Our Office Max was already out of the index cards and hand sanitizer, but they still had filler paper and pens, so that’s what we got:
5 packages of Office Max filler paper — $0.20 each with coupon
3 Just Basics Ballpoint pens (10 pack packages) — $0.20 with coupon
Total with tax: $1.72
We price-matched fruit deals at Walmart plus picked up some baking powder:
Baking powder — $1.68
Bananas — price-matched to $0.18/lb. — $0.89
Grapes — price-matched to Aldi price ($0.89/lb.) — $3.74
Strawberries — price-matched to Aldi price — $0.88 each
Total with tax: $9.60
And I found some great deals at the health food store:
Pink Lady apples — $0.99/lb. — $3.31
5-lb. bag of carrots — $1.99
11 packages of organic bread, buns, bagels, and English Muffins marked down to $0.99 each
Total with tax: $17.32 (minus $0.05 bring your own bag credit)
Ohhh my, I haven’t been able to find pink lady apples in over a year! I had them while I was pregnant & they are amazing!
Another quick question about PMing Aldi’s produce prices at Walmart. I don’t ever seem to get the Aldi ad. Do you stop at Aldi on your way to Walmart and pick up the ad? Or do you print it on line before you go? I know someone just mentioned that you do not really need the ad when you PM, but I would like to find out Aldi’s prices just for my own curiosity, sounds like a great place to shop!
We have a shoppers guide that gives the sales papers with it every week, and it is NOT the same as the in store ALDI ad… it has the produce prices in it…. So I carry that with me… now there is an app for your phone from ALDI with the sale prices.. saw it today when I went in..
I got a great deal on pineapple a while back (Aldi’s price+coupon) I had gone online and printed it and the cashier said you’re really supposed to have the actual ad, but she did it for me. I don’t get the ad in the mail, so if I had to go to Aldi to pick it up I might as well just shop there.
It is nice when you can find good produce at a good price! That is where half our grocery money goes each week on average, but it is worth it!
Crystal
WOW- your Aldi produce prices are so low- I pricematched yesterday while at Walmart to our Aldi,
-paid $1.49 for 16 oz of strawberries
-paid $0.44/lb for bananas
-paid $1.29/lb for red seedless grapes
Those are cheap fruit prices here in the CLT, NC area.
what is the name of the health food store you shop at?
It’s a local store–not a national chain, unfortunately.
I went to Office Max and they were out of Index cards, glue sticks, and hand sanitizer.. They price matched a larger box of index cards for me for $.10! And then gave me what would be the sale price on a 24 pack of glue sticks (retails for $8.99 and they gave it to me for $.50 like it would’ve been if I bought 6 packs on sale), and I found out that the hand sanitizer was discontinued so they wouldn’t substitute anything for that… Apparently it was a discontinued brand and they had it up for clearance, then when it went on sale it was gone in a day and they can’t restock it… Either way I got a ton of stuff for $7 🙂
Wow! You get better prices at Aldi than we do! Our strawberries in SC are 1.29, blueberries are 1.29, bananas a .44… but still a better deal than anywhere else.. so off to Aldi or pm at Wally World I go….
Hi Crystal,
Will you freeze the bread you bought? If so (and maybe you have this on your blog somewhere), what is the best way to package it when you freeze it?
Thanks!
I stuck it straight into the freezer as is. That’s how I’ve always done it. As long as you use it within 4-6 weeks, it never gets freezer burn for me.
I asked about this a few weeks ago when you bought a bunch of bread. I tried it out and it worked great! Tasted fine. Thanks!
I save my bread bags and ties to slip the new bread down in it so it is double wrapped. Our Dollar tree gets Bunny and Natures Own bread a couple of days a week for $1 each so I stock up when they get it.
Seeing all the loaves of bread makes me think of Michelle from Simplifylivelove!!!
I was just going through her blog and she makes her own bread! 5 Loaves in 1 1/2 hours!! She also uses freshly ground flour like you!
She did the price breakdown and holycow does she save some money on bread!!
I’m considering trying this. Just one more thing to add to my freezer cooking evry other week!!
Have you ever taken on homemade bread loaves?
Yes, I make my own bread a lot, but a loaf only takes me about five minutes since I use my bread machine for the rest of the work! If I can get high quality bread for $1 or less per loaf, I buy it because we prefer it for sandwiches.
How are your Aldi’s prices so low for strawberries? my store has them listed for $2/lb this week. Are prices really that different in different parts of the country?
Produce prices do vary some at Aldi.
