So I told you that we were going to try to mostly eat from the pantry this past week since we’d gone over-budget on groceries the week before. Well, we ended up stretching what we already had on hand to last all of last week. So that means we’re now almost back on track with our budget — yay!

My husband swung by ALDI with a list and got the above items. I forgot to ask him to save the receipt, though, and we’ve been unable to figure out where it went off to (ever have that happen??). The beauty of using cash is that you don’t have to worry so much about exactly how much you spent so long as you stuck with the cash budget.

So I’m not sure on the exact, exact total, but the above shown groceries were just under $49 based upon the cash he spent. He also bought a bag of tortilla chips that I failed to get in the picture.

The tub of Tide Pods was purchased from Amazon using Swagbucks. I’ve not tried these before and splurged on them because I wanted to see how they worked compared to regular detergent.

We also used the 2 FREE Malt-O-Meal coupons to get cereal and the 2 FREE Hillshire Farms coupons to get two tubs of deli turkey. And I failed to get a picture of those, too, before they were opened and partially eaten. Because clearly, I’m super on top of things today. Ahem.

Wondering what we’re eating this week? See our weekly menu here.

So this may seem a little silly, but I practically floated home after my shopping trip tonight… because I stayed under budget and found some pretty good deals! Not anything downright and utterly amazing, but SOOO much better than my first TN shopping trip.

I’m making headway — huzzah!!! Next week, I might just be brave enough to try using coupons at Publix.

Here’s what I bought:

Kroger

Whole Milk — $2.99
2 packages of Tyson Bacon — $2.99 — I was so excited about this price!
1.73 lbs. of Angus 93/7 ground beef — $9.50
1 lb. ground turkey — $3.99

Total with tax: $24.09

ALDI

6 cucumbers — $0.33 each
1 bag of potatoes — $2.99
1 bag of onions — $1.89
2 colored peppers — $1.99
Blueberries — $1.99
Cabbage — $1.29
3 garlic cloves — $0.99
2.73 lbs. of bananas — $1.20 {I will not covet my sister’s 43-lb. box of bananas for $5 find. ;)}
1 bag of tomatoes — $1.99
2 bags of baby carrots — $0.99 each

Total with tax: $19.62

And if you missed it, here’s our simple menu plan for this week.

After my Publix shopping trip fail, I decided to go back to my roots and try ALDI here in TN. I was planning to go last night, but Jesse was out running errands with Silas and offered to swing by ALDI to grab the items on my list. I was happy to oblige.

Here’s what we bought:

ALDI Shopping Trip

1 package tortillas — $1.19
2 cans refried beans — $0.79 each
2 boxes of aluminum foil — $1.99 each
Frozen green beans — $1.49
2 bags of chicken breasts — $5.99 each
1 package thick sliced bacon — $5.99
2 packages center cut bacon — $3.69 each
2 Cucumbers — $0.33 each
2 bags of Gala apples — $3.49 each
Strawberries — $1.99
4 Avocados — $0.99 each
Baby carrots — $0.99
Olive Oil — $2.99
Total with tax: $55.39

It wasn’t the most amazing shopping trip ever, but it did give me hope that, with some practice, we’ll be able to get back to most of the prices we were used to paying in Kansas!