Now that I’m willing to visit a few different stores for my produce, meat, cheese, and frozen goods, I’m even more impressed with Vallarta Market.They offer some of the best prices for produce and meats. Oh, and Bud Light beer. 😉 Here’s a sample of my receipt:
- 1 white onion = .09 cents (Their white onions were on sale for 7 pounds for $1.00!)
- one bunch of cilantro = .25 cents (or 4 bunches for $1.00)
- one bunch of green onions = .25 cents (again, 4 bunches for $1.00)
- .29 pounds of limes = .15 cents (limes were on sale for 2 pounds for $1.00)
- 1 green pepper = .75 cents
- 1 head of iceberg lettuce = .69 cents
- 4 bananas = $1.26
- 1 pound of 85% lean ground beef = $4.59 ( I know that in other parts of the country, ground beef is a lot less, but here this is a good deal.)
- 30 pack of Bud Light = $17.99
Making time to shop around saves me quite a bit of money. Vallarta’s produce is local, but I need to carefully select the items since they save money on not having additional labor weeding out the bruised fruits and vegetables, which I’m just fine with.
With a stocked refrigerator and enough food for meals to last 14 days, the $156 that I spent in groceries (including my local chain market) is a great deal for my area.
How have you been saving money on groceries?
10 Comments
I was soooooo jealous until I saw what you pay for ground beef. I’m still jealous but not quite as much. 😉
Congrats on finding such great deals! Fruits and vegetables here in Houston, TX cost way more than that right now. Our lettuce is $0.99 to $1.29 a head. Of course, 85% lean ground beef is about $2 a pound, but that’s to be expected when the beef cattle are like 3 miles away.
Our groceries usually run about $300-$350 a month for my husband and me (we eat alot of meat and fish). Buying in bulk at Sam’s Club helps us alot since we usually have steak at least once a week and boneless, skinless chicken breast is a freaking staple…
@Budgeting in the Fun Stuff – The produce is amazingly inexpensive – but it’s grown locally. I’m jealous about your beef prices, but you’re right – there aren’t any cows within hundreds of miles from where I live. I tried Costco for a while, but my husband and I couldn’t get through the food fast enough. Now we shop every other week and stock up on items that will last a while. Thanks for sharing your Sam’s Club experience, I haven’t ever tried them.
everything seems cheap except for the bud light. It’s 14.49 for a 30 pack here, but great job bargain shopping. Im most jealous of the onion.
@Jeff – I’m very jealous. 😉 I can’t find Bud Light any cheaper than this!
I wife shops at 3 different markets never mind Target for household goods once every 6-8 weeks. I stock up on chicken and beef at Costco every so often. I think we got it covered!
@Krantcents – Sounds like you do have it covered with shopping every 6-8 weeks! My husband and I have to shop every other week, but we just can’t seem to get through bulk items fast enough to stock more than 2 weeks worth of food.
We don’t have Vallarta here, but those are some good deals! Mostly farmers market and Aldi’s which I discovered only recently!
@MoneyCone – I like farmer’s markets but don’t go very often. I need to start visiting one of our local ones this summer, thanks for reminding me about that option!
I keep an excel spreadsheet and usually purchase the same items. I also focus on what a “good price” is for a given item and stock up when the item is on sale. I think I purchased 10 packages of Perdue boneless skinless chicken breasts on Peapod when they were on sale for $2 a pound.
@Super Frugalette – I haven’t started keeping tabs on what I purchase at the grocery store, but since I buy pretty much the same items over and over again, I might have to try this method. Then I’ll begin to know what a “good price” is on an item. Thanks for sharing this tip!