Note from Crystal: My oldest sister, Brigette, lives in South Carolina with her husband and four young children. I asked her recently if she’d start sharing her shopping trips here since she’s an amazing bargain-shopper and has some different stores in her area than Gretchen and I do. Enjoy!
Harris Teeter
1 Romaine Lettuce – $0.99
1 Red Leaf Lettuce – $0.99
Zucchini squash (2.30lbs @ $0.99/lb) – $2.28
Chicken Leg Quarters (5.75lbs @ $0.69/lb) – $3.97
5 Dozen Eggs ($1.25/dozen) – $6.25
3 Boxes Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese – $1.10 each, used 3 $0.35/1 printable coupon from their website – $0.40 each after coupons
2 Boxes Horizon Organic Macaroni and Cheese – $1.50 each – used -$0.55/1 Horizon mac & cheese printable – $0.40 each after coupons (they were all out of the boxes that were on sale for $1 each and would have been free)
3 Boxes (4-ct) Hunt’s Snack Pudding – $1 each – used $0.75 off any THREE (3) Snack Pack Pudding 4ct – $0.50 each after coupons (my husband can use these in his daily sack lunches at work.)
1 Picsweet Steamers Green Beans – $1, used -$0.50/1 from the 3/02 Red Plum insert – free after coupon
1 Silk Almond Milk – $3, used $1 off Silk Almond, half gallon printable, plus $1 Harris Teeter eCoupon – $1 after coupons
2 Bags Santitas Corn Chips – $2 each, used $1 off of $3 salty snack purchase (BI-LO catalina coupon) – $1.50 each after coupon
Used $3 off of $30 total purchase (BI-LO catalina coupon)
Total after sales and coupons: $16.46
WalMart (We were already there to pick up something, so I price-matched a couple of Aldi’s produce prices while we were there.)
3 Avocados @ $0.69 each – $2.07
1 Pineapple – $1.19
1 5lb bag of Flour – $1.68
2 Gallons Milk ($3.98 each) – $7.96
Total: $12.90
BI-LO (They were out of most things I went for, unfortunately.)
1 Large Box Honey Nut Cheerios – $3, used $0.50/1 General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios or Honey Nut Medley Crunch Cereal – $2 after coupon (not a good price, but my husband likes cereal for weekday breakfasts, and we were out!)
5 Yoplait 100-Calorie Greek Yogurt Cups – $3 (must buy in sets of 5 for this price), used Bi-Lo eCoupon, plus SavingStar (EXP 05/31) eCoupon – $1 for 5 after coupons and SavingStar
1 Half Gallon Minute Maid Orange Juice – marked down to $2.49
1 (4-pk) YoCrunch Chips Ahoy Yogurt – marked down to $2.29, used $0.75/1 printable – $0.79 after coupon
Total after sales and coupons: $7.28, plus receive $1 from SavingStar
Local Farmer’s Market (I LOVE this place, and I totally scored there today!)
Huge Box of Bananas – $5.00 (I came home and weighed it because I’m weird like that. 🙂 It was 43 lbs!! We will eat as many as we can over the next week, and then freeze up the rest for baking and smoothies.)
Box of Assorted Pears – $4.00 (21 lbs!)
4 Heads of Cauliflower ($1.25 each) – $5.00
3 Roma Tomatoes (@ $0.49/lb) – $0.56
1 Bag of Mini Carrots – $0.99
Total: $15.55
Total for all grocery items: $52.19, plus receive $1 back from SavingStar
Menu Plan for this Week
Breakfasts
Scrambled Eggs, Yogurt, Fruit, Easy Baked Apple Oatmeal (I will use pears instead of apples.), Smoothies, Toast
Lunches
Baked Potatoes (I bought a large discounted bag of potatoes last week that needs to be used up), Macaroni and Cheese, PB&J on Homemade Bread, Tossed Salad, Leftovers, Carrot Sticks, Fruit
Dinners
Spaghetti Marinara (using homemade sauce from the freezer), Easy Italian Breadsticks, Green Beans
Venison Roast in the Crockpot (my husband loves to hunt, and we have an abundance of deer meat in our freezer!), Baked Potatoes, Roasted Cauliflower, Biscuits
Taco Salad (I use ground venison instead of beef.), Fresh Fruit
Chicken Gravy over Rice, Steamed Cauliflower, Pears
Meat Potato Quiche, Banana Pear Muffins, Broccoli
Grilled Pizza, Tossed Salad
Baked Chicken, Cheesy Mashed Potato Cauliflower Bake, Banana Oat Muffins (gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, sugar-free! Recipe coming soon!)
