Mid-Month Grocery Shopping– January

In January we spent $350 on groceries for six people.  The first $200 was spent at the beginning of the month in our monthly shopping trip to Sam’s Club and Winco.  The other $150 was spent in a few mid-month trips, including a trip to a local orchard!  As promised, I’m going to show you everything all of the groceries we bought this month.

Sometimes a mid-month trip will involve Sam’s Club or Winco if I am out that way, but most of my mid-month shopping is done at Grocery Outlet.  If you’re not familiar with Grocery Outlet, it’s a grocery store that carries foods that are near their “best by” date or that were overstocked at the traditional grocery store.

As I explained in my monthly grocery haul, I shop a little different than most people.  I don’t make a meal plan and then make a list.  I do make a list, but it’s a list of staples that we are out of or low on.  The foods on the list don’t necessarily correspond to a particular meal, but they’re the normal ingredients I use for our typical meals.

I also do a lot of stocking up on what’s on sale or in season so I don’t have to buy everything every month. When I find an awesome deal at Grocery Outlet, I’m not shy about stocking up, though I didn’t do much of that this month, well besides apples.

Usually the impetus for going shopping mid-month is to get milk or bread.  Grocery Outlet always has both of those, and they’re a much better price than any of the traditional grocery stores in my area.  While I’m there, I look for great deals!  If you’re not a careful shopper or have trouble sticking to a budget, this might be dangerous, but for us it works out really well.

There weren’t any crazy load-the-whole-cart-up deals at Grocery Outlet this month, but I was able to get a few good things for some specific purposes.  I go into a more detail in the short video below about why I bought certain things and what I plan to do with them.

What we bought (and what it cost)

Boa Vista Orchard = $51

• Apples (120 lb) $45
• Tomatoes $2.50
• Pears $2.50
• Limes (4) $1

Grocery Outlet #1 = $7

• Texas toast $1.69 x 4 = $6.76

Grocery Outlet #2 = $27

• Flour tortillas (35 oz) $2.79 x 3 = $8.37
• Berry applesauce pouches (6) = $2.00
• Wheat bread $1.79 x 4 = $7.16
• Life cereal $1.99 x 2 = $3.98
• Klondike ice cream (4 ct) $1.49 x 2 = $2.98
• Reese’s ice cream bars (4 ct) $1.49
• Cheddar red onion cheese (7 oz) $.97

Grocery Outlet #3 = $41

• Bear Creek soup singles (6 ct) $.99 x 7 = $6.93
• Texas toast $1.69 x 3 = $5.07
• Tortilla chips $1.49
• Gingerbread cookie mix $.50 x 2 = $1.00
• Wheat bread $1.79 x 6 = $10.74
• Hot dogs $1.99 x 2 = $3.98
• Cinnamon rolls $.99 BOGO x 2 = $.99
• Milk $2.59 x 2 = $5.18
• Strawberry yogurt (8 ct) $.97
• Turkey breast lunch meat (28 oz) $4.99 BOGO x 2 = $4.99

We don’t set a separate budget for eating out, so any eating out comes from our grocery budget too.  This month we spent about $25 eating out (most of which was for a couple of pizzas on a busy night), which brings the total for mid-month grocery shopping to $150.

Did any of these things surprise you? These mid-month shopping trips look much different than our monthly grocery shopping trips!  If you wonder why I bought these items, check out the video where I go into more detail!

If you’re curious what we typically eat during the month, check out January’s monthly grocery haul post and video.  And add apples to it.  Lots of apples!