 |
| Weekly Grocery Ads |
The weekly grocery ads are delivered on Tuesdays over here, as the prices go into effect on Wednesdays. This week, the store I shop at most during the pandemic (they offer free curbside pick up with purchases over $35) was having a sale on butter, for $1.99/lb., with a digital coupon. That is an excellent price for butter, in our area, especially during this time. That is my pre-Covid stock up price!
They were also offering chicken on a buy 1 get 1 free sale, various other items on a 'buy 5 or more participating items and get $1 off of each" sale and some good deals with coupons. It was a good time to stock up! I wanted to get some special treats for daughter's upcoming birthday dinner, as well.
On Thursday, we placed an order of groceries and I picked it up, yesterday (Friday) afternoon. The pick up time I selected was 1:00 p.m. (earlier pick up slots were available, but, I prefer going in the afternoon). At 12:30 p.m., I received a text stating that certain things were unavailable. They suggested substitutions for the majority of them and I authorized the substitutions. They always adjust the price to which ever is lower! Thus, instead of the store bakery French bread ($1.50) that they didn't have, they substituted a well known bakery's sliced French bread ($4.99) and charged me $1.50! If I had been shopping in person, I wouldn't bought the $4.99 bread as I wouldn't have received that price adjustment. Ditto with the store brand smoked sausages (14 oz. @$2.00); they substituted the more expensive brand name smoked sausages (12 oz. @ $4.99) and charged me the same price as the store brand. I was fine with the brand name sausages being 2 oz. less for the same price as the store brand. There was minimal waiting time and I was home in half an hour.
I bought 5 lbs. of butter at $1.99/lb. (the digital coupon could be used up to 5 times), 2 trays of chicken thighs (each tray was about 5 lbs.; $9.77 total), 3 lbs. ground sirloin @ $3.99/lb. with coupon, 2 smoked sausages (@2.00), fish (frozen pollock 2 lb. package @ $6.99 and 3 packages of salmon fillets @ $5.69/lb. with coupon), and 1 lb. package of frozen shrimp ($5.99/lb.; they substituted another type of shrimp that was $12.00/lb., but, charged me $5.99). I also bought toothpaste, rice (10 lb.), sugar (10. lb), cereal, pancake mix, half and half, coffee creamer, fresh fruits (bananas and mangoes; they didn't have the nectarines we also ordered), raisins, vegetables (salad mix, snap peas, cucumber, lettuce, asparagus), a bottle of salad dressing, a jar of Miracle Whip, two bottles of cooking oil, tortilla chips and salsa, some cookies and a cake! The total (with tax on the toothpaste; food is not taxed) came to almost $152! I had spent just over $105 for groceries, earlier in February.
Daughter was between meetings when I came home and was able to take a quick lunch break to help me bring in the groceries, sanitize them, and put them away.
In the afternoon, I did some cooking. I had separated one of the trays of chicken thighs into smaller portions and frozen them; but I sauteed the other tray of chicken with onions and peppers. Afterwards, I froze half of the cooked chicken and kept the rest in the fridge for us for the week. I also browned one of the packages of ground beef, adding diced onion and grated carrots to it. I kept half of it aside for my daughter. I added a can of spaghetti sauce to the other half of the ground beef and froze half of it. The rest is in the fridge. I also cooked one of the packages of salmon fillets (it contained two fillets), sauteeing them with onions and tomatoes. It's not bulk cooking, exactly, but, I cooked enough at one time for meals this week and for the freezer. Then, I cooked some spaghetti pasta for dinner. I had my pasta with the ground beef spaghetti sauce; daughter (who doesn't like tomato based sauces) had her pasta with some of the ground beef I had kept aside for her.
Today, I made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast and daughter made a salad with cut up cooked chicken added to it for our lunch. I had more spaghetti with sauce for my dinner and daughter decided to have a piece of the salmon with the rest of the pasta for her dinner. The nice thing about having a variety of cooked dishes in the fridge is that we can each eat what we feel like eating.
I am grateful for:
- Being able to buy groceries
- Free curbside pickup
- The store not charging extra for substitutions
- A safe drive to the store and back
- Daughter helping with sanitizing and putting stuff away
How was your grocery spending in February? Did you keep to your budget or did you go over?
I like your substitution system. Here you have to say when you order if you will accept substitutes if your choice is unavailable - but they charge the full price for them
ReplyDeleteThe store my daughter used for her grocery deliveries in Berkeley charged the full price, too, Angela. I guess it depends on how much competition the store has. But, I am very glad that this store has this policy!