Jennifer says
I noticed some of your prices seemed to indicate your coupons were valued @ double their face value…. Is that something your stores normally do for you? Is that what it means to double a coupon? Just curious: our stores don’t do that here in Cali… I try so hard to coupon, but sometimes I get a bit frustrated with how much effort it takes. I also try to shop @ multiple stores, but it DOES get exhausting, especially with a 2 year old. 🙂 I’m trying to learn more though from people like you!
Brigette says
Yes – both Harris Teeter and Bi-lo double coupons up to $0.99 every single day. I am really spoiled! Just do the best you can – there are weeks I don’t go to multiple stores (although they all are within a few miles of each other, so that helps), or my husband does a store or two and I do another. I have 4 littles (7, 5, 3 and 3 months) so I can relate. Any small amount you can save counts! 🙂
Jennifer says
BTW, that was awesome about the produce at the Farmer’s Market! The prices at ours are often higher than the grocery store (but I haven’t been in a while since they’re open on Thursday & payday is on Friday: I shop on a budget w/cash only & once every 2 weeks, since we live 30 min. from most of the main stores/FM). I think you inspired me to go back & look for deals! I really need to start shopping CVS though… I’ve been afraid of spending too much in one place & then not finding something else to spend the ECB’s on later. But we have another little one on the way now & I know the more kiddos we have the more expensive & crazy busy it will be. Kuddos to you with 4 little blessings! Don’t know how you moms with lots of little ones keep up with everything! I decided I’m going to have to start freezer cooking…. 🙂 Thanks to you and Crystal for your great example in savings & more! You all are my heros! 😉
Jennifer Hoffman says
Thanks for sharing!! What do you do for snacks??
Brigette says
This week…bananas. 🙂 I never really “plan” snacks – we’ve never done a morning snack, but we usually do an afternoon snack: apple slices with pb, Popsicles, (leftover breakfast smoothies frozen in a mold), muffins, etc. I keep it simple.
Jennifer Hoffman says
Awesome! Thanks!
Kelli says
Would love to know how you prepare your venison roast or any other great venison recipes!
amie says
Okay, I had to share that I made the meat and potato quiche. It was my first time ever making quiche. I used cheddar cheese and browned ground turkey in just a few frozen onions and peppers that were diced small. I seasoned the meat well. It was delicious and beautiful. I will be making it again.
Brigette says
Yay! Thanks for trying it, and I am SO glad you liked it!
amie says
I am oh-so-envious of your produce hall and happy for you, too. Can one be envious and happy for someone at the same time? Hummm…Oh well, I am. Lol. I try to stock up on the older/slightly bruised produce, but this is amazing. It must be awesome to have all the venison. My uncle was a hunter and I have fond memories of his venison burgers. There are plenty of deer where I live now, but we don’t have the heart or the skills for hunting.
Lisa says
I wish I could find great deals like this. I have a cousin in OR who gets boxes of blueberries for almost nothing. Not a lot grows in the CO mountains, so farmers markets here cost more than the grocery store. It’s not uncommon to find $2 lb/squash, $4 /lb tomatoes, $30/box pears, apples or peaches. Those prices aren’t spectacular to me. Once in a while Sprouts (they’re a small grocery chain) will have some great price of 3 lbs of something for a dollar, but it’s pretty rare and when I see it I get about 30 pounds.
If there are others like me who hate the price of produce everywhere you go, check out http://www.BountifulBaskets.org You can get a basket (it’s pretty random and you don’t know what you’ll get when you order it) of produce for $15, or a box of organic for $25. You have to order in about the first hour it’s open in my area because they sell out quickly. Other areas just have to get their order in by Tuesday night. They start taking orders at noon on Monday and you pick up produce Saturday during the 20 minute pickup window for your area. It’s a pretty good deal. Not as fabulous as your farmer’s market, but better than I can get at any of my local options.
