What a month?! I knew that this month was going to be a hard transition to virtual learning but I didn't go to the store for the first half of the month. The great thing is that we still had things left in the house so there were tons of things to hold me over until I got the time to make it to the store. I finally went on the 15th so I bought plenty of things to last us with the things that we had at the house.
Normally we have $160 budget a month for food and $40 for Take Out which means that we spend $200. Since March, we have shifted to $200 for shopping and we were skipping take out. I took the extra money to buy some special treats and to cover the additional cost of food during the limited availability. This month I knew that we were switching back because we got a lot of Pizza Hut which was the main thing that my son was missing for the last 6 months.
Below are all the things that I have gotten for the month with the pictures and the amount spent at each store.
Lidl $22.02
I went with my long list of things that I needed but the main thing was the tortilla chips that my son and husband have decided that they love. I also got a container of whipped topping because we ran out of them and my son loves to eat them from frozen with his pancakes. The pretzels were on sale so I got two of them as well because they are way better then Aldi pretzels too. I needed salt because we were running low on sea salt. I figured that I should buy some normal salt to make the other salt last longer so I got two different versions that they. Sadly, it was cheaper when I went to Aldi. Oops! Eggs were on sale for $0.50 per dozen so I got two. I was totally out of canned tomato so I got what they had which was tomato paste and tomato sauce. I got my husband some bananas which were yellow. I got 6 bottles of Cran Grape for my son and husband. I got a special Apple Cider for $2.89 for my son because it is one of his seasonal favorites.
Aldi $69.03
I think that this might be the most that I ever spent at Aldi. I got a frozen whipped topping which was also cheaper at Aldi. I got two bottles of Cran Grape because they were cheaper there too but my husband said that he wanted to mix between the two flavors. I splurged and got chicken pot stickers to make with fried rice. I got some tub margarine which was my backup. I got two more backup Chicken Fries which is my son's favorite food (outside Pizza Hut). I got three packages of bacon which were $2.59 per package. I got another bottle of canola oil because I only had one in the cupboard. I got celery which we were out of. I got one container of sour cream to make dip and use in other recipes. I got one package of sausage which I cooked and made into a sausage lasagna. I got a head of lettuce which we like on chicken wraps and tacos and we use it for salads. I got my husband some bananas which were green so they would last after the ones from Lidl. I got three packages of pepperoni which we eat on pizza and for snacks and lunch. I got a package of hamburger buns because we liked having them and they were on sale for $0.59 but we haven't used them and I put them in the fridge so that they wouldn't mold. I got 3 bags of Nacho Cheese Chips and Ranch Chips which were $0.75 each. I got Mozzarella Cheese and Extra Sharp Cheddar for $1.25 each. I got two salsas to put in the pantry. I also got two jars of crushed tomatoes. It was quite the haul for sure that when I was taking the picture I forgot to put the rolls in the picture!
Aldi $13.92
I went to my second Aldi of the day to get milk because my normal one was out of it but the milk tasted funny to my family so we didn't actually use much except in baking so that was a bummer. I got turkey lunch meat and stick margarine because my other Aldi was out of both of them. Sadly the store charged me for 5 margarine and I only got 4. Bummer!
Giant $11.86
I loaded a bunch of electronic coupons including a free Pepsi Zero which I had never had but it was pretty good. I got a free JoyBol but it didn't ring up correctly so I had to get money back at customer service but I haven't tried it yet. I got two Cheerios and two Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal. I had one electronic coupon for $1 off and then I had two printable coupons for $1 off each. They ended up being $1.13 per box which is way more then I would ever spend in the past but that is now a good price. I got Barilla Penne for $0.99 each and there was a coupon for $1 off 4 so they were $0.74 which makes them cheaper then Aldi so I grabbed them for the pantry. Another way more then I would ever spend for pasta but it is currently the only kind that my son eats. I got the Gerber food for $0.35 each after printed and 2 electronic coupon. I was having trouble finding green chilis for my tortilla soup recipe so I got some store brand tomatoes with green chilis in them instead. I got a splurge for Ricos Nacho Cheese because it was on a shelf that said it was $1.25 but at the register it rang up $2.64. I used it for our taco rice, enchiladas, and a few tasty snack.
Safeway $4.74
My main goal was to get Turkey Hill cookies and cream because it was the cheapest price around from my research online for $2.41 each. I stopped at Safeway to get 4 Gerber which were on sale for $1.50 and there was an electronic coupon for $1.50 off. They were $1.12 each. I got one package of blue lemonade Kool Aid for my son and husband to try. I got a free container of Organic Peanut Butter which I will be using for peanut butter cookies. I had another coupon to get free Kerrygold cheese and there was an additional $1.50 coupon that came off so I actually had a credit against other groceries. Another great bonus is that I still had some gift card leftover from the Monopoly game winnings.
Giant $0.09
I had a free electronic coupon for a Chobani drink so I only had to pay tax.
Safeway $0.00
There was a electronic coupon for free 10 lb potatoes. I had to exchange one of the things that I got before that was the wrong one so I grabbed my free potatoes while I was there. We use a lot of potatoes so it was an amazing deal to grab those for free. I had already used a lot of potatoes from Giant last month so they will be put to good use in the coming months.
I think that I did pretty well for the month. I was going to try to go at the end of the month to go back but there wasn't enough time so I pushed it off. I can't believe how quickly things go down when you stock the fridge and pantry. We have done a great job with once a month shopping and although it isn't the best with saving money, it certainly saves a lot of time. I can totally see why people stick to this method of shopping. There is still plenty of food left in the house to make the next month meal plan.
Eating Out or Take Out
We went to Pizza Hut at the beginning of the month to get pizza for us and my parents when we were visiting my parents. We spent $21.60 for our two pizzas and we got a free pizza from summer reading for my son which we ate on the way to my parents house. We went to Pizza Hut two days later to get another free pizza for my son's reading program while we were visiting other family. Super interesting that all the coupons expired September 15th so we had to spend both the last months quickly. Then we came home and got pizza with an order of bread sticks using our points for $10.60. The total take out spent was $32.20. It was good that we were under our $40 budget and my son got to have a lot of pizza! It made for some easy travel meals too.
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