Grocery, Budget and All Things Food Related Part 2

As I mentioned in Part 1 we do all of our grocery shopping at Aldi's. I switched to Aldi's 2 years ago and have been loving it ever since. I love it for 2 main reasons. One, it's cheap. I can get all my groceries for a fraction of what I used to spend at Shop n Save. Two, at the majority of larger chain stores there are so many options, different brands are competing to give you the best quality for the lowest price. This is why instead of one or two bags of potato chips, you'll find whole isles dedicated to the exact same item. At Aldi's there is typically one choice for each thing. There are no price cuts, or figuring out which item is giving you more food for your dollar. You either buy Aldi's brand or you go without. I like not having the choice b/c when given the choice I typically will pay a little more b/c I think I'm getting something tastier or higher quality...even if I'm not.

Anywho...

We are a family of 4 + 2 dogs. 2 adults, a 5 and 3 year old. I budget $120 every 2 weeks ($240/month) for groceries. This does not include, paper goods or dog food. I do all my shopping, minus dog food, at Aldi's.

As promised, here is a list of what I buy at Aldi's every 2 weeks. I don't run to the store in between my grocery trips unless I really have to. If I run out of something, we just do without it until the 2 weeks is over and it's time to go grocery shopping again. (unless it's milk) I also get my eggs delivered farm fresh from a friend. I pay more for them, $3/dozen, but it's worth it for the quality of egg.

This is a list of all the things I typically have in my fridge/pantry not necessarily what I buy ever trip. Obviously, I don't buy pretzels every 2 weeks if we still have half of a container left. It doesn't include condiments which I also do buy at Aldi's.

I'll start the list at the beginning of the store b/c that's the way I see it in mind...

Snacks

-2 bags of potato chips

-1 container of pretzels

-1 box of crackers (comparable to ritz)

-2 bags of turkey jerky sticks

-1 bag of almonds

-1 jar of salted peanuts (hubs won't eat the unsalted kind)

-1 jar of unsalted peanuts

-2 bags of craisins

-a bag of flour, sugar, yeast, and any other standard baking items

-a large jar of peanut butter

-a jar of jelly

-a container of steel cut oats

Dairy

-1 gallon of cow's milk

-1 carton of almond milk (we drink a lot of smoothies)

-half n half

-real butter

-4 bags/blocks of cheese

-Cottage Cheese

-large container of Greek or vanilla yogurt

-10 count string cheese

Other staple items

-coffee and filters

-12 pack Coca Cola

-bags of rice, beans, and other raw grains (never canned)

-2 bags of small tortillas (20 count each)

-small and large zip locks 50-100 count

Produce (I always buy what's seasonal/on sale) 

It's rough because I love avocados but if I know that I'm getting close to my $120 limit, I will go without for awhile.

-bananas are super cheap at Aldi's and I usually buy 2-4 bunches at a time. 

-bag of oranges

-bag of apples

-bag of lettuce

-onions

-potatoes

-tomatoes

-When it's on sale - whole pineapple, grapes, berries, peaches, watermelon, avocados, green beans, broccoli

-On the off season I'll buy bags of frozen berries

Meat

1-2 lb of ground beef

1 bag of chicken tenderloin

1 polish kielbasa

bag of pepperoni

Things I never buy:

-juice

-fruit drinks

-fruit snacks

-cookies

-snacks like gold fish, fruit flavored yogurt or yogurt pops, cheese its, etc

-pre-prepared food (except the occasional frozen pizza)

-candy

-granola/fruit bars

-trail mix

Here's the thing, you might read that list and think "wow, how does she get away with not buying snacks for her kids?! My kids eat all day long." My kids eat all day long too. I just limit them to what I buy. Thankfully I got into this routine and grocery list while my kids were still super tiny and so they never knew any different. It's also a challenge b/c I married a junk food addict and therefor I know that if I don't leave him at home, I can kiss my budget and grocery list good bye. I also never take my kids to the store which often means going after they're in bed or early on a Saturday morning. 

I do other things like use cloth napkins, although we do use paper towels. I cloth diapered when my kids were young. I clean with vinegar instead of expensive cleaning solutions. We've come along way in the past two years of being on an adjusted budget. It was a challenge at first. But I love that we make things work on so little. I'm happier with my purchases and it's always rewarding when I see that I've not only stuck to my budget but at times stayed under budget!

In the next post I'll talk about typical meals we eat on a limited budget.