DeleteGroceries sure are expensive but it sounds like you got a lot for the money. I came in well below budget for February but need to do a really big shop next week.
ReplyDeleteI did stock up quite a bit, Martha, for a number of reasons. I didn't go over budget, but, that is only because I increased my monthly budget! LOL! Which might be cheating, but, it is OK!
DeleteYou had a busy day shopping and cooking. It is nice when you go to the fridge and find several things to eat. I love leftovers for that reason.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised that I had the energy to do that much cooking at once, but, it worked out well. Leftovers and "planned overs" are wonderful, aren't they?
DeleteThe curbside pickup is a wonderful option. I have not used it yet though. I shop every other week and make it a point to have a concise list, latex gloves, mask and plenty of hand sanitizer, then shop as quickly as I possibly can.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you've got the grocery shopping all nicely figured out, Anne. I might have been tempted to risk it, myself, if not for my daughter being so worried that I might get sick! She's doing so much to make sure that I stay safe!
DeleteSounds like you shop at the same big box store as me. I don't know what my family would have done without their curbside pick-up. I'm amazed that there is no extra charge, but I always tip my delivery person - they work very hard for very little money. But these 'essential workers' have kept our country safe this past year.
ReplyDeleteHi Eileen in Fla! Yes, it is one of the Kroger stores. There is a $6.99 charge for curbside pick-up, normally, but, it is free with a minimum of $35 purchase. There is a fee, however, for home delivery ($10 I believe), which isn't bad, either. I agree with you that they are essential workers and work very hard for very little money. One of the adjoining cities mandated a $4/hr. hazardous pay to grocery store workers who work during the pandemic, but, this same chain of supermarkets chose to close two of their stores in that city, rather than pay more! Just last week, the county and city in which I reside also passed a similar increase in pay bill; I wonder if the company will decide to close additional stores?!
DeleteThat's wonderful. It's comforting to have homemade meals ready to reheat in the fridge. I think it would come in handy during emergencies, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephenie. Yes, that's what I was thinking - having a few pre-cooked items in the freezer can be helpful. At one time, I used to make my own "freezer meals" - I've stopped doing that, for some reason (lack of freezer space, probably, because the containers take up more space, I feel). But, it might be something I might start doing, again.
DeleteI'm probably bring dim but how do you reheat the cooked salmon without it overcooking?
ReplyDeleteI just microwave it, Eileen; I probably overcook it already, anyway! :)
DeleteI’ve never done curbside pickups. For some weird reason I really have to select produce by myself. LOL
ReplyDeleteOnce I subscribed to a produce delivery service, and two or three boxes later the quality went down. So I canceled the subscription.
Nil, I remember you posting about the spoiled produce you received after the second delivery. The groceries I have been receiving have been of good quality - after each pick up, the store sends a survey to evaluate your experience and I will definitely let them know if I received something less than acceptable. The only mishap was when they sent me one single okra instead of the 1 lb. I was hoping to get, but, I thought it was funny and let it go. :)
DeleteIt's great that your substitutions are a higher priced item for the price of your original request. I hope that continues for you as in a way it makes up for not being able to shop around like you would outside of a pandemic.
ReplyDeleteI was so glad our local forecast of rain was wrong! We had a sunny afternoon to walk to the river and when we came back I got out our "Old Country Roses" cups and saucers for a cup of tea (and thought of you). I haven't used them for ages and I decided that it was time to use them at least once a week.
It's a great substitution system as far as the customers are concerned, isn't it? I don't know how the store can absorb the costs, but, I suppose it is worth it to them to keep their customers happy and returning. It works for me because I am not that brand loyal.
DeleteI'm glad you had a nice sunny afternoon in which to enjoy a walk and that you used your "Old Country Roses" cups and saucers! Yes, I agree that we need to use the "good" china, while we are still able to enjoy using them! :)
This was a nice big stock up for you and your daughter. And you got a good sale on the butter so you won't be having to pay a high price for it for a while.
ReplyDeleteOther then that one time where it took hours to get your pick up, you've had really good experiences with your shopping.
I continued to stay under budget for February. Only by a few dollars but after last year and the expense of pandemic shopping I am happy to have things back under control.
Yes, it was a big stock up, wasn't it? But, I think I have enough butter to last me till the end of the year! LOL!
DeleteWell done on staying under budget, Debra. I increased my budget because daughter is home!