I went to Publix for (maybe) the first time ever! (Plus, Kroger, Sprouts, & Aldi shopping trips)

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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We leave for South Africa for an 11-day trip tomorrow (if you’re new around here, here’s a post from the last time we took the kids to South Africa that explains why were are taking them on this trip), so my grocery shopping is a little different this week. We’re mostly buying things we can freeze or stick in the pantry. And our meals are kind of weird because we’re just using up the perishables we have on hand!

But, don’t worry, just because we’re getting ready to go out of country, I still went grocery shopping! There were some great deals and I didn’t want to miss them!

Plus, I decided that I wanted to try shopping at Publix.

Some of you who love Publix are all, “Wait, hold up! You have a Publix nearby and you don’t shop there!”

I know, I know.

I have to be honest and say that I didn’t really pay much attention to Publix. I had looked at the deals at IHeartPublix.com a few times, Jesse has been there a few times, and I think maybe I have been there one time before, but I never thought to try to get deals there since I felt like the prices were likely too high to make it worth it.

But after changing my mind on Sprouts, I decided that I need to think outside the box and try out all the grocery stores here just to see what they have to offer.

I was pretty impressed with Publix! I especially loved that they let you scan your own coupons at the self-checkout and it seems like they are very coupon-friendly.

I only got a few items because I just wanted to test out and see how it worked. Overall, I was very impressed and will definitely be paying attention to the deals there from now on.

Saturday Publix Shopping Trip

• 2 Promise Land chocolate milk — $1.69 each, used 2 $1.50/1 coupons = $0.19 each
• 2 lbs. of Jennie-O Ground Turkey — on sale for $2.99, used 2 $1.50/1 coupons = $1.49 per pound
• 1 tub Yucatan Guacamole — on sale Buy One for $5.99, Get One Free, used $2.50/1 coupon = $0.49 (I bought one and they charged me half price since they are on sale Buy One, Get One Free)
• Total with tax: $4.24

I also stopped by Sprouts because they had rolled oats on sale for $0.69. I got around 2 1/4 pounds and we already used some of it to make a double batch of Baked Oatmeal.

And then I was SO excited to find ground beef and sausage on Manager’s Special!

Saturday Sprouts Shopping Trip

• Rolled Oats — $0.69 per pound
• Organic Ravioli — FREE with e-coupon code that Sprouts sent to me
• 2 packages of Ground Beef — marked down to $1.99 per pound = $3.51 and $3.71
• 2 packages of Ground Sausage — marked down to $1.49 per pound = $1.32 and $1.42
• Total with tax: $13.01

Saturday Kroger Shopping Trip

• Davinci Fettuccine — clearanced for $1.25, used a $0.75/1 peelie coupon = $0.50
• 5 PopChips — $0.99 each with the Weekend Only Digital Coupon
• 5 boxes of Ritz crackers — $0.99 per box with Weekly Only Digital Coupon
• 5 boxes Hefty Freezer bags — $1.49 each, used $0.50/1 Kroger Digital Coupon (could be used up to 5 times) = $0.99 each
• Bananas
• Turmeric
• 5 packages of Nathan’s Beef Hot Dogs — $1.99 each with the Weekend Only Digital Coupon
• 4 boxes of Creamette pasta — $1 each, used $2/4 Kroger Digital coupon = $0.50 each
• 4 boxes of Ronzoni pasta — $1 each, used $2/4 Kroger Digital coupon = $0.50 each
• Total with tax: $35

Jesse ran to the store for me on Tuesday because we needed a few things and I had meetings almost all day long for various business stuff. Here’s what he got:

BigLots — Whole Wheat Flour for $3 + Shout Laundry Stain Remover for $2.97 = $6.33 total with tax

ALDI — 2 Peanut butter ($1.15 each), Honey ($2.79), Organic broccoli ($1.89), Powdered Sugar ($1.29), Bananas ($0.81) = $9.80 total with tax

Total Spent on Groceries This Week

Total spent on groceries this week: $68.38

Rebates: $0.25 for submitting a receipt to Ibotta, $0.80 back from Fetch Rewards for scanning four receipts (If you haven’t signed up for Fetch Rewards, you can sign up here and use code WW7XJ and you’ll get a bonus 2,000 points = worth $2.)