Brigette says
Thanks for this info! I have heard great things about Bountiful Baskets! Last I checked, they weren’t offered in my area, BUT a fabulous option if you are near a pick-up. 🙂
Brandy @ The Prudent Homemaker says
Brigette, thank you for sharing. It’s always interesting to me to see how other families shop. I shop completely differently with a family of 9. For instance, I would have bought several more packages of chicken at that price to freeze (I also work on a monthly grocery budget rather than a weekly one, so I might spend more some weeks stocking up on a great deal and not buy anything on other weeks).
The bananas and pears are something I would buy, in that quantity. When grocery store prices are super low, I ask the produce manager for a box or more. In December when oranges were .19 a pound, I bought 4 boxes, which was 180 pounds.
The other items are items that I haven’t bought since I had 3 small children; I no longer buy cold cereal, individual yogurt, boxed mac and cheese, other individual items, or carrots in a bag smaller than 10 pounds.
It’s a good reminder to me that readers with smaller families shop and meal plan differently. You’re eating several things that you just bought this week. I haven’t been grocery shopping for 2 weeks and most likely won’t go for several more weeks.
I enjoyed your post and I love seeing your meal plan! Thank you for sharing.
Brigette says
I loved reading your comment! I actually was planning on stocking up on more chicken, but honestly it didn’t look as fresh as I would have liked, and I still have some turkeys in my freezer to use up from Thanksgiving (when I was getting 15lb turkeys like $5!). All the individual things – yogurt, Mac and cheese, mini carrots, etc. are things I only buy if they are really cheap. They make our lunch times less stressful since my 7yr old can easily put together those things while I am nursing the baby and homeschooling the boys. 🙂
A monthly grocery shopping trips sounds reeeeally nice, but I am not that organized at this point in my life. I need you to teach me!
Brandy @ The Prudent Homemaker says
I homeschool until 11:00 am, and then we stop for a bit while the children do their before lunch chores (One picks up the living room, one sets the table and pours water, one cleans one bathroom, one cleans another bathroom, and three pick up the toys in the library). During that time, I make lunch.
We have soup a lot, so I will often take a moment to cut some things up while they’re doing their schoolwork, and put them in a pot to start cooking (around 10:00 am; though if I’m really on the ball, I’ll get the soup started while I’m making breakfast). Then at 11:00 I just need to dish up the soup.
Other days, we have leftovers for lunch, so those are just heated in the microwave. The children can do this, or dish up soup. I make a huge pot of soup, and often I’ll have leftover soup for another day, which also makes things easy.
Then we continue school after lunch.
I still have turkeys in our freezer, too. We had one this week!
I usually have 3-4 trips to the store in a month (each one to a different store) and they are often the same week of the month. So, I’ll go to Sam’s Club once, Target once, a grocery store once, and another grocery store once. Once in a while there is a good sale at the grocery store that is in the same parking lot as my husband’s office, so he’ll walk over there and pick something up for me before he comes home.
On the mac and cheese–we go through so much, that a 6 ounce box isn’t big enough for us. My family eats a pound and a half of pasta in one sitting. When macaroni noodles are on sale for .50 a pound, I’ll get those.
Brigette says
Thanks SO much for taking the time to type this out! I loved reading it! You sound super organized and I want to try some of these things you mentioned. 🙂 thanks again!!
Kerri says
What great bargains. I will have to head out this afternoon to the farmers market. Sounds promising. I am feeding two very active teenage athletes and I am trying to make sure they get the proper nutrition. Not cheap! I need those banana and pear deals 🙂 Keep blogging. I love it. Especially at 6 in the AM when everyone else in my house is asleep 🙂
Tasha says
Have you learned any tricks to make your bananas last longer?
Thanks for the menu ideas.
Looking forward to the gluten free muffin recipe.
Brigette says
That would be a great question for everyone to chime in on. The only thing I do is separate the green ones from the ripe ones, if I am trying to keep the green ones from getting ripe as fast. I am planning on freezing or dehydrating most of these, though, as we use them daily in smoothies, and love them in baking.
