budgeting,  mom

Come Grocery Shopping with Me

October 8, 2021 /

I haven’t been making an effort at budgeting in the past few months and one of the ways that I notice that is that our grocery bill keeps increasing. Yes, the prices of food might be going up but most of what I buy seems to be about the same price and I should not see the large increases in my bill. I shared with my teen how high by grocery bill was last week (before this one I am sharing) and he asked me : “Remember when you were trying to keep your grocery bill at $75 to $100 a week?”. I spent $300 that week and barely bought any meat and I was shocked at myself! I decided then that I would try to turn that around the month of October and get back to some of my good habits. I do shop the sales but sometimes we just eat a lot!

Here are some of my past post about budgeting and food:

So this is what I did for this week’s grocery shopping:

Meal Planning and Grocery List

  1. I use the meal planner from a Simple Purposeful Life because I like to support small businesses, because it keeps me organized and I love the tear away grocery list sheet. I also like that it allows me to go back and see which meals I have planned in the past.
  2. I look at the Kroger sales ad to see what I would like to buy, download the special coupons and plan a couple of meals with the meats that are on sale that I wish to buy. I then take out recipes books if necessary (not this time) to plan other meals or look at pinterest.
  3. I write my grocery list according to that menu and add any pantry items I am low on: this past week was napkins, foil, white pepper, flour, sugar and balsamic vinegar (thankfully none are expensive unlike some of the items last week like local honey at $16).

Kroger and Aldi

I usually start at Kroger and do keep an eye out for Woohoo deals but I am trying to resist any impulse buying unless it is fantastic. So I stuck to my list!

 

I then go to Aldi to pick up what I know is cheaper than Kroger. This is where I have to watch impulse buying because they do have some good deals and they have some fun foreign and home items! The trick is not to go down those aisles which I didn’t this week. My total grocery bill ended up being $115 however because I had company in the house for 3 days, I ended up having to stop by Aldi to pick up some more deli meat, cheese and tortillas (my boys like tortilla wraps) knowing that the boys had a couple days off from school. So my total came to $127. That is a lot less than usual but I know that by Friday, there will be nothing in the house!!

Menu

  • Thursday: baked chicken on Traeger, spinach ham puffs, spoonbread
  • Friday: my brother purchased groceries to prepare dinner (ceviche, pesto pasta, salad)
  • Saturday: Kroger fried chicken, cucumber tomato salad, brownies, fruit and cool whip, loaf bread (picnic)
  • Sunday: smoked pork loin, carrots, spinach
  • Monday: smoked sausage, peppers and rice
  • Tuesday: chicken drumsticks, broccoli, homemade bread
  • Wednesday: humus and veggies and crackers
  • Thursday: Paninis with whatever I can find, corn and broccoli
  • Friday: Cajun shrimp and rice, green beans

I made some pumpkin cheese bread which was unworthy of pictures as I took it out of the pan too early and it broke apart because I did not read all of the directions, we made applesauce muffins and smoothies too. Those helped stretch out snacks and my son and I received good bags full of snacks when we ran our 5K on Saturday.

As I mentioned, at the end of this week, my freezer will be pretty empty. This coming Sunday, we are providing lunch at church and will also grill on the weekend. I will be shopping the sales but I am sure it will be closer to $175 to $200!

A bientôt!

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17 Comments

  • Joanne

    October 8, 2021 at 7:57 am

    We eat a lot of food too; I’ve actually been trying not to notice what we’re spending on groceries because I just can not believe how much our food bill has gone up. I know part of that is due to our commitment to eat more fresh & organic foods than when I used to just stock up on anything that would fill us up but man I hate thinking about how much of our budget goes to food. One thing I have noticed is that we eat out much less now that we’re eating healtheir too so I’m hopeful that the savings somewhat offset the spending.

    • mimifce

      October 8, 2021 at 4:50 pm

      It is crazy! It’s not as if we waste a lot! But planning better does help and making sure I shop the sales for meat and protein helps too.

  • Jayne

    October 8, 2021 at 11:05 am

    I have just started meal planning. My youngest wasn’t too keen because he could see the list of meals and there would always be 1 or 2 he isn’t too keen on but after a few weeks he likes seeing the list and looking for his favorties. I’ve also been letting him pick off the list what we have for dinner and he looks forward to it. Thanks for sharing your planner. I have just been using scrap paper each week…I will definitely be checking out the one you use!

    • mimifce

      October 8, 2021 at 4:49 pm

      I need to double check if I put the link! I sometimes have the boys help me plan a menu which helps but tonight I do 2 of the kiddos will end up with a grilled cheese or something!

  • Lucy Bertoldi

    October 8, 2021 at 3:15 pm

    I love your weekly menu! I need to start planning…I cook so much and then we have too many leftovers all the time. Ive started delivering to my kids lol!! Have a great weekend xx

    • mimifce

      October 8, 2021 at 4:48 pm

      I’d love to be your kid! I don’t have too many leftovers usually, but every so often I do have enough for one more meal. If it is really good, no such luck. Enjoy your weekend!

  • Marsha Banks

    October 8, 2021 at 4:58 pm

    Oh, grocery shopping is one of my least favorite things to do. Since covid, we’ve been shopping online and picking up. This has done wonders for my food planning as well as my budget. Now that I can go into stores, I just don’t feel the need to go back to that old way of grocery shopping. But, we will have an Aldo opening in a couple of months so that may all change!

    http://marshainthemiddle.com/

  • jodie filogomo

    October 8, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    We have just discovered Aldi’s and can find some great deals there. But it’s those impulse things that get us every time.
    But remember, your boys are getting older too and GROWING….they eat a lot, LOL!!
    OXOX
    Jodie
    http://www.jtouchofstyle.com

  • Ellie

    October 8, 2021 at 7:39 pm

    Aldi gets me every time and I usually shop there once a week. I love their oval Italian bread and other things not available anywhere else. But I am shocked at my total each trip. Might have to try their online ordering service, maybe it would help keep impulse buys away and I can still get my favorites!
    Ellie
    Ellibelle’s Corner