grocery shopping: frontloading

There’s something that I love about the freshness of a new month (almost). It’s sad to say the thing I most look forward to on a week where the first of the month falls is grocery money. I love putting crisp new bills into my wallet, making a plan, and high tailing myself to the nearest (four) grocery stores.

Last week was the last week in the grocery shopping blues series. If you are catching up, I set out with a $250 budget, ended up spending $288, and we bumped our budget up to $300 a month for the two of us. We rarely eat out, and most breakfast, lunches, and dinners are prepared at home.

By high demand (by you!) I’ve decided to continue to share some of my shopping adventures. Let’s face it, I wanted a new experiment. I’m someone who is always looking to improve, to analyze, and to complete my tasks the best way possible. I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing, but I’ll take it.

So, I bet you’re wondering what I did differently yesterday.

I frontloaded. I went to Costco. I wanted to see if buying some bulk items at the beginning of the month would pan out better through March.

We shall see.

Store 1: Costco

7 items = $54.50

That seems like a lot of money, right? I thought so too. Let me explain. I bought a 4.5 pound box of raisins for $7.29 (I usually buy one 1 pound box a week @ $3.00/box). That’s a monthly savings of $4.71. I also bought 5.22 pounds of chicken breasts for the Husband for $14.56 (that’s $2.79/pound) – that will last him MORE than this month alone. I also bought items such as: Crunchmaster crackers, dates, frozen broccoli, pears, and spinach – all items that can be used for weeks OR items that we go through very quickly.

Store 2: Jewel Osco

12 items = $19.97 (total savings $6.05)

See that big bag of potatoes? That was only $0.99! Not to mention we can use those potatoes for weeks. Chobani was also 10/$10, so I took advantage of it, even though I usually do not like eating flavored yogurts due to the added sugars. That gluten free flour mix will also last through the month, even though it is a whopping $4.00.

Store 3: Trader Joe’s

15 items = $22.65

All staples in our pantry – brown rice pasta, canned items, organic sweet potatoes, ketchup (although I buy one a week – no joke.).

And unpictured (though I am not sure why) was Aldi. I got 11 items for $18.12 (which prompted an interesting conversation with the register worker – War of 1812? 1812 Overture?)

If you’re hyperventilating by now, I understand.

If you’re screaming at me because it’s “not even March yet”, I understand.

Because, if you’ve had a calculator ready, you have already added up my total for this week.

$115.24

Yikes!!!

Surprisingly, I’m pretty calm. I’m pretty upbeat – and that’s saying a lot because I haven’t had coffee in three days. However, that’s another story for a different day (and yes, I will tell it and NO, I am not pregnant).

Question: Do you buy in bulk? What are your favorite items to buy in large quantities?

Tagged as: Aldi, bulk buying, Costco, frontloading grocery money, grocery budget, grocery shopping, Jewel, trader joe's