Estimated Aldi budget

I've wanted for a long time to post one of my Aldi receipts to show how much I spend shopping there, and what I spend it on.  The trouble is that every time I go, there's something unusual going on and I don't buy all my usual stuff.  This time around, I skipped buying meat because we have a freezer full of pork from my in-laws, so I found another receipt with meat prices and marked down my usual amounts.  I also left a few purchases off -- because I buy things like kiwis or little yogurt cups or fancy cheese sometimes, but not every time.

This is the amount I normally buy for two weeks, feeding a family of five.  Like I said, it's typical and not the record of any specific grocery shop, but I know I spend around $160-180 pretty regularly.  I visit my other grocery store, Martins, only in emergencies (i.e. I forgot something important at Aldi) or to get things I can't get at Aldi, like unusual vegetables or seasonings.  I also only buy diapers at Martins -- Aldi carries plastic diapers, but only certain sizes, and they're also not the world's best diapers.  So in an average month I'll end up visiting Aldi twice and Martins twice, spending $230 at Aldi and maybe $30 at Martins.  A lot more than that at Martins if I am undisciplined ... it's much easier to blow $50 and not know where it went at Martins than it is at Aldi.  I mean .... they have scones!

So, my Aldi list.  I'm embarrassed because I've gotten very extravagant in the past year or two, but I want to share the prices I'm getting because I think they're great.

First aisle: luxury items, snack food, condiments, cereal -- $28.29

Multigrain cereal x2 @ 2.29
Wine x3 @ 3.99
Natural peanut butter 1.49
Pickles 1.49
Jam 1.49
Fair trade coffee 3.99
Kettle style potato chips 1.79
Animal crackers 1.49

The cereal is a new addition because I love cereal and I'm spoiled.  It's not frugal.  Frugal breakfasts are oatmeal, eggs, toast, or homemade goodies.  But cereal is easy and I can eat it when I'm a zombie.   Two boxes is the amount I eat in the week -- the kids eat other stuff for breakfast.  The wine and coffee are for John.  I buy coffee every three or four store trips -- he only drinks coffee at home on the weekends.

Refrigerated section $43.13

Sour cream 1.29
1 qt Greek yogurt 3.69
1 lb butter x3 @2.69
Sliced turkey 3.49
Regular bologna x 2 @ .95
Cheese (half pound) x 8 @ 1.89
Eggs x3 @ 1.45
Whole milk x2 @2.61

We eat a lot of cheese, as you can see.  Bologna is awful, I know, but it's cheap and the kids love it.  I buy yogurt these days because making yogurt is just too much for me still ... it seems like it should be easy, but it's not, right now.  (See also: the more you can do yourself, the less you spend!)  We are buying eggs right now because my parakeets are on vacation with a friend while John builds me a town-code compliant home for them.  Can't remember if I told you, but they are now (with quite a few caveats and red tape) legal!  That's $4.35 I'll be happy to stop spending, when I get them back.

Produce $32.58

Bananas 2lbs @ .29/lb = .58
Apples (3lbs) x 3 @ 3.99 = 11.97
10 lb russet potatoes x 2 @ 3.99
Roma tomatoes 1 lb 1.49
Iceberg lettuce 1.49
Yellow onions 1.99
Bagged fresh spinach 1.49
1 lb. carrots 1.29
Cucumbers x3 @ .44
Cabbage 1.49
Green peppers 1.49

Sometimes they also have avocados at a good price, or I get a squash or an eggplant or something.  John loves tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce, so I really have to buy those every time.  I can't cook dinner without at least half an onion.  And of course you can see we eat a massive quantity of potatoes.

