Albertsons – $6.98
Well, this week started off really good. Buying things like milk, yogurt and fruit never tends to break the bank.
Albertsons $16.15
But then we needed more milk, The Girl wanted orange juice, I needed coconut and the HH wanted cottage cheese.
Costco $58.63
And then there was Costco.
Have you ever gone grocery shopping with a teenage boy before? Holy cow man, I don’t know if I was just super hungry too or if my mind was elsewhere, but Monkey Boy and I ended up spending a boatload at Costco, and we didn’t even stop for free samples.
And hello, tuna is expensive!!
Mr. Produce Guy – FREE
Thanks to Mr. Produce Guy, at least the lunch snacks were free. 😉
How much did YOU spend on groceries last week? Did you make a trip to Costco? Have you tried their pumpkin pies? Man they are good! 😉
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $81.76
Total Spent This Year $1,747.35 It’s official, I’m over for the year!
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $919.96{I bought a Meyer Lemon Tree, Rhubarb crowns, 6 Fruit Trees , 16 yards of soil}, Walla Walla Onions and 90 pounds of seed potatoes. Plus, supplies to make my own potting soil. I also picked up a boatload of heirloom tomato plants at the Seattle Tilth sale.
Read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Ashley says
Tuna IS much more expensive than it was a few years ago! My grocery store used to have cans on sale for 3/$1 every couple months. Now we rarely eat it because I can’t justify paying so much for canned fish when I could just buy meat for less money per ounce.
Judy says
well if I want to stay in budget I don’t shop at these warehouse stores much and when I do I am very careful what I buy because a lot of what they sell a lot of times isn’t less then the grocery stores just because its sold by bulk..ie the tuna.. much cheaper in super Wal-Mart or Albertsons. these stores whether it be Costco, Sam’s, or BJ. count on impulse buying and the fact that most people don’t stop and look at the per piece price which they do display.. but in very tiny writing.
but in all fairness I have gotten some good deals at Sam’s and Costco but I really watch the per unit prices.
Danielle O says
We spent $70 yesterday at Grocery Outlet. Didn’t get any of our produce or meat but things like (organic) cereal, veggie Kraft mac & cheese, Hebrew Heaven hot dogs… With Princess Cthulhu going through chemo, we need quick meals to get us through on treatment days =\ I’m sending the husband to Fred Meyer for the meats & produce today. Hopefully he doesn’t get TOO distracted -_-
Susan says
Safeway had 5 oz. cans of Starkist Albacore on their Friday Deals for $1. Picked up 6 cans and 4 cans of Valley Fresh Chicken (also $1) There are $1/2 coupons = .50 each (for the chicken)
DH will only eat Albacore. He says the cheap stuff is cat food. I notice that when you drain the cheap stuff, there isn’t even enough left for a sandwich!
Ashley is right- you can also buy a tuna steak, cook it and make your own for sandwiches. I’ve done that, too. Really good!!
Shirley Kelly says
I only buy Albacore tuna when it’s on a good sale price and have it maybe twice a month. Susan, please tell your husband, my cat, Miss Lily won’t eat anything except Albacore. One time I bought “the other kind” and I finally mixed it in with cooked pasta. I give her only a tiny bite – she looked at it, smelled it and backed away from it. Looked up at me like what is this stuff? Just had to share!
Elizabeth says
I make our yogurt by the gallon. The kids eat it within a week. We mix it in with dry cereal instead of milk-they use less yogurt than they would milk in their cereal so we save on milk that way (and on te plastic waste from the yogurt containers). We get our cereal at a discount store for $1. We go once a month for cereal, snacks, frozen chickens (usually great quality and fresh birds that were frozen at their sell by date). We get a lot of our canned goods like tuna there too.
Lynne says
I always check the weekly ads for the big drug stores like Walgreens and CVS. You wouldn’t want to do your regular grocery shopping there, but they often have sales on select items that make them cheaper than food or big box stores. This week, one of them has 8 oz. jars of instant coffee (my beverage of choice) for $2.99, and another has brand name cans of chunk light tuna for $0.88. I’m perfectly happy with a chunk light tuna sandwich, but I keep cans of solid white tuna on hand for pickier family members. I just insist on waiting on a sale so I can get them for $1 or less!
Leslie says
I agree with the drug store shopping. They often have olives for 99cents, turkey bacon for 1.00 etc. They often have great prices on nuts. I go in about once a week and get the sales only.
Linda says
How do you leave Costco without spending $200? I walk in and it’s automatically $200. This week it was over $400. But I bought a Roku and a Sodastream in addition to the regular food.
Katie @ Life Lived Intentionally says
I went to Winco, and “spent a boatload” there! My husband likes Dennison’s Chili, and they happened to have a great price, so I stocked up on that…and a whole bunch of I can’t remember what else. So! I had to change my ways this week and I just bought the essentials. Well, and one little package of licorice. That’s ALMOST essential, right? 🙂 At least it was within our budget.
Mavis Butterfield says
Licorice is an essential food. Yes. 😉
Helen in Meridian says
We call it Vitamin L. Was a black licorice girl, because the red didn’t taste like it was good for you. Now We eat some red too. I bought Costco’s new Gourmet Baking Set by Rodelle for $14.00 I has 4 oz pure Lemon extract, 4 oz pure Almond extract, 3.5 oz ground nutmeg, and 2.7 oz ground ginger. Sis, Mennen, thought it was a great deal especially for the pure liquid extracts. My sis always buy the punkin pie the day it appears. She declares it fall when they arrive. I also buy their cookbooks and health books. Love their housewares and their Kirkland and Charisma sheet sets. They seem expensive, but their high quality can’t be beat. I may buy the giant nutcracker for sis for her birthday, xmas, and not spending anything on her in Europe gift , if I can find someone with a pickup to haul it to her house.
Jennifer says
You already can lots of stuff, why not can your own tuna? My friend on the west coast, Longview, WA, cans her own because she can’t do soy. Yes, there is soy in canned tuna……She said it was soooo much better that the stuff from the store! She just ordered a big chunk of tuna from the fish monger, was way cheaper than the little cans too.
Kim Hunt says
Mavis,
I have been following you for a long time and I just love you, but one thing I have been wondering for a long time is WHY DO YOU PURCHASE FRUITS and VEGGIES? You grow so many and you get so many free from your grocer that it always amazes me that you actually pay for them too.
Mavis Butterfield says
Ha! We eat lot’s of fruits and veggies, I know. 🙂 My kids love Fuji apples for eating fresh, and a lot of times I’ll make homemade applesauce with the freebies and buy Fuji apples for the kids. And bananas, I can stick a spotted banana in a smoothie, bread, or muffins but my kids won’t eat a spotted banana at school. Go figure. Hey, it could be worse, I could be spending my money on tons of junk food, right. 🙂