[ grocery ] :: the week in review

I stocked up big time this week. I haven't felt like there have been many good deals for the past few weeks, but Publix has had some great sale items!

I went to Publix 8-bajillion times this week. No seriously. The checkout girl knows me now. It's a little embarrassing. Like I mentioned before, The Hubs' brother is visiting this week and they both eat a lot. It will be like locusts have swarmed through my house. To feed our house-guests, I should just have to pick up a pot roast and a bag of lettuce. I also picked up a few items to keep for a party we are having in a few weeks. Hooray for non-perishable food!

First Publix trip: I got free pasta, free mashed potato mix, and free Progresso recipe starters! The Truvia and Quaker Real Medley bars (which are amazingly good) were $1.99 each, and the other items were all less than $1. The Hubs had to bring a dish to his office potluck on Friday, so he made a box of the garlic mashed potatoes. Yes, office people, you ate free potatoes. That The Hubs made. Surprise! Grocery: $12.16. Retail: $45.14.

I had a very similar second trip, but picked up some giant jars of Prego for just $1.39 each after coupons. Grocery: $6.14. Retail: $27.79.

And again...*sigh*...when the new flier was published on Thursday. Not shown: a 6-pack of bottled water for $0.01 (the Publix penny item). Grocery: $8.98. Personal Care: $19.11. Total Retail: $100.17. Vitamins are hella expensive.

I went to Publix tonight (the fourth time this week, if you're counting) to get 2 frozen pizzas, 2 containers of sour cream (on sale...it was free with my coupons), a bag of lettuce, and two pints of tomatoes. Not the thriftiest buy, but I wanted pizza, I didn't feel like cooking, and we had a long night working in the house! Grocery: $17.28. Retail: $25.03.

The Hubs also went to Aldi (not pictured) and bought 2 dozen eggs, milk, celery, and...because I snapped at him on the phone because I was stressed out...he bought me some roses, chocolate, and Diet Coke. What a sweetheart. I'm not including those in my grocery total for the week. Let's say they were a gift or something. Grocery: $5.86. I did price out the price difference when I was at Publix: even on sale, the eggs, milk, and celery retailed at $8.27. Not a huge savings, but still good!

Last but not least, I went to Kroger to get some Febreze, veggies, and manager's special chicken and lettuce. I think that from now on, unless the chicken or lettuce is on sale somewhere cheaper, I will keep buying the "manager's special" produce and meat that is on sale. It gets marked down by 50% the day before the sell-by date, so I take it home and use it immediately. In this case, I made two huge slow cooker recipes with the chicken and we had giant green salads for two days. All of it was used or cooked within a day of buying it, and we're still eating the leftovers for our lunches (cooked chicken stays good in the fridge for ~3 days, per USDA guidelines). Grocery: $15.23. Retail: $29.31. Home Supplies: $3.96. Retail: $13.16.

Here's the damage:
Grocery: $65.65 (retail value of $180.27)
Personal Care: $19.11 (retail value of $55.44)
Home Supplies: $3.96 (retail value of $13.16)

We ate this food throughout the week (breakfast, lunch, dinner) except for going to lunch one day. I am pretty much set to cook at home before Thanksgiving, have enough food and snacks to feed two giant men (and two women), party food, and a big stockpile for winter storms.

- Maggie White