Dry goods $46.56

Dog food 8.49
Cat food 7.99
Beef Stew x 4 @ 1.75
Gluten-free chicken soup 1.69
Canned chicken 1.69
Wheat bread x4 @ .99
Gluten free bread 3.99
Canned salmon 2.29
4 lb sugar 1.19
5 lb flour 1.49
Refried beans .79
Flour tortillas 1.19
Dry beans 1.99
Tomato sauce x4 @ .25
Diced tomatoes x4 @ .59
Macaroni noodles 1.45
3 lbs rice 1.49

I put both dog and cat food on here because I wanted to show the price.  These are huge bags, though, so it's more of a monthly expense.  I don't buy sugar or flour every time either.  Some weeks I buy olive oil, which goes for 2.99.  Unfortunately I didn't get the price down for tuna, because I am really stocked up on it and haven't bought it in ages, but it's like fifty cents.  Tuna and sardines are staples when you're trying to squeeze your pennies.

Frozen food $38.00

Broccoli 1.09
Veg blend x3 .95
Corn/peas x3 .95
3-lb ground beef roll 6.99
3-lb bag boneless chicken thighs x3 6.49
Whole chicken 5 lbs. @.95/lb

Meat is a bit tough to measure.  I used to budget one pound per dinner for the whole family, but they're eating more these days as they grow.  And of course a pound of beef is not the same as a pound of whole chicken, because the chicken has bones.  A whole chicken is good for two dinners, plus two or three quarts of stock for soup.  Each week we tend to have five meat dinners, one fish dinner (tuna or salmon), and one night of soup. 

Total: $188.56

As I said, that's high because I tried to include every purchase that I generally make - I want this to be informative about the prices you can get at Aldi.  But the amounts are roughly what we eat in two weeks except where I've mentioned.

I hope this is helpful.  People ask me a lot how I manage to feed my family on as little as I do (though, alas, it goes up and up) and I wanted to provide as much detail as I can.  If there's interest, I can also put up a meal plan (or rather, meal record, because I don't plan) showing what we eat with these ingredients.

Weekly grocery update

I didn't go shopping on Tuesday as I usually do. We're shifting money around between accounts to have money ready to buy the house (if it all doesn't fall through) and didn't have any handy to buy groceries with. So I went today, not a good day for shopping (the traffic over the half mile to the store is ridiculous), but surprisingly didn't have any trouble getting it done and getting home again.

In the intervening week, we made two small shopping trips. On Sunday, we were having a party and I realized we needed carrots, cheese, and celery, so John got those at Wal-Mart. (I served shepherds' pie as planned, but twice as much, and then we ate leftovers the next night.) I told John before he left, "Don't get much cheese unless it's under 23 cents an ounce, because I can get it for that much at Shoppers." He came home with two pounds of cheddar that he found for 17 cents an ounce! We've been eating a lot of that this week, especially the baby. He sure does love cheese.

Then I went out again early in the week with the $8.86 I had in my bank account to take advantage of a St. Patrick's Day deal at Giant. They were selling corned beef for $1.50 a pound and cabbage for .29 a pound. So I got one of each, and we had quite a bit of corned beef and cabbage. In fact, we're having more of it tonight, this time as corned beef hash for variety's sake. I spent 8.25 or so and went home with less than fifty cents. I kind of like shopping with very little money on me ... it makes me much more careful not to spend too much.

So, here's what I got today at Aldi:

Whole milk (one gallon) 2.59

Sardines 2 cans @.79 each

Tuna 4 cans @ .52 each

Apricot preserves 1.49

Peanut butter (small jar) 1.49

Macaroni (1 lb) 1.49

Canned apricot halves .99

I am beginning to realize these are just one step up from candy, so I only bought one. The heat processing destroys all the vitamin C, so they don't "count" as fruit very well.

Butter (1 lb.) 1.79

Tomato sauce .25

Dish detergent 1.69

Ground beef (3 lbs) 5.99

Mixed frozen vegetables .99

Frozen corn 2 bags @.65 each

Frozen raspberries 2.89

These were such a huge hit with the baby that I bought them again. Funny that last time I thought they were a mistake. Getting a fruit that he enjoys, doesn't go bad, and can be served in tiny portions is definitely worth $2.89.

