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.).
For live updates, be sure to follow my Instagram Stories. See all posts on my $70 Grocery Budget here.
Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links and we will be compensated if you click through and sign up. Read our disclosure policy here.
I was super excited to find eggs marked down at Kroger yesterday! We love eggs — fried, scrambled, hard-boiled, egg casserole, you name it! I bought six dozen — enough to last us at least three weeks!
I also stocked up on the Johnsonville Brats for just $1.99 per package — these will be great for grilling out! I’m trying to slowly stock our freezer with meat that will be great for grilling so we can have friends over for some impromptu cookouts this summer!
Here’s everything I bought…
Monday Kroger Shopping Trip — $29.85
- Kroger Sun Lotion — $2.99 with digital coupon
- Cantaloupe — marked down to $0.99
- 2 Oscar Mayer Ham — marked down to $1.79 each
- 3 Kroger yogurts — marked down to $0.29 each
- 2 Simple Truth yogurts — marked down to $0.49 each
- 2 Greek Yogurts — marked down to $0.39 each
- Turkey Hill Peach Sweet Tea (a treat for the kids!) — marked down to $0.99
- 3 dozen Simple Truth brown medium eggs — marked down to $1.49 per dozen
- 3 dozen Pete & Gerry’s organic eggs — marked down to $2.29 per dozen
- Croissants (a special treat for sandwiches this week) — marked down to $1.49
- King Arthur Whole Wheat Flour — $4.19
- 1 bag of 2 red peppers and 2 chayotes (my first time to buy these!) — marked down to $0.99
- 4 packages of Johnsonville brats — $1.99 per package with digital coupon
- Used $10/$40 coupon that they sent me in the mail
- Total with tax: $29.85
Always Ask for a Raincheck!
They were out of the Townhouse and Club crackers that were supposed to be just $0.99 per box with the digital coupon, so I got a raincheck so I can get 5 boxes as soon as they are back in stock. If your store is out of something, always go to guest services and ask for a raincheck! It just takes a minute and it means you don’t have to miss out on the deal!
For more details on my shopping trip, watch my video above. (And you can subscribe to my YouTube channel here if you’re interested in watching other shopping haul videos, recipe videos, and more money-saving videos!)
Have You Signed Up for Fetch Rewards?
One of my readers recommended that I sign up for Fetch Rewards because I bought Oscar Mayer products. I’m still checking Fetch Rewards out and, so far, I don’t like it as much as I like Ibotta. (I also sporadically use Checkout 51… though I find that it’s harder to earn $$ on Checkout 51 just because I don’t buy many things that they have offers for.)
But I’m going to test it out and keep you posted! Have you signed up for it yet? If not, you can sign up here and use code WW7XJ and you’ll get a bonus 2,000 points (worth $2).
This Week’s Super Simple Menu Plan
This menu is subject to change a little if I find some great deals or markdowns! ?
Breakfasts
Fried/Scrambled Eggs, Baked Oatmeal, Fruit, Toast
Lunches
Ham Sandwiches, Ma & Cheese, Chips/Salsa, Fruit, Veggies, Leftovers, Eggs, Yogurt, Salad
Snacks
Marked Down Yogurt, Fruit, Slab Apple Pie (from the freezer — we served this when we had guests last week and had some leftovers)
Dinners
Monday — Dinner Out at The Cheesecake Factory (our realtor gave us a gift card as a thank you when we bought our house and we saved it to use for summer break!)
Tuesday — Ham Sandwiches, Chips, Salsa, Apples (Jesse and Kathrynne are going to be gone this night.)
Wednesday — Grilled Brats, Corn on the Cob, Grilled Peppers, Cantaloupe
Thursday — Haystacks
Friday — Breakfast for dinner: Waffles, Eggs, Sausage
Saturday — Leftover Pizza (I froze some of the leftover pizza from our dinner with guests last week!), Veggies
Sunday — Snack-y Dinner (fend for yourself — cereal, leftovers, etc.)Freezer Cooking to Do: Waffles, Baked Oatmeal
Total spent so far this week: $28.95
Total left to spend: $40.15
I really like how you add fruit as a side dish to your dinner. Somehow in my head fruit didn’t belong with dinner. But have been trying it and it’s great. Thank you
You’re so welcome! -Jordan, MSM Team
You made a wise choice giving chayotes a try. (See https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-are-chayotes-1328441 for their origin, uses, etc.)
Whenever you encounter a fruit/veggie you are unfamiliar with, Google it! Or ask a produce specialist at your store or market. After years of seeing tomatillos in markets, I finally asked the seller what they are. I knew, somehow, they are used in salsa. He explained how. I’ve bought and used them numerous times since!
PS — I’m about to reboot my blog FoodTradeTrends.com. There will be much there to appeal to consumers, too. Check it out!
We love trying new things — especially if it’s marked down at an unbeatable price!
I noticed Fred Meyer is doing more “while supplies last” deals and are not usually giving rain checks for these… I was very disappointed!
The Saturday deals have been like this and these 4 day deals also, so you are lucky they have you a rain check for the crackers!!
Bummer!
