (this week just breakfast?). Do you eat Sunday dinner out? with family? fast?
-Katie
Nope, we don't fast (my children wouldn't be fans of that!), and we don't go out. However, we tend to eat breakfast a bit later than usual on Sunday mornings, because we're not up and at 'em quite as early as we are on weekdays. And then we have a later lunch than usual because we're not normally home from church until 1:00 or 1:30. All of this means that we are not very hungry when our 5:00-5:30 dinner hour rolls around, so we usually just have breakfast for dinner.
Besides the fact that we're not starving at dinnertime, another reason we do this is that it gives me a little break from normal dinner prep. Breakfast foods are generally fast and easy (both on the prep end and the cleanup end!), and cooking them on Sundays means that I can spend my Sunday afternoons in a restful way.
We do eat breakfast and lunch every day...I usually include a sentence or two about our breakfast/lunch plans on my weekly menu posts. I just don't plan them out in detail like I do for our dinner meals.
I shop at Walmart because I thought it was cheaper. I haven't been to Aldi except maybe 1 or 2 times. I loved your comparisons about the two stores and while I agree on everything- the size of the stores, the cleanliness, the parking lot, etc... I was wondering if you really do save money by shopping at Aldi. When I went in there it seemed everything was off brands, are they good?
-Crystal
As I mentioned in my post about Walmart, I don't often shop for groceries there except for when we go on vacation (could Aldi please add a Myrtle Beach location???). So, I don't have a scientific means of comparison between the two stores, though that might be fun to do for a future blog post.
However, in my experience, Aldi's prices on everything except meat (I rarely buy meat at Aldi) meet or beat most every other store's prices so yes, I think I save money by shopping at Aldi. And not only do I save money, we end up eating better food that we would otherwise, especially when it comes to produce. Aldi has such awesome prices on produce, we now regularly eat things like red peppers, grapefruit, seasonal berries, spinach, and lots of other foods which were prohibitively expensive at normal grocery stores.
Aldi does carry mostly private label brands, but I've found that almost everything I've tried has been good. If you do try something and hate it, you can bring it back, get your money back, and get a replacement product if you wish, all for free. So, there's no risk involved in at least trying the store brand product.
I'm working on a post about what I like to buy at Aldi, and in that post I'll make sure to include a list of stuff I don't like to buy at Aldi.
I am a pastor's wife and mom of 2. I recently have been trying to stock up with things are on sale, shopping at thrift stores and trying many other tips. I can't seem to get my grocery bill under $100 dollars a week though...I am more motivated to try after seeing you! Do you live in a rural area? I find things are more expensive where I live so I drive to a larger town 30 mins away to do most of my shopping. What kind of things do your kids snack on? I am having trouble figuring out some CHEAP but good snacks for the kids.
-Amy
First, I should assure you that I don't at all think that everyone needs to budget $100/week for groceries. Different families have different needs (some have hungry teens, some have big and tall husbands, some need special foods, some eat organic), and so grocery budgets are not a one size fits all sort of thing. For more on that topic, check out post about why I don't think you have to make yogurt. 😉
Secondly, I don't live in a rural area...I'd describe my area as suburban, and as I mentioned a few days ago, I live in grocery shopping heaven (lucky me!). I have a ridiculous number of grocery stores to choose from, all of which are close by, but if I were in your situation, I'd definitely plan ahead and make a trip to a larger town every other week (or every week if necessary). I'm assuming, of course, that the savings would outweigh the gas expense you'd incur by driving farther.
Lastly, yes, I do have some frugal snack ideas. We don't do a whole lot of snacking here, as I try to encourage my children to do their main eating at meals (if they do a lot of snacking, they're not hungry for the actual meals). However, we do sometimes feel the need for a little something if there's a long stretch between lunch and dinner. Here are a few frugal, low-prep, non-junky things I offer my children when they're "staaaaarving":
- peanuts or cashews (these are not super-cheap, but they are fairly nutritious)
- sunflower seeds
- raisins
- carrots
- bananas
- cucumbers (my kids like to eat them sliced and sprinkled with salt)
- crackers, usually store-brand (I don't offer these very frequently since they're not as nutritious as the other options on this list)
If you'd like some more substantial options, here are a few ideas:
- homemade muffins (I have a pumpkin recipe and a blueberry recipe posted so far)
- a piece of toast
- a homemade granola bar
- a bowl of yogurt (homemade yogurt is insanely cheap)
- pretzels (store-brand pretzels are usually inexpensive)
______________________________________
Since I don't have a corner on frugal knowledge, do feel free to add your advice to mine in the comments!
