Now that we’re all moved and settled in, I’m having fun getting back to deal-shopping again! And I decided to go “back to my roots” and challenge myself to see how well we could eat on $70 per week for our family of five.
I’m mostly going to be shopping markdowns and planning our menu around that, plus looking for any really fantastic deals with printable coupons. Since I changed our morning routine (and it’s going SO well!), I now have time in the morning after school drop-off to run by a store for 10 to 15 minutes to look for markdowns.
For some of you, it might feel crazy and ridiculous for me to be going to the store multiple times per week and just doing little shopping trips. For me, it’s a fun hobby that also saves us money!
In addition, I’m not wasting any extra gas or time since it’s right on the way home for me to go to Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, or Target. I’m also hoping to hit Aldi and Dollar Tree every now and then when I’m over in that part of town.
I hit the motherload of deals on Thursday (see photo above), but I’m not including that $48 total in this week’s grocery spending because that was our “big” grocery shopping trip last week.
Since I’m challenging myself to stick with a $70/week grocery budget this week, I’m allotting $10 per day to spend when I look for markdowns and deals. (I can go over, of course, if I find a great deal, but it means that I have to spend less on another day then! So it’s easier if I just shoot to spend less than $10 every day!)
Here are my grocery shopping trip purchases so far:
Friday’s Kroger Shopping Trip — spent $11.84
- Buttermilk — marked down to $1.19
- Sweet Tea — marked down to $0.99
- Lemonade — marked down to $0.69
- Dream Cow yogurt — marked down to $0.69
- 3 containers Greek yogurts — marked down to $0.49 each
- 3 Fage yogurts — marked down to $0.59 each (got $1.50 back from iBotta!)
- 2 Yoplait mixins — marked down to $0.49
- 3 bags of Red Peppers — marked down to $0.99 each
- Dannon Oikos drinkable yogurt — marked down to $0.49
- Total with tax: $1.84
Saturday’s Kroger Shopping Trip — spent $10.01
- 5 boxes of Kellogg’s cereal — $0.99 per box (Special Saturday Only Sale)
- Kroger Kettle Chips — FREE (Used Free Friday Digital Coupon)
- Organic Eggs — marked down to $2.49
- 2 bags of pears — marked down to $0.99 per bag
- Total with tax: $10.01
Monday’s Kroger Shopping Trip — Spent $9.56
- 1 gallon Whole Milk — $2.59
- 2 packages Stayfree Pads — on sale for $1.99 when you buy 5 participating items, used $2/2 Stayfree Product (Kroger Digital Coupon) — $0.99 each
- Artisan Lettuce — marked down to $1.49 (got $0.50 back from Checkout 51 for buying this)
- Potatoes — marked down to $0.99
- 2 packages of Turkey Bacon — on sale for $1.49 each when you buy 5 participating items, used 2 $0.55/1 Butterball Turkey Bacon printables — $0.94 each
- Crest toothpaste — on sale for $1.99 when you buy 5 participating items, used $2/1 Crest toothpaste (Kroger Digital Coupon) — FREE
- Total with tax: $9.56
Tuesday’s Walgreens Shopping Trip — spent $1.72
4 packages of ALL laundry tabs — on sale for $1.99 this week, used 4 $1/1 coupons (no longer available) + used $3 Walgreens Balance Rewards
Total with tax: $1.72
This Week’s Super Simple Menu Plan
This menu is subject to change a little if I find some great deals or markdowns! 🙂
Breakfasts
Cereal, Yogurt, Eggs, Fruit, Toast
Lunches
Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, Fruit, Veggies, Yogurt, Fried Eggs, Avocados, Salad, Leftovers
Dinners
Monday: Pancakes, Eggs, Fruit
Tuesday: Smoked Sausage, Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Berry Cottage Whip
Wednesday: Meatballs, Homemade Bread or Muffins, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Salad, Fruit
Thursday: Waffles, Turkey Bacon, Fruit, Scrambled Eggs
Friday: Sausage/Peppers/Peas/Onions, Rice, Fruit
Saturday: Dinner out (not included in our grocery budget)
Sunday: Snack-y dinner (popcorn, cereal, etc.)Total spent so far this week: $33.13
Total left to spend: $36.87 (Stay tuned for updates over the next few days if I score any great deals!)Total Cashback: $1.50 from iBotta for buying the Fage yogurt and $0.50 from Checkout 51 for buying the Artisan lettuce!
Join the Grocery Budget Challenge!
Want to join me in this challenge? Choose an amount that you are committing to spend on your groceries for the next week and then watch for my posts over the next week for you to check in and tell us how you are doing!
Also, be sure to follow me on Instagram — I’m sharing my grocery shopping savings every day on Instagram Stories!
