We went to Kroger and to ALDI this week and got some great deals! Here’s what we got at Kroger:
- Corn on the cob — $3
- 2 dozen cage-free brown eggs — $2.79 per dozen
- 2 bags of colored peppers — marked down to $0.99 per bag
- 4 regular peppers — $5 total
- 2 bags of brown rice — $0.89 per bag
- Whole milk — marked down to $1.89 (we got this for a treat since we love this milk!)
- Sweet Italian Sausage — marked down to $1.49
- Italian Meatballs — marked down to $2.49
- Turkey Sausage links — marked down to $1.49
- Garlic bread — marked down to $1.19
- 2 loaves whole wheat bread — marked down to $1.49 per loaf
- 3 bunches of bananas — marked down to $0.38 per pound (we put all of these in the freezer to use in smoothies & banana bread) — $0.78 total
Total with tax: $33.57
I was super excited about the meat markdowns and ended up planning our menu based upon those meat markdowns. I then went to ALDI today to pick up the rest of the items we needed for this week.
Here’s what I bought at ALDI:
- 2 2-lb. bags of Peaches — $1.98 per bag (I was excited about this deal!)
- Half & Half — $1.79
- Feta cheese — $1.49
- Whole milk – $2.37
- Oats — $2.39
- 2 cantaloupe — $0.99 each
- 32 oz. of plain yogurt — $1.89
- Green onions — $0.99
- Tiny potatoes — $2.99 (This was a total splurge, but we had roasted tiny potatoes at a friends’ cookout last week and my kids loved it so much that they begged if I could buy these and make this for us this week!)
- 3 packages of blueberries — $1.69 per package
- Lemon juice — $2.19
- 2 bunches of bananas — $0.91 total
- 3 cucumbers — $1.47
- Olive oil — $3.49
- Pasta sauce — $0.99
- Flour — $1.29
Total with tax: $38.76
This Week’s Menu Plan
All in all, we spent $72.33 on groceries this week and we should have enough for all of our meals and snacks. Here’s our menu plan for the week:
Breakfast Options: Oatmeal and/or smoothies (I’m having eggs, veggies, cheese, and whole-wheat toast.)
Lunch Options: Leftovers, PB & J, Snack-y Lunch (I’m having a salad with some kind of protein, plus whole-wheat bread.)
Snacks: Fruit, Popcorn, Veggies & Dip, Banana Bread, Pick Me Up Smoothies, Bread Machine Cinnamon Rolls
Dinners:
- Breakfast for Dinner (Waffles & Turkey Sausage)
- Marinated chicken on the grill, grilled peppers, brown rice in the Instant Pot, garlic bread, melons
- Chicken Broccoli Rice casserole, fruit, veggies & dip
- Sausage, roasted potatoes, sauerkraut, fruit
- Spaghetti & meatballs, fruit, roasted broccoli
- Sausage & veggie soup in the crockpot, fruit, whole wheat bread
- Dinner out
New to shopping at ALDI? Read how we save close to $1,000 per year by shopping at ALDI. Also, check out my post with my 25 Favorite Things to Buy at ALDI.
Want to see more details on what I bought at ALDI, what deals I’m excited about, and what I’m planning to use all the items for? Watch this video about my shopping trip:
I LOVE that you are sharing your weekly menus with us again. I had missed it and get so many great ideas from you! Thank you!
Thanks for your encouragement!
I really love using Aldi’s for bread and fruit because their prices are always much lower than everywhere else AND the food is fresh. I managed to snag a few deals at Krogers using coupons that include FREE Haymakers drinks and a ton of Hefty slider bags. I’m going to post a few stockpile pics on my blog. Thanks for your tips on saving money! Hugs…
I know you eat a ton of salads. Where are you getting your lettuce?
I bought arugula last week and still had some leftover and also some leftover lettuce and cabbage from the week before + veggies, so I’m using that for salads this week!
I’m not sure how to properly word this so it doesn’t sound ugly (because that’s not my intent), but when I saw the $3.00 price for corn from Kroger, I gasped.
Do you normally buy it cleaned like that? I recently bought corn from Kroger myself and noticed the packaged, cleaned stuff at much higher prices right next to the ears in the husks which were 3 for $1.00! (I prefer the pricing of four for $1.00.) At that price, those four ears would have been just $1.34 (not $3.00) and required very little prep. Some people even prefer to cook their corn in the husks (we don’t), but it is very easy to peel it all back and pull it off.
Just wondering if cleaning corn is something you don’t enjoy or don’t really know how to do and if that’s why you’ll pay more than twice as much to purchase it already cleaned? I’m guessing, based on other things you’ve posted, that Silas would love to “shuck” corn!
