In case you missed last week’s article, you might want to read it first. If you did read last week’s article but forgot what my assignments were, here they are:
- Organize & inventory freezer and pantry.
- Find salad dressing recipes.
- Make all purpose cleaner, window cleaner, laundry soap & dishwasher soap.
- Try Aldi’s next week.
- Make a menu from what I have on hand so I can stock up on sale items (Elizabeth’s number one way to save money on groceries is stockpiling.)
Wow! This grocery makeover stuff is a lot harder than I expected it to be. When I wrote last week’s article and made my to-do list for the week, I thought it would be a piece of cake. Boy was I wrong! I knew I was dealing with some physical changes but I had no idea there would be emotional changes, too. And those were the hardest!
I mentioned before that Wednesday is my grocery store day. I always have high hopes of getting my menu and shopping list done prior to Wednesday but it rarely happens. Usually on Wednesday I’m scrambling to get a menu and list put together right before I go to the store. But with this new method of shopping, last minute list making is not a good idea!
So I woke up Wednesday morning completely stressed out. I mean STRESSED OUT! I hadn’t made my list. I hadn’t made a menu. I didn’t get the grocery flyers in the mail so I didn’t know what was on sale (I hate looking at the ads on-line). I didn’t want to go to Aldi’s. I didn’t want to make a menu using what was in the freezer especially since I hadn’t done my freezer inventory so I didn’t even know what was in there. All I wanted was to make my list like I always had and just go to the store and spend what I needed to.
I ended up throwing a list and menu together and going to the store later in the day. I’ll confess right now that I did not make a menu based on what was in the freezer. I did not stockpile anything. I did not go to Aldi’s. However, I did go to Wal-mart and spent $140 instead of the usual $175 to $225. But I blew it today when I stopped in at Apple Market to pick up a few things ($40) to get us through the week because I didn’t buy enough at Wal-mart. Have I mentioned that this is harder than I thought?
So here’s the update on last week’s to-do list:
- Organize & inventory freezer and pantry. NO
- Find salad dressing recipes. I did find two but I haven’t tried them yet since we still have salad dressing in the refrigerator.
- Make all purpose cleaner, window cleaner, laundry soap & dishwasher soap. Done. I haven’t used the dishwasher soap or laundry soap yet but they’re ready to go. I’m not extremely thrilled with the all-purpose cleaner and window cleaner but I’ll give them a little more time.
- Try Aldi’s. NO. Did go to Wal-mart though. I usually just go to Hy-Vee but I didn’t go to Hy-Vee at all – just Wal-mart.
- Make a menu from what I have on hand so I can stock up on sale items (Elizabeth’s number one way to save money on groceries is stockpiling.) NO.
So last week’s result were not spectacular or even good. But I’m not giving up. It’s a new week and I’m going to keep trying – but I’m going to make a smaller to-do list – and maybe a little easier, too, so I don’t give myself a panic attack.
Here’s the to-do list for this week:
- Organize & inventory freezer (the pantry is fine – I did work on that a little bit last week).
- Make a menu from what’s in the freezer and pantry (as much as I can – I don’t have a lot of reserve right now).
- Switch my grocery store day to Friday instead of Wednesday. It will be easier to plan since I’ll get the ads on Tuesday or Wednesday and will have until Friday to make my list. Plus the sales are generally better on Friday. Elizabeth suggested this change to me this morning.
Wish me luck and feel free to share your suggestions and experiences with grocery shopping in the comments section below. Oh, and if you haven’t liked me on Facebook yet, you might want to do that. Besides daily articles on the blog, I also post a daily tip on the Homemakersdaily Facebook page.
Keep it up, patty!
I’ll try!
Patty, if you’re switching grocery stores, I think I’d hold fire on the stockpiling until you are sure that you like the products. I went round Aldi once and it was not for me. I didn’t like the strange brands. You are feeling depressed over this business as it is: I think you’d be even more depressed if you had a stockpile of a product that you didn’t want to eat because you didn’t like that particular brand.
Good point. Only stockpile products I know I like. I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks!