Brigette says
I have no idea where the “your comment is awaiting moderation” is in the above reply came from!!! I did NOT type it…it just showed up when I hit “post.” Wierd. Technology is sooo not my thing. 🙂
Karin from Birmingham says
Re: keeping bananas fresh longer….I just saw a video post saying that wrapping the stem of the bunch of bananas in plastic (plastic wrap or even a plastic bag) seals in the ethylene gas emitted by the stem that speeds ripening. You wrap the plastic around the top and also up and between the bananas and back around the stem (weird analogy, but think of it like diapering the stem like a baby…..?) Be sure to slice those ripe bananas up and flash freeze on a cookie sheet, then bag up for later use in baking, smoothies, etc. Finally, sort of related: just saw a Pin that washing bananas in mild dish soap wash/rinse keeps fruit flies away! Stay Frugal, Ladies!!
jane in Seattle says
Your prices are different than ours. Some are cheaper. Some more expensive.
I feed three adults and a child for about 60.00 a week, stocking. Less actual food eaten. I have never seen a farmers market that cheap. Our farmers markets are mostly organic, like five dollars a pound for tomatoes.
Brigette says
$60 a week is GREAT! 🙂
Deanna says
What great deals at the Farmer’s Market! I hope that someday we’ll live in a location with a large market. Ours has 4 of 5 small vendors at it and the prices are nothing spectacular.
Looking forward to your muffin recipe! I’m curious to see how close it is to mine. Can’t wait to try it.
Shannon says
At our local markets, when an employee is stocking produce, I will ask if I can buy the damaged produce (in a box on the lower shelf of their cart) at a discount. Some say “no” because it is donated to the local food bank or there is a policy not to reduce prices, but sometimes they say “yes!” Bell peppers that split open because they fall on the floor wash up just fine, bruised fruits are fine in salads or smoothies, etc.
Once I saw an employee swapping out slightly speckled bananas with very green ones. I asked, and they were going to throw them away because someone ordered the “wrong ripeness.” A quick trip to the manager’s office resulted in 63 lb of bananas for $5. I calculated that would be about 1050 breakfast muffins! Your picture brings back memories. 🙂
Brigette says
That’s awesome!! You are a woman after my own heart – ha! 🙂 Great idea!
Courtney Scott says
Great haul!
$3.98 a gallon for milk?!?!?!???!? I nearly cried when we hit $3 here in MI!
Brigette says
We moved from MI last summer, and I DID cry when I saw how expensive milk was here!! The most I EVER paid in MI was $2.49/gallon. It’s amazing how much milk prices vary in the U.S.!
Rachael Waller says
Try CVS for your milk; it often goes on sale for $3/gallon. I believe the prices are national.
Brandy @ The Prudent Homemaker says
I about cried just reading that price!
Alison says
The farmers market near the airport in Charlotte is a great one too!! and I agree about teeter!! I moved from jersey!! ALL of my family is so jealous of the crazy shopping deals here!!
Brigette says
I have always wanted to stop at the one near the airport (but the only time we are close is when we are going to/ from airport… Never a great time to stop ;)). Your comment has made me officially NEED to go! And yes, Harris Teeter is hands down my most favorite coupon store ever!
Heather says
Sorry, ladies, but your math doesn’t add up in this post. Am I missing something, like your store doubles coupons or something?
Brigette Shevy says
Both BI-LO and Harris Teeter stores double coupons up to $0.99 every single day. I know…I am spoiled! 🙂
Melissa says
?? added up for me!
Melissa says
Oooh I need that Banana Oat muffin recipe – I am really restricted due to my sons allergies while I am still feeding him! Those sound great!
Brigette Shevy says
I feel your pain. My little nursling can’t do dairy or gluten. And I have trouble with eggs and peanuts. That eliminates a lot!!
Melissa says
Oh wow, yeah I definitely need to take a good look at your meal plan! My little guy is currently allergic to all of those and I eliminated all of them because he has Eczema that flares up badly if I eat any of those… 🙁
Brigette says
Well, my meal plan is mainly for the rest of my family, and they still eat everything that I can’t. I just make small adjustments for myself (for example, the Taco Salad will be build-your-own, and I won’t put cheese or sour cream on mine; when we have spaghetti, I will eat my sauce on top of zucchini “noodles” instead of pasta, etc.). Sorry about your baby’s eczema – my second child had that, and it was awful! 🙁
Diane says
I was off the top 8 allergens plus corn for my twins for 6 mos then they outgrew their sensitivities but I recommend Sophie Safe Cooking cook book for top 8 allergen free recipes.