Ha! That was because my husband was with me and he wanted to buy it to grill it for lunch. 😉 I usually buy it in the husks, but he wanted to buy it like that so I went for it. 😉
Normally, I buy big bags of plain potatoes, but I also picked up some tri-colored mini ones recently. Have you heard of Red, White, & Blue potato salad? I’m making it for July 4 and it’s awesome.
Oh! I haven’t heard of it! Do you have a recipe that you love?
I sure do. I posted some of my favorite Red, White & Blue recipes (potato salad, fruit salad, dipped berries, etc.)
http://thejewishlady.com/red-white-blue-food-july-4/
Thank you so much!
My experiences with produce at Aldi haven’t been awesome. Moldy strawberries and rotten cantelopes make me wary of shopping there. Have you had any bad produce experiences? That’s where I could save the most, but I’d rather pay a little more elsewhere and have it be a decent price than go cheap and end up throwing it out.
I always look over the produce really carefully before purchasing and I can’t think of a time when we’ve had a bad experience, as a result.
Maybe it was my particular Aldis. I’ll have to try again now that we are in a new state. I have up couponing as it was too much to keep up with in my stage of life, but I love saving and I hear so many people rave about Aldi. I’ll have to check it out.
Hi June,
I’ve had your same experience at all THREE Aldi stores within any decent driving distance of my house (I live in a big metro area). One is even in a very upscale neighborhood, which surprised me greatly. I’ve had perfectly good looking potatoes go black/mushy/moldy in 24 hours, cantaloupe that went bad in about 12, and a variety of other things. I stored the produce the same way I store my (very fresh) produce from my CSA, which I have never had a problem with.
As a result, I rarely shop at Aldi. I also found that their prices really aren’t any better than the “regular” grocery (at leas the ones available to us) and sometimes are FAR higher. I sometimes buy crackers or chips there but we rarely buy those anymore either.
Your experience is not unique!
Lea
Sometimes I experience produce going back quickly when I buy it from Aldi even after closing inspecting before buying.
Since the store I shop at is super close to me, it’s not a big deal because I just go back to Aldi with the bad item and they’ve returned my money and replaced the item that had gone bad. If you are close to your store, I highly recommend you take advantage of their double guarantee!
I have bought the small fingerling potatoes from Aldi a couple times as a splurge too. They are fun and a little different. Plus, I saw that Meijer was selling them for $5.99. I love that I can splurge a little since I shop at Aldi.
Yes! I love that, too!
I want to thank you so much for posting about Aldi’s. It’s one of those grocery stores that I NEVER visit (there isn’t any located near my normal travel routes), however, your posts remind me to check it out. I went in the other day and saved so much $$! (especially on fresh produce and milk). Crystal- I really appreciate the time you take to share your savings tips with your readers. I have been following you for 6 years. 6 years ago, we didn’t have a nickle to rub together, and your couponing and frugal tips helped get us through a rough financial patch. We are so blessed that God has brought us through that rough time in our lives. So thankful for your website. I have shared it with so many friends over the years. Thank you! Christina @clovesandcitrus
I’m also curious about how big your family is. I have two kids, 11 and almost-5 who want to eat CONSTANTLY. I do the bulk of my shopping at Aldi and am always looking for new ideas to save money. We eat a mostly plant-based diet at home, cheese being the only exception to that rule and I try to keep that to a minimum, so our weekly grocery bill is high–when you don’t eat meat, you spend more on fresh produce and healthy grains as well as pricier items that take the place of animal protein, like nuts and seeds. Two more things–does your family have just one serving of any meal or do they indulge in second helpings, and the Aldi I go to has whole wheat bread for $1.39 everyday, just thought you might want to know:)
We have three kids. Kathrynne is 12, Kaitlynn is 10, Silas is 8. And my husband works from home.
As far as letting our kids have second helpings — yes, if they are hungry! My kids are really active and are involved in sports most of the year, so I don’t limit how much good food they can eat (we do set limits for sugar, etc.)
I do buy the Aldi bread when I don’t make my own or get it from the bakery at the store. I prefer it fresh and am willing to pay a little bit more for it to be fresh! 🙂
How big is your family and what is your weekly budget? $75 dollars sounds reasonable for the week but I have 3 kids under 7. Do you go early in the morning for the kroger mark downs or is it a hit and miss?
We have three kids. Kathrynne is 12, Kaitlynn is 10, Silas is 8. And my husband works from home. 🙂 Our budget is $125.
I wrote more about markdowns here: https://moneysavingmom.com/2016/07/hit-mother-lode-markdowns-kroger-yesterday.html
and here: https://moneysavingmom.com/2016/08/5-questions-ask-buying-clearance-items.html
As far as markdowns go, it really depends upon the store. But I recommend trying some different times of day and seeing if you can figure out what’s the best time to find markdowns at your store.