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| October Groceries (10/12/24) |
I put in an order for groceries this morning and picked up the items in the afternoon. I am going to consider this as my first grocery shopping order for October although I bought two frozen food items and some candy when I shopped at the dollar store on Monday. I spent $3.75 on that shopping trip and that will be added to the spending total for this month, but, today's shopping is the first 'proper' grocery shopping trip.
The store sent me a text when the order was completed, saying that there were no substitutions or out of stock items. However, when I went to pick up the order, the person who brought the items to the car said he substituted the bread and the pancake syrup. I said that was fine (I usually order the lower priced store brand items and if they substitute an item, they usually charge the lower price for whatever item they substitute). When I came home, I noticed that they had substituted the bread and syrup with higher priced items and charged me the lower store brand price.
However, they had charged me a higher price than the advertised price for grapes and this was the second time that has happened! The advertised price was $1.99/lb. and they charged me $3.36/lb. I am not going to complain, since they have given me extra items such as the two additional boxes of croissants with my previous order, at no charge. But, I might think twice about ordering grapes from them in the future!
Once again, I will copy and post the receipt, without all the item codes, etc.
Order Summary
Item Details
24 Items
My total came to $39.74.
My October grocery budget = $100
I do have $71.84 carried over from September, but, I am going to set that aside for when I go to the Sri Lankan store to stock up on tea, curry powder, treats, etc., or for extra groceries when my daughter comes home for a visit in November.
So, October's grocery budget is $100.
Spent to date: $3.75 (at the dollar store) + $39.74 = $43.49
Balance remaining = $100 - $43.49 = $56,51
As always, I am grateful for:
- Being able to buy groceries and the availability of items
- The store's substitution policy
- Friendly staff
- A safe drive to and from the store
- A well stocked pantry
Today's joyful activity was getting free splurge items (the bacon and the juice).
If anyone is wondering where are the vegetables...apart from the cucumber, I didn't need any fresh vegetables. I have moringa and a handful of green beans I picked from the garden, most of a lettuce, some beets, and some carrots, in the fridge, frozen corn, broccoli, snow peas, okra, etc., in the freezer, plus some canned vegetables (which must be used up, soon).
Have you grocery shopped in October, yet? Do you have a grocery budget? Are you able to stay within your budget?
I would mention the higher price charged for the grapes if I were you as I know I would not be happy with that. My supermarket does the same with substitutions, usually a similar higher priced product for the lower price. How lucky are you to have free bacon, I'm envious :-)
ReplyDeleteI would complain, Eileen, but, my daughter said there might have been some fine print in the coupons I used which I didn't see. Never mind; they have given me enough free items to let it go this time.
DeleteI have been wanting to get bacon on sale for several weeks, now, but, they were for 12 oz. packages and one time, they were out of stock. So, I was thrilled to see that they had free bacon, with a coupon, a $35 minimum purchase (which I usually do, anyway, to qualify for the free pick up), and shopping during the weekend, only. I made it a point to order the items in the early hours of Saturday, just in case they said they were out of the free bacon!
I don’t have a strict grocery budget, but I shop at Aldi. I know by goin* there it’s less than the places I used to shop. I bake my scones, pizza dough, etc. from scratch. Right now the bumper crop of pomegranates is saving me money on fruit.
ReplyDeleteThere is an Aldi a few miles from my house (not as close as the Ralphs I usually go to), but, I haven't shopped there, yet. That's wonderful that you are baking your own scones, etc., and you have a bumper crop of pomegranates. My tree only produced two small fruits, this year, and I haven't picked them, yet.
DeleteWhat a pity that you ended up paying the higher amount for grapes. The other day the checkout clerk had scanned my items and she suddenly said, "oh, I scanned the red onion 3 times. You will have to take the slip to the courtesy desk and get a refund." So I spent a bit of time waiting for a turn and then having the credit card put through for the refund. Later that day, the main bill was on the card when I checked my card on-line, but the refund wasn't! I suppose it will show up eventually.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wasn't too happy about the grapes, but, as my daughter said, maybe I didn't check the fine print closely enough. I hope you get the refund on your overcharge soon.
DeleteThanks for sharing your groceries. I remember a while back you had said you'd be focusing on getting more veggies in your diet in lieu of the Plant 30 approach and being more mindful of your overall good intake. How is that going? Wondering if you are planning to buy veggies at a different time.
ReplyDeleteI took a break for the last three weeks from Plant 30. I had a lot of travel and when you're eating out or eating catered meals, it's very hard to count all ingredients along with all of the spices. However, today I started back on this path and I'm up to about 12 items from today. I decided not to do strict counts of every single thing but to estimate roughly. I'll save time and energy this way especially since for the most part I was exceeding the 30 points per week anyway.
I have been up and down with having more vegetables in my diet. On a day when I have a salad, I do well enough; other days, like today, I don't do as well! I really need to be more mindful about that.
DeleteYes, keeping track of all the plant food intake would be difficult when traveling and eating out, etc. But, well done with starting back on it!
I too like Aldi's. If you stick to the store brands, the prices are hard to beat - better than Walmart. They do stock a few name brands for convenience (people want real Coke, e.g), but those are usually not a bargain.
ReplyDeleteI shall take a look at the Aldi's website and see how their prices compare. :)
DeleteI am not so much an Aldi fan, but there are a few things I specifically buy from there. I think Lidl's range and quality generally are better and I go there most often, but I sometimes, if I have other things to do at the same time, Asda (Walmart), Tesco or Sainsbury is more convenient. Wherever I shop, I rarely buy branded items as usually the own-brand items are fine - and I always check out the reduced counter!
ReplyDeleteI haven't tried Aldi, yet. I need to start shopping in person, again, to take advantage of the reduced items! I've got used to the convenience of ordering online and picking up!
DeleteI haven't done a big grocery shop for a couple of weeks (I've bought fresh produce when I've needed it) , but I've eaten some tasty home made meals from the freezer. I'm going to try and menu plan this weekend. Xx
ReplyDeleteHaving home made meals in the freezer is great, isn't it? Hope the meal planning goes well. :)
DeleteYou did well on your grocery shopping (except for the grapes priced incorrectly) It's hard to beat free bacon!
ReplyDeleteYour store is much more friendly with grocery pickups than mine.
There is a $3.95 pickup charge and they've recently started to charge for the substituted item instead of using the price of the item ordered that was unavailable. I have set my account not to allow any substitutions. I don't use pickup a lot because of the $3.95 charge.
I think I use it about once a month otherwise we go in person.
I shouldn't say We as my husband is the one that mainly goes to the store.
Thank you, Debra. I don't know what the deal is with their grapes (I wonder if the price is if one shops in person?) but, I was pleased with the free bacon.
DeleteThis weekend, the store is giving free bottled water with the $35 minimum purchase, but, I am not claiming it, as I don't have $35 worth of groceries to order this week.
The store used to have a $6.99 pick up charge, but, they waive it with a minimum purchase of $35. The store my daughter used to order from during Covid lockdown used to charge for substitutions, and she, too, stopped allowing for substitutions.
That's nice that your husband does the shopping for you. :)