I’m documenting what I’m buying each week and how much everything costs. This post covers Monday, February 10th to Sunday, February 16th.
Side note: It seems surreal to go about everyday normal activities when our country is under attack from the likes of the FOTUS and Elonia. I look at people in the grocery store while I’m shopping and wonder if they’re as terrified as I am at what is happening or if they’re completely oblivious. It’s all so unsettling.
My New 2025 Shopping Rules
I went into detail on what my new shopping rules will be in this post, but in short, my initial goal is to keep purchases for food and household goods to $150 per week with 2 caveats.
We make most of our meat and seafood purchases from Butcher Box throughout the year. I currently put $200 per month in a separate fund for these purchases.
We also make sporadic larger bulk purchases from Azure Standard to save money over what we can buy in the grocery store. I currently contribute $200 per month in a separate fund for these purchases.
With all of that out of the way, here’s what we bought this week.
What I Bought This Week
Food
Discount Grocery Store ($28.68 Spent)
What we bought:
- 5 six-packs of Hint Water for $24.95.
- Cold brew coffee for Miss Frugal Forward was $1.99.
- I was also charged $1.60 for CRV deposits.
I try very hard to drink enough water. Unfortunately, I absolutely hate drinking plain water. Hate it.
I previously also bought a ton of sparkling water. My favorite was Bubly, but it is expensive. I was spending, no exaggerating, literally hundreds of dollars each month on Hint Water deliveries and sparkling water. It was legitimately insane.
If you’re interested in a blog post addressing how I reduced this line item in my budget without eliminating Hint and sparkling water from my life, let me know.
Ralphs ($40.38 spent)
What we bought:
I love hunting for bargains at Ralphs (a Kroger affiliate). This week I was able to get:
- 6 containers of Nutpods half and half (32 ounces) for $0.49 each. They were discounted to $1.49 and there was a store promotion where if you bought 5 or more, you got $1 off each. These are shelf-stable, so they will go in my pantry.
- 6 boxes of Nut Thins for $0.29 each. These were discounted to $1.29 each and also had the $1 off promotion. They are good through November 2025.
- 1 salad kit for $1.82. The expiration date is a couple days from now. We will eat this for lunches tomorrow.
- 1 bag of organic romaine hearts for $4.99.
- 1 container of Persian cucumbers for $3.99.
- 2 bananas for $0.46.
- 1.41 pounds of organic sweet potatoes for $3.93.
- 1.56 pounds of apples for $2.32.
- 1 large container of Chobani yogurt for $5.59.
- 2 small Chobani yogurts for $0.99 each (still within date). These are good for Mr. Frugal Forward’s lunches.
- 3 Chobani flip yogurts for $5.00. For Miss Frugal Forward.
- 1 head of cabbage for $2.08
- 2 containers of shredded asiago cheese for $1.92 each. These have a Best Buy date next week, but I’ll put them in the freezer for future use.
I’d love to say that I knew about the Nutpods and Nut Thins deal in advance, but I did not. For both of them I almost only got 4. I’m really glad I decided to get 6 of each.
Marshalls ($7.49 spent)
What we bought:
Miss Frugal Forward has stopped getting cold brew coffees out at nearly $6 a pop. She makes these at home now. She enjoys the caramel syrup, and she was almost out.
Week 4 Totals
That brings my Week 4 total to $76.55.
My goal for Week 4 was to keep total spending to $97.98 to make up for the very spendy Week 2, so I’d call that a success. I am now very much back on track. I have $21.43 to carry forward to Week 5, bringing my Week 5 budget to $171.43.
What’s your grocery strategy right now? Are you cutting back, swapping brands, or just crying in the produce aisle? Drop a comment below—I’d love to hear how you’re surviving this mess!
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Frugal Forward 
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