Brigette says
Thanks!! I will see if I can get that cookbook from my library!
Maria says
I am SO GLAD to see another family like mine! My husband loves to hunt and gets enough deer meat to last us a whole year. We found our go-to cookbooks to be written by Steve and Gale Loder if we want our venison really good. We’re also becoming gluten-free too!
Brigette Shevy says
I will have to check out those cookbooks! We do ALOT of venison – when I first started cooking with it years ago, I mixed it with ground beef/turkey. Now that I’ve figured out how to cook it better, we almost never buy any kind of beef, and no one can tell the difference. 🙂 I LOVE feeding my family free-range, grass-fed, organic meat without spending a fortune! We’ve been going through 3 deer a year, but I expect that number to increase as our kids get older. 🙂
Kelly says
Please continue to share recipes using venison or other game. There are probably many of us who would love new ideas in that department!
Maria says
We get 3-4 also. My husband is also on the ‘road kill’ list in our county, and we get a few through that we ground up for burgers or sausage. Indiana’s DNR also has a GiveIN Game Program where you can sign up into a program so if a hunter gets some but doesn’t want to keep the meat, they can forward it to whoever is in this program. We haven’t gotten any that way yet, though it might be better for you where you live, if there’s a similar program. The DNR also has a ecookbook for wild game. I think that link will get you there.
https://secure.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/7562.htm
Brigette says
I have never heard of the GiveIN Game program. What a great idea! Thanks SO much for the link – can’t wait to check it out!
Doris says
Crystal and Brigitte — what a team! First to Crystal — welcome to TN! We moved to TN (we’re in the Carthage area not too far from the busy Nashville area) from Upstate NY — what a change! You sound like you’ve already settled in (even though you have little on the walls!). Wait till the winter! WHAT A CHANGE! I LOVE how you include your sisters on MSM! Brigitte — what a blessing your little posts here and there have been to us. My daughter loves to see how you use your venison! Her Daddy & brothers (and little sister skunked them all this past year! LOL) keep our freezer stocked with venison too — WHAT A BLESSING! I’m a little jealous of your farmers market!! BUT it has given me the incentive to GET LOOKING! WHAT a deal! $5.00 for 43 lbs of bananas! WOW! And the pears! TERRIFIC! Just wanted to tell you both that you are a blessing to my and my daughter and I pray that our wonderful heavenly Father will continue to bless you all!
Brigette Shevy says
Awww – thank you! You are SO sweet!
Jessica says
Wow. I wish we had those farmer’s market prices! I’m in Columbus, OH, and even though my state is heavy in agriculture, our farmer’s markets have ridiculous prices. $7 for a pint of raspberries. $5 a pound for locally grown apples. $5 for a quart of strawberries. Not in my budget 🙁
Brigette Shevy says
Yikes!! I know there are a lot of roadside stands/orchards/farmer’s market places where I live, and the prices vary drastically. It might be worth it to check out all of them in your area, or ask about purchasing in bulk, if they offer discounts on “seconds,” etc.
Sara@ Save Money, Live Joyfully says
I love that you include your family in your blog. It’s so neat to read how frugally minded your sisters are! Just curious, how many siblings do you have? And do you think growing up in a large family helped you in developing a frugal mindset?
Crystal Paine says
I have six siblings — three sisters and three brothers! I’m second in line. 🙂
I’m not sure it was the large family that gave me a frugal mindset, but more my parents’ wise examples and how they modeled financial stewardship before us and also gave us many opportunities to learn to practice wise money management from a young age.
Kelia R. says
Amazing! I seriously need to start checking out the local farmer’s market. I live is Upstate SC and we have a couple. I would love to pull off a haul like that. I’m feeding 6 people so any where we can save is a bonus.
Deana says
I live in upstate SC as well. Last year they opened a new Farmer’s Market in my town and this post has made me want to go check it out next Thursday!
Kelia R. says
Hey Deana just curious but where is that Farmer’s Market? The ones I know of are 2 in Greenville one on Rutherford Rd and the one that runs I think from now through October in downtown Greenville. Thanks
Anne says
Way to go! So awesome! I am inspired to look for a local produce place in our area like that. I’d take that many pears or bananas, too!
