Frugal Forward

I’m documenting what I’m buying each week and how much everything costs. This post covers the third week of June. I’m going to switch over to tracking monthly, with weekly check-ins. You can see what we bought the first and second weeks of June here and here.

My 2025 Shopping Rules

I went into detail on what my new shopping rules will be in this post and this post, but in short, my initial goal is to keep purchases for food and household goods to $190 per week with 2 caveats.

We make most of our meat and seafood purchases from Butcher Box throughout the year. 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 $350 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 We Bought: The Third Week of June

For weekly spending, I’m targeting $190 per week with a total monthly spend of $763.

Food

Ralphs ($103.79 Spent)

This week I bought my groceries from Ralphs. I was pretty exhausted, so I did a grocery pickup order. There was a $10 off pickup coupon in addition to the regular digital coupons.

What we bought:

• Breyer’s Ice Cream ($2.99)
• Hot Honey ($10.49)
• 10 Chobani Flip Yogurts ($1 each)
• Balsamic Glaze ($5.99)
• Bananas ($1.35)
• Heirloom Tomato ($2.35)
• Parmesan ($7.99)
• 2 Avocados ($5.98 total)
• 2 Cottage Cheese ($5.98 total)
• eggs ($3.79)
• 3 sliced cheeses ($3.29 each)
• half and half ($3.99)
• Lay’s (4 for $10)
• Turkey Breast (2 for $7)
• Crumbled feta cheese ($3.99)
• 2 petite potatoes ($2.99 each)
• Milk ($3.29)
• crackers ($2.99)
• Yogurt ($5.79)
• 2 gluten free spaghetti ($3.98 for both)

Even with buying store brand on a lot of items, I’m definitely feeling the pinch. It’s likely a combination of my son being like a literal garbage disposal despite being suuuuper skinny, and prices just going up.

My Local Discount Grocery Store ($77.52 spent)

What we bought:

• 2 cases of Hint Water ($23.98 for both plus $1.50 CRV)
• 2 gluten free tortillas ($10.58 for both)
• Kind granola ($4.99)
• Chicken Broth ($0.99)
• 2 Pamela’s gluten free bars ($2.99 each)
• Red wine vinegar ($2.99)
• Sambal chili paste ($2.29)
• Bananas ($1.27)
• 2 Raspberries ($2 each)
• Broccoli ($2.99)
• Brussels sprouts ($3.49)
• Carrots ($1.69)
• Eggs ($4.99)
• Yogurt ($5.79)

CVS (~$15.00)

I lost the receipt, but I saved major with deals and coupons at CVS. I got all 4 of these for around $15, which is pretty darn good since they are regularly priced at $13.99 each.

Secret Shopping ($21.29)

I had another Secret Shopping gig, so I got the wine for $2.79 (they reimburse up to $15). My daughter was with me and she wanted some coffee, a bag of smart sweets, and something else that I can’t remember and I didn’t take a picture. So, that’s the $21.29. I will also be paid $5 for my time, but I didn’t subtract that from the total.

Buy Nothing Group ($0)

Someone in my local Buy Nothing Group was rehoming a bag of shredded cheese from a Costco two pack. I don’t know why they didn’t want to freeze it, but it’s something I needed to purchase anyway, so I was happy to help a neighbor. 🙂

Coffee Treats ($25.00)

My daughter and I went for some coffee treats. I loaded $25 onto my card and spent $13.30 (used a $2 off $12 coupon). I have a little over $15 left (there was a small balance on there from our Father’s Day purchase).

^{Anniversary Celebration ($54.55)}

Mr. FF and I celebrated a milestone wedding anniversary with a delivery from one of our favorite local taco places ($54.55 for the whole family). We also purchased some treats from a local gluten free bakery. We paid for the treats with a gift card that Mr. FF’s employer gave him for Thanksgiving. So, $0 out of pocket.

Third Week of June Totals

That brings my second week of June total to $297.15, which means my budget for the rest of the month is $77.39. That’s definitely not happening.

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!

*Some links in this post may be affiliate links. For links to products on Amazon, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You are not charged for using an affiliate link. If you use my link, I earn a small commission, which I can use to offset the administrative costs of this blog. If you use my links, thank you.

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