My goal for this year was to spend $25 per week on groceries, eating mostly from the pantry and the freezer. I cannot do it on $25/week. I had not been to the store in well over a week because of both of us having been sick. Yesterday I had no choice .. I HAD to get some groceries!
At Kroger, I spent $48.92. At Aldi, I spent $37.43. Realistically, I don’t think I can spend less than $75 per week, and that’s if I’m totally careful, and that doesn’t include toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning supplies, dog or cat food, etc. – purely food items for us, and bare basics.
Kroger Receipt
We are going to eat fresh veggies and fresh fruit. As far as fruit, I bought a pineapple, bananas, mangoes and Clementine oranges. All except the bananas were on sale. That will not be enough to get us through the week but we’ll supplement with canned peaches and pears, along with frozen blueberries and strawberries that I bought when on sale.
We eat salads every day, often for lunch and dinner, and until I get enough greens growing in the garden, I’m buying 3 or 4 heads or bundles of lettuce per week. Other veggies on this week’s receipt are a spaghetti squash that will be enough for several meals, asparagus that was on sale, carrots, cabbage and even though it says cilantro . . it was parsley. We have lots of cilantro in the garden. Within a few weeks, we should have lots of asparagus in the garden and within a few weeks after that, we should be getting carrots. The rest of our veggies for the week will be from the freezer or from jars I canned in 2014. I didn’t do much canning in 2015 — the garden didn’t make much.
You can see I bought 5 muffin mixes and a couple of brownie mixes, both are items I don’t normally buy but I have a new brownie bite pan that I want to use. Also, we’ve been having muffins for breakfast, along with oatmeal and fruit. When I can buy a muffin mix for $1, that’s way less than I can make scratch muffins by the time I pay for most fruit, even though homemade is always better than a mix.
It was a dream to think I could make it only spending $25 per week on groceries but now that my goal is $75 per week, I’m hoping I can stay in that range.
Jen says
Well, anytime you think you spend a lot on groceries…I will enlighten you with what I spend! I swear I have 2 teenagers with hollow legs. I told the boys that playing sports was very detrimental to my grocery budget! I think 75.00 for you and Vince is very good. Do you have Bountiful Baskets in your area? That might be something to look into, when your garden isn’t producing.
Susan says
You do eat healthy, and that costs money. During the summer, you may do better, if the weather cooperates better than last year’s did.
Sherry says
Although we no longer have Kroger stores in our area, I am wondering how you get a senior discount at a grocery store. I am years older than you and I don’t get one. How am I missing out?
katie says
Check with your stores, some have Senior day or Senior hours. The Senior hours at my local store are in the middle of the day when most people are at work.
Linda in NE says
I always figure if I can get the week’s necessary groceries & sale items for between $30 and $50 I’m doing good. And I usually make a trip every 2-3 months to the big Walmart an hour away for paper products, laundry soap, shampoos, bath soap and body wash, sometimes stopping at the grocery store a half hour away on the way home for some 85% hamburger and whole pork loin roasts if they’re on sale. Just basic living is getting so expensive, and this is with home canned goods and stuff in the freezer like deer, fish, corn, apples, etc. I’m glad my kids are grown and gone….not sure I could afford them any more. 🙂
Nann says
Twenty years ago I scrupulously recorded what I spent on everything. That was a valuable exercise to help me watch/track cash flow. Each of us has our indulgences. I buy marinated artichokes at Aldi for $2.69/jar to jazz up salads. (I don’t use them in every salad, but once a week or so.) I eat dry cereal for breakfast ($1.79/box, about .25/day plus the milk) and my husband has steel-cut oats ($2.29/box, makes 2+ weeks’ worth, about .16/day plus the margarine/salt/pepper he puts on it).
Top Box Foods is a new initiative in our town (www.topboxfoods.com) to provide healthy eating choices at bargain prices — which reminds me, today is Top Box day!
Erin says
Brownie bite pan?? Can’t wait to hear about that! I love those!!