Brigette Shevy says
I hope you find one! The first time I went grocery shopping after moving to SC, I went to all the major chain stores, walked out without buying anything, and went out to my car and cried. I had major sticker shock! That’s when I started exploring other options. 🙂
Brooke says
I’m in South Carolina! Where’s that farmer’s market?!?!
Brigette Shevy says
Rock Hill 🙂
Meredith says
Whoa, I’m in Fort Mill. Where is it????? I’d love to know!
Brigette Shevy says
2751 Cherry Rd in Rock Hill. It’s called “The Rock Hill Farm Market” and is a large outdoor stand. A lot of their things are locally grown. Last year, they also had a smaller stand in Fort Mill, and the prices there were slightly cheaper than the Rock Hill one (I went to both on the same day once and compared prices). I am not sure if the Fort Mill one is still open or not, but if you end up going to the Cherry Rd location, you could ask them. Hope this helps!
Cristel says
I’m in Clover SC area but for cheap produce I’m willing to make the trek over to Rock Hill anytime! A friend introduced me to http://www.orasupermarket.com/ We go there to get all of our meat. Last trip I spent $210.00 that was the first weekend in Feb. and we are good for at least another month. I <3 Bilo too! Thanks for the pointers!
Brigette says
I always learn new things when I do a post for Crystal – LOvE that! I will definitely check into this. Thanks for sharing! We do a lot of venison since my husband loves to hunt, but I would be interested in other meats, especially chicken, if they offer that.
Meredith says
Thanks for this tip! I am in Fort Mill, don’t go by Shelby much but I may stop by if we are by that way!
Meredith says
Thanks Brigette….I do stop by the farm stand here in FM but it seems like only one or two products will be at a great price. The rest is insane in costs. It’s on HWY 160 before the NC line. I pass by it every day and always see what they have spray painted on the board. I have never seen boxes of bananas or anything like that. I’ll def. check RH out when I am down that way next! Thanks so much!
Mary Ann says
I live in Rock Hill too! I stop at that farm market on occasion too. Sometimes they have really great deals and other times not. I stopped in yesterday and they had huge boxes of very ripe tomatoes for $5.00 a box. I bought 2 boxes and brought them home and canned them. (I weighed the one box and it was 33 pounds! ) We ended up with 25 quart canned tomatoes from those 2 boxes!
I will have to pop in there more often to check on their marked down items.
Brigette says
That’s fantastic!! I love home-canned tomatoes!
Mindy says
43 pounds of bananas for $5.00 and 21 pounds of pears for $4.00?! Wow, that’s amazing. You have now inspired me to find a local farmer’s market this weekend to see what deals I can find!
Brigette Shevy says
Oooh! I hope you find a good one!!! If you can go at the end of the day, they sometimes have even better deals. 🙂
Mindy says
That’s a great tip! Thanks, that’s what I’ll do!
Jennifer says
Wow! You have such amazing grocery prices in N.C.!!! I am envious. Those prices are easily just a third of what I’m paying in New England.
And 43 pounds of bananas for $5? That is truly amazing. I’m paying .69 a pound on a good week (:
It’s been a while since you’ve posted a recipe, I understand you have a new baby but I am looking forward to those again. Your chocolate raspberry cheesecake pie is now on semi-regular rotation in our house. It’s so delicious.
Brigette Shevy says
The actual grocery store prices for produce are MUCH more expensive, which is why I LOVE the local fruit/vegetable stands. They often have discounted boxes of things they are trying to sell quickly. It means buying ALOT of something, but that’s what I have a freezer for. 🙂
My little guy (who is actually HUGE for his age and not so little ;)) just turned three months, so I am trying to get back into a regular schedule. Hopefully I’ll be able to pull off semi-regular recipe posts! Thanks so much for the encouragement and I am so glad you like the cheesecake. 🙂
Kimberly Good says
I’m in SC, too. Just curious as to where in SC you are. Great deal at the Farmer’s Market! I used to live very near the state farmer’s market and got some awesome deals there. Unfortunately, we moved 2 hours away. 🙁
Brigette says
Rock Hill
sharon says
I would love to know where the market is that you go to is located. I am not far from that area. Thank you!