Challenge Week # 3: Grocery Totals and Best Buys

Holy cow!  I wasn't dressed for photos!  But, this is what I really look like while shopping! 

Whew Hoo!  It was a week to stock up on the basics!

This was an abnormal week, with Larry and I celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary with two meals at restaurants and a road trip to Indiana.  So, it was no wonder that I woke up to discover that it was Friday morning and I still had $80 in the grocery envelope for Challenge Week #3!  So, I set out to spend money on replenishing some of the basics which had been used over the first 21 days of our challenge.  

 

 Store #1:  Aldis

What I bought:

1 gallon of milk   (for the non-vegans in the family)

1 jar of pickle relish  (For both tuna salad and vegan tuno salad later this week)

1 Mango/peach salsa  (I am addicted to this stuff!!)

1 canister of raisins  (For #2 son, who loves raisins on his morning oatmeal)

What I spent:  $7.22

Store #2:  Kroger

You can read my tutorial on shopping at Kroger, here.  

What I bought:

3.75 pounds of peaches at $.69 a pound

2 pounds of red leaf lettuce at $.99 a pound

6 avocados at $.69 each

2 half gallons of blue diamond almond milk at $2.50 each

1 red bag of avocados - 3 in the bag for $1.00 (Watch for the red bags in the produce markdown section!  Each bag is just $1.00!)   

3 melons at $1.00 each  (There was actually a problem with these.  All three rang up incorrectly, resulting in the cashier removing them from our bill).   

What I spent:  $15.23

Store #3:  SAMS

We have debated on keeping our SAMS club membership over the years.  We have several basic items that we consistently purchase there, which are challenging to find at other stores for a similar price.  So, we continue to shell out $45 a year to belong to SAMS.  The items I bought this week are very representative of our traditional SAMS club purchases.  I don't buy their prepared or processed foods.  Instead I focus on real food, which can be used to create economical, nutritious meals.

What I bought: 

2 pounds of organic spinach at $3.69 each  (We go through a pound of greens every 3 days!)

5 pounds of organic carrots at $3.48 ( cheapest price in town for organic carrots)

18 oz. of baby portabella mushrooms at $4.98  ($1 more than the white ones and I think worth it!)

4 pounds of frozen blueberries at $7.98 (I gotta post an update on my Dollar Tree post!  Their blueberries have been really teeny tiny berries the last two times I have bought them.  They may just be $1 for a 10 oz. bag, but I think I'm changing my mind on recommending them!)

3 heads of celery - $2.48

Dried Cranberries - $7.63

5 pounds of organic sweet potatoes - $5.98

2 pounds of whole almonds - $9.98

What I spent:       $51.03

Store #4:  The Farmer's Market!

What I bought:

5 HUGE zucchini!!
They will be cut up and in the freezer for winter!

(Heads up!  Watch for a post in the next few days on how to prepare produce for winter storage!) 
 

What I spent:

Special deal!  5 for $3.00!

Did I Make Budget???

(Drum roll, please.)  

 

Yes!!  I finished the week with $3.52 remaining!  

This was my best week so far.  Additionally, as you will soon see, this week's CSA share was enormous!  I have great hope that I will make it to the end of the month with money to spare. 

 Then.... I'll pick the WINNER of the June giveaway!  Yay!

Enter our June Drawing!!

Head over to our contest page!  Click here!  You can read all about my June food budget challenge and enter for the chance to win a copy of  of one of my favorite books, Cut Your Grocery Bill in Half, by Steve and Annette Economides.

This Week's Best Buys

Once again, Kroger gets the nod for offering the best deals.  

 Melon for $1.00 each! (They were juicy, delicious, and perfectly ripe!)

 Avocados for $.69 each (Ripe and ready!)

Peaches for $.69 a pound (They need about two days to ripen.  So, we'll eat the melon first.)

What about you?

What were fantastic finds for this week?  Post in the comments section so we can celebrate with you!

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Remember, 

Do all to the glory of God, 

Hope