It's funny how sometimes I manage to go a while without any grocery shopping and then I do a heavy shopping day- yesterday, after not having done a real grocery shop for about 2 weeks, I went to not just one place to grocery shop, but 3!
In our community we have these weekly sales where they sell groceries supposedly cheaply, but I haven't been to one for a while, since the timing never seemed to work out right, but yesterday I considered going to one sale, asked on my local Facebook ground about it, and found out that they had salmon on sale really cheaply, so decided to make the trek, and then found out that there was another sale about a 15 minute walk uphill from the first sale, so figured why not check it out as well.
Well, at the first sale, I'll admit, I was disappointed by the price of produce- it wasn't anywhere near as amazing as I was led to believe it would be- other than potatoes, which they were selling for 13 cents a pound since they were tiny and golf ball sized- but I don't have any problem with tiny potatoes, so I bought 15 lbs for $1.97.
I saw a package of radishes for 85 cents so got that.
The salmon, as I was told, was very cheap- $3.25 per pound for salmon fillet, when salmon fillet is usually cheapest $5.06 per pound, but often goes up to $7.50 per pound. I bought two fillets of salmon, a total of 5.8 lbs for only $18.90, a real steal for salmon!
While I was there a friend pointed out to me that ground chicken (with no fillers, like soy, as often found in cheap ground meat) was on sale for $1.29/lb, which is the lowest I've ever seen it- usually a decent price for it is $2.59 per pound- but unfortunately there was a limit of 2.2 lbs per person, so that's what I bought, for $2.83.
I needed some chicken, and that ground stuff wasn't enough, so I bought 2 packages of wings for $1.15/lb- not super low, but a pretty decent price- a total of 4 lbs for $4.62.
I have been looking for sugar free tomato paste- almost all the stuff around here has added sugar, so when I saw them selling the one brand with no added sugar, I decided to get two- at $1.85 a can it was a drop more expensive than where I usually buy it ($1.71 each is the usual price I pay) but since I was saving a trip in to town, I figured it was worth it. However, when I went to pay, I found out that they actually were $1.42 per can- cheaper than regular, sugar added, cans of tomato paste, so I bought 4 cans instead of the two I'd originally planned- for a total of $5.71.
Since I was there and I needed baking paper, I got what they had- $2.28 for the package- which is about average, and then I also bought the kids a treat- puddings were being sold for 29 cents each, so I bought them each one for a total of $1.14...
But then since they needed spoons to eat them with, I bought an overpriced package of disposable spoons for $1.71.
Total spent at this sale was $40.01- pretty decent if I may say so myself.
Then I walked over to the further sale, where I was told that produce was very cheap as well. Unfortunately it was not. I almost walked away buying nothing, then I inquired about the price of eggs- $4.85 for a tray of 30 small eggs, working out to only 16 cents an egg. Large eggs usually go for 31 cents an egg, so this seemed like an amazing price to me. I bought 3 trays of 30 each for a total of $14.57.
I bought a 5.5 lb bag of frozen green beans at $1.42 per lb, not the cheapest ever, but decently priced, for a total of $7.85.
Total at this sale? $22.42.
But I had a problem. I still needed produce! And I didn't want to pay through the nose for it.
And so, later on, when Mike came home, I went out yet again, this time to the cheapo grocery store in town, with a strict list that I almost stuck to perfectly. To try to make sure that I wouldn't overbuy, I specifically didn't use a stroller, which would help me carry back more things- just a huge backpack.
Here's what I bought:
1 bag of gluten free rice crispies cereal for $3.94- expensive, but it was the cheapest they had, hence buying only one. I am actually attempting to make homemade cereal at the moment, and if that works out, I'll try to do that regularly instead of buying cereal.
I bought 3 packages of wings for $1.02 per pound- a pretty good price- a total of 7.21 lbs for $7.36.
I bought 2 giant packages of rice cakes for $3.14 each, so $6.28 for both of them.