Chocolate ice cream 1.99

Frozen peas .89

Swiss cheese (half pound) 1.69

This is the only cheese I bought, because we still have about half a pound of cheddar left.

White bread .79

Green peppers 1.69

Grapefruit .49

Pears (2 lbs) 2.69

Pretzel sticks 1.29

Iceberg lettuce 1.49

Fresh mushrooms 1.69

Roma tomatoes 2.49

Eggs 1.09

Bananas (2 bunches) 1.37

TOTAL $47.45

I've decided I win at groceries if I can keep the cost under $50 a week. So all I need to do to make it a winning week is not to make any "quick trips" to the store for one or two things the way I did the past week.

I had a chance to price-compare a bit at other stores lately, and I'm realizing how incredibly cheap Aldi is. Milk for 2.59? It was 3.99 at Shoppers! And butter, 1.79 for a pound at Aldi, was over $3 at Shoppers too. Beef seems expensive at $2 a pound, but it's almost always more other places too. Other stores are useful if there's a great sale, or for things Aldi doesn't carry, but I am so glad to be able to do the majority of our shopping there. It helps that the baby can ride in the cart and so I don't have to try to hold him and bag groceries at the same time, like I did when he was smaller. I didn't much like it when I was pregnant either. But now it's no extra work.

So, thank you, God, for Aldi.

My only caveat to my praise for Aldi is not to go the day before restock day. For us that's Monday. I've gotten so many wilted, half-rotten vegetables there on Monday, and faced so many empty shelves, that I simply won't go on Mondays. It's also useful to check your produce carefully, because I've occasionally found a bad fruit or potato in a bag. That's easy to avoid, though. And, of course, don't get sucked in by the low prices on the packaged stuff. It is still cheaper to make it all from scratch. Plus, the stuff is even lower quality than usual: MSG is often the second or third ingredient, and very little is actual food. So leave the canned soup, the hot pockets, the alfredo sauce envelopes, and shop the edges.

Tuesday grocery shop

Last week I meant to post my receipt from Shoppers, but I lost it. I spent about $30 and got baking supplies, cheese, frozen vegetables (there was a great price!), and meat -- beef heart and beef knucklebones which I used to make stock and stew last night. I also got beets and cucumbers, which I lacto-fermented and which should be ready in a couple of days.

We were out of almost everything when I went today, so I have to admit I spent too much. My goal was $40 -- I went more than $10 over. Where could I have cut it? A couple of places ... I definitely could have done better.

10 lbs russet potatoes 4.39
White onions 2.59
Whole milk 2.49

This will end up in one or two quarts of yogurt for baby and me, and I drink the rest.
75% lean ground beef 5.99

I hope to make this last for at least four meals. Since it's Ash Wednesday tomorrow, we only have five meat-eating days this week. Not sure I can stretch the beef that far though! So the fifth night our only meat will be the chicken stock I have in the freezer from last week.
Light fruit cocktail .79
Apricot halves .99
Frozen raspberries 2.89

Impulse purchase ... shouldn't have ... sigh. We hadn't found much fruit that I wanted to buy, so I caved when these were by the door. But we do have mixed berries in the freezer, so I shouldn't have gotten these.
Diced tomatoes .49

2 cans of tuna @ .52 each

Tomato sauce .25

Elbow macaroni (1 lb.) 1.49
Diapers 5.39

I go through about a package every month and a half or so, because I use them out of the house. But I'm beginning to think I can manage cloth full-time, or at least on shorter trips. I usually put the baby in plastic when we go to work, but today I put him in cloth and we made it to work AND to the oil change without leaking. So I can definitely make it work! Hopefully this package of diapers will last longer than the last one.
Bananas .96
Sour cream .99
3 8 oz. packages of cheese 1.49 each