Just thought I'd jump in and say I have fallen in love w/Aldi's (I go to the same one you do). Everything I've bought there has been good - their salsa, tortillas (a staple in our house) and cereals (just 3 examples) are great quality and way cheaper than Giant (my other store).
Thanks for the snack ideas! My kids eat far too many snacks. I think my daughter (age 4) would snack all day if I allowed it and then of course not want the main meals! I have been working on more control in this area. I do find that one for my son after school is necessary as their lunch is 11:30 and he is really hungry after school. I also make my first snack offer a banana. It would not be their first pick so if they take me up on it then I figure they really were hungry!
Yep, that's what I figure too...if they are willing to eat stuff like carrots, peanuts and such, they must really be hungry!
So far, we've liked nearly everything we've tried from Aldi's. The only exception is their pasta sauce, but I'm Italian and I'm kind of a snob about pasta sauce anyway, and can only thing of one or two jarred sauces that I actually like. 😉 But, other than the pasta sauce, we've found we've enjoyed the food from there just as much as Meijer brand food (which is the other store we shop at and which has a very, very good store brand) if not more.
For Amy in the rural area: yes, it IS harder to frugally shop in the "country" as opposed to the suburbs or larger towns. Not a single store in our area does the double couponing common in the cities, let alone triple couponing. I get a little frustrated by the blogs trumpeting how "easy" it is to get the grocery bill down to virtually nothing by taking advantage of these promotions. Those have never happened here. However, there is something called the Wal-Mart Effect (I think) where when a WM moves into an area prices in all the stores will come down at least some. They have to, if they want to stay in business. I don't know what Amy's rural area looks like, but I suspect she will have to do as the rest of us in the country: the best she can with what she has, Aldi or no Aldi.
I didn't write to proffer shopping suggestions but just to say I understand and, Amy, you're not alone.
I live in the "Country!" It is 10 miles to town...kind of country! There is a Aldi about 40 mins away and I am going to take a day to go...just haven't gotten a chance to go yet. I do go to Save-a-lot about once a month and buy can goods and non-perishables. That has saved me tons. Saving money would be easier if I lived closer to things. My area doesn't have anywhere that doubles or triples coupon. We have 2 private owned groceries in town...a Piggly Wiggly (they have good sales on some ideas...I normally just check the sales ad each week.) and a store called Grocery Outlet (this store is confusing! All the prices on the shelf are the grocerier cost at the check-out they add 10%. I get all mess up when trying to add things up in my head so I try to just stay out of there.) Wal-mart is our other option...I get just things I have to have there b/c they are cheaper than the other 2 stores.
I asked about the snacks because my kids have to take snack to school each day. I have learned that this is really expensive! They say you can by at school but it is a dollar a day. I am making it less than that...I think. I have started buying them juice boxes or bags at Sam's and store brand snacks. I don't get the already packaged snacks b/c I am paying someone to put it in a bag for me.
Am I the only one that gets really frustraited with all this sometimes!! I don't want to waste money so I have to work twice as hard to figure out how to keep it! Craziness!
I shopped at Aldi for my first time this week, and loved it! Granted, there were some things that I needed that they didn't have..but for the most part everything was there and it saved me a ton of money.
Do you ever shop grocery outlets or bread thrift stores? Both have been a blessing to our budget and especially were when my husband was unemployed for 9 months!
I LOVE the bread thrift store. We have both Pepperidge Farm and Entemanns/Brownberry in my area. I shop the Entemanns/Brownberry regularly. Everything freezes well. I have a teenage boy and a soon-to-be teenage boy, and they go thru bagels, sandwiches, etc. like crazy.
We had french toast made w/thrift store bread, bacon (from Costco), and fruit. We estimated the total cost of brunch to be $8, and there is half a pack of bacon left.
