Mt big stocking up grocery trip

**OhPioneer1806** · 04-04-2011, 08:11 PM

Today was the day I did my big April grocery shopping trip. I picked up my teen daughter after work and we got started. We made four stops today, BJ's Wholesale club, Aldi, a little local Italian grocery store called Alesci's and a local discounter called Marcs/Xpect. I budget $450 a month for food (for 4 of us, 2 adults, 2 teens) and another $100 for essential nonfood items like cleaning supplies, paper goods, & health and beauty items. I spend about 75-80% of this budget during my big stocking up trip and have the rest for a smaller midmonth trip for fresh dairy and produce.
Today I spent a total of $312.27. Before making up my shopping list I checked on my freezer and pantry supplies and saw that we were still pretty much full up and didn't need much for the month so most of what I bought today is stocking up on nonperishables and fresh produce. My food only total was $271.21 and my nonfood total was $41.06. Nonfoodwise I brought home a new microplane (to replace one where the handle broke off), a 3 pck of body wash, dishwasher detergent, eyeliner for my teen girl, trash bags, and toothpaste. We are fully stocked on laundry soap, fabric softener, cleaning supplies, soap, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, and toilet paper so the only thing left I need to purchase from this portion of my budget is propane for the grill and then there shouldn't be any need to spend anything further from this budget allowing me to take that extra money and transfer it to savings!
As far as food goes for my $271.21 I brought home 1 bottle each of grape juice, apple juice, ruby red grapefruit juice, & cranberry juice, 1 jar coffee creamer, 1 bunch celery, 2 cans ravioli, 2 cans beefy mac, 1 jar dill pickles slices, 1 jar sweet pickle relish, 1 jar bread and butter pickles, 1 jar green olives, 2 cans black olives, 1 can condensed milk, 1 jar apricot preserves, 4 cans mandarin oranges, 1 jar mango-passion fruit spread, 2 blocks NY sharp cheddar, 2 blocks colby, 1 bag baby carrots, 2 cans diced tomatoes, 2 cans pineapple chunks, 2 cans crushed pineapple, 2 pcks. neufchatel cheese, 2 english cucumbers, 1 pck. vanilla pudding cups, 1 pck. chocolate pudding cups, 5 lbs. sugar, 3 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, 1 bag fresh spinach, 3 lbs. bananas, 1 pint lowfat cottage cheese, 2 lbs. elbow macaroni, 2 lbs. powdered sugar, 1 pck. shredded mozzarella, 1 pck shredded Italian blend cheese, 1 pck. shredded Mexican blend cheese, 1 pck. string cheese, 2 dozen eggs, 1/2 lb. beef bologna, 28 oz. box cheezits, 32 oz. container of plain nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 pck. crab delights, 2 pck. smart balance spread, 4 lbs. ground bison, 1 5 lb. eye of round, 2 london broils, 2 lbs. large shrimp, 2 jars roasted red peppers, 1 gallon of organic 2% milk, 1 jr nutella, 1 large package of campari tomatoes, 5 lbs. sweet onions, 2 bags doritos, 2 fresh balls of pizza dough, 1 jar pizza sauce, 1 loaf freshly baked Italian bread, 1 bottle garlic oil, 1 can imported Hungarian paprika, 1 box linguine, 1 fresh basil plant, 1 bottle maple syrup, 1 box tapioca, 1 quart buttermilk, 1 box graham crackers, 1 pck gnocchi, 2 bags egg noodles, 2 bags kluski noodles, 1 bag broccoli slaw, 4 red bell peppers, 1 quart strawberries, 1 bag coleslaw mix, 1 bag ciabatta rolls, 1 pck Hawaiian rolls, 2 boxes cold cereal, 1 box ritz crackers, 1 box wheat thins, 1 box triscuits, 1 pint baby bella mushrooms, 1 bunch fresh parsley, 2 bags sun dried tomatoes, 1 pck flour tortillas and a container of locally baked chocolate coconut squares. Our freezers are full to bursting with seafood, meat, poultry, veggies and fruit and my pantry is also totally supplied with dry goods,spices, herbs, baking supplies, and canned and bottled products. I've made a nice start to stocking up on pantry goods for the summer when I pare back my grocery spending and tighten my belt since my job is only during the school year. I'm quite pleased. [/I]