Adding to My Pantry

My grocery budget is $400 a month. I carry over what is left every month. January I did a pantry challenge and only spent $75 so I do have a large surplus right now. I am also trying to get my pantry to a 6 month supply of items without using extra money. In the fall I usually buy bulk produce such as potatoes, corn and apples. They last me all winter. I go to multiple stores every week.  Some more then once a week. Many times I just go in and scan the mark down sections. If there is nothing that I want, I leave empty handed and that is OK with me. I live in an area where there are lots of stores. I have a strip of stores that I drive past to get to work. It is not out of my way .

I stopped in at Stop & Shop on Friday. There were some cookie mixes marked down for 67 cents each. So I got some. I will give some to OD because they are easy for her. 



They also had lots of medicines and vitamins. I grabbed the few we will use. 



I stopped there because hot dogs were requested from Hubby for dinner and he very rarely requests specific things. I wasn't at home and I was being told that we didn't have fries (we did) and I was pretty sure we didn't have buns (we didn't). The juice was the Friday freebie so I grabbed it. Seltzer was 2 for $1. 


My total for Stop & Shop was $22.91. However the medicine and vitamins come out of our medical budget. So $11.11 came out of the grocery budget.


On Monday, I went to several stores. They are all within a half of a mile of each other so if I go to one I usually stop at all of them. First up was Whole Foods to get Hubby's cream cheese. I had left our last container at OD's apartment when we went to visit her. I got 3 because they were on sale so I will make Hubby a cherry cheesecake sometime soon. Total $11.07


Next was Dollar Tree. This is the nicest one that I have ever been too, so I always try to go here instead of the one closest to my house.  It is right near Whole Foods so no extra driving. Eggs have been getting expensive and we love eggs so I grabbed 2 cartons. There are 8 eggs for $1. Total spent $27.04.


Last stop of the day was Aldi. I needed milk and they are the cheapest around except BJ's. I wasn't planning on being near there, so I got milk at Aldi. They had marked down pork roast, so I got 5. They were each marked $1 off.  I also returned cans to Aldi for $1.25. My total was $14.01


My grocery total for the week is $63.23. I think I did good. I am always happy when I get marked down meat. I feel like I am adding to my pantry without hurting my budget. Did you get any great sales this week? Are you adding to your pantry? 


Comments

  1. Wow you did really well for a weeks worth of groceries for such a low cost :) and those vitamins and pork roasts are so cheap compared to our prices here in Australia being around on special for boneless ones around $5.99 - $6.99kg. We spend $75 a week here including meat and everything for our family of 2 (just raised our budget to this due to inflation).

    Just finished our 2 monthly grocery shop we managed to pick up a few good specials to stock our pantry with which were -

    - a 3kg bag of Valencia oranges marked down from $5.49 to $3.49, a $2 saving.

    - purchased 4.45kg of gala apples at Aldi for $1.99kg usually $3.50kg saving $6.71 on usual prices. I am making these into apple pie fillings for the freezer (cooling down now) as we are now approaching winter here and it will be a lot cheaper to make the filling rather than buying the apple pie filling in cans here. We also have some left over for eating for the next few weeks too.

    - At IGA I saw advertised long life tins of meat and vegetables on 50% off special and purchased 10 of them saving $20 on usual prices.

    These all came out of our usual grocery shop money for the 2 monthly cycle so I did not use any of my pantry stocking budget as I get a 5% off groceries gift card with my roadside assist club which fairly much paid for the tins of long life meat and vegetables.

    We are also happy with what we managed to get on specials and or clearance here to make our budgets stretch further.

    Sewingcreations15.

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    1. I think you did great. Inflation is a problem for all of us I think. Good idea on making the apple pie filling. Not only does it save you money but it tastes so much better. That is great that you saved 50% off on the tins. You really got the most for your money.

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  2. I shop a lot like you. I enjoy reading about bargains even when someone else gets them.
    I haven’t bought any special bargains this week, but we did just enjoy a nice breakfast with $1.99 a pound bacon from the freezer. Last week when 5 grands were here, we baked 3 Betty Crocker cookie mixes from Dollar Tree and they were delicious 😋

    ReplyDelete
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    1. We love bacon. I would have bought a dozen at that price. I haven't seen bacon that low in years. That is wonderful that you got it so cheap.

      The cookie mixes are great if I am in a rush. My OD will get a few. She is single and working full time plus she does a few side gigs. She likes to bake and cook but sometimes she doesn't have the time. The cookie pouches are really quick and they taste good too. I'm sure your grandkids had fun making the cookies.

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    2. About the bacon, I bought 15 pounds - 10 pounds for our freezer and 5 pounds for daughter’s family. It was at a military commissary. I usually find some good deals there but this was exceptional. Sadly it’s a 1 hour drive so I don’t shop there weekly.

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    3. I have never been to a military commissary but I've heard only good things about them. Too bad it is so far away. That was nice that you gave some to your daughter. I do the same thing.

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  3. The cookie mixes were a fantastic bargain. I have noticed one of my local stores has packaged items reduced when they are very near their sell by date. I stock up and keep them in the freezer. I have yet to have an issue with any of them.

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    1. They don't expire until 2019. Maybe they are changing the packaging. I buy things all the time close to the manufactures date. That is all the dates usually are. Most things last a long time past the date.

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  4. We shop like you as well. At least 3 days/week I wind up taking kids to school, which lead me right past the 2 supermarkets in our area. More often than not, on the way home, I will stop in to scan the mark down area. Often, I leave empty handed. Today was a day I left empty handed. DH, however, had to take another kid in a bit later due to scheduling, and stopped in the same store shortly after I did. He arrived home with 12 pounds of butter at $1.49/pound. They had just put it out when he showed up! Apparently, it was something sent to this store in error, and they just wanted it off the shelf, so they were selling it at cost. I use butter almost exclusively in my cooking/baking, so while this amount will last awhile, it is not excessive.

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    1. There is no set schedule at my stores. Sometimes I find a ton of stuff, but most times I leave empty handed. It really is all about the timing. That is an amazing price for the butter. Glad your husband grabbed them.

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    2. You misunderstood me--no schedule for markdowns at our stores either. My husband went in to the same store I was in not 15 minutes earlier that morning due to one of our kid's schedule, requiring both of us to drive the 12 miles into town in different vehicles

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    3. So your husband just got lucky. Glad you both had to go into town that day.

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  5. Wow. You did great! I wish we had an Aldi in our area. I've been to one in the past and their prices were lower compared to other stores.

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    1. I am not a name brand person so Aldi works great for me. Their prices are better everyday but I can get things cheaper on sale and marked down at other stores.

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  6. I went to 3 stores today, as we have returned from our trip and the fridge was low because my husband and 2 daughters that stayed home have been eating. My husband is very self sufficient, and cooked a bunch of meals, but was strapped for time during the work week, so used the easy food I left out on the end of the table a bunch of the time. My brother-in-law brought a bunch of Chinese food over one day, and they ate together, then my husband had that for a couple of days.

    I spent around $200, and everything is really filled up again. I hadn't been shopping for over 2 weeks, and I have tons of food now to carry me through for a while.

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    1. Poor Rob got to see what being a single Dad was like. That was nice that your BIL brought over Chinese. $200 for 2 weeks is great. You have a lot of mouths to feed. Glad you had a great time in DC

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  7. I am absolutely floored by all great deals you got! I wish our marked downs were as good as your's are. Great job!

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  8. Good job there girlie! Love all the mark-downs. That is pretty much all I buy any more - it's like money in the bank.

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    1. I think having a pantry is like my second Emergency Fund.

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