The Groceries We Buy Week 2 & Friday Favorites

I’m sharing with you about my groceries this week, plus my Friday Favorites.  You can read Week 1 HERE. First, let me show you what we bought this week on our $400 budget (roughly $100 a week).  After I decided to do this “series” I realized March was probably not the best month to show you because it’s still basketball season (Ryan gone most nights means small dinners since my kids are still little) and we have Spring Break this month also, which means we go out a lot.  But either way, this is still a glance at how we buy groceries during a month.

I’m sorry this post is so late, but this is our Spring Break so we’ve been visiting the grocery store inconsistently and going out more (I do not recommend going to the store more than 1-2 times a week if you can help it).   Last week’s total groceries ended up being $88.75!

Here is how it was broken down:
Walmart: 66.37
Walmart (husband went): 13.88
Walmart (mid-week): 8.50

This week, my husband went to the grocery store twice before I made it out for our “big trip” and he put the groceries away before I could snap a picture, but I’ll give some info on what we bought below.  Here’s how the week has broken down for shopping:
Kroger: 11.88
*Bakery breakfast, orange juice, chocolate milk (my hubby’s staple), bananas

Walmart: 7.11
*We needed chips for a Nacho dinner – Tortilla chips, Chili, Blue Bell ice cream (on sale for $3.88)

Sprouts: 53.91
*this ended up being our “big trip” (picture below)

Walmart: 38.34 and $12.07 (baby food)
*picture below

TOTAL WEEK 2: $123.31




Sprouts: $53.91 – I like getting milk at Sprouts because it’s Organic and cheaper.  I also discovered their flavored coffee section which was fun!  Sprouts is my favorite place to get produce, especially when it’s in season.  They have the best deals in our area most of the time.  I know Walmart will price match their advertised sales, but I like the actual produce better here.  I splurged on Tilapia at the meat counter ($8.99/pound)…wish I hadn’t done that…I don’t mind frozen as long as it’s not from China (farm raised).  The Ginger snaps were an impulse buy. 🙂

Walmart: $38.34 – This was our Walmart run for regular groceries.  Let me just say this was not a good shopping trip.  I went with a 3 year old and an 8 month old during dinner time, ALONE.  Ryan is gone on his last basketball trip (thank the Lord) and this was the only time I could go.  Everything was on the list except cookies and that mac n cheese at the bottom.  B insisted he needed that mac n cheese and I said, “sure I don’t care” as I was feeding my 8 month old his dinner from a squeezable fruit/veggie pouch that I picked up there, with a leftover spoon in his diaper bag.  Yes, true story.  I looked totally disorganized and out of mom control…and I was.  I was trying to get through the shopping trip without any meltdowns.  I bought other items, but they were included in another non-grocery category in our budget.

Walmart (baby food): $12.04 – Speaking of, I forgot to put these with the groceries as I was checking out and instead, put them with the “Boys” items (that’s a separate category in our budget).  I separate my items when checking out to make documenting in our budget easier.  Remember, I was trying to get out quickly.  I’m cringing as I look at this picture (I made every single food item for Beckham except any to-go pouches so this makes me erk)!  It is what it is though…I just don’t have the time to make the food and more importantly clean up the mess it makes.  He still has only had breast milk though so I’m giving myself a pass on this!  This is all his baby food.  I like Beech Nut – each jar here is $0.60.  He eats about 2 jars a day right now.  They both had a pouch in the store (one is missing from this pic).  I like to have 2-3 pouches for times when we go out to eat.  I just squeeze it on a spoon to feed him.  Along with some Puffs to keep his hands busy (he’s finally stopped choking on puffs).  He’s like a cat though…he gags so easily and throws up whatever he doesn’t like…LOL!

Our total from Week 1:  $88.75
Our total from Week 2: $123.31
March Total so far: $212.06
*I didn’t share our Menu plan this week but it’s a hodge podge of stuff we have on hand since it’s our Spring Break.

Hope that is helpful to get a peek at our groceries.  Last week, a few of you asked how much we spend on eating out.  We budget $160 a month.  About $40.00 a week.  We don’t coupon for groceries, but we coupon for eating out majority of the time.  Sometimes we go over…I could eat out every night!

Now on to FRIDAY FAVORITES.  Here are a few things that make me happy lately!

{TWO}: A Relaxing Few Hours and This Book – Last Saturday, my mother-in-law came over to watch the boys while I went out for a few hours and ran some errands.  Y’all, it’s amazing what you can get done without kids.  I told myself to stop by Starbucks on the way home and sit down with some coffee and read a little.  I was only able to fit in about 20 minutes, but it was great!  I’ve been reading this book, Living Well Spending Less by Ruth Soukup and I LOVE it!  Ruth is my soul sister when it comes to frugal living!  Seriously, we would be great friends if she lived in Texas!  There is a lot of financial advice out there, but Ruth hits the nail on the head with each chapter. 

{THREE}: Anthropologie coffee mug and Teal Nail Polish – These two things are NOT typical things I buy because I never walk in to an Anthropolgie store or buy Essie nail polish.  But the coffee mug was about $8.00, which I think is a good deal for a monogrammed mug from that store.  If your name starts with an O, you feel my pain with searching for monogrammed mugs.  After spending a few months looking for O mugs, I just went here and bought two!!!  The other one is their classic black and white mugs.  The Essie nail polish was a weak moment at Kohl’s.  Essie is pretty expensive in my opinion ($7-8.00)  The color was too cute!  The color is Mint Candy Apple.

{FOUR}: My kids are better – After almost 2 weeks of being stuck at home with one or both of them being sick, we are all finally better! 

{FIVE}: Good Weather – I couldn’t be happier about the nicer weather!  Beckham thrives outdoors with tons of space to run and bike and yell!  I like that it’s lighter outside later into the evening.  We are making over our backyard this Spring, so I can’t wait to have barbeques and evenings on the patio!

{SIX}: I get my husband back this month – I’m probably most excited about this one!  This guy works so hard for our family and is the definition of provider.  Some people think he works too much, but this guy provides for us what many husbands cannot!  He’s totally changed our future and our children’s futures, as well as allowing me the opportunity to raise our kiddos at home.  Although I have a few breakdowns throughout basketball season, I respect him for doing what he has to do for us!  Plus, I pale in comparison to military wives…that has got to be extremely tough!  He is at his last tournament this weekend and will FINALLY be done…until next season 🙂

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