Here’s a question for you: how do you grocery shop?
For me, I make a weekly meal plan for dinners and then shop for the week. We typically do eggs, fruit and muffins or oatmeal for breakfast, and then lunch is typically leftovers for T and I, and sandwiches/salads, fruits & veggies with a smoothie for the boys so those types of items get replenished from week to week. Beyond dinners, I love to make a batch of muffins for easy and quick breakfasts and some sort of dessert to enjoy throughout the week too (I love to bake).
“Two Brothers Bakery” hard at work! // We recently made Banana Carrot Muffins (minus the coconut) and these healthy Pumpkin Muffins…both were great!
This Italian Rice Ball Skillet was DELISH. Took under 20 minutes to make, zero chopping required, kid friendly and tastes great for leftovers.
Another amazing meal? This Savory Pumpkin Quiche with Carmelized Onions and Bacon, which I discovered after watching an episode of The Kitchen (love!) We served the arugula salad on the side, though it was tasty on top of the quiche too. It isn’t pumpkin-heavy tasting either, which I was worried about. Flavorful and perfectly fall!
In terms of eating out, we certainly do from time to time based on the occasion, but opt to eat in 90% of the time. One of the reasons for this is the sheer amount of savings when you cook at home, which we found to be especially true after our no eating out challenge where we saved nearly $300 in a month by skipping restaurants and take out! That alone is a huge motivator. And honestly, at this point in time with a 17 month old and 4.5 year old– it’s just easier to do it at home! Plus, I can get the boys involved and have them help me here and there. If you are looking for tips to save on groceries, this is a great resource.
In terms of where I shop, I usually go to:
ALDI. I do 80% of my weekly grocery shopping here. From fresh fruit and vegetables to canned goods and dairy– their prices and satisfaction guarantee can’t be beat! I am a huge fan of Aldi, especially now that ours got remodeled.
JEWEL. Every 2-3 weeks, I’ll stop in Jewel and grab the weekly sale specials. Usually, this is where I get our meat. I watch the ads and then stock up on ground beef, pork, chicken breasts, etc. when they hit their low price, grab a ton, and keep them in our deep freezer. Then, I take inventory of what I have and plan my weekly menu around that.
COSTCO. Every other week, I hop in Costco for some of our staples like pure maple syrup, tuna, applesauce pouches & snacks for the boys, their infamous $5 rotisserie chicken, some fruit and coffee. The bulk factor is nice in some instances, and the samples are always SO fun for all of us to hunt down :-) (Plus, their clothing section gets me every time…I’ve found some really nice stuff there!)
Other than that, I pop in Walmart or Target here or there for personal hygiene or beauty items, the natural foods store nearby for the lowest price on Nutpods creamer, and make use of my recurring subscriptions at Chewy.com for dog food and Target/Amazon for diapers and wipes!
Three main stores plus a handful of others. Is that crazy? I feel like there is a justification for each one, but it works for us. So, spill the beans – what is your grocery shopping routine like? How do you grocery shop? Any money saving tips? I’d love to hear!
I make a meal plan once a week. The two year old has his own staples that he eats, hubby and I will have dinner made then eat leftovers for lunch the next day or a salad. Breakfasts are usually cereal (hubby) or a smoothie (me) or overnight oats.
I shop Aldi and then Meijer (Aldi doesn’t usually have everything I need). Once every few weeks I go to Target for a few things only they carry.
To save money, I use the Meijer mPerks app, the Target circle app and also Ibotta (this app has earned me $100 since December!).