Grocery Shopping

I will admit it. I LOVE grocery shopping. Every bit of it. From getting the sales flyer in my mailbox each week to pushing my cart around the store, scouring the aisles for deals. I used to do my shopping every Monday morning, as that is when Bi-Lo does all their good markdowns and it is just easy to do it that way when menu planning. But I stopped doing that a few months ago, choosing to shop at two more expensive stores (though never in the same week), and my grocery budget has shown. I may not always choose Mondays, as I do like to combine trips since I live so far from a good grocery store, but yesterday's shopping trip re energized me to make it a priority to shop for deals. I had forgotten what it was like to go to multiple store and use coupons; I enjoyed watching my total go down.

First stop was Bi-Lo and I bought:

• Asian Bean Threads (I thought they would be interesting to try) - $ 1.14


• 2 Dry Roasted Peanuts -$6 - $1/2 coupon (newspaper) = $5


• Raw Almonds - $6.29 - $.50 coupon that doubled = $5.29


• 2 Organic Rice Mix - $4 - 2 $2 coupons = $0


• Organic Tamari Sauce (I didn't need this as I have soy sauce but I am trying to stay away from GMO  soybeans) - $2.19


• 4 Almond Breeze Milk ( I stocked up since they are good until March 21) - $11.56 - 4 $.75 coupons(found in store)= $8.56


• Half-Gallon Organic Whole Milk (for yogurt) - $3.99 - $.55 coupon that doubled = $2.89


• 4 Kiwis - $1.76


• 2 5 oz clam shells of spinach close to date - $1.98


• Pack of 2 portobello caps - $1.49

Total after coupons and sales - $31.69 (subtotal was $50.40)

I then went to Food Lion to use a $1/$5 produce coupon.

• 10+ (I lost my receipt so I'm not exactly sure and I don't feel like doing the math) lbs bananas

Total with tax was $4.31



Then came EarthFare for what I couldn't get at the regular stores.

• Organic Cottage Cheese - $4.19 - $1 coupon = $3.19


• Organic String Cheese - $3.49
  


• Organic Salad (could have gotten at BiLo but was a better price here) - $3.00 - $.75 coupon = $2.25

Total = $9.04

These prices may seem crazy expensive and it is true that I could have gotten the conventional versions for much, much less, but organic dairy and lettuce are a priority for us so I am willing to pay more.

I also went shopping at the end of last since I was already going to be out and we were completely out of fresh produce:



I got a TON of produce  and the rest was really good food, but if I had stuck to only buying what I know is cheapest at a store (in this case the Wasa crackers and the organic apples), loss leaders, and had gone to just one more store, I could have spent much less.

Total - $73.## (I lost my receipt)

I am linking this post to The GCC Shopping Round Up.

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