Since I was AWOL most of last week on vacation and at the Savvyblogging Summit, my weekly tally shopping adventures are a little lagging. Because of my furlough – we will be taking a look at the last two weeks all together. As you recall, I strive to spend no more than $300 per month out of pocket for groceries/health/beauty/cleaning etc. Since I am part of the Hen House CSA and the retail value of that is $25 per week, I have $50 per week to spend on everything else. (Or $100 for these two weeks.) Let’s see how I did.
Costco
Week #1: I spent all of my money at Costco. (Gasp.) Pictured is Organic Milk, Organic Half & Half, Coffee, Dishwashing Detergent, Bottled Water and Ground Pepper. Everything but the bottled water was for home. I was worried about dehydration in Colorado – I knew I would get altitude sickness otherwise.
Total Spent: $41.04
Hy-Vee, Aldi, Price Chopper & Hen House
This Thursday I took the kiddos and we hit the stores. I know four seems like a lot – but I am blessed to be within 5 miles of all of these stores. I knew exactly what I was getting, so it took less than an hour and a half to hit all four stores (with kids in tow). I can’t stress how important a list is when you shop – it really minimizes the time you spend in the store.
Pictured: (2) Cascade Action Pacs, Blue Bunny Ice Cream Bars, (2) Crush 2-Liters, (2) Edy’s Ice Cream, (2) Nabisco Crackers, Q-Tips, Tombstone Frozen Pizza, Betty Crocker Brownie Mix, Hy-Vee Flour, Hy-Vee Hotdog Buns, (4) Baby Carrots, (4) Hy-Vee Apple Sauce, (2) Earth Grain Breads, Dole Lettuce, Blueberries, (3) Strawberries, Sara Lee Wheat Bread, (2) Aldi Potato Chips, Saltines, 3 lbs. Onions, 4 lbs. Apples and a Pineapple.
Great deals include the Edy’s Ice Cream, priced at $1.98 and I had some miscellaneous $2/2 that was expiring on 7/30 – so they were $.98 each. Also the 2-Liters were FREE with Price Chopper’s Kids Club and the Earth Grain Bread was $1.25 each after the Hy-Vee Buy One, Get One FREE coupon. Also, the $5 off at Hen House from their Clipless Event was awesome – it made my Cascade almost FREE.
This week was also an example that you don’t need a lot of manufacturer coupons to shop thrifty. Hy-Vee had a TON of great deals this week (and next) with their in-ad coupons.
Total Spent: $44.97
Target
Finally, after I dropped the kids off with their “kid-sitter” I hit up Target. Unfortunately, half of what I was looking for was either out of stock or not in the store. Grr.. (AKA – LaCroix Lemon Lime Water, Red Baron Singles, and Green Works Detergent.) Oh well, it will go back on the list with hopes of better results next week.
Pictured: (3) Crystal Light Pure Fitness Drink Mix, LaCroix Sparkling Water, (6) Stride Gum, (2) Biotrue and one cute C9 Blue Sweatshirt.
There were so many great deals: The Crystal Light was $1.97 and I used a $2/1 from Vocalpoint mailer, so they were FREE. The Stride Gum was $.33 a pack after Buy One, Get One Target and Manufacturer Coupons, and the La Croix was $1.25 after $1.25/1 coupon. But the best was the sweatshirt – it was $4.98 and after I used the $5/1 C9 Apparel Target Coupon it was FREE! Seriously, FREE clothes – gotta love that.
Total Spent: $1.57 (Because I still had a $5 Target Gift Card from the SoBe Lifewaters – otherwise $6.57.)
Final Total For Two Weeks: $87.58 (or $92.58 if you don’t include gift card.)
What about you – what awesome deals did you find this week? Are you staying within budget? Do you need a kick-in-the-pants to get back on track? Let us know.
I somehow stayed under budget (barely) this week, but I think I can easily take a week off judging by the state of my fridge and freezer.
You must live really close by because these are all stores around me. That’s why it’s so easy for me to shop at this many stores in a week. The farthest ones are Walmart, Target, and Aldi, but even they are fairly close.
I agree with you about shopping with a list, but I find that my biggest time waster is searching for that one elusive item on my list that the store doesn’t seem to carry or (most likely) I am unable to locate. This week it was Mann’s snow peas at Hen House. Most of the time I give up, but it’s still frustrating to leave empty-handed after wasting all that time.
Seriously, you needed dishwasher detergent at Costco???
Anyway, we’re living off the stockpile. DH has forbade me from putting anything more in the freezer. I bought milk this week. Still have fruit and veggies from last week. Ho hum for the shopping bug, but good for the wallet. 😀
FE – Husband has banned all Electrosol Products from our house. Something about a trained monkey could clean dishes better. So it is either Costco or Cascade – and Costco is cheaper. Like toliet paper, I’ve grown tired of trying to figure out the “right” math for “cheapest” + “useability” when it comes to dishwasher detergent. I’ve grown happy with dependable, not too expensive, and I don’t have to think.
I wondered if it wasn’t something like that. I mixed a powdered Electrosol with a powdered Cascade (obtained on the right day with the right coupon) and it’s working for us. I pour the powdered detergent into an old candy tub from Costco, so I guess we worked Costco in there. :rolleyes: But I understand when some things aren’t worth fighting anymore. For the record, Consumer Reports found that powder works better than liquid, so we switched a while back and it really did help. Something about the powders having enzymes the liquids didn’t.