My Grocery Haul for the Week of September 8 !

TJ -

So far this week I went to 2 stores for groceries, spending $67.89, ending in a trip to our local Farmers' Market where I usually spend less than $10.00. Last week's purchases are listed below and updated on my yearly spending totals here. I have spent $301.44 out of my estimated $500.00 monthly food budget.

I made the decision to skip Shoprite this week after cleaning out my refrigerator. I try hard not to waste so much food but I still found myself tossing out old vegetables and left overs hidden in the back of the fridge. This week I focused on buying pantry items that I ran out of at Aldi and school lunch items at Whole Foods Market. I broke up the shopping trips into 2 days this week. I shop on Sundays at Whole Foods Market, often with the kids on the way home from the YMCA. The deli meat and cheeses are 20% off on Sundays with Amazon Prime and my list is short. My kids love going to Whole Foods Market because there is a treats basket at the Customer Service desk for kids. However, not as much as finding the pirate and parrot at Trader Joe's.


Farmers' Market (09/07/19)
Broccoli: $3.00
Tomato: $0.50
Green Peppers: $1.00 (2 @ $0.50)
Kale: $3.00
Butter Lettuce: $2.00
Total: $9.50


I spent $17.83 at Whole Foods Market

Why I shop here..
Even without the Prime discount, Whole Foods has a great price for deli meat that is minimally processed and does not contain nitrates or nitrites. Normally I buy the ShopRite brand bread for school lunches without added did HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) or DATEM (diacetyl tartaric acid ester of mono- and diglycerides). However, after re-reading the label, it contains calcium sulfate. It is on the following list of ingredients that are not added to Simply Nature products at Aldi. It is a great guide to use when reading those pesky labels. Whole Foods Market also has a list of ingredients that you will not find in their 365 Brand I found a better option that is within our budget and doesn't require me to make an actual loaf of bread. Hey, I like to bake bread but I have yet to master the sandwich loaf so thankfully my kids liked the Vermont Potato Buns shown below. I used them for dinner on Sunday and lunches this week!

I spent $50.06 at Aldi

Why I shop here..
Aldi offers the best prices for what I had on my list, except for the honey. This week it was on sale at ShopRite for $1.99 for 12 oz..