I am in canada and i have NEVER seen a double coupon day.
Do you print coupons off the internet?
I do some, but I'm not a huge coupon user in general.
I love shopping at Aldi's! Their products are as good as the name brands, but at a much lower price and their fresh produce is great. I got strawberries for 49 cents last summer and they tasted better than ones my mother-in-law picked herself for twice that.
My only complaint with my Aldi's is that it is a small store and many of it's regular items appear as specials only once and a while.
I know...almost all the produce I've bought there has been excellent, and it's SO much cheaper than other stores.
Another inexpensive snack that we love is air popped popcorn. With a tiny bit of butter and salt it is a fairy healthy, and filling, snack.
I have done comparisons between Wal-Mart and Aldi at the beginning of my Aldi-loving shopping ways. I went into both stores with the intention of buying store-only brands (so Great Value at Wal-Mart) and whatever Aldi had, with the same list in both stores. I wrote down the prices of everything and included tax on the taxable items. I came out with $156 as my total for Wal-Mart and $89 for Aldi. For the exact same stuff! That's a pretty big difference. AND on top of it, a LOT of the Aldi stuff had less sodium, less preservatives, and more servings per box. So I can definitely say that YES! you save lots of money by exploring options other than Wal-Mart.
That said, I do not live in a rural area - AT ALL. Suburban might even be stretching it a little (Baltimore Metro). So it's expensive to live here and I still manage to feed a family of 3 (almost 4) on a budget of $50/week (I do bi-weekly shopping trips though, so $100 per trip).
And Kristen, I completely agree with you about Aldi meat. The prices may be "right" but the quality is seriously lacking. I feel the same way about Wal-Mart though...and usually their meat prices are more expensive than a *real* grocery store. I do research on the internet, comparing different grocery stores' meat sales for the week and although it sends me to yet another store, it's worth it to get 93/7 ground beef for .99/lb or boneless skinless chicken breasts for .79/lb. Being frugal takes patience and research, especially when it comes to food!
Its funny, the one thing I rarely buy at ALDI is produce. It tends to be old, and esp in the winter when everything has to come from Mexico or Chile. But we get maple syrup, granola bars, choc syrup, juice concentrate, butter, cheese (sometimes), personal products like deoderant, dish soap, crackers, taco chips, pretzels, oil, choc chips, and diapers every week from ALDI.
A local employee owned grocery warehouse has the best produce in town, it is cheap and very fresh because they go through huge quantities every day. I was annoyed after picking up green onions for 1.00 at ALDI and seeing them for 25 cents at woodmans.
I think the produce quality must vary store to store, because I've heard that a couple of times from people. At my particular Aldi, the produce is great almost all of the time.
Your Aldi has real maple syrup?? I've never seen that at mine...lucky you.
sorry, should have specified, no its not the real thing, but my kids don't care and they eat a ton of waffles every week so we go through a ton of the stuff.
My roommates and I (4 of us total) keep our grocery bill around $60 a week. (And, no, we're not starving college students who do that by ordering pizza every night!) My best advice to keep your grocery budget low is to stock up on dried goods. Things like lentils, split peas, quinoa, cous cous, brown rice, whole wheat pasta make very cheap meals. They also keep for a long time, so you can buy in bulk and save money that way. Plus having them on hand helps with the "I don't have anything to make for dinner" store run. Also, we make lots of soups and stews. They are a good way to use up leftovers and odds and ends from your pantry. I use the Moosewood Restaurant cookbooks a lot because they have great soup recipes. A lot of them have fancy schmancy ingredients, but you can always substitute!
Just this morning, a friend sent me the link to your blog. I'm so glad she did! 🙂
On any given day you will find me behind a clearance rack, clipping coupons, cooking from scratch, visiting a thrift store, or finding a sale ... BUT, I have never, ever stepped foot inside of an Aldi's! At least, not yet.
Looking forward to learning how to become a better "frugal girl" through your blog. Frugal is fun! 😉
Does Aldi's offer any organic products?
Not generally...occasionally they do, but it's not a regular thing. Alas, organic doesn't usually fit into my budget except in the summertime when locally grown produce is available and when I have access to garden produce.
