August Grocery Shopping - Part 1

I did the month's first grocery shopping on August 1st, choosing to do an order and pick up.  I selected a pick up slot of 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., but, I received a text around 6:00 p.m. that my order was filled, followed shortly by a phone call from Rose at the pick up department letting me know that their department was closing at 7:00 p.m. that evening and they wanted to make sure I had plenty of time to pick up my groceries before they closed.  

So, I quickly closed up the house and left to pick up the groceries before my allotted time.  They brought my groceries to the car and put everything in the trunk as usual, except for the bag with the milk and half-and-half, which I requested to be placed in the passenger seat (I had the a/c on in the car as it was a warm day).  I thought that the person placing the items in the car placed more bags that I would have expected given the size of my order, but, sometimes they pack the items separately and I just assumed that that's what they did.  

My phone rang again, while I was on my way home and I let it go to voicemail.  Once I got home, I checked the message and it was Rose at the grocery store, calling to let me know that they had placed some extra items in my car, but, I was not required to return them to the store and I could either keep them or toss them and if I had any questions, to call the store.  So, I called the store and spoke with Rose and she basically told me the same thing.  They had placed someone else's items in my car, but, she was not going to make me drive back; I could keep the items or toss them.  I verified that I would not be charged for the additional items if I decided to keep them.  I had no idea what they were, though, because I had just pulled into my garage and not unpacked anything.  

By then, M had arrived to tend to the garden, so I related what had just taken place to him and took my groceries inside.

I bought:

Order Summary

Original Item Total$53.71

Item Coupons/Sales-$16.04

Fulfillment Fee+$0.00

Other Fees+$0.50

Sales Tax$0.00

Order Total$38.17

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Item Details

21 Items

Bauducco® Chocolate Wafer Cookies, 5 oz$2.00

2 x $1.00 $1.59 each

Blue Diamond® Lightly Salted Almonds, 6 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 $4.79 each

Chicken of the Sea Chunk Light Tuna In Water, 5 oz$5.00

4 x $1.25 $1.69 each

Cucumber, 1 ct$0.99

1 x $0.99 each

Foster Farms Fresh & Natural Chicken Thighs, 1 pk$5.32

3.57 lbs x $1.49 $2.99 each (approx.)

Fresh Bunch of Bananas – 5-7 Bananas, 1 bunch$1.92

2.78 lbs x $0.69 each (approx.)

Kroger® Half and Half Pint, 1 pt$2.69

1 x $2.69 each

Kroger® Plain Bagels, 6 ct / 18 oz$2.79

1 x $2.79 each

Kroger® Traditional Favorites Frozen Peas Green, 12 oz$1.50

1 x $1.50 each

Kroger® White Sandwich Bread, 20 oz$1.99

1 x $1.99 each

Ralphs® Vitamin D Whole Milk Half Gallon, 1/2 gal$2.99

1 x $2.99 each

Seedless Mandarin Clementine Oranges in 3lb Bag, 3 lb$3.49

1 x $3.49 $5.99 each

StarKist Chunk Light Tuna in Water Can, 5 oz$5.00

5 x $1.00 $1.49 each

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Other Fees

$0.50

Bag Fee$0.50

5 x $0.10 each

I spent:  $38.17.

In addition, I received:

- 3 x 2 lb. bags of broccoli florets (@ $6.00)
- 3 x 12 oz. packages of bacon (@$5.99)
- 2 x 12 oz. bags of dried cranberries (@$4.79)
- 1x 11 oz. container mayonnaise (@$4.49)
- 1x 10 oz. container of natural sunflower seed kernels (@$3.49)
-1 "jumbo" red onion (@$1.49/lb. and the one I received was huge; I assume it would have come to about $1) 

From the items, I am assuming that someone was planning to make a big broccoli salad!  I hope they received their order once the store realized that they had given the items to me!  I went on the store website, later, to see how much these additional items came to and it came to about $55 depending how much the onion might have weighed  

I gave one bag of broccoli florets to M and offered one to my neighbor S (she wasn't home when I called so I'll give it to her later today).  I froze the bacon and we will enjoy them, along with the other items over the upcoming weeks.  What a blessing to receive free groceries!  

With my daughter being home, I am going to increase my grocery budget to $250 per month, or $125 per person.  Primarily because, despite campaign promises to the contrary, grocery prices have increased and I expect them to continue to increase.  I am able to increase my grocery budget by reducing what I put into savings.  

I am grateful for:

- Being blessed with free groceries at the expense of the store's mistake
- Being able to share some of that with friends and neighbors
- The availability of groceries
- Being able to increase my grocery budget
- The blessing of having enough food to eat