Grocery Haul

Here are the items I purchased at my local grocery store, Giant, on Sunday:

I spent $30.16 on these 13 items. This is an average weekly Giant bill for me. As I have noted, I do either try to pick things up on sale or select the cheaper store brand, sometimes even both. Doing my homework by viewing the circular online while making my shopping list helps me stick to a budget. I also earned $0.25 by simply submitting my grocery receipt on the cash back app ibotta.

In addition, I shop at Target at least once a week. As far as food goes, I tend to buy more expensive food there, such as a package of pork chops, a frozen Bertolli pasta meal, and the Betty Crocker brownie mix with the included chocolate syrup pouch.

This is a fairly average grocery haul at Giant. Muffin mix and milk, pasta, crackers, red bell pepper, cheddar, tomatoes, salad and bread are staples for me. However, I had to sacrifice buying a package of meat or more vegetables such as zucchini for my pasta specialty in order to afford a few things that were out of the ordinary. Since I bought Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips with a good Cartwheel discount at Target Friday evening, I picked up crinkle cut fries to go with it. Plus, it’s nice to have a bag of fries or tator tots in the freezer. In addition to using some of my aforementioned staples and many other items I have at home, I intend to assemble antipasti with the olives and grapes and then serve it when I entertain this week. The grapes were 98 cents a pound with a coupon in the circular and a $25 purchase. Even though I am used to spending around this amount, I wanted to be sure of it. So, with adding an item to my basket, I scribbled my new estimated total on my shopping list.

Since I didn’t buy as many main course items as usual this time, I will use what I have at home this week. After a day trip to Philadelphia, wine shopping, and wining and dining out last week, I simply don’t need to go over budget this week. In addition to those prepared chicken tenders, pasta, salad, and even antipasti as dinner, I have other main course options in the freezer including: two large chicken breasts, six pork chops, and a pepperoni pizza. Four bags of frozen vegetables in my freezer, two jars of tomato sauce in my cabinet, and nine rather small gold potatoes on top of my refrigerator will also help round out a meal. And don’t worry, I have enough chocolate in stock until Easter. Since a bit of the budget went towards entertaining this week, this is my opportunity to shop my kitchen for free. Jennifer of the blog The Daily Connoisseur recently talked about shopping your kitchen here. I just didn’t happen to draw inspiration from her blog post and video this particular time because it is something I already do as needed. Plus, I don’t even need to use my own food on occasion this week. After going out to lunch (burgers, fries and a coke!) with my mom on Monday, I received two meals worth of her leftover turkey and mashed potatoes before she dropped me off at my place.

Remember, I am doing a Q&A soon! Have a question? Leave a comment on this blog post or on any of my blog’s social media. I will answer them in April.