Baby only wants to eat cheese nowadays. I got a pound last week and it's almost gone. But cheese prices are awful, no matter where I buy it ... perhaps I can get the baby eating more yogurt cheese (which I make from strained yogurt) at least.
Bologna .99
Ham lunch meat 2.49

Another purchase I could have cut. I was really torn about it. The baby's a real meat eater, when he's not scarfing down cheese, and I don't always have leftovers to give him. So a couple of times last week, he had bologna. And I really don't feel good about giving that to him, because it has so many additives. Only, as I got home, it occurred to me that the ham probably has additives in it as well. There's no winning, is there?
Mild salsa 1.69

A "luxury" purchase ... but I do love it. Someday I'm going to make my own ... especially once I have my own garden.
Honey 4.49

I used up my last container of honey baking bread. I suppose I could use plain sugar, but I think honey's more healthful, and it goes better with whole wheat anyway.
Grapefruit .29

Just for me, a treat. Couldn't beat the price.
Iceberg lettuce 1.49
Green peppers 1.69
Roma tomatoes 2.49
White bread .79
TOTAL $53.05

So, that's our food for the week. Like I said, we're out of most other things, so that's pretty much what we've got, except for eggs, tortillas, and some pantry staples.

I'll do this week what I never do and actually write down my menu plan. I don't usually because the meat that I buy determines what I make -- I make the same things pretty much all the time.

Tuesday: broccoli-cheddar soup, using the chicken stock in the freezer (chicken stock, broccoli, potatoes, onions, cheddar cheese)

(Ash) Wednesday: bean burritos (beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato)

Thursday: add meat to the burrito ingredients for tacos (beef, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato)

Friday: tuna-noodle casserole (tuna, macaroni, frozen peas, sour cream, cheese)

Saturday: spaghetti (beef, tomato sauce, onions, garlic, noodles)

Sunday: shepherds' pie (beef, stock, onions, peas, corn, mashed potatoes)

Monday: chili (beef, beans, diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, corn, salsa)

Lunches for John are leftovers from the night before (though I'll have to wrangle a little bit with the meatless leftovers to make sure he has meatless leftovers Wednesday and Friday) and/or baloney sandwiches. Breakfasts and lunches for me are eggs, yogurt, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, lacto-fermented veggies, and homemade bread. Food for the baby includes leftovers, cheese, yogurt, veggies, and ham.

Weekly grocery shop

The baby's been sick all week, hence the lack of posting. He's needed to be held upright for all his naps and half the night, too. The level of sleep deprivation around here would probably qualify as torture. But things are much better now.

I doubt I'll make a habit of this, but I thought it would be nice to post the receipt from my trip to Aldi today. I now go every week, because going every other week was leaving us with wilty produce half the time. I have to remember, though, to buy less on each trip.

You'll notice we're no longer grain-free. John experienced a return of symptoms even when grain-free, and after that bout we reintroduced grains without trouble. So, the problem is still a mystery. Diet does seem to be a factor, but I don't think it's the only one. I've considered vitamin deficiency, metal poisoning (he has a pin in his foot), fructose malabsorption, and many other things.

Flour 1.69

I'm getting really into baking lately. Plus it's cheaper than buying bread. Unfortunately Aldi didn't have any yeast this time like they did last time, so I'll have to get it at Shoppers. That and whole wheat flour.

Ramen noodles 1.79

John's guilty pleasure. He loves these.

Canned beets .59

Canned apricots .99

These two are my "guilty" pleasures. Luckily they're decently good for me.

Salt .35

Butter (1 lb.) 2.39

Swiss cheese (sale!) 1.69 each for 2 half pounds

Bologna .99

Fresh carrots 1.69

Bananas 1.13 (39 cents a pound)

Lettuce (1 head) 1.49

Tomatoes (6 Romas) 1.29

Fresh mushrooms .69 (a steal! usually they're over a dollar)

Green peppers (2) 1.69

Chocolate baking chunks .99

Another guilty pleasure. I want to bake cookies, and John doesn't like my other favorites (molasses cookies, peanut butter cookies, and snickerdoodles).

