This week, I got back in the saddle a little bit when it comes to grocery shopping–and it felt good to be using coupons and shopping at more than one store again! It was nice to take a break for Christmas and the book launch, but I’ve missed it!
Here’s what we bought:
Target: Spent $14.79 — see the full price breakdown and coupon deals here.
Aldi (didn’t get a picture–sorry!): Tortillas — $0.99, Cheese blocks (8-oz) — $1.99 each, Artisan Lettuce — $1.99, Grape tomatoes — $0.89, Butter — $2.29, 2 gallons of milk — $2.88 each, Bananas — $1.35, Cauliflower — $1.69, Bag of apples — $2.99 = Total: $24.06
I also bought three dozen farm-fresh eggs from my brother for $6.
Total spent on groceries this week: $44.85
Would you like to know what the best deals and coupon match-ups are for your local stores? Be sure to check out the Store Deals section of our site where we post the best deals and coupon match-ups each week for over 100 different stores across the country. You can sign up to receive the top deals in your email inbox each week as soon as they are posted!
Did you snag any great deals or bargains this week or save money in other ways? If so, be sure to post about them on your blog and leave you r link below. Please remember that this weekly round-up is to share deals you personally got and/or money you were able to save this week. In order to keep this weekly round-up focused on helping and inspiring others in their efforts to save money, links which have little-to-no content other than promoting affiliate links, etc. will be deleted. Also, to make it easy for everyone to navigate quickly through the links, your link must link directly to your Super Savings Saturday post.
I’m envious of your Aldi’s milk prices. Our milk is $3.49 a gallon and that’s at Aldi’s, so you can only imagine what the prices are at other stores.
Glad to see life is returning to “normal”. 🙂 Thank you for the link up.
Thanks so much for these posts…I like seeing what everyone is able to get each week at the grocery store! And it gives me some ideas as to what to make for dinners at my house 🙂
Oh, forgot to mention on my above comment, in case anyone isn’t familiar with Dillons they double coupons up to 1.00….so it’d be .90 off of 3 cans!
Just a little FYI, Crystal, the Hunts tomatoes are part of the mega event at Dillons right now. They are .48 each and then with the .45/3 coupon it makes them only .18 a can!!!!! I stocked up this week for chili and homemade salsa!!!! 🙂
My friend told me that right after I’d made the Target trip. Oh well!
Oh well! 🙂 I figured you probably did know they were on sale…you’re always so on top of things and smart with your money! I’m always so impressed with how much you get for your money on these weekly updates. I try but never seem to do quite as good as you! (Oh, and I live in Hays, Kansas, are you familiar with it at all?)
Yes, definitely familiar with Hays–I think we visited there once!
I’m glad you brought this back!
Even though we don’t have the same stores as you do (no Aldi’s, no stores with double coupons) it’s still motivating and inspiring. Plus, I can often find great ideas from those who link up their shopping trips from stores that I also have in my area.
I am working on my CVS shopping skills and I put together this CVS scenario for this week. I am getting everything for free after the rebate! We are slowly but surely plugging away at our savings goals. 🙂
http://becomingamodernhousewife.blogspot.com/2012/01/cvs-scenario-for-week-of-129.html?m=1
I love how you remind us how every dollar matters along the way to our goals.
Btw, how can I find out if there is some where near me that sells bulk beef? We got a freezer last year and I would love to get it stocked with some meat!
I remember when your grocery budget was $40 a week. I loved seeing what you were able to get each week. Just curious… What is your grocery budget now? I never see you mention it anymore!
We currently budget $50/week for groceries but that doesn’t include items we get free through Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks, etc. nor our eating out budget. So it’s a little ambiguous. Which is why I don’t give a hard and fast number here since there are some variables in our current season of life.
Im curious as to how much you spend on meat when you stock your freezer? Wondering how that would figure into your weekly grocery total. Right now we feed a family of 4 for $100.00/wk with no eating out & lunches packed. I’ve been thinking about purchasing a freezer & buying 1/2 beef & such.
We recently got a lot of steak and beef free from a few online deals that I had credit to the sites for, however, in the past, when we’ve bought a bunch of meat, we’ll just set aside money from our grocery budget or skip shopping for a week and eat from the pantry in order to pull it off.
Depending upon where you live and what your food allergies are (if any), you could likely set aside $10-$15 per week from your grocery budget for a few months in order to have enough to buy a fourth of a cow. The more you can work on buying ahead like that, the easier it makes it to keep your grocery budget low.
Did my major shopping trip and got lots of great deals at Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh using foodperks and coupons. Just got 6 toothbrushes and 4 toothpastes for $1.07, 8 Greek yogurts for 3.00, 2 4pk bic razors 5.80, dove shampoo .90!
I love these updates and get inspiration from them. However, even though I read your blog regularly, see your menu plan and know that you are supplementing your groceries for the week from your stockpile, I still don’t understand how you can feed a family of 5 for so little. Any insight anyone can give is appreciated!
