Forgot to take a picture but I’m going to try and get back in the habit. We need to tighten our spending all around for the next few months, and I think posting regularly will help me keep an eye on costs. Today we spent $34 (Aldi and my local produce store) on eggs, bread, apples, bananas, pears, green beans, garlic, so many sweet potatoes, kidney beans, cannellini beans, jelly, and a few other odds and ends. That should easily get us to the end of the week, especially since I already have carrots, lotus, jackfruit, plenty of cheeses, freezer meats, and dry pantry staples. I really want to shop my kitchen for a while so I can save money. It would be great to stay under $200 a month.
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Groceries for the week. Pretty pleased with the prices since I estimated it would cost $70!
Now it’s time to cook 
so happy to be back in the kitchen.
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Wow… good estimate!
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Haha, thanks!
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Groceries this week were $77.76! I’m pleased Now I’m off to cook and watch The Ring and maybe some other dumb scary movie. I feel like I chop faster during the scary scenes, haha!
I had to improvise a bit since my Aldi weirdly does not have cotija cheese. I ended up getting some asiago so I’m going to do an asiago and herb corn instead of elote.
re: amount of plastic
I know the amount of plastic in this picture is kind of shocking. In my city there are lots of amazing discount produce stores, but all of them sell things pre-bagged and have a set price per bag. So it’s not that I won’t bring my own produce bags! I have them and I used them for years where I used to live but here it’s already bagged at the store. Still, it’s a fabulous deal and the stores serve lots of low income communities. All the produce in this picture cost just $40 and the quality is outstanding.
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Now I’m craving Nilla wafers.
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How do you find such stores!
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I did a grocery delivery from the new supermarket in town. It was kind of impulsive because they have alcohol (supermarkets here typically do not) and there was a spend $200 and get $50 off and I would never normally spend $200 in a shop but if I bought a bottle of gin I would, and I was going to buy a bottle of gin anyway… 
A few things were out of stock so I was refunded $20. So it’s kind of like the food was $45? We can rationalize that yes? Usually that is super annoying in a delivery when things are missing but it wasn’t anything critical to a meal (blocks of chocolate, excess cheese 
)
It isn’t a weeks worth of food, but it is a month’s worth of gin?
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When I move somewhere new I go on grocery finding missions. I visit as many stores as possible, not to shop, just to pop in and look around and see what they’re like. I literally keep notes and if I’m walking somewhere and unexpectedly pass a butcher or produce store, I’ll duck in and check it out. I have found gems in every city this way.
Also, usually if there is a neighborhood with a high recent immigrant population or a high population of people with big families who are traditionally home cooks (i.e. could be religious communities, etc.) there will be low cost stores with amazing produce (and bulk stuff too!). In many cities the best produce is in stand alone produce stores because the turnover is so high they can charge really low prices, and the high turnover = really fresh food. In other cities the best produce is in bargain grocery stores or in international stores. I think it’s totally worth it to find the best of each thing (meat, produce, dry goods, bulk) etc.
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I could have written exactly this. Is a key part of how I settle in after a move. And Indian and Mexican grocery stores especially in my experience have amazing produce around here.
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Rodeo did all of this in our city, high immigrant and big families (asian), but no luck so far. 
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I’m surprised! I’ve had really good luck in Asian neighborhoods, not necessarily Chinatowns though, bc those tend to be touristy. Am I remembering right that you’re in Boston? Super 88 in Allston was amazing when I lived there but that was a really long time ago. I also liked Harvest market in Cambridge for bulk goods and there was a great Indian shop right next door that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of BUT which sold incredible samosas for like $1 out of the back. I think there was also a decent chain called Market Basket that had good circular sales? I could be confusing that one with a different city though. I will say Boston was the most expensive place I’ve ever lived when it came to mainstream grocery stores (star market, shaws, etc.), by like a lot (and I’ve lived in NYC, etc.). I think the prices are super inflated due to the student population.
Where I live now (Philadelphia) is interesting because the main downtown area is actually less diverse (despite Chinatown, Little Italy, etc.) than the more residential outer areas. You could try to reverse engineer it by looking for common international chains and then branching out in those areas (like Patel Brothers or HMart). Those are usually in more residential areas. You could also search for bakery outlets, have you heard of those? Most places have them and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Those are often in good food neighborhoods. Oh, you could also google european import market because sometimes you’ll find stuff that way, especially good meats and cheeses. Nearby orthodox christian churches, orthodox temples, and mosques can also be a good bet. Also for produce stores, walking/driving around is the way to find them because a lot of them don’t even have websites!
@Bracken_Joy I always thought we’d get along well and now I’m sure of it!
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My city is segregated enough that a lot of my good finds are in near suburbs. The one reliable store I’ve found in the city proper is one where I need to make sure I’m there at hours where it’s ok to wear my normal clothing, but the prices are so great it’s worth the few research trips if I haven’t been in a while.
I totally agree that most don’t have websites - I’ve had good luck finding one store I like and then asking customers that chat to me where else people shop.
The city next to mine has an AMAZING produce market that’s set up like a farmer’s market with stalls for the different vendors. SO cheap and incredibly fresh food. It’s something you would never find just wandering around - it’s in an old warehouse type place - but by word of mouth.
If Rodeo keeps looking, and puts the word out that she’s looking for produce markets or smaller food shops, I bet you’ll start to find some of your area’s hidden gems
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@Meowkins, if you are indeed in Boston, I had some good luck in Armenian stores in Watertown. They are a pretty quick drive from Boston but my friend and I were able to walk there and make a day of it a few times, too.
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Big Fred Meyer trip. New coupons sent out and they were useful so I got lots. Lots of fruit for the toddler. I’m dreading winter when fresh fruit will be more expensive- frozen is so much messier. All this was about $70.
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Hiiiii! Just got back from the weekly shop 
so much good stuff!
Produce is hard to see but I got red apples, green apples, clementines, oranges, corn, beets, pineapple, avocado, plantains, bananas, and sweet potatoes!
This is probably the last week I can go without purchasing meat because my freezer is looking pretty vacuous. I need to create a meat list but to do that I have to think ahead about what meals we might like for the next 2-3 months. I’ll figure that out this week.
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We aren’t shopping at Costco again until after we move and I’ve run out of most of my stockpile so this is a pretty true representation of a week’s worth of food for us. Sprouts had some really good deals this week so it came in less than $100! (Barely) I also stocked up on berries for the freezer (5 for $5) and pretzel crisps (B1G1F).
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Wow $5/5 on berries is amazing. On sale at best I’m hitting like $2/lb strawberries, $2.50 per clamshell for most other berries.
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I know. I got 4# of strawberries and 5 pints of blueberries. I might even go back for more.
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