Sardines in mustard .79 each for 3

John likes these. I prefer to be out of the house when he is eating them.

Pork chops 5.39 (2.85 lbs at 1.89/lb)

I don't really like pork, but it was awfully cheap.

Flour tortillas .99

I have tried making them, but they just won't fold around a burrito.

Paper plates 1.19

For a friend's party.

Eggs (1 doz) 1.25

Penne pasta .89

White bread .79

I prefer wheat, but John likes white, and it's probably easier on his gut anyway.

Taxes .88

Total 34.89

I didn't buy many vegetables because we have a lot of canned and frozen vegetables already. I just restocked the fresh ones. Tomatoes, lettuce, and green peppers are for John's beloved baloney sandwiches. He's missed them. Other things I didn't buy because we have plenty of them include milk, potatoes, and meat, except for the pork chops. And I no longer buy yogurt, because I make it myself regularly now. I've finally found a good way to incubate it -- in my multi-cooker pot, on the "warm" setting. I put the jars in and fill the pot up with water, and it keeps the milk at a constant temperature.

I usually buy ground beef and whole chickens at Aldi (chicken is only .85/lb), but other meat is not particularly cheap there. I found a corner of the meat department at Shoppers, our "other" store, that sells cheaper cuts of meat, so I've been relying on that more. Shoppers caters to immigrants, so I am able to find cheaper (and often more healthful) cuts of meat like neck bones, liver, pigs' feet (okay, haven't tried those yet) and so forth. I also find beans much cheaper there -- I can get a 4-lb bag for less than $4, and Aldi never sells them for under a dollar a pound. That's good, because we rely on beans a lot.

Overall, it was a success -- topped us off from last week, and spent only half of what I do at a biweekly trip ($70 is my usual goal). Eating grains again has been a big help. We eat a lot, and it's helpful to have such a cheap source of calories. Ideally I'd like to keep our grain intake low permanently, but for now we're eating some grains at about half our meals. Once we've moved (knock on wood) I hope to buy some meat in bulk because the house has an additional freezer. I may be able to get a half or whole sheep, which would be a nice change. And once our garden is producing, that can be a money saver as well.

Things babies don't need

I keep being told about how expensive babies are. BabyCenter tells me my baby's first year will cost us around $9,000. Apparently it costs $250,000 to raise a child to adulthood. I'm not sure who comes up with these numbers.

We've spent maybe a couple of hundred dollars directly on the baby since he was born, and much of that wasn't necessary. Of course, we were lucky to have a lot of gifts from friends and family, but hand-me-downs are pretty easy to find. Even if you don't have friends with older babies, there are tons of listings on Craigslist for baby clothes for a couple of dollars a bag -- or cribs and carseats for less than half retail price. Everyone wants new -- so if used is good enough, it's easy to save a ton.

This isn't, however, a post on how to save money with a baby. Even if you're being frugal, babies do have costs -- like the upgrade from insurance for a couple to a family plan, or the out-of-pocket costs at the hospital. Not $9,000, but there are expenses.

I'm talking about stuff babies don't need at all. Stuff that you might want to say no to, even if it's offered for free.

Infant carseat: You know how you always see moms lugging around those gigantic bucket seats with babies in them? It's our culture's image of how you carry a baby. But those aren't necessary. I have never had one, and though getting the baby in and out of his carseat at every stop can be a pain, it's forced me to actually hold my child. This means that when we're out and about, he's able to look around and interact with his environment (something he loves to do), stay warm in someone's arms, and strengthen his body. Plus, no chance of developing positional plagiocephaly, or flat head, like many "carseat babies" do.

