Grocery shopping trip: out of my comfort zone

I got to go grocery shopping on Wednesday. I was so happy as we were out of everything. I hadn't planned on going two weeks between shopping trips as we normally shop every week, so somethings I didn't have enough of.

But, we survived and no one went hungry. We just had to be a little more creative and a little less picky.

I did go ahead and plan and shop for two weeks again, since our paycheck situation is the same this round.

I spent $230 total, but about $100 of that was school supplies, which I purchased at the same time.

I did have a little difficulty because the kids start school on Monday, so I had to incorporate school lunch stuff into the list. No more cheese quesadillas for lunch as has been the norm during the summer.

Katelyn finally has permission to use the microwave at school, so that opens up some better options, like leftovers, but Tyler still has to stick to cold foods.

Thankfully Fry's was doing their Mega Event this week, so I was able to stock up on some packaged food and some free/cheap mixes for brownies and such.

Tyler also likes salame or pepperoni and string cheese. They didn't have any sales listed, so I just took my coupon box with me and hoped for the best. I am so glad that I did! I find Sargento string cheese for $2.99 and had two coupons for $1 off, so I was able to get 2 packs for $1.99 each, which is a good price. Generic salame and pepperoni were both good prices, too.

I also turned to my coupon box for eggs: the Land o'lakes eggs were $1.99, but combined with a coupon that doubled to $1, I got them for 99 cents; 40 cents cheaper than the regular eggs!

I don't always take my coupon box with me because my hands are full with Jason and all, but I'm usually so glad when I do.

Oh, another cool thing was in the bread aisle. There were tear pads everywhere with a coupon for a free bag of Sara Lee bagels with a purchase of Sara Lee bread. The Sara Lee bread was on sale for $2 a loaf and the bagels were $3.49. BUT, they were completely out of bagels.

I had planned to buy the bread anyway, so I grabbed a coupon and the bread. When I checked out, I asked the cashier if she knew anything about the bagels and if she could do anything since I was purchasing the bread. She was nice enough to write on my receipt to please give me the bagels at a later time as long as I show the receipt and the coupon. So, I'll go back in a few days and get my free bagels.

Finally, I wanted to mention one more thing: Sometimes the best deals come when you step out of your comfort zone.

I live in a big Metro area, so we have an abundance of grocery stores, both the big names and then lots of smaller ethnic stores.

I tend to stick to the big grocery stores since my past experience with the smaller stores has yielded poor quality produce and meat.

But, this week I did take the time to look at the ads from the smaller stores and was impressed with the cheap prices at one of the stores. With the budget in mind, I just couldn't pass up the deals.

My first thought was that I would price match at Wal-mart while I was buying school supplies. But, I wound up getting irritated with Wal-mart and didn't buy the produce there. I pep-talked myself into biting the bullet and going to the smaller store.

Can I just say that it was a wonderful experience. THIS particular store was very clean and well put together. (I'm assuming) it was set up to resemble a Mexican market: along the perimeter of the store was a meat counter, a tortilleria, a deli counter that was doing a brisk business (I wish I could have spent more time exploring), a restaurant that smelled wonderful, a juice bar, and a clothing stand. Then the grocery aisles in the middle and a HUGE produce section. The produce was good quality. Also, the place was decorated so lively that Katelyn commented that they must be decorating for Christmas early.

I was able to get ground beef for 88 cents a pound, 20 pounds of potatoes for 99 cents/10lb bag, gala apples 33 cents a pound, granny smith 50 cents a pound, 1 lb carrots 25 cents, avocado 20 cents, lettuce 33 cents a head. I felt so blessed to get such good produce at such a good price.

So, now my fridge and pantry is full and we are ready for another season of cooking and eating. :)