I wish our health food stores had deals like you get! I have to shop at Whole Foods and natural food stores due to dietary restrictions/food allergies. The 365 brands are usually fairly priced. Also, I appreciate the opportunity to feed my family more natural foods as much as possible.
Can you explain more about price matching at Walmart? Does each Walmart only accept certain competitor price matches or can you just bring in any local ad and show them the price of a similar item? Have you found any issues with price matching at Walmart?
They will PM to any local (distance depends on where you are but a lot of them consider within 20-25 miles “local” unless you are in the city) competitor and you don’t even need the ad (I usually bring it anyway so that *I am making sure to get exactly the right product).
Walmart is running a big advertising campaign right now to promote their price matching policy. You can do it right at the register and you don’t need to have the competitor’s ad with you (I’m not sure how they verify those prices, but they show it on their TV commercials now!) Too bad we don’t have Super Walmart here. Or Aldi. Or Office Max. Or a health food store that marks down. LOL!
Rachel, Our Walmarts price match, sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not. I try to always have the ads with me because if the cashier doesn’t have the ad, they normally go find one (which can take a while). I keep a block of small post-its in my binder and as I’m shopping I place a post-it on the item with the store name and the price on it. This way when I’m at the register I can easily ask for the price match. For example, I tagged the Skintimates last week with “Walgreens $1.49” and the CoffeeMate “City Market $1.99”. Be prepared though because the cashiers can only do so many overrides before they get management approval, which is easy it just takes a little more time.
We got a new store here called Natural Grocer! When they first came here I was super excited. They had deals marked down at close out all the time like you posted and milk at .99 a gallon at times and I would stock up and freeze. They don’t do that anymore 🙁 now the day before it’s marked down to $3.69 and doesn’t go any lower than that!!! boo!
Did you ask them why they stopped marking things down? I would definitely do that, if you haven’t already. Maybe they’d give you a discount on soon-to-be-expiring stuff even if it’s not marked.
At our health food store, all the employees get the soon-to-be expiring stuff. I know people who have taken jobs there just to get the stuff that’s on the verge very cheaply. It’s kind of the perk of working there and they are really small and don’t have to run mark-downs or sales, I guess. Maybe it’s a similar situation.
I am sitting down here in Western Australia drooling over the price you got for bananas. Because of the floods, cyclone and Australia’s law against importing bananas, the few we can get right now are priced at $13.99/kilo – which is $7/pound. I kid you not. About once a month, if they look good, I will buy the kids one and you’d think I just gave them an ounce of gold.
Unfortunately we do not have the sales, coupons or anything close to what we have in the States (we moved back here almost a year ago). Chicken is $15.99/kilo ($8/pound), ground beef is $13/kilo ($6.50/pound), milk is $3.00 for half a gallon, and the list goes on. I continue to employ the shop the sales and stock up philosophy that I did in the States, and learnt so well from you, but our grocery budget is still around $1100/month for our family of 4. This is actually cheap considering my friends typically spend $100/week per person who’s eating. They can’t believe I can shop so frugally. I guess it also helps that I brought most of my stockpile with me from the States and I’m still using dish soap, washing tablets, shampoo, conditioner, soap/lotion, etc, etc that I either got for free or was paid to buy at CVS!
Thanks!
I feel for you and all our other readers who live outside of the U.S. 🙁 I think I’d go into shock if I moved to another country!
We just had a couple from Adelaide, Australia here… and they were eating bananas constantly, because they missed them so much with the high prices in Aus…. We will miss them tremendously!
I have never price matched produce before…yeah, I’m behind the times 😉 Does it matter what brand they are (i.e. “Dole” bananas at Walmart vs. unnamed brand at Aldi’s)…? What I’m asking is, will Walmart price match the produce no matter what brands they are at either store? (Geez…I hope that makes sense!) 🙂
If the brand is listed in the ad, then yes brand does matter. But if an ad just says “Bananas $.33/lb” then no it doesn’t matter.
Walmart will price match produce regardless of brand. Well, they should. That is according to my store’s assistant manager.
Always love your health store savings! I haven’t been able to find bananas under $0.52 per pound in a long time. Great job!
yeah i was currious who had bannanas so cheap too? aldi is usually the cheapest here but they are at .44 lb this week.. :/
It’s a local store that has bananas for $0.18/lb. each Thursday.
Man….You get such great heath food deals! I ALWAYS look at for local heath food stores for sale and never seem to find anything discounted. (I got free milk once at Whole Foods, that was my one exception)
We are very blessed here, but I do miss Whole Foods Market! Love their 365 brand!
Mind if I ask who you price matched for the bananas??? Great deals!!!