I have always wanted to be an Aldi’s shopper but my husband doesn’t like it. I use to go there occasionally and I did like some of the items they have. I did purchase a ham there and it was good, even the husband liked it and I really like their dressing/stuffing mix. I always add a liitle more celery, onion and mushrooms to it that I’ve browned in butter but I do that with the name brands as well. We did not like their green beans at all. I think you have to try a variety of their merchandise and decide what you do like before you stockpile anything.
So true! When I used to shop at Price Chopper, there were some Best Choice items that I liked and some that were awful. Glad you and Cath brought up this point because I could see myself stocking up on items that turned out to be mistakes!
Speaking of that, one thing I’ve been having a hard time with is spaghetti sauce. I bought three cans of the Hunts spaghetti sauce because they were $1 a can. I doctored them a little bit but still didn’t like them. I LOVE Prego but it’s quite a bit more expensive. I guess I just need to take the plunge and use Elizabeth’s recipe and try making my own. Glad I didn’t buy too many cans of the Hunts sauce. By the way, it wasn’t bad – just wasn’t Prego.
try adding some sugar to them…hunts always tastes very acidic to me. We love prego too. AT Super target it’s almost always 30 cents cheaper than hyvee…
I didn’t think about adding sugar. I added oregano, basil and garlic salt. I’ll try sugar next time unless I can pick up some Prego on sale at HyVee this week. I think it’s in the ad.
yeah I definitely think $1. jars of prego is worth being your first stockpile item!!
I bought some but could only get two (limit of 2) and they weren’t the flavor I like. They were completely picked over. I don’t like shopping on Friday. It was SO busy!!!
I LOOOOOVE Aldi! I find that most of their products are better quality (fewer preservatives, ingredients, etc) and so much cheaper. Anything dairy or in a box is at least as good as a big grocery store. And their bread is my favorite. Their 100% whole wheat wide loaf is only $1.69 here — I’d easily pay $3.50 for the same quality at Walmart. Eggs are $1.29, cheese is much cheaper, etc. Chips are just as good and SO much cheaper. They don’t have all the choices that the bigger stores have, but I always go to Aldi first and then just get whatever they don’t have at Walmart.
My favorite spaghetti sauce that I’ve tried from a store is Aldi’s Grandessa Tomato & Basil Sauce (they have a cheaper brand too but I don’t like it). This is only $1.69 at my store for 24 oz. I use it for all my pasta and my pizza.
http://aldi.us/us/html/product_range/2744_8318_ENU_HTML.htm
I really recommend giving Aldi a go! I never used to bother with two stores, but the savings are worth, plus I really like a lot of the food better!
Thanks for the input on Aldi. I am going to try it – just so I know whether it helps my budget.
I’ll try that spaghetti sauce, too. Thanks for the heads up on it. The $1.69 is still cheaper than Prego.
I like their produce…some things you can count on. like their spinach is always .99 a bag. Their salad is good. Their milk and cheese tastes nasty to me…you have to see what you think. Love their frozen shrimp…REALLY good deals on frozen stuff. Oh and they have the BEST!!!!! animal crackers ever…the whatever fake brand name Aldi’s puts on stuff. I’m guessing, Grandma, that you probably go thru some animal crackers at your house
You’re not going to believe this, but I haven’t bought animal crackers for the kids. They would definitely love them. I’m putting them on my list right now.
Prego are $1/jar at Hyvee, starting today!
What?! Thanks!
I also agree with the stockpiling comment. Only stockpile when you have tried something and like it a lot. In my early couponing days I stockpiled on some things that just ended up going to charity, or sadly, to the trash. Aldi definitely doesn’t have everything you need and some things aren’t good there (we hate their sliced american cheese, boxed mac and cheese for example) but when you find something comparable, it’s a good idea to buy there. I emailed you this week’s Aldi receipt so you can see the pricing.
Thanks. I’m going to take a look at that.
Patty, I agree that Friday is a better day to shop…all of Hy-Vee’s two day sales seem to be thursday-friday. I often miss out because I usually shop on Monday or Tuesday and can’t find time to go back or don’t want to spend gas going for what I’ll save, etc…
What salad dressing recipes are you looking for? I know some good ones…
These are some of our favorites: lite ranch, Newman’s Own olive oil & vinegar (they LOVE this one), Fat Free Italian, Vidalia Onion – I try new stuff all the time but those are staples.