The Grocery Challenge: Week #3 ($275)
I’m clearly failing at this. After last week’s low number ($175) I ended up running out of a lot of foods by just a few days later. A second trip at $100 plus a real trip at $175 puts me at $275 for this week. My problem was twofold I think. One, I didn’t meal plan well and didn’t have enough protein sources to last the week. Two, because of the impending storm and a really busy work week I had no choice but to only hit up one market. Since I needed produce AND meat and a few specialty items, I chose Whole Foods Market as my only choice.
The biggest thing I’ve learned so far is that planning is everything. Planning means you don’t buy items not on your list. Planning means you have enough food to last the week. Planning means you bring all the right coupons!
Last week I did really well comparatively, but I also subsequently ran out of all of our staples. With being on the go a lot these days I’m having a tough time finding inexpensive packaged snacks I can bring for the kids. The morning snack is easy because I just pack a few clementines, a cucumber, and some crackers of some sort. However, I also need to bring something more substantial in case lunch is delayed or there isn’t anything good for the kids to eat. Ali still doesn’t have teeth, and sometimes there won’t be much I can offer her. At the same time, I don’t want to bring something perishable in case there are good lunch options wherever we are.
The little fill in trip we did was at Wegman’s, which I don’t frequent regularly because it’s 30 minutes away. I like to go when I can though. We stopped there just to grab a few basics to fill in the gaps and of course I managed to spend $100.
To reiterate – this challenge includes 6 days of meals a week to allow one day for flex eating (either dining out or at someone’s house). For example, last week the kids ate takeout pizza one night while Trig and I had our first date in about 12 months.
Shopping trip #1 at Wegman’s – $100 filling in the blanks from last week’s low trip
frozen fruit for Trig’s smoothies
American cheese that Raffi wouldn’t eat because it isn’t the fancy expensive kind from Whole Foods
10 lbs ground beef to make bolognese for some new moms
5 lbs Barilla pasta for same reason
3 bags of lettuce
seltzer
2 lbs organic strawberries
2 lbs baby carrots
fresh mozzarella
olives
white onions
honeydew melon
Somehow that short list + lunch for the 4 of us = $100
Shopping trip #2 at Whole Foods – $175
Gallon 365 brand organic milk $5.69
4 boxes of cereal bars @ $2/box
1 case clementines $6.99
2 lbs chicken cutlets $13
4 boxes of applesauce squeeze pouches @ $3/bx <- This seems ridiculously expensive.
2 packs whole wheat english muffins @ $2.50/pk
case of Clif Luna bars $13.36
6 cans of various beans @ $0.89/can
loaf of whole wheat bread $2.49 <- cheapest one there
American cheese $6.65 <- Ali ate all the Wegman’s cheese that Raffi wouldn’t eat.
5 lbs bananas @ $0.59/lb <- Wegman’s price was only ten cents cheaper per lb
Frozen broccoli $1.49
Kettle potato chips $5 <- Impulse purchase I should not have made.
Stonyfield YoBaby $3.99 <- I’ve been making my own yogurt, but these are fantastic for on the go
1 very heavy sweet potato 1.71 lbs @1.99/lb
4 lbs organic eggplants @ $2/lb
2/3 lb green beans @ $2.49/lb
2 pks baby Persian cucumbers @ $3/pk
1 bunch flat leaf parsley $2
dried garbanzo beans @ $2/lb <- is this expensive or cheap?
5 avocados $10 <- We finally finished the 10 from two weeks ago
2 pks organic raspberries $10
1.7 lb seedless red grapes @ $2.49/lb <- a steal compared to BJ’s price last week
3 lbs gala apples @ $2.99/lb
2 lbs pears @ $1.69/lb
bag of lemons $5
2 dozen eggs @ $3.89/dozen <- cheapest ones there
Previous posts:
Week #2: $175
Week #1: $251
15 Responses to “The Grocery Challenge: Week #3 ($275)”
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I wish you had a Winco. You’re bill would be half that for almost the same quality things. Most of it would be the same but red meat and cheese would not.
I can’t live without my Paprika app. Soooo easy to meal plan. It saves me money and time in the store. Takes me 10 min to meal plan and get my list, then 30 min or less to shop cuz the list is organized by department and I stick to the list.