I accidentally left the wrong link while I was in a hurry because we’re visiting family today. Thank you for the opportunity to link up! (Here’s the correct link ~ http://passionatepennypincher.com/2012/01/grocery-donation-deals-spent-41-plus-tax-for-126-in-groceries/
Silly question, but do you shred the blocks of cheese and freeze it, or just shred the day you need it?
You can shred and freeze, but I usually just shred them when we need them.
I miss Aldi’s so much.. We don’t have them here.
Silly question. Do you flavor your frozen broccoli with anything before serving, or do you mainly use it in dishes such as casseroles? We use frozen (prefer fresh but the cost of frozen with coupons is better). My family will eat it plain, but I’d like to flavor it (have a good vegan “cheese sauce” recipe that freezes well, but it’s a bit labor intensive.)
Also, wanted to say thank you for inspiring me, Crystal. I’m older than you, but you’re eons ahead of me in terms of organization. I’ve struggled forever with organization and procrastination. This year, I’m setting goals and tackling areas that I’ve desired to grow in for a long time. Procrastination, disorganization, and lack of a plan or “how to” have kept me from this. But by employing some of the ideas you’ve shared, I’m beginning to make progress. I’m even reading books from genres I’ve not ventured into before (I’m loving, “Eat That Frog”, for example.) Again, thanks for inspiring me. I hope for 2012 to be a GREAT year in our home.
We just eat it steamed or in chicken broccoli rice casserole.
And way to go on your progress!!!
k
I have been stocking up on produce at Aldi lately. Normally they just have deals but lately it seems they have GREAT deals on produce. I got 2 lb bags of carrots for .49/each, 3 lb bags of pears for $1.99, and cremini mushrooms for .99/pack!
Just an FYI, some of the Braum’s in Wichita have milk for $2.39/gallon.
Silly question, Crystal. We eat lots of frozen broccoli as well (prefer fresh, but can’t beat the couponing prices of frozen). Do you flavor your frozen broccoli when serving it as a side, or do you mainly use it in casseroles, etc.? Everyone eats it here, but I wish I could think of a way to add a little pizazz to just the plain broccoli. I do have a vegan “cheese” sauce recipe that, while a bit tedious to prepare, freezes well. I’m sure it would be delish on the broccoli, but just wondering what you do.
Also, just wanted to say THANK YOU for helping me to begin to be goal oriented. I’ve always stuggled with disorganization and procrastination and I’m *really* trying to grow in those areas this year. I’m reading books I would have never read in the past (loving EAT THAT FROG) and taking on new areas of growth which I have never tackled in the past. You’ve really inspired me.
Blessings,
Toni
I like broccoli with butter, but my husband and the children like mayo on their broccoli.
You could also try butter and lemon juice.
Butter and lemon. Great idea, thank you.
Both of those sound fabulous. I’m a mayo fanatic! 🙂
Both of those sound fabulous. I’m a mayo fanatic and I’ll squeeze lemon on anything that will hold still. Ha! 🙂
We like it with some melted butter, garlic powder, cayenne pepper flakes and Parmesan cheese! So good!
I put ranch on mine! Not too healthy, but it I think if you have kids they would like it.
I’m glad to see this back–I guess I’m weird, but I love to see people’s grocery deals! 🙂 Thanks!
Farm fresh eggs for 2.00 a dozen would be awesome!!!
I think I might have asked before but is this all your grocery shopping for the week? If so when do you purchase chicken and other meats? Just curious. I remember you have a freezer full of beef but just looking for inspirations here 🙂
Yes, our freezer’s stocked with beef right now. But I’ll be purchasing chicken soon since we’re all out. I usually just get chicken at Aldi unless I can find a great deal on marked-down meats elsewhere.
I was JUST coming on here to ask the same thing. So, do you purchase meats using your $50 weekly budget or do you purchase meats in addition to your weekly budget? We have 6 people in our family, 5 of who eat table food (or maybe I shoudl keep that at 6 since we have a teenage boy) and I’m trying to stick to a $75/week budget but find we only eat ground beef, pork chops/roasts, chicken, pot roasts. Seems like only 4 meats and it is getting pretty boring….especially with not much fish in the rounds, which I would like to do more of.
A great source of chicken and ground beef is Zaycon. Check their website to learn more about it and find out if/when they might be in your area.
Great fresh meat, awesome prices. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were only $1.67/lb when I last purchased, which was a few months ago. You have to purchase by the case (the chicken cases were 40 lbs), so you need freezer space, or you can easily split a case with relatives or friends.
I bought a case of bacon from Zaycon last spring and it was wonderful — nice thick slices. The downside was that we ate it way too often. That case didn’t last us nearly as long as it should have. 🙂
Those cookies are delicious!
Did you try the fruit & nut ones? I like them better than the chocolate ones somehow haha
Fun to see your shopping trips again.
Ah, thank you so, so much for bringing Super Savings Saturday back! I missed it greatly, and thought maybe you weren’t going to have this feature anymore. I love to read how everyone is saving money on groceries – it always gives me new ideas to save!
–Laura at Frugal Follies
Thank you for the link-up! You are a blessing.