I have to say, Aldi brands have gotten much better over the years - taste and quality.. I love the way you say "private label brands" and not generic or off brands. It sounds so much more appealing.
lol! That's the preferred term of the grocery stores, actually. It does sound rather exclusive, doesn't it??
Grocery prices vary a lot across the country. The best way I've found to figure out what a good "bottom line" number to use for a grocery budget is to look at what you're buying, make some changes (pay attention to meat serving sizes and frequency, reduce your food waste by buying limited amounts of produce until you figure out what your family will actually eat, buy dried goods like Jackie mentioned instead of canned or "quick-cook" versions, etc.), then see where you are. If you're making changes like that and consistently coming in at about $120/week, then maybe that's what your budget should be.
Another thing that I would love to see addressed in here is personal care items and cleaning supplies. I would hazard a guess that these are two big drains on many household budgets. Tips or opinions on keeping costs down in this category?
My personal approach is to use "natural" cleaners (baking soda, vinegar, and occasionally Bon-Ami), store-brand hand soap, many Suave-brand personal products, a hairstyle that doesn't require a lot of product (or time!), and I don't wear make-up often.
Duly noted...I'll put together a post on that, although there are no guarantees on when it will be done! lol
We use baking soda and vinegar to clean just about everything. I still buy dish soap, we don't have a dishwasher, but I buy a big bulk jug and refill my little one. We use a natural bar soap to wash hair and body for the whole family, kids and all. It works great. And although I have a hair style that requires product to look right (short and spiky) I have found a great styling creme from panteen that is 3$ a jar and lasts months, so I don't use salon products.
Diapers and wipes and diaper creme are our biggest budget drains right now, espec since our two sons are autistic and are taking longer to potty train. And sunscreen, we go through gallons of that stuff in the summer with all of us being blonde with blue eyes and very fair skin.
Hi Kristen!
I found your blog through Facebook and I just wanted to say that I love it! It is now one of my favorites. I am a stay at home mom of 4 and your posts are SO helpful! Thanks for sharing your advice, and tips with the world! 🙂
I really, really need to hunt down an Aldi's....I know they're here somewhere! Growing up we bought a few things at Aldi's but for the most part their food intimidates me. I'm looking forward to your list of what to buy/what not to buy from there!
I'm pretty sure there are some up by you. If there aren't, you could try Save-a-lot...I know there are some of those near you. They're very similar to Aldi from what I hear.
My son wanted frozen waffles--icky to me, but he likes them!-- for his birthday overnight party breakfast. I was in Aldi's ( I love Aldi's) and the manager told me that they were out of waffles due to a flood at the Eggo factory. According to this manager, the waffles are from Eggo and the cereals are all name brand. He also mentioned the soup and pastas, but told me he wasn't allowed to say which brands they actually are. Aldi's pays name brand companies to produce their store brand, at a great savings to all of us! The produce at our Aldi's is amazing, but it does vary from store to store.
Many store labels are packaged by national brand companies. I worked for a national brand salad dressing company and they packaged many store brands also. However, they are not necessarily the same recipe as the national brand. Many private labels have their own recipe and just have it packaged at the national brands' plant. So you may see some taste difference.
This may be a silly question, and you may have already answered it somewhere, but what are Aldi and Weis? I understand they are grocery stores, but why do you go to two separate ones? I live in the Pacific Northwest and we don't have either of those as far as I know so I don't know anything about them. They sound pretty awesome if you get such good deals there though.
I was wondering the same thing! Do we have anything comparable here in the northwest?
Aldi is a pared-down, basic, bargain grocery store. If you don't have one, check and see if you have a Save-a-Lot, which is a similar type of store. Weis is more of a mainstream grocery store, though they are just on the East Coast, like in PA, Jersey, MD, VA, and DE. They're not a high-end grocer, but they're not as bargain basement as Aldi, so I go there to get stuff that's not available at Aldi.
