This Month's 2025 Grocery Spending – October

 

Happy Halloween!  Fortunately my trips to the supermarket this past month were far less scary than I had initially anticipated.  Prices are definitely rising!  I started out the month with $175.74 in my grocery shopping coffers ($100 + $75.74 unspent and rolled over from previous months) to spend on food and after several months of not buying much in the way of meat I had some ideas in mind of what I hoped to buy to restock one of the shelves in my deep freezer.  I began the month with a handful of dairy and fresh produce items as well as a fairly full freezer of meal prepped items in the kitchen and only a dent in the deep freezer where I was running low, not out, of lean ground beef.

 

My first trip was to Fred Meyer to pick up three frozen pizzas at $2.99 each (yes, total junk food) and three blocks of cheese that were on sale 3/$5.  The pizzas will net four meals per pizza - two slices per meal for me on a really busy week, so they are a good value and they curb my occasional desire for something naughty.  Before leaving I checked the meat department and found that to be a complete bust.  The prices were really, really high.

 

My next trip was to Albertson’s in hopes of finding some really good deals on meat, preferably markdowns and I scored on exactly what I was looking for.  I was able to restock the shelf in my deep freezer with good quality lean ground beef, a couple small chuck roasts (perfect size for me), two packages of wagyu beef burger patties with four patties each, two packages of ground sausage and a package of sliced turkey for sandwiches - all at 50% OFF.  I was thrilled with this bounty.  I topped it off with a five pound bag of red potatoes on sale making it truly a meat and potatoes haul.  Using some rewards points I had accumulated and were about to expire for a $1 OFF digital coupon as well as a downloaded digital coupon for $5 OFF a $50 Purchase I was able to shave an additional $6 off of my overall total!  I left the store feeling tremendously blessed and fortunate.

 

A few days later I went to Winco to pick up fresh produce, a quart of cream for my coffee and a short list of items I wanted to add to my pantry as part of my winter and holiday preparations.  I was hoping to find some bell peppers at a really good price for a meal prep idea I had in mind and was very fortunate to get some at the low seasonal price I was seeking.  Onions were also at a seasonal low so I went ahead and grabbed a couple more to add to the two I already had at home.  By this point I had used up nearly all of my regular budget, but I still had plenty left, about $75.00 in rollover amounts.

 

The rest of the month I literally cherry picked the ads purchasing only items I found on sale.  At the restaurant supply store I picked up a half gallon of cream with a date well into late November.  At Albertson’s I picked up four of the organic long and skinny cucumbers for 99¢ each to use to make bread & butter pickles.  At Fred Meyer I picked up a one pound block of cheese $2.99 to add to what I had already purchased earlier in the month, a bottle of salad dressing offered for FREE (which I donated to the senior center) and a package of ground pork, they only had one, to replace some of what I had used for meal prepping.

 

Toward the end of the month I did a final grocery shop at Winco and then Trader Joes.  In just a couple of weeks I noticed a big difference in pricing once again at Winco as I picked up some more fresh produce, milk and a few pantry items.  At Trader Joes I noticed a price increase on the turkey burgers and cashews, but other than that prices seemed about the same.  I almost didn’t buy the cashews, but I could only imagine my BFF in my head telling me “get the cashews” so I did. 😆

 

I am amazed!  Even with the purchase of the cashews I did really well with my shopping and spending overall because I got A LOT of stuff!  Even more impressive is that I managed to get everything on my list including the wish and want items.  My freezers, the pantry and the LTFS are fully stocked and I am ready not only for winter ahead, but the holidays as well.

 

My list is so long I had to break it up into 2 parts this time! 

I did not do any nonfood shopping this month, I only bought food.  My total spent out of my beginning balance of $175.74 was a whopping $168.75 leaving me with a balance to rollover of $6.99.  Unbelievable!  I couldn’t be happier!  What do you think?