For quick foods for my kids, I bought 5 packages of gluten free hot dog buns for $1.42 for each pack of six, which seems like a pretty decent deal to me. They had another company of gluten free hot dog buns for the same price for 4, so it was a no brainer to go with the 6 per package. So a total of $7.10 on the hot dog buns.
I also got a 4 pack package of not so bad hot dogs for $7.11 to go with those buns for those "I really am too exhausted to even think about what to make for supper" days...
One of the things I like about this store is that, while not as cheap as the farmer's market, they do tend to have cheaper produce, and they were cheaper than the local sales were, especially their fruit that they sell prepackaged in net bags- apples were 76 cents a pound, oranges were 38 cents a pound, and avocado were 89 cents a pound. I bought one net of avocado- 4.41 lbs for $3.92, 3 nets of oranges- 17.29 lbs for $6.57, and 2 nets of apples- 9.69 lbs for $7.37.
I also bought some onions- 7.4 lbs for 50 cents a pound, for a total of $3.75, some radishes- 2 packages for $1.68, and zucchini- 6.22 lbs at $1.02 per pound for a total of $6.34, and a ginger root for $1.10.
I still needed some more produce but knew that my backpack was going to be very full and very heavy, so I decided that the rest of the produce I'd buy would be very light, even if its not as cheap as possible.
I bought 3 packages of romaine lettuce for $1.13 each or $3.40 for the lot, and bought a package of baby greens for $2.82 as a treat for myself to tempt myself to stick to healthier eating, and a package of bok choy for $2.82 for the same reason.
Yes, I did manage to bring all that home on the bus, carrying it to the bus in my backpack and in my hands. It was very heavy, but I managed. And the total of that shop was $71.56.
Total cost of my shopping trips yesterday- $133.99. No, not nothing or even next to nothing, but I got some amazing sales, my freezer is packed, my fridge is full, and I think I probably go another 2 weeks even without grocery shopping, but we'll see.
Have you gotten any amazing deal while going grocery shopping lately? What is the most amount of different stores you've gone to in one day?
In our community we have these weekly sales where they sell groceries supposedly cheaply, but I haven't been to one for a while, since the timing never seemed to work out right, but yesterday I considered going to one sale, asked on my local Facebook ground about it, and found out that they had salmon on sale really cheaply, so decided to make the trek, and then found out that there was another sale about a 15 minute walk uphill from the first sale, so figured why not check it out as well.
 |
| What I got at the first two places I shopped. |
Well, at the first sale, I'll admit, I was disappointed by the price of produce- it wasn't anywhere near as amazing as I was led to believe it would be- other than potatoes, which they were selling for 13 cents a pound since they were tiny and golf ball sized- but I don't have any problem with tiny potatoes, so I bought 15 lbs for $1.97.
I saw a package of radishes for 85 cents so got that.
The salmon, as I was told, was very cheap- $3.25 per pound for salmon fillet, when salmon fillet is usually cheapest $5.06 per pound, but often goes up to $7.50 per pound. I bought two fillets of salmon, a total of 5.8 lbs for only $18.90, a real steal for salmon!
While I was there a friend pointed out to me that ground chicken (with no fillers, like soy, as often found in cheap ground meat) was on sale for $1.29/lb, which is the lowest I've ever seen it- usually a decent price for it is $2.59 per pound- but unfortunately there was a limit of 2.2 lbs per person, so that's what I bought, for $2.83.
I needed some chicken, and that ground stuff wasn't enough, so I bought 2 packages of wings for $1.15/lb- not super low, but a pretty decent price- a total of 4 lbs for $4.62.
I have been looking for sugar free tomato paste- almost all the stuff around here has added sugar, so when I saw them selling the one brand with no added sugar, I decided to get two- at $1.85 a can it was a drop more expensive than where I usually buy it ($1.71 each is the usual price I pay) but since I was saving a trip in to town, I figured it was worth it. However, when I went to pay, I found out that they actually were $1.42 per can- cheaper than regular, sugar added, cans of tomato paste, so I bought 4 cans instead of the two I'd originally planned- for a total of $5.71.
