My older sister, Brigette, shares her shopping trips and menu plans every week! You can go HERE to see all of her weekly menu plans and you can go HERE to read all about her family!
Aldi
4 bags frozen Broccoli Florets – $3.80
2 bags Riced Cauliflower – $4.18
3 dozen Eggs – $9.18
1 32-oz carton Plain Greek Yogurt – $3.39
1 3-lb bag Sweet Potatoes – $2.19
1 carton Mushrooms – $1.79
1 3-head pkg Garlic – $1.49
1 3-lb bag Yellow Onions – $2.15
1 bag Mini Sweet Peppers – $2.95
1 bag Green Onions – $0.74
1 bag Ginger Root – $1.99
1 bag Spinach – $1.79
2 bags Romaine Hearts – $5.98
1 3-ct bag Multi-Colored Peppers – $2.59
1 Seedless Cucumbers – $0.95
1 bag Mini Cucumbers – $2.45
1 bunch Bananas ($0.36/lb) – $1.01
1 box Cinnamon Crunch Squares – $2.79
1 box Rice Squares – $2.19
1 16-oz bag Shredded Colby-Jack Cheese – $2.49
1 pkgs Tortillas – $1.95
2 bags Tortillas Chips – $3.58
1 loaf Honey Wheat Bread – $1.45
1 4-lb bag Sugar – $2.75
1 jar Spaghetti Sauce – $1.45
1 gallon Whole Milk – $2.38
2 64-oz cartons Unsweetened Almond Milk – $4.58
1 16-oz bag Deli Meat – $3.99
Total: $78.22
Bargain City
2 bags Spinach – $1.00
1 huge bag of Greens – $1.00
1 huge bag Parsley – $1.00
1 case Raisins (36 6-ct pkgs) – $8.00
1 case Honey Maid Graham Crackers (27 sleeves crackers = 9 boxes) – $5.00
(The expirations dates on the raisins and graham crackers were many months out, so we should be able to use them up by then. If not, I’ll stick what’s left at that point in the freezer)
Total: $16.00
Grocery Total for the Week: $94.22
Weekly Menu Plan
Breakfasts
Scrambled/Fried/Boiled Eggs, Veggie Omelets, Smoothies, Fruit, Yogurt, Toast, Cereal, Oatmeal
Lunches
Deli Meat/Cheese Sandwiches, Raisins, Cucumbers x 2
Nachos, Peppers, Apples with Peanut Butter and Raisins
Leftovers x 3
Dinners
Baked Potato Bar (Baked Potatoes, Butter, Broccoli, Shredded Cheese, Chopped Green Onions, Seasoned Ground Venison)
Venison Roast in the Crockpot, Baked Sweet Potatoes, Sauteed Spinach, Biscuits
Spaghetti (using ground venison sausage), Tossed Salad, Breadsticks
Turkey Gravy and Rice (leftover turkey from Thanksgiving), Tossed Salad, Broccoli
Build-Your-Own-Taco Salad/Burrito (Seasoned Ground Venison, Shredded Cheese, Rice, Chopped Romaine, Choppied Onions, Salad, Chips, Tortillas)
Turkey Fried Cauliflower Rice, Blueberry Muffins, Tossed Salad
Date Night Out (kids eat boxed Mac and Cheese at home)
Remember when I said EVERYTHING costs more in California? I took the first section of the list (Aldi – none here sadly) and created an online list for my most commonly used store. I chose for my comparison shopping generic or store brands when available and if something was on sale I picked that. I totaled it up after carefully double checking. The total was $149.38.
Some items were very close in price. Others were significantly different. The only other store I could use to compare is farther away and doesn’t have a lot of the processed food items like boxed cereal or generic bread. The worst was eggs. I found out there’s a law here that all eggs sold in this state must be cage free. None of the items on this list I made were organic but the egg prices for organic were about $5 versus $4. We may offset some month’s bills in heating costs since it’s only ranging between 32 and 50. I’m afraid moving may increase our utility bills since we are in a relatively warm area. If you’d like I can try to send the list I made.
To encourage you, that would definitely be the case for me, too, here in TN if I were shopping somewhere besides Aldi and not practicing the Buy Ahead principle. If you haven’t tried the Buy Ahead Principle, I highly recommend it — it’s the thing that saves us at least $40-50 on our grocery bill every single week, if not more. I’ve written pretty extensively about it on other posts, but it’s basically that I try to only buy things when they are on their lowest price and stock up to last until the next sale and then we base our menu based upon what we already have on hand that I’ve stocked up in previous weeks. It’s a different mindset when it comes to grocery shopping, but it’s one of the best ways to lower your budget no matter where you live!