Make sure you read the introduction prior to reading this post.
$25. That is how much we saved this week. To be honest, I was very surprised that we saved that much. I was fully expecting it to be significantly lower, especially with how much was spent at the grocery store. I spent $40, which is the same as last week, but this week’s trip seemed to spend the same money but for a lot less food. I did have to buy Old Bay and cumin, as well as stock up on canned tomatoes and beans. I guess when I consider that these items will last longer than 1 week, the $40 really wasn’t so bad.
Once again, I went shopping in my pantry and freezer and came up with many meals that used ingredients already on hand. And once again, this helped save a significant amount of money. Although I did not use the Aldi menu planner, I still only spent $34.25 at Aldi and have a full week’s worth of meals and snacks. For my grocery list this week, I broke down what I needed to buy at Aldi and what I needed to buy at the grocery store. This helped keep me on track. For the most part.
I probably could have saved more money but there were some items I bought at Aldi that were not on my list but I could not pass them up. For instance, there were 100 calorie Peppermint Patties, these s’mores flavored rice cake/cookie hybrids and Amy’s frozen entrees. Now, I don’t ordinarily buy frozen meals but Amy’s are so delicious I could not pass these up (Amy’s is an organic, vegetarian brand and is usually way out of my price range). The total of these items was approximately $10. This is $10 I can live with losing.
So, at the end of 2 weeks, we have saved $35, which we are adding to the $22 that we already had in our family fun envelope. While I’m saving money, I’m also learning that my family can eat well for a lot less money than I previously thought. And that makes me happy.