Since I was there and I needed baking paper, I got what they had- $2.28 for the package- which is about average, and then I also bought the kids a treat- puddings were being sold for 29 cents each, so I bought them each one for a total of $1.14...
But then since they needed spoons to eat them with, I bought an overpriced package of disposable spoons for $1.71.
Total spent at this sale was $40.01- pretty decent if I may say so myself.
Then I walked over to the further sale, where I was told that produce was very cheap as well. Unfortunately it was not. I almost walked away buying nothing, then I inquired about the price of eggs- $4.85 for a tray of 30 small eggs, working out to only 16 cents an egg. Large eggs usually go for 31 cents an egg, so this seemed like an amazing price to me. I bought 3 trays of 30 each for a total of $14.57.
I bought a 5.5 lb bag of frozen green beans at $1.42 per lb, not the cheapest ever, but decently priced, for a total of $7.85.
Total at this sale? $22.42.
But I had a problem. I still needed produce! And I didn't want to pay through the nose for it.
And so, later on, when Mike came home, I went out yet again, this time to the cheapo grocery store in town, with a strict list that I almost stuck to perfectly. To try to make sure that I wouldn't overbuy, I specifically didn't use a stroller, which would help me carry back more things- just a huge backpack.
Here's what I bought:
 |
| What I bought at the cheap store in the city. |
I bought 3 packages of wings for $1.02 per pound- a pretty good price- a total of 7.21 lbs for $7.36.
I bought 2 giant packages of rice cakes for $3.14 each, so $6.28 for both of them.
For quick foods for my kids, I bought 5 packages of gluten free hot dog buns for $1.42 for each pack of six, which seems like a pretty decent deal to me. They had another company of gluten free hot dog buns for the same price for 4, so it was a no brainer to go with the 6 per package. So a total of $7.10 on the hot dog buns.
I also got a 4 pack package of not so bad hot dogs for $7.11 to go with those buns for those "I really am too exhausted to even think about what to make for supper" days...
One of the things I like about this store is that, while not as cheap as the farmer's market, they do tend to have cheaper produce, and they were cheaper than the local sales were, especially their fruit that they sell prepackaged in net bags- apples were 76 cents a pound, oranges were 38 cents a pound, and avocado were 89 cents a pound. I bought one net of avocado- 4.41 lbs for $3.92, 3 nets of oranges- 17.29 lbs for $6.57, and 2 nets of apples- 9.69 lbs for $7.37.
I also bought some onions- 7.4 lbs for 50 cents a pound, for a total of $3.75, some radishes- 2 packages for $1.68, and zucchini- 6.22 lbs at $1.02 per pound for a total of $6.34, and a ginger root for $1.10.
I still needed some more produce but knew that my backpack was going to be very full and very heavy, so I decided that the rest of the produce I'd buy would be very light, even if its not as cheap as possible.
I bought 3 packages of romaine lettuce for $1.13 each or $3.40 for the lot, and bought a package of baby greens for $2.82 as a treat for myself to tempt myself to stick to healthier eating, and a package of bok choy for $2.82 for the same reason.
Yes, I did manage to bring all that home on the bus, carrying it to the bus in my backpack and in my hands. It was very heavy, but I managed. And the total of that shop was $71.56.
Total cost of my shopping trips yesterday- $133.99. No, not nothing or even next to nothing, but I got some amazing sales, my freezer is packed, my fridge is full, and I think I probably go another 2 weeks even without grocery shopping, but we'll see.
Have you gotten any amazing deal while going grocery shopping lately? What is the most amount of different stores you've gone to in one day?
I spent $132.00 at Aldi's the other day but was able to stock up on veggies and some normally overpriced fancy foods like brie, French brioche, prosciutto, smoked salmon, olive oil, and those Austrian chocolate bars. Now I have what I need for a party without breaking the bank by going to Publix for the same stuff. I was very pleased with the fact that I now have no need to go shopping for other than basics (bread, milk) for a month. Yippee. Love reading about your shopping trips, keep it up and happy holidays Penny!
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