Kristen - WOW! I just searched and we actually have a Save-A-Lot in my very city 🙂
I think I'll plan a trip - however - both locations are in VERY dicey neighborhoods, so I'll need to bring my great, big husband with me :p
You guys have Winco! Lucky you!! If you haven't been there, check it out. Huge stores, magical selection, great prices, incredible bulk foods section. Better still, these stores are employee owned. Their stockholders (employees) earn a living wage, have health benefits and stock options. An added bonus is that since everyone's an owner, the level of help in the stores is unsurpassed. Many stores are open 24 hours. One of my frugal girl friends and I occasionally make Winco a late night "date". We go after 9:00 pm on a Friday night and shop 'til we drop!
Oh my--your picture of the fried mush has my mouth watering! Fried mush was a regular breakfast item when I was growing up (pancakes and waffles were for special occasions) and I loved it! I have made it a few times for my kids, but they prefer polenta served with a sauce or pesto. I'm going to give the fried mush another try this weekend.
I've never been to Aldi (I googled it and I guess there are some in Rhode Island that I could check out - I live in MA). I imagine it's probably similar to Price Rite? That might be another one to look for if you don't have an Aldi near you.
I think the "bargain" grocery stores really vary site to site - some are nice and clean and well-lit, and others are down-right creepy. I love the nice ones but I draw the line at creepy!
Yup, I refuse to shop at creepy stores as well! There's a store in my area that is downright scary and I will not go there. I don't care how good their deals are. lol
Erika,
There is an Aldi's in Tauntan/Raynham off of Rt 44. It is near the Super Walmart. There are also some PriceRites (cheaper than Aldi's but not as clean). I have also seen some Save-A-Lot stores. All are discount stores. I also think there is an Aldi's in Cranston, RI. Hope this helps.
I recently switched to Aldi and I KNOW I'm saving a lot of money. I am always amazed at the price when I look at everything in my cart (and reusable bags) : )
My kids like to eat cereal as a snack. I get it really cheap by shopping sales and using coupons. I recently got 4 16oz boxes of shredded wheat for $1 each! I only buy high fiber, low sugar cereals, like grape nuts, shredded wheat, and cheerios. Another thing they like is apples with peanut butter, which can be pretty cheap if you buy the apples on sale. I recently got red delicious apples for $1 per pound at publix.
I lovingly refer to Aldi's as 'stupid cheap' because the prices at other stores seem so 'stupid' in comparison. A suggestion for the meat dilemma is that I hit the major grocery stores on Monday mornings. They seem to stock up on their meat for the weekends and slash the prices on what's leftover Monday mornings. (Especially in the summer and during football season!) I can get large packages of steaks or roasts or chops and repackage them into smaller portions at home. If I do this once/month, our meat is taken care of and I don't get distracted by their other budget bashers. (just one trip into a Giant Eagle can kill my entire month's budget if I'm not careful!) While our Aldi's does have great produce, I am a big supporter of local farmer's markets and make that my FIRST stop during the season, which is getting longer and longer thanks to innovation in greenhouse techniques. When fresh produce is coming in fast and strong, the prices are great and I can freeze or can enough to keep us in strawberry smoothies and tomatoe sauce for months.
Great Q&A as always.... I am really missing Aldi's back home in England now 🙁
Kristen,
Thank you for sharing Zoe's birthday celebration pictures. They were great!
One thing I did not see here is the mention of balanced snacks. A little protein, carb and fat. If the kiddo's are hungry this is the best combo to satisfy. I am a big proponent of hummus with vegi's. Hummus is easy to make, get a can of chickpeas(garbanzo beans), some garlic powder, salt and a couple teaspoons of olive oil and whip it up in a blender or food processor. My kids like to dip carrots, red and green peppers, cuc's, zucchini and crackers in it. Here are some other suggestions:
Peanut butter with apples
Stringcheese wrapped with lunchmeat
Mix half a carton of yogurt (8oz size) with half a cup of cottage cheese (great ice cream substitute)
Pudding in 1/2 c. portions with grahmn crackers
In addition to being frugal, I like to frequent the family-run stores. I live in a small town in the middle of "country" (I have to drive 45 minutes to get to a big city) and I feel like I have some great options. While I don't have Aldi here, I do have a small discount store in town--only 2 blocks away, even! I get great prices on produce (although not always the freshest--I can't expect fresh from WM, either--a disadvantage of small town with few choices), meat, milk and cheese, not to mention pantry items.