Grocery Shopping

I have a confession. I LOVE to grocery shop. The Hubs and I used to do it together on Friday nights (we're so cool) and I was sorta MEH on it. It was a Friday night, I was exhausted after a long week of working, and the Hubs is an in & out, stick to the list kinda guy, which is one of the things I love about him, but does not make for a very fun grocery shopping trip.

But, now that I'm staying home with Bailey, she and I go every other Monday after her first nap. And, I love it. We can take our time. I talk to her and tell her everything I'm picking up. I can walk up and down the aisles and browse. I still *try* to stick to the list, but it's fun to look and perhaps find a good deal on something or a cool new thing to try. Plus, the little old ladies who also grocery shop on Monday mornings simply adore Bailey and she gets tons of attention and "she's so cute"'s, which is fun too. :)

Anyway- like I mentioned, we grocery shop every other week for our "big" trip. This is where we have a list and get things for the next 2 weeks worth of meals, lunches, toiletries, etc. We always start at Aldi (love that freaking place!) and then go to either Wal-Mart (booooo, but sometimes it just has to work) or a local grocery store chain like Stack and Van Til or Town and Country. Generally, it takes us close to 2 hours door to door.

Grocery cart in the check out lane at Aldi during one of our big weeks.

On the off weeks, we still do a small grocery run-- usually just for produce and deli meat.

We don't have a "budget" per say, rather we simply try to keep things as cheap as possible. I look at the ads before shopping to see what's on sale and such. Simply shopping at Aldi helps SO MUCH. It is so much cheaper!! I might change a meal plan once at a store if a different meat or item is on sale. I also don't get TOO much of things like produce, just to have it go bad. That sounds so simple, but you'd be amazed. Generally we spend about $100 on our big trip and about $20-30 on the off weeks. Sometimes significantly more, sometimes significantly less, but I'd say that's about the average.

We eat home a lot. Generally, unless there's a special circumstance or something, the Hubs goes out to lunch (usually Subway) once a week and we go out to dinner once a week together. Sometimes Bailey and I will also go out for a lunch during the work week, too. Luckily, the Hubs is a creature of habit and doesn't mind eating the same thing for lunch and/or dinner all week. Left overs area a staple in our house, especially for the Hubs. Me being home for lunches during the week is really nice too. I eat eggs for lunch ALL THE TIME, which is cheap and yuuuumy.

So, what do we get? Lots. We have some staples, that we get every big trip:

Apples

Pears (or some other fruit like grapes or blueberries, if on sale)

Bananas

Fresh Veggies (depends what's on sale)

Greek Yogurt

Pretzels

Ice Cream

Bread (wheat, rye, and cinnamon raisin)

Deli Meat

Cheese (shredded, sliced, and string... the Hubs goes through a lot of cheese!)

Eggs

Milk

Frozen Waffles

Frozen and Canned Veggies

Chicken and/or some other Meat

Canned Beans

Pasta

Coffee/Creamer

Apple Sauce (for Bailey)

Baby Food Treat/Snacks like Puffs or Yogurt Melts (for Bailey)

Diet Pepsi

Bottled, Sparkly, Flavored Water

Granola Bars

Cookies

Almonds

 

 

Some things that aren't every-shopping-trip kinda things:

Diapers/Wipes

Toliet Paper

Paper Towels

Toiletries (shampoo, mascara, etc.)

Pantry staples (spices, flour, pasta sauce, PB, etc.)

Dog Food

Laundry/Dishwasher Detergent

 

 

Of course there are other things that randomly come up and such, but that's pretty much our usual grocery shopping! Now.... when do I get to go again? :)