$78.48 Worth of Groceries
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As part of my commitment to tracking every penny we spend, I’ve decided I’m going to make more meals at home and take my lunch to work every day. If I don’t take my lunch, I starve. Well, not really. I border on hypoglycemic so I’m not all about passing out in honor of saving money. So today after I left work, I decided to stop at the grocery store and pick up some items to help with the meal planning and lunch-taking. I made a list, checked it twice, and set off in the store.
We eat a lot of healthy food (at least I like to think so), and our fall garden is slowly growing, so I try to buy a lot of fresh produce and organics. I am also making breakfast for everyone at work tomorrow (hence the bacon) so I had to pick up a few things for that as well.
When I had this all in my cart and was walking out of the store, I was wondering why it seemed like I had spent SO much money and not gotten that much food. I did “save” $12.06, and that’s without having to use a store card.
The most expensive item I bought was the salmon fillets, at $6.99. They were not on sale, and as I put them in the freezer when I got home, I realized not only do I have tilapia in the freezer (that was purchased on sale), but we also have a huge bag of orange roughy we purchased from Costco. Doh!
I did also spend $7.04 on 3.54 pounds of apples. Those better be darn good apples. Plus, I didn’t realize that I was buying that much when I was putting them in the bag! I also bought six cans of solid white albacore tuna to make sandwiches for lunches. At $7.14, that sounds bad to me, but considering I spent more than that on one lunch this week, it’s a great deal.
I’d say the best deal I got was on the milk, at clearance price. It’s organic Vitamin D milk, and I got it for $2.84, regularly $5.69.
I guess one of the reasons I was so shocked at how little food I got was because normally I’m not grocery shopping every week. I’m more of a pick up things as you need them person, and that costs us more time, money, and energy. I’m curious to see how this next month pans out.
Does this seem like not a lot of food for $78.48?
It’s really hard to say by just looking at the picture. I am curious if you checked the sale ads before you shopped? We are pretty careful to buy groceries on sale. Six cans of white albacore for $7.14 isn’t really too bad, that’s $1.19/can so likely it was on sale because it’s usually 1.89 or more, at least at stores where I live in Arizona. Your apples were about $2/pound, probably not a sale price. Unless they were organic, and I suppose that might be a good price for organics. You’ll have to let us know how far this shopping goes.
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Definitely shop your pantry and freezer before making your list. That’ll help avoid lots of fish (or whatever!).
Also, is there an Aldi anywhere remotely near you? That would be way cheaper there.
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Potatoes are a great staple. You can get a 10lb bag for about $3 and they’ll last forever. Baked potatoes, french fries, mashed, boiled, breakfast potatoes–they’re great!
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Mrs Money Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
I got a 3 lb bag of organic potatoes. I love boiling them and mixing them with green beans from the garden! YUM!
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Do you have a local farmer’s market? I have been going there because we can’t have our own garden. It’s lovely! I bought all organic and local potatoes, broccoli, tomatoes, onion, garlic, local honey, and grass fed beef (2lbs) for $15.00!! This will last me about 2 weeks I think if I plan carefully and use other things I have at home. I also went to the Dillon’s grocery and the organic store brand milk was on sale for $2.89!! I bought two and a Greek yogurt to try. So, total, about $25.00 for almost two weeks. Woohoo!
In reply to Kacie- Aldi stores are great for the price but I’ve found they have nothing organic…a downside. I still go there for some things because we just can’t afford to go completely organic. Mainly the meats, milk, yogurt, and veggies are what we do now. I did get some yummy organic granola with dried cranberries the other day though.
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Mrs Money Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
We have a small farmer’s market at the end of our street on Saturdays. It’s not very big at all. I can’t believe how much stuff you got for $15! We do have a garden every year but I think we’re going to plan better for next year. We may have to get a freezer. That’s an awesome price on milk! I got that gallon of milk for around that price because it expires Oct 7th or so. No big deal.
Aldi is so far away from me
I should drive there one day just to check it out.
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I am battling the budget for good groceries, too.
It looks like you made healthy food choices, and that is always a good idea. Considering the variety of things you got, it seems you paid moderately fair market value.
I liked Tiffany’s comment about the farmer’s market. They are wonderful places to get good local produce at reasonable prices.
We participate in a local CSA. We get a box of veggies from them that lasts the whole week, and costs us about $25 weekly.
We supplement from foods we grow—-and we get foods from grocery stores, the local food co-op, and sometimes even wal-mart.
Our food budget is still inflated. We spend about $300.00 monthly, which seems a lot for 2 people. I’d like to get our budget down to something more reasonable.
A few things I’d like to try out to keep our budget lower:
Eat a bit lower on the food chain ( more beans and veggies, fewer meats), Eat whole foods (more nutritious and fills you up more), and cut back on the magically delicious, but very expensive dairy.
Ah, Dairy, you are my downfall. Love it, but So expensive!
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Oh—Is there a “pick your own” farm local to you? How about a gleaner’s association?
These are great places to combine “food savings/ entertainment”.
Pick your own for health and fun, and then eat at home. Very win/win!
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