Even though groceries seem sky-high these days, there are still many ways to save at the store. And who doesn’t love a good grocery deal?
I work full time and have small children, so my shopping and planning time is severely limited. I have found shopping on my lunch hour to be the best way to get in, grab what I need, and get out before someone little begs for that overpriced item with a Disney or Marvel character slapped on it. (Seriously, I think I saw Frozen characters on everything, including toilet paper this winter!)
I rarely use coupons, but occasionally I’ll get a good checkout coupon or find some good deals with digital coupons. I like to check the grocery stores online before I ever step into them to see what their weekly sales are. I also clip whatever digital coupons look good to my Kroger card just in case I need them. I don’t feel the need to use these, and I try to leave room for unexpected sales and deals, because those are where the true savings are.
Sometimes I’ll plan meals before shopping, but often I’ll plan around the goodies I find. Somehow, it all works out. Usually. There are times when I end up with weird ingredients and try to find a way to work them in. I’m not always successful!
This week, the budget is pretty tight, but we’re stocked up decently and didn’t need a whole lot. We lived out of the pantry, fridge and freezer last week and did just fine because I did a massive stock-up the week before.
So I budgeted $100 for grocery and household items. Here’s this week hauls:
Kroger: $49
- Boneless Pork loins- $1.59/lb (limit 2) + I had a checkout coupon for $2 off $15 meat purchase. Woohoo!
- Comforts Diapers (pretty good Kroger generic brand) on sale for $12.99 for 80 plus $2 digital coupon
- Cheese- 1 lb blocks on sale $2.99 plus .50 off digital coupon that can be used up to 5 times in one transaction. So of course, I bought 5! $2.49/lb for cheese is really good! Occasionally they’ll have it for $1.99 and it’s not on sale. It’s strange, but they change the label once in a while but don’t announce it. I’ve stocked up twice that way, by just watching the labels (they’re usually yellow). So I make it a habit to always swing through that section and look. I have my planned “deal-scouting” route I take! LOL
- Reduced produce- they always have great stuff marked down. Half the time I’m not even sure why it’s marked down, and sometimes it’s organic and looks perfect! So of course I stock up and plan things around what I find. Today they didn’t have much (Tuesdays are better for some reason). But I did get a bag of clemetines for .99
- Gas discount points- And of course, everything I spend there goes towards gas discounts. You get 1 point for every dollar spent, and 100 points= 10 cents off per gallon. They also offer double points for gift cards purchased there (such as Amazon, iTunes, restaurants, etc). At Christmas it’s quadruple points! I really need to get Amazon gift cards there and just apply them to my account before I buy anything online. I usually forget.
Aldi: $21
- Milk- They had half gallons of 2% milk and chocolate milk for 90 cents each! That’s 1.80/gallon, so I bought 12. Any time I can get it for $2 or less, I stock up. I have a deep freeze and often will freeze a bunch (just have to pour off an inch or so into another container to leave head room for expansion when freezing).
Farm and Fleet: $22 (not groceries but necessary when you live in the country!)
- Fencing- They are having a HUGE sale on everything fence-related. And I mean EVERYTHING! I asked one of the gals who worked there if they had this sale often and she says she’s never seen it this good. Man, I wish I had more to spend this week, because almost everything is buy 1 get 1 free and it’s not marked up to some crazy price. I actually bought chicken wire a few weeks ago there and the price is competitive with everyone in the area. So I picked up 2 more rolls at the cost of 1 ($18 for the 36 inch by 50 foot with 1 inch holes) plus some t-post clips (also B1G1F at $1.99) for my never ending planting, gardening, and chicken adventures! (Yes, I use chicken wire a LOT around here!)
Total: $92
Gotta love those cheap thrills!!! Come share yours in the comments!
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