I Ditched Costco. And I’m not looking back. I just couldn’t take it anymore. So a big thank you to everyone who chimed in last week and said it was OKAY to abandon that silly notion.
Here are some of the deals I snatched up this week:
Albertsons $ 15.28
Albertsons has medium eggs on sale for $0.99 a dozen* {with a limit of 4} so I grabbed 4 dozen of course. Our family goes through eggs like nobody’s business when The Girl is home so this was a great find.
Tillamook Yogurt was on sale for $0.38 each* so I grabbed 10 {the max allowed}. I loved the fact I could buy 10, and not a case of 24 or 36 yogurts like I would have had to do at Costco. Not having to remind my peeps to “take a yogurt in your lunch” everyday is a nice change. 😉
Tillamook Cheese was also on sale for $1.99 a package this past week. Luckily I was able to print off {2} $1.00 off cheese coupons before the print limit was reached {there was a coupon link at the bottom of the page, I’m not sure if it’s still there}. If you are still getting the newspaper each month, there was also a $1/1 Tillamook Cheese coupon in the 6/28 SmartSource you can use.
I also snagged 2 avocados and a red onion. Let’s just say it was nice not to have to buy 10 pounds of red onions when I only needed one.
*with Albertsons in ad coupon. Thru 7/21/15
Amazon Subscribe and Save – Free thanks to Swagbucks!
- Bull’s Eye Texas Style Regional Barbecue Sauce, 17.5 Ounce Bottle $0.97 after discount
- Haribo Gummi Candy, Original Gold-Bears, 5-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)Â $7.26 after discount
- Snyder’s of Hanover 100 Calorie Packs Mini Pretzels, 10-Count Packages (Pack of 6)Â $8.92 after discount
- Chicken of the Sea Chunk Light Tuna in Water, 3-Ounce Easy Open Cans (Pack of 24)Â $10.04 after discount
- Bob’s Red Mill Bulgur Red Wheat Ala, 28-Ounce (Pack of 4)Â $14.24 after discount
- San Francisco Bay OneCup, French Roast, 80 Single Serve Coffees $21.92 after discount
*The prices I was able to get the items for above may no longer be valid.
Amazon prices can change super quick, so when I find a good subscribe and save deal on something, I simply add the item to my subscribe and save order for the next month. I like the flexibility of being able to add items to my list {and being able to delete them} before the shipment goes out. Sometimes I order toiletry products, sometimes food, but if I can’t find at least 5 items to get the additional 15% off discount, I won’t order anything at all.
Fred Meyer – $23.15
If you have been waiting for a great deal on peaches, cancel all your plans for this week because Fred Meyer has peaches on sale for $0.99 a pound!
On the agenda for this week:
Peach Jam. Slicing and Freezing Peaches for Smoothies and Peach Pies during the winter months.
Even though I spent a little more this week than I would have liked too, when I can get a deal on fresh produce, I snatch it up {and hope it all works out in the end}.
How did YOU do this week? Score any deals?
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $38.43
Weeks 1-28 Shopping Exclusively at Costco $1,229.25 {$43.90 a week/$175 a month average}
Weeks 29- Shopping wherever the heck I want $38.43 {$38.43 a week/$153.72 a month average}
Total Spent Year to Date $1267.68
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Jenell says
I’m glad you quit Costco I enjoy seeing how low the grocery bill can be:)
Kristina says
Bully for you. I’m impressed you maintained your sanity during that experiment. I always construct actual pie fillings (fruit, sugar, spices, corn starch, etc), measure into gallon ziplocs and nestle into pie tins to freeze into pie-shaped pucks (remove the tins when the fillings have frozen). Then in January when you’re feeling sad and weepy for summer, you can just pop one (still frozen) into a prepared pie crust and bake. You just need to increase the time a little and cover the crust so it doesn’t brown too fast.
Tamara says
Great idea!
Teresa says
That is GENIUS!
Mary West says
Tuna came up as $42 on Amazon.
Mavis Butterfield says
WOWZA!!! That is a crazy price.