Swing: These have always struck me as just one more way to ignore your baby. Yes, babies love movement. But allowing them to zone out in a swaying seat for hours while they stare at the wall -- it just doesn't strike me as necessary. Most babies would far and away prefer a little holding, perhaps in a cloth carrier. And when swings are used for naps, you're left in a bind when they get too big for the swing but can't sleep without motion. For those few very needy babies that you just can't seem to hold as much as they want, you can always buy a swing after the baby's born. Otherwise, it's likely to be just one more place to put a baby that would rather be with you.

A ton of clothes: When Marko was a newborn, I had a hard time making sure he even wore all his clothes at least once! Now that he's growing out of his 6-9 month clothes, he has hardly anything that fits -- perhaps four or five day outfits and three sets of footie pajamas. And yet, with our tiny washer, that actually turns out to be about right. Also, a baby doesn't need to be wrapped in a million blankets either. As a rule of thumb, if you're wearing shorts, the baby can be wearing something equivalent. If you need a sweater, put him in a sweater or long sleeves. If his cheeks are flushed, he's wearing too much; if his hands are blue, purple, or mottled, he needs more. It's okay for babies to be barefoot. I get scolded almost daily about my kid's bare feet, but he doesn't want to wear socks -- they get in the way of his cruising and crawling. Unless we're outside on a cold day, I leave his feet bare (except for footie pajamas at night).

Shoes: I've just been reading up on how much better kids' feet develop without shoes. In fact, we'd all do better to go barefoot a bit more often: fewer corns, hammertoes, and cases of athlete's foot. Unless the ground is very cold or covered with sharp objects, we don't really need to be wearing shoes or put them on our kids. Obviously non-walking babies don't need shoes at all! It might be handy to have one pair for dressy events and cold days, but other than that, you don't need baby shoes.

Changing table: I have always changed Marko on the floor. As he gets older and more squirmy, I sure am glad I do. Because he would have pitched to the floor a half-dozen times if he were on a table. They're just not very safe. I find it quite comfortable to kneel down and change him, but you can also change a baby on the bed if you'd rather (though you need a plastic pad underneath the baby .... believe me).

Plates, bowls, sippy cups, utensils: Personally, I think the existence of special baby dishes must be a marketing ploy. Marko's never had the slightest patience for a sippy cup. And it's just as well, because they're not as good for developing teeth! He drinks out of my cup and eats with his hands off his clean high chair tray. No flinging of bowls or spoons that way. (Spoon-feeding a baby at all isn't necessary -- just wait till the baby's ready to feed himself with his hands, and give him small soft bits!)

Baby bath tub: It's hard to hold a wet, floppy baby at arms length in a tub. Much better to hold him on your lap in the big tub with you. It's what I do. Now that he can sit up, he sometimes gets baths by himself, but I generally get in with him because it's my only chance to get clean on a busy day!

So what do babies need? It depends. We got ours a crib (Craigslist, $40) because he preferred to sleep in his own space, but many babies sleep much better in mom and dad's bed. Expensive cribs can end up being a $300 storage space for stuffed animals. To be legal to go places, we needed a carseat, but we have a convertible one that switches to forward-facing when the baby's old enough. It will last him till he's out of carseats altogether. A high chair was handy ($15 at Goodwill) so he had someplace to eat, as well as get a good view of things while I was cooking. We did end up buying one "baby-minder," a bouncy seat, because Marko loved being upright so much. He had a lot of floor time as a tiny baby, but his favorite thing in the world was to look around. And we got a Moby Wrap ($40 new) to carry him around in. That thing has been worth its weight in gold, and I've made two more carriers too. (He's sleeping right now in the mei tai. Just wouldn't nap no matter what I did, so I popped him in there -- out in five minutes.)

Other than that, a couple dozen cloth diapers, some clothes (mostly gifts and hand-me-downs), bites of whatever food we happen to be eating, and a lot of toys -- most of which were never meant as toys, like my whisk that he seems to have appropriated -- fulfill his needs pretty well. The main thing he needs is two loving parents, which he has. I shy away from anything that tries to replace those.