Monday, March 2, 2009

So here we are in March! That's just one step closer to happy springtime. At the end of each month I begin to think of what meals would be good for our family the following month. Most months I do the bulk of the shopping all at once. And then we replenish with fresh fruits, veggies and milk throughout the month. Also, if I find unbeatable deals during the month I might stock up as well.

So, here's what I bought during our big shop trip for the month of March. I will be typing our menu out in a following post as well. As I type out what we bought, with some items I will explain why I buy those items and how, for our family, we save money. I don't buy meat at Aldi but I do buy meat at Sam's if at a good price. All other meat comes from sales during the month.

The two places that we go to for our big monthly shopping trip are Sam's Club and Aldi. Many of you know, but for those who don't, Sam's Club is a warehouse club in where you can buy bulk items. Some items here are sold at great deals. Then some are sold for the convienance of buying in bulk. While we do shoot for convienance at times, I mostly shop at Sam's Club for their cost savers.

Aldi is a wonderful store to buy a lot of goods at low prices. It's a no frills type store of which doesn't have the fancy displays, elevator music or baggers. But I'd rather have no frills and save money. At this store you rent your buggies with a quarter and bag your own stuff.

At Kmart last week they had one of their great double coupon sales. Coupons were doubled at $2 and under. So I did a stock up on Pullups, Goodnites, Scott tissue and papertowels.

Anyway, here's the lists so far for this month!

Sam's Club

8 gallons of milk (under $3 per gallon, enough to last two weeks)
*2 five pound bags of shredded mozzerella cheese
*4 five pound bags of shredded cheddar cheese
big pack of sliced cheese (120 slices???)
**10 pounds of chopped ham
big bag of grapefruit
2 whole chickens
***#10 can of pork and beans
25# bread flour
****#10 can nacho cheese sauce
big bottle of salsa
big box of tortilla chips
big box of Freedent gum
Irish Spring soap (24 bars)
coffee beans
baby food

*Five pounds of shredded cheese is currently under $10. We obviously go through a lot of cheese in a month. I count it as a good protein source.

**Chopped ham is a newbie to our family; But I am delighted to say that we are happy with the product, hands down! It's sort of in between regular deli ham and Spam. I don't do Spam but I can do chopped ham. At Sam's currently I can get 10 pounds of chopped ham for just over $12. It's unheard of to buy deli ham at that cost! The downside is that it's not sliced already and Sam's doesn't have a deli to ask to slice it for you.

*** I like to buy a big can of pork and beans. I make a big batch of baked beans and then split the batch between two casserole dishes. I sometimes add ground beef and/or bacon. Instead of traditionally using this as a side dish, I serve it as a main dish since it's a good source of protein.

****I like to buy a big can of this nacho cheese sauce for simple lunches and suppers. Whenever I am in a bind and tempted to have take out, I like to have this as standby! It's good to fry some sauce and add in. Also salsa is good added in as well. You can make up a batch of spanish rice and stuff in flour tortillas along with some nacho cheese sauce for a simple lunch or supper. Our whole family likes nachos!


Aldi

Insulated bag
three 3#bags rice
frozen broccoli
frozen cut okra
12 packs flour tortillas
super maxi pads
3 boxes cheese crackers
2 cans chunk pineapple
thin spaghetti
quick grits
2 big containers of yogurt
3 big containers oats
elbow macaroni
crunchy peanut butter
creamy peanut butter
jelly(5 jars)
egg noodles( 6 packs)
mayonnaise(2 jars?)
4 bags corn chips
2 bags oyster crackers
2 bags pretzels
self rising flour
plain flour
shortening
cream of mushroom soup
cream of chicken soup
aluminum foil
canned mushrooms
3 rolls bulk sausage
12 cans pop biscuits
3 cans tuna
2 bottles pancake syrup
powdered sugar
brown sugar
dill pickle chips
croutons
2 containers of light drink mix
2 bottles canola oil
1 bottle light ranch dressing
saltine crackers(2 boxes)
2 can cream corn
4 cans chopped tomatoes
8 cans mixed veggies
sliced pepperoni
four, 5# bags sugar
12 loaves bread
2 packs hot dog buns
2 packs hamburger buns
light bulbs ($14 worth!!!)


Family Dollar
styrofoam plates
plastic cups
canola oil

Kmart
3 packs goodnites/pullups
2 packs of Scott paper towels(16 rolls)
2 packs Scott tissue (24 double rolls)


Grand total for everything is $400, give or take just a few pennies.

So, that's our lists from our huge montly shop trip. Now to only refill our fresh fruits/veggies and milk...and maybe some bread whenever I don't have fresh baked.
I am in hopes of having enough diapers, pullups and goodnites to last for the month.
I am currently making our laundry detergent and am stocked on cleaners.

3 comments:

Winona said...

Susan, I enjoyed reading about you big shopping trip. Sure brought back memories of when all our kids were home. I was driving an Escort, so the kids had to take turns going with me on the big shopping days so everything could fit. LOL. I love your header picture. What a lovely family you have! You are indeed blessed!
Winona

Rosemary said...

I have wanted to get all of my shopping done at once and my plans are foiled everytime! Congratulations on accomplishing that huge task!

I had a question for you. I see that you bought 8 gallons of milk. I assume you freeze it. I have wondered about this. Once you thaw a gallon out, how long does it last for you? I know kids go through it pretty fast but if it did stick around a couple of days, how do you know it's still good? I run out every week and I have contenplated buying some extra and freezing it.

Rosemary

Anonymous said...

$400 for all that is great!Your such a really well organised shopper.

Could you share what you put in your cabbage and potato soup please?

I made a batch of grandmas beef vegetable soup last night and 2 of the vegetables in it was zucchini & cabbage and the kids ate it.Never before have they eaten either of the veggies ever.When they saw the green I said oh that is another green veggie you have eaten before and when Ryan asked what is this(a chunck of core of from the cabbage)I said a chunk of potato and he said oh yum and ate it!I was amazed and giggling inside too :)