I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 grocery budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).
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I’ve got some GREAT deals to report today — including some that you can do if you have a Kroger or Kroger affiliate! But first things first, last night’s dinner was delicious! I didn’t know how it was going to turn out, but I was very pleasantly surprised! Yay!
In other news, I am having so much fun challenging myself to stick with a $70 grocery budget. I forgot how fun this was to see how well I could do and how well we could eat while on a tighter budget.
I’m also loving hearing from so many of you who are being inspired by following my deal posts on Instagram Stories and am just thrilled to see that you are finding great markdowns at your stores or are looking for new ways to save!
Here are the great deals I got at Kroger last night and this morning (I went to two different Kroger stores and they both had different markdowns):
Thursday’s Kroger Shopping Trip
- Lemon juice (I use this in my daily gallon of lemon water) — $2.49
- Take & Bake Bread — marked down to $0.99
- Rolls — marked down to $0.99
- Whole Wheat bread — marked down to $1.49
- Ground Turkey — marked down to $2.49
- 5 boxes of oatmeal packets — on sale for $1.39 each, used $0.50 Digital Coupon (can be used up to 5 times in one transaction) — $0.89 each after coupon
- 5 boxes of Creamette pasta — on sale for $0.99 each, used $0.50 Digital Coupon (can be used up to 5 times in one transaction) — $0.49 each after coupon
- Total with tax: $16.10
Want to see more details on the deals I got? Watch my live un-bagging video above. 🙂
There is a GREAT deal on bacon at Kroger that I stumbled onto, thanks to a tip from Kroger Krazy!
Through Sunday, Kroger has their Private Selection Center Cut Bacon on sale for just $2.99 (some regions have it for $3.99). There is a $1 off Digital Coupon available that you can use up to 5 times in one transaction — making it just $1.99 per package!!
Jesse was quite excited that I got 4 packages of bacon!!! (I only got 4 so that I could stay under my $70 grocery budget!) I stuck three of them in the freezer to use in the coming weeks and I’m planning at least one breakfast for dinner night next week where we’ll have some yummy bacon alongside our French Toast!
Friday’s Kroger Shopping Trip
- 1 loaf of Sourdough bread — marked down to $1.49
- 3 bags of apples — marked down to $0.99 each
- 1 bag of potatoes — marked down to $0.99
- 1 bag of tomatoes — marked down to $0.99
- 1 bag of onions — marked down to $0.99
- 1 head of lettuce — marked down to $0.49
- 4 packages of bacon — on sale for $2.99, used $1 off Digital Coupon off each — $1.99 per package after coupon and sale
- 1 package cheese — on sale for $1.99, used $0.50 off Digital Coupon — $1.49
- 1 package taco seasoning — Free Friday download coupon
- Total with tax: $18.99
Want to see more details on the deals I got? Watch my live un-bagging video above. 🙂
Total spent this week (last Friday to this Friday): $68.22
Total Cashback: $1.50 from iBotta for buying the Fage yogurt and $0.50 from Checkout 51 for buying the Artisan lettuce!
Debi Z says
I was feeling kinda guilty/jealous that I couldn’t feed our family for $70 a week even though I am a SUPER frugal shopper! Then I realized (duh) that I’m feeding 12 people, not 5. So, you are averaging $14 a week per person and at $175 a week for our family (including 3 teenage boys!) I am almost exactly where you are 🙂 Not that we need to compare, I was just trying to figure out how on earth that would look for our family and I’m happy to realize we’re already there LOL
Crystal Paine says
😉 YAY!!! I’m so glad that it encouraged you! And $175 for 12 people is basically unheard of — especially because you’re feeding teenage boys! Way to go!
Debi Z says
Well, if I were spending $14 per person like you are, I would be at $168 😉 But I’m pretty ok with $7 over that LOL
Rebecca says
Just curious…How do you make sure you feed your family healthy meals when you shop like this? Do you have a certain amount of money you budget to like fruits and vegetables or do you just pick up whatever is marked down and hope that it includes fruits and veggies? Thanks!!
Chanele (Good Life of a Housewife) says
If you shop at Kroger they have a special section where fruit is marked down to .99 cents a bag. I never noticed it until an older kroger employee, eager to chat, pointed it out. He mentioned how most people miss it. He was right, I never noticed it before. Now I always noticed it. There is usually lots of bags of apples and oranges and bananas close to the sell by date on them. Otherwise, I always buy the fruit that is on the first page of the Kroger ad. It’s usually the best deals.. like .99 cent pineapples, or 2 for $4 cantaloupe. You can usually find frozen veggies for 1.00 a bag too!
Crystal Paine says
I always make sure to get plenty of fruits and veggies — whether that’s through markdowns or sales or by getting what’s on sale at Aldi. 🙂
Rebecca says
Great! Thank you! One other question…I’m just wondering…within your $70, do you have a certain amount that you have in mind to spend on each category or do you have a certain amount of pounds of meat, fruit and veggies that you like to buy each week and then just buy less of other things if you can’t find good deals on meat, fruit and veggies? I am just wondering if you have a certain way you think about it as you plan or even when you go in to shop. Thanks!
Crystal Paine says
Nope, no certain amount. 🙂 It just depends upon the week and what’s on sale and what we have and what we need to buy. I’m trying to buy enough meat for an entire week of meals and enough fruit and veggies for the entire week, too. But my goal is to buy enough for MORE than a week so that I’m buying at least enough for the week + extras. The more that I do this, the more options we have and the more wiggle room I have for grocery spending and buying ahead! 🙂
Rebecca says
Ok! Thank you! That is helpful!