Thursday, August 6, 2009

Grocery Shopping Day!

We have a new budget of $75 a week, or $300 a month for groceries. That includes food, paper products, health and beauty and dog food. Of course since I breastfeed and cloth diaper, we don't have any expense for formula or paper diapers and wipes.


Our first stop this week was Aldi, which I had never been too and was pleasantly surprised. We spent $31 and got a variety of "staple" items plus a few extras. We got a pound of strawberries for 99 cents, and they were better than I have seen in a regular grocery store in awhile! I already had milk, but it was super cheap there at $1.69/gallon.


Today I went to Hy Vee and Walgreens to round out the shopping. Here is what I got for a total of $21.08:


Walgreens:
Cheez Its, 9 oz $2
Cheez Its, 4.5 oz, $1
Gummi Fruit Lunch Bag, $1.49 (I needed a $1 filler for my RR and Addison loves these!)
2 Pack Nutri Grain, $4.99
Pop Tarts, $2

There was a $1 coupon on the Nutrigrain Bars and I had a $10 RR from earlier in the week, so I paid a grand total of 48 cents for all of this!

HyVee:
I got quite a bit because they had awesome sales this week, including:
Farmland Hot Dogs, 78 cents
Farmland Bacon, $1.99
Farmland Sausage (2) $1 each

I had 2/$1 Farmland coupons and 2/75 cent Farmland coupons, so I paid a whopping $1.27 for all of the Farmland meat- I was so excited!

They also had iceberg lettuce for 68 cents, 100% Whole Wheat bread for $1.50 and butter for $1.38, among other deals.

So, out of the $75 budget I have spent $68, because I had two earlier trips to Walgreens this week. $7 left that will "rollover" into next week. I find that if I break down the monthly budget into weeks it is easier for me to manage and I am more likely to stay within the budget.

One of the best tips I have read (I got it from moneysavingmom.com) is that always make a list with your NEEDS first. Then you can fill in the rest of the budget with sale items to stockpile. Luckily, we don't need a whole lot at this point because I have a good food stockpile. Mostly our needs weekly are fresh fruits (and some veggies, although we have been eating from the garden this summer), milk, and staple items I can get at Aldi for cheap, like eggs, flour and sugar.

I originally started with a budget for $125 a week and as I have learned to coupon, bargain shop and grow my stockpile, I have lowered that total. Had I started with $75 a week, I know I would have failed and gotten discouraged. Next month, with James eating a majority of meals at the police academy, I am lowering it to $150 a month, or $37.50 a week. Hopefully by the time he finishes, we can keep our food budget at $250 a month.

5 comments:

  1. I'm so glad I found your blog! We're new to the Omaha area and I had been missing all the deal specific blogs in our old location. Don't you just love HyVee??

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  2. Hey! Saw your link on moneysavingmom and I'm from Omaha. Have yet to find anyone here that seriously coupons. I'm glad to find your blog! Heard that the Cass street HyVee pricematches! I've yet to try it.

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  3. Well... I'm wondering why everyone lives so far from California??! :o)

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  4. I heard that the HyVee on 96th & Q doubles coupons on Tuesdays but I have yet to try it.

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  5. I shop at the Hy Vee on 108th and Fort- but it might be worth the drive across town for doubles! I'm so envious of the rest of the country when I see double Q deals.

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