Grocery prices are crazy high – so I try and do what I can to save money and stay within my budget. Due to the rising cost of food, I have had to increase my budget from $100 a week to $150 a week. It takes careful planning, sale shopping, and making food stretch to stay within budget each week. With the edition of my Erin Condren petite planner system, the petite meal planner is helping make meal planning and grocery shopping a breeze.
This week I went to Aldi and a local grocery store in my area Schiel’s Market. I love the price of produce at Aldi’s and whatever I can’t find there – I will buy at another store. Today the roads were bad because of freezing rain, so I went to my local grocery store, which is on the pricier side, but they have Boar’s Head deli meat, which my family loves the best. In total, I spent $133.07 out of my $150 budget at both stores. With the $16.93 left over, I will either roll that money over to next week’s budget or use it to eat out one night which is not in the meal plan, but may happen on Friday or Saturday depending on work & sport schedules. Check out what I bought and the price break down below.
What Groceries I Bought At Aldi
Thick Sliced Bacon $8.49
Spaghetti $1.09
Penne $$.79
Mini Muffins $2.15
Hey Buns $1.39
Mexican Shredded Cheese $$2.79Shredded Mozzarella Cheese $2.59
Gourmet Deli Meat Tray $4.49
Organic Chewy Bars $2.59
Organic Pinto beans $.96
Tomato Sauce $.28
Tortillas $1.99 (20ct)
Mangoes $.89 ea (bought 2)
Bag of Lemons $2.49
Romaine Lettuce $2.39
Bagels $1.49
24 oz Pasta Sauce $.87
Grapes $2.72
Eggs $1.65
Kidney Beans $.53
Bread $2.19
Strawberries $2.99
Bananas $.91
Raspberries $2.49
My total at Aldi was $58.22
What I Bought At Schiel’s Market
Gallon Milk $4.18
Rotisserie Chicken $6.99
24 pack Coke & Diet Coke $8.99 each (bought 2)
Sprite 2 Liter $2.00 (bought 2)
Beef Stew Meat $5.15 and $5.69
Celery $1.50
Sweet Onion $1.00
Creme Rolls $2.79
Deli American Cheese (1lb) $5.11
Deli Boars Head Turkey (1lb) $11.54
French Vanilla Coffee Creamer $3.99
Texas toast Garlic Bread $3.19
My total at Schiel’s was $74.85
Obviously everyone’s budget is different, and mine accounts for soda which is definitely an expensive luxury (and a bad habit), but my husband and I like to have soda to drink. We are drinking far less – but we still include it in our budget. If we were really needing to reign in our budget, soda would be the first to go.
To see how we planner for meals, I have included our dinner meal plan below.
Meal plan for January 9th-January 15th
Sunday: Chicken Fajitas
Monday: Pasta with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread and Salad
Tuesday: Tacos
Wednesday: Oven fried chicken with rice & beans
Thursday: Crockpot Beef Stew
Friday: Crockpot Pork Roast
Saturday: Spaghetti & Meatballs with Garlic Bread & Salad
Like I had mentioned earlier, we have a lot of meat in the freezer, so we did not buy a lot of meat this trip. For lunches, we can have salads, chicken salad (which I made from the rotisserie chicken), or sandwiches. For breakfast we have granola bars, bagels, cereal, and fruit to choose from. We also have pancake mix in the pantry. I did buy some things this trip for the girls to take to school for snack. We also have chips, goldfish, peanut butter to go cups, and popcorn.
Other Ways to Save on Groceries
I highly recommend using the Fetch rewards app to help you earn money back from buying things at the grocery store. You can also redeem recipes from restaurants, big box stores like Walmart or Target, sporting goods stores, clothing stores, pet stores – you name it. This week I earned 263 points on Fetch. All you have to do is scan your receipts and they give you rewards points from those receipts.
You have 14 days from the date on the receipt to scan and earn points. You can scan up to 28 receipts in a 7 day period. Every time you scan a receipt you will receive points. Points can be redeemed for gift cards which you can use in your favorite stores like Target, Amazon or Starbucks. I usually let my points accumulate throughout the year and then redeem them for gift cards to make purchases for Christmas gifts. To me it’s a win-win.
Right now Fetch is offering 2,000 points by joining through my referral link. Click here to get your first 2,00 points from Fetch!
I hope you guys enjoyed a look into my weekly grocery trip and budget. If you are interested in the Erin Condren meal planner, you can use this link for $10 off your first order with Erin Condren. I hope this helps some of you see what I buy and how I make our budget stretch through the week – sometimes two weeks. Let me know in the comments below how you budget for your groceries!
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Keep in mind that I may receive commission or rewards when you click the links and make purchases, at no extra cost to you.