Well, the 10 lbs of beef for mom meals certainly needs to be considered! Making that much food for other people (so nice!), will certainly up you bill.
What weekly total are you trying to shoot for?
Nothing you buy seems that outlandish, but certainly the individual squeeze pack and organic berries add up. I buy one big Greek yogurt to portion out now, use frozen organic berries and rarely get any squeeze packs, so that can help!
I’m not shooting for a total necessarily, I’m more just trying to bring it to a reasonable number. Anywhere between $175-225/week is reasonable for the way we like to eat in my opinion, but that has to include everything. And I haven’t made it to that number yet. I want to be able to make baby meals and host dinners and such without spending an arm and a leg every week, but it’s so hard.
We’ve been seriously examining our grocery budget lately too. You are right that it takes planning, shopping around and couponing to make it happen. I’ve found too that if we are going to save money, we have to go without certain what I consider luxury items. For example, I only buy 1 dozen eggs and when they’re gone we choose something else for breakfast. I forgo fresh berries and buy frozen instead. Basically we had to decide that we weren’t going to get to eat whatever we want whenever we want if we are really going to save money. It’s hard, but it’s made me more creative in the kitchen!
Do you belong to Costco? If you seem to buy the same staples, maybe you could buy in bulk like once a month?
I really enjoy reading what other families spend on groceries, because we’re also trying to save on food. Our problem is eating out (2-3x/week). We have a CSA share and we get a ton of local and seasonal produce for $30/box, so that saves us a lot of money. I try to plan meals around what we get in the boxes. I’m a little shocked at the price of your avocados. I’ve bought bags of 4 (when living in Canada) for $4 or less, if not organic. Now, in California, we’re spoiled with cheap avocados, but $10 for 5 seems a lot. Also are the berries imported? That can rack up the price, since it’s not the berry season in the US… Looking forward to your next post on this!
The berries are from Florida. I thought the avocados were pricy too, but I still bought them. I’ll keep my eye out for the avocado prices at other markets. We rarely dine out (MAYBE 1 meal a week but more like 1 meal every other), but I definitely spend too much at the market.
Amazing that you only dine out a few times a month. I’m looking forward to moving to a place with a bigger kitchen in a couple of months. Until then, I’m so not motivated to cook. 😐 Definitely need to work on my meal planning…
I find that the fresh fruit and veggies we buy are the bulk of our grocery bill too—but I don’t see a way around it. We go through broccoli like it is our job because Sloane will eat it with pasta–and grapes, strawberries and blueberries are super expensive organic, but I won’t compromise. I think if the biggest bill in the house in the groceries due to eat good, organic food then it is money well spent. Everyone will benefit in the long run. Have any good ideas for food to cook and freeze for before I bring home baby #2? I have been trying to brainstorm. Soup? Pasta? Anything else?
I wanted to eat really healthy so I wasn’t interested in casseroles after having Ali. I froze a lot of family servings of chicken breast or thighs already in a marinade (in a freezer bag), bolognese sauce for pasta, polenta or zucchini “pasta”, etc. Honestly, going from 1 to 2 wasn’t so hard in terms of finding time to cook. I didn’t have to work on top of being a mom for the first few months so when Ali was asleep in the swing I would quickly throw together a dinner for later. The key for me was definitely cooking earlier in the day. Good luck and I can’t believe you’re ready already!
This is my third week following along with you, and I am already realizing planning ahead is so much better. I tend to do multiple “little trips” throughout the week, which really doesn’t help because once you’re in the store, it’s so easy to think up things you need. The hard thing about planning, though, is then how do you take good advantage of the sales you find when you are there? Is there a way around this? I guess I should look online before planning.
I did get some good costco deals last week though – avocados for less than $1 each.
bj’s has big bags of organic frozen fruit and sometimes there’s coupons in the coupon books. I think I pay $8-10 dollars and I use it for my smoothies or mix in my oatmeal while cooking. I notice bj’s is starting to get more organics also I think they have a club size of the yobaby yogurts pack. I just price it and see if its cheaper some where else with sales if not then I buy it there.
Woah. I’ve never seen the club sized YoBabys. I’ll keep my eye out for them, thanks!
Just finally got some coupons for the BJ’s frozen fruit! I’m so excited.