Grocery Shopping on My Day Off

I took full advantage of my day off on Monday to go grocery shopping. I may be odd, but it is truly relaxing for me to leisurely walk the grocery store aisles. I like comparing prices and seeing if I notice any unmarked deals.

I started my shopping trip at Meijer, with quite the list. Unfortunately, they were out of the Gogurt I wanted for my preschool snack – as well as the bonus 60 Box Top deal. I’m going to try to stop by again to see if I can pick it up, but since this doesn’t come out of my grocery budget, it doesn’t affect my totals. Here’s what I bought for us.

I was pretty pleased with my deals. The plates were free (thanks to a sale and Mperks coupon), and the Grapefruit juice was free (thanks to a sale and printable coupon). The Poise pads were free – with $0.50 overage (thanks to the $3/1 coupon) for a donation. The Simplait yogurt was also free.

The natural beans were $0.55 a can, thanks to a $1 Mperks coupon. The Lindsay olives were $0.47, thanks to another $1 Mperks coupon. The natural Whole Wheat flour was on sale for $1.99 for 5 pounds. I’m going to use that to make some homemade bread this weekend.

The Planters peanut butter was on sale for $2.50, and I had two coupons for $1/1. It’s rare to find good deals on peanut butter anymore, so I stock up when I can find one. $1.50 is a great stock-up price!

The Steamers were marked down to $1.18 a bag. I try to get my vegetables for under a $1 a bag, but I didn’t buy a box of veggies that was on my list, so this made up the difference.

I also stocked up on tomato soup for $0.44 a can. That’s for my chili recipe. I bought the new Campbells 100% natural soups for quick and healthy winter lunches for $0.80 a can.

At Meijer, I spent $24.88. I feel like I got a good amount for what I spent.

Then, it was down the road to Kroger, where I had more sales to shop.

First, I made sure to pick up my free Carnation instant breakfast from last week’s digital coupon. There is going to be another free digital coupon for Egg Beaters available today, so don’t miss it!

Then, I bought 8 pounds of chicken for $1 a pound. It was to cook in my slow cooker, just like I explained yesterday. It’s already shredded in my freezer.

Most of the things I bought were a $1. Actually, now that I look at it, everything I bought was $1 except the orange juice ($1.14) and the Suave ($0.88).

I used the $2/4 Dial coupon to buy soap for $0.50. The Colgate toothpaste $0.25 each after coupons, as were the Colgate toothbrushes. The Greek yogurts were $0.50 after coupons. I’ve discovered that I actually do like this kind of Greek yogurt. The Suave shampoo and conditioner were $0.38 each, after a $1/2 coupon.

I had electronic coupons on the sour cream and tortilla chips, so those ended up costing me $0.80 a bag / $0.80 a container. The Mission tortillas were a really great price at $1. I rarely find generic this cheap, and the Mission tortillas are the best ones I can find up North, so I bought 4 packages. I still miss good, fresh tortillas like we bought at our grocery stores in Texas.

At Kroger, I spent $32.42 and saved 57 percent.

I also got another dozen farm fresh eggs for $1.50 and 100% apple juice from CVS for $0.99. The milk pictured in the top picture was from CVS for $1.99.

This week, I spent $61.78. This brings my January total to $144.45. This also leaves me with $35.55 to spend in the final week of January. Whew! I’m glad I raised our grocery budget.

Oh! This week, we ate slow cooked pork ribs (from the freezer), and shredded chicken tacos (also from the slow cooker). We ate at Andy’s grandparents once, and I also ate with my faculty as we celebrated our Pastor’s birthday. Andy’s on his way to Seward for the annual CIT basketball tournament so I plan to eat eclectically from the pantry and freezer while he’s gone. I can be frugal and productive while he’s away!