My Groceries
As requested, here's a picture of what I bought for $77.67 last week(although the $5 worth of grapes are not pictured here). The Aldi's prices will be without comment, since they're just everyday prices. I'll comment on the sale prices at Weis, though.
Here's what I bought from Aldi:
Not-from-concentrate OJ(my husband drinks this in the AM)-$2.29
Sparkling Juice(for Valentine's Day dinner)-$2.29
2 lbs. carrots-$1.19
1 cucumber-$.89
3 grapefruit @ $.19 each(whoohoo!)
bananas(not sure of weight)-$1.18
Romaine Hearts-$1.99
8 oz cream cheese-$.99
1 pound frozen Tilapia-$3.69
1 pound butter-$1.99
small package of pecans-$2.69
2 frozen OJ concentrate-$1.25 each
box of animal crackers-$1.29
2 gallons milk at $2.78 each
1 64 oz. carton cranberry juice-$2.19
And here's what I got at Weis:
-1 pound turkey sausage-$3.50(this is a lot more than I usually pay for meat, but I use it sparingly)
-2 two-liter root beer(we normally drink water, but I like to have root beer with pizza! These were buy one, get one free(hereafter known as B1G1F), so we have one for next week too)-$1.89 for both
-gallon Turkey Hill tea-$2.99(I pack this in my husband's lunches)
-2 roasting chickens-they were B1G1F, so I got both for $9
-2 Weis brand dandruff shampoos-these were B1G1F too, so I paid $4.89 for both
-4 double rolls Angel Soft toilet paper-$1.99
-Craisins-$2.49(this is more than I'd like to pay, but I needed them for a new recipe)
-2 eight oz. bricks of Weis brand cheese-these were B1G1F, so I paid $2.50/lb
-2 bags of Chex Mix-these were B1G1F, and I had a doubled $.50 coupon, so both bags cost me $1.39
-jar of pomegranate vinegar-$2.29(I needed this for a new recipe too)
-2 containers of grape tomatoes-$3.99(normally I buy these at Aldi, but theirs looked bad this week)
-1 bunch green onions-$.60
-1 green pepper-$1
-1.7 pounds of bananas-$1
-1 red onion-$1.15
Now, you're probably looking at the picture and the list and are thinking, "How can this possibly feed six people for a week?"! Naturally, this is not everything we need for the entire week(nor will we finish up everything I bought this week). Some of what we will eat is from our pantry, our freezer, or our fridge, and some of what I bought will go into our pantry, freezer, or fridge(for instance, we won't eat both chickens this week, and we certainly won't use all the shampoo this week).
Also, if we were on a barebones budget(like if we were out of work), we'd obviously be able to trim things from our shopping list. There would be no turkey sausage, no fish, no grape tomatoes, no soda, no snacks, and so on. But, since we have more than two pennies to rub together, we like to add some "luxury" items to our diets.
This was less work than I thought it would be, so I'll try and do a post like this every now and then so you can see what I'm buying. And on the weeks when I don't do a post of this sort, I'll try to remember to take a picture of my groceries and post it along with my grocery spending report and menu each week.
Looks great!!
I can't believe you feed 6 people on so cheap!! 🙂 Simply, amazing!
Very cool! I am jealous of your prices... everything is so much more expensive in Canada!!
We had our day out shopping. We went to Sam's club before our membership ran out. I stocked up on butter at 1.97 lb., and 3 large boxes of Quaker Oats. It's not worth it to us to continue the membership though. While we were in that town I finally got to go to the new ALDI there. I wish we had one close by. The produce did look good, but all the fruit I saw at this one was sold by the bag! I would have loved just a few grapefruit! Their cheeses looked good and at good prices. I picked up a few canned items and grahm crackers, etc. to try their brand. That way I'll know if I like their stuff for the next time I'm over that way.
You are very good at planning for the week. I've been slipping in that area again, as well as the food waste. Time to get back on track again.
Are you no longer buying freah milk from the farm?
Good job! Like all the details. Weis is great. 🙂
Hi there! I've been lurking for a while. 🙂 I think I found you after you posted at No Impact Man - could that be right?
You have inspired me to plan a weekly menu and do one big shopping trip and I am enjoying the savings. For my family of 3 (husband + 3 1/2 yo) we used to spend at least $150 a week. Today we spent $20.73 at local "cheap" grocery, 6.59 at expensive whole foods market (where I can get brown rice and lentils and spices in bulk) and $30.21 at a discount grocer that has good organic produce (and lots of marked down items because they have expired and been removed from other stores. Today I bought the Kraft mayo that "expired" on 12/08 and is priced .99 for 18 ounces - this would cost almost $4 normally and I'm sure it is still good.) for a grand total of $57.53. This is a very low week for us, and as you noted, and we will be eating fish and chicken that is in the freezer as well as other pantry staples. I have a blog that I mostly devote to stories about living joyfully with my family, but am considering more "nuts and bolts" stuff like what we are eating because I know our friends are often surprised that we can live so well on one salary (my part-time work as a midwife). Thanks again for all the great info and inspiration. Cheers!
Gail, my Aldi has grapefruit loose in cardboard boxes. Some of the produce is in bags, but there is always some that's loose...cucumbers, pineapple, mangos, grapefruit, and some others.
Right now that cow that we get milk from is nursing her calf. I think the calf will be weaned soon, and we'll get milk from the cow again. For now, we're just buying it from Aldi.
Stacey, that's awesome! Good job! And yeah, I comment at No Impact Man every now and again. He's gotten a bit too far away from the practical topics for my taste, but I do read him sometimes.
I'm glad you delurked. 🙂
Oh, and Canadian Saver, these are all pretty low prices(with the exception maybe of the turkey sausage). I have to be a careful shopper to pay the prices that I do...so it might not actually be THAT much worse than Canada. You'd know better than me, though! Can you get prices similar to mine if you shop really carefully?
I'm aiming for a no-spend week this week. I will not buy anything from the grocery store (except for milk and maybe fresh vegetables) until what's in the freezer and the cabinets get used up. I forget what I have at home when I'm at the grocery store and end up buying the same thing twice.
The Aldi's here has the green peppers 3 for $1.49. Other than that, your prices are the same as ours here.
I'm one of the ones who asked you for this post. Thank you! It was very helpful. Do you can/freeze produce to use in the winter? I think one of the areas where my spending creeps (ok, gallops) higher is in the produce dept, even buying the cheapest fruit and being careful on the veggie prices. Does only 1 lb. of fish work for your family? I'll have to look harder in the freezer case for inexpensive frozen fish, but I generally plan at least 1 1/2 lbs for our family of 6. I Googled Aldi's--there aren't any in the Northwest that I could find. Rats!
Thank you again for helping our family.
Michelle, a pound of fish is just enough for the six of us, but then there are no leftovers for my husband's lunch. So, I usually plan to make a meal like that when he's going to be eating something else for lunch. As my kids get bigger, I'll probably have to up the amount of fish.
I don't really freeze produce, because I don't have a garden(I know...that's not very frugal of me!). I pretty much just depend on buying loss leader produce, produce that's always cheap, or produce at Aldis. I did a post on frugal produce, and you can find it here: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/?p=58
I'm sorry there aren't any Aldis up your way! Maybe they'll expand in your direction one day.