Sherri says
I am trying to get all my shopping down to once a month, period. Realistically, I go to Costco once every month or two months and twice to the regular grocery store (one of the grocery store trips and the Costco trip coincides). I certainly spend more than a hundred a month, but then my garden is sad and I already told you I have garden envy. The Costco trip saves me enough money to justify the membership and the drive to Olympia and back (more than an hour one way). The unload and put away after a trip is definitely wearing, but it feels like I waste less time to and froing. When I lived in Port Orchard I was six minutes from my grocery store of choice and 10 minutes from Freddy’s. Now I am about 40 mins. away from a Safeway. But where I live makes it worth it!
jestjack says
Thank you Mavis for letting me know I wasn’t crazy. When you began the “Costco Challenge” I thought it wouldn’t work based on DW’s and my experience. Our biggest problem is keeping food from going bad before we use it. Sometimes we can’t use all the potatoes in a bag before some perish and we hate it. I can’t imagine buying the large quantities you described from Costco. Perhaps…sometimes….less IS more….
Kori F says
I like these shopping posts better, it is a reminder to me to stop by Freddies and pick up the sale items. I also really enjoy it when you find the deals and then show us what your doing with it. Thanks Mavis! You Rock!
Teresa says
We couldn’t afford to live without Costco, but we have sort of different criteria. 1) we eat a LOT (no, not fat- house full of boys) Five pounds of plums? No problem. 2) my husband is allergic to many things. So, no convenience foods for us. I do all our baking, including all our bread. I make our yogurt. I cook almost everything from scratch. So we save a ton buying say, the 50 lb sack of flour, the gallon of olive oil, the three lb sack of yeast, the 20 lb bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 per lb, the Tilamook baby loaf for $7, etc. 3) Kirkland Diapers are our favorite and a great deal. 4) We prefer not to have to go here and there chasing deals. Costco and Walmart twice a month and it’s done. Yes, we may miss a few deals other stores have, but with the better overall prices per oz or unit, the quantity we need, and the savings in time and gas, yeah buddy, Costco. 5) Gas. So much cheaper.
If u can’t get through the quantities or are susceptible to the myriad convenience foods there, then Costco will not work for you. If you run a restaurant or have a family that eats like a restaurant’s entire customer base, it’s awesome.
Marcia says
I’m glad you ditched Costco. It looks like we all agreed. I started to miss all of your summaries of good prices and good deals and what you make from everything. That creativity is something I really love about your blog. So many great ideas!
I just got back from there, and I was so tempted by some of the stuff – but certain things really are more expensive there (and I’m going on vacation soon anyway).
This week was a frugal FAIL. So, half of our Albertson’s and Vons stores have become Haggen due the merger of Albertson’s and Vons. This includes my local Albertson’s. We still have two, but they are out near work, so I have to plan ahead to shop.
Anyway, I did, and I got good deals on canned beans and cottage cheese. Here in So Cal, we didn’t have your same deals.
I rarely shop at Vons but they had a sale on deli ham, and we were having guests in town so I wanted to have sandwich makings. Lordy. First of all, I asked for honey ham and she sliced honey turkey. Then I pointed out the ham that I wanted and she picked the wrong ham (the $9 a pound ham, not the $5 a pound ham). At that point I gave up and took both. But it put me almost $50 over for the week. (I’d been waiting too long at that point.) Anyway, I won’t be going back.
The tough thing is that Haggen, though good quality, has MUCH higher prices than Albertson’s. So in a sense I’ve “lost” that local store with good deals for emergency items. I’ve gone in there a few times and left empty handed. (They’ve started laying people off at the local stores.) I feel bad for them, in a way, being the “little guy”. But the “upper-middle” range of grocery stores is a dead zone. We already have a Whole Foods and a couple of other stores that appeal to a certain group with more money to spend. We don’t need more of those.
Tiffany F says
Great deals as always! And, I just got peaches for… 77 cents/lb at Kroger (in VA)!!! I, too, stocked up; and will be going back before the week is over!
In addition to freezing for smoothies, I’ll definitely be using the tip to freeze the prepared pie filling that someone else mentioned!
Mavis Butterfield says
$0.77 is a sweet deal!!!