You got some great deals at Kroger. I work at a Kroger doing Clicklist. I like the variety of items you buy for 70 dollars each week. You can make a lot of meals. Keep up the great work.
Thanks for your encouragement! And thanks for working at Kroger and doing ClickList — I know that helps a lot of people!
We have a Kroger affiliate, Gerbes, in my area. They were sold completely out of brats, and refused to give me a rain check. The manager said rain checks don’t apply to these sales, it’s only while supplies last. The manager even said they weren’t going to honor any rain checks given for the items on the 4 -day sale because they shouldn’t have been. I am going to have to do some investigating to find out if this is true. ?
Oh bummer! Our store acted like they were so happy to give me a raincheck on the crackers! In fact the guy finished my sentence when I started asking for a raincheck!
Jennifer is right… Kroger if says “limited supply” or “while supplies last” it means… NO rainchecks… get there early… or go to a location that isn’t busy.
Thank you so much for these posts, Crystal. I stocked up on produce from Costco and Kroger digital coupons. Also got the brats and ice cream. I have been able to take meals to two families with a sick/hurting parent. Take watermelon and fruit to a homeschool function and impromptu play date. I have fruit bars and ice cream for the neighborhood Friday night hangout. And we have plenty of real food until payday.
I am encouraged to be more hospitable because your are sharing ideas on how to do it within my budget. Thanks again.
Oh yay! This makes me SO happy!! Thank you for sharing!
At my Kroger, the cashier can write the raincheck right at the register. It’s nice to not have to stand in line again at customer service! Hope this tip helps someone! Thanks!
Thanks so much for that great tip!
Fetch Rewards is super easy to get money back! One thing I’d like to recommend is to contact your local church or school. Each time a person uses a referral code, it gives 2000 points to new user AND 2000 points to the account the referral code came from.The school that I work at and the church that I’m part of both have Fetch Rewards accounts, so by using their referral code, you essentially “donate” 2000 points to your school or church. You’ll still get the “free” 2000 points on your own account. If you can’t find a local place with a Fetch account, using Crystal’s referral code gives her the bonus 2000 points and I’m sure Crystal uses all of her referral points for charitable causes.
That’s such a great idea! And it’s so good to hear that Fetch Rewards is super easy to earn money back. I’m still trying to figure it out, so I appreciate all of that help and pointers I can get!
The way the points work- you basically get $1 for every 1000 points. The most points come from Special Offers and Brands chosen by Fetch. If you buy an item from the participating brand, you’ll typically get points aligned to the price you paid. For example, I purchased Lipton soup broth for $1.39 and got 13 points when Lipton was on the brands list.
There are also bonus points. I have no idea how those work, but they are always a pleasant surprise! Another fun thing that I’ve noticed is that coupons don’t take away from the points that you earn! You also get a small amount of points for simply scanning an eligible receipt. After you’ve earned several thousand points, you can redeem them for gift certificates or you can redeem a donation to Charity Choice online. ie- 3000 points can get a $3 gift card code or a $3 donation; 50000 can get a $50 gift card code or a $50 donation. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit to saving up lots of points.
Thanks so much! So far, I’m not seeing many offers for things I usually buy… but I’m going to keep investigating and watching and checking it out. I thought on the Oscar Mayer that you’d only earn points if you hit the goal, but now I’m wondering if you get the points regardless? If so, that makes it seem a lot better than I thought! And I’m going to try scanning all of my receipts each week to see how many points I earn from those, too!
Just a tip, you should check out the baked oatmeal recipes on chocolate covered katie. They are single serve, so I just quadruple the recipes, cook as directed in an 8*8 pan and they turn out great.
We love them all, but our two favorites are the strawberry baked oats (I use microwave defrosted/mashed berries from dollar tree) and cinnamon baked oats, with or without icing.
Just in case you wanna mix it up!
Thanks so much for that tip! I love Chocolate Covered Katie!
I’ve tried at least 5 baked oatmeal recipes and Crystal’s is by far my favorite! I really like Katie, too, though.
On the Fetch rewards scan all your grocery receipts and you should get points. I have even done Sam’s. I get anywhere from 25 points on up. Sometimes I get 500 points. I feel like it adds up quickly. Glad you are giving it a try.
Oh! Thanks so much for that tip! I didn’t know that!
I believe you have up to two weeks submit your receipts. So if you still have some, worth a try.
Yes! I do! I always keep them for 2-3 weeks in case a new offer pops up. I’ll definitely try scanning them!
I just could not get iBotta to work for me. When I tried to check the app to verify a match on the coupons when I was in the store the app just gave me an error. I contacted them and their response was that they have so many new users that there are problems. I am even seeing billboards in my area for iBotta which is crazy since they cannot handle the traffic. From the very first day they kept sending me emails telling me that my $10 bonus offer would expire tomorrow when in reality the end date was June 10. Frustrating! I finally deleted the app.
Yikes! I’m so sorry! I’ve never tried to verify in the store. I just purchase whatever I’m already planning to buy and then if I get an Ibotta rebate for it, great! I just consider it extra money and don’t count on it!