Lessons Learned from a Kroger Trip

We stopped by Kroger after church today, and I spent all of our $65 weekly grocery budget. My cousin is coming to visit later this week, so I may intentionally **gasp** go over budget to get a few snack-ish things for the weekend. We have the cash to do it, and I'll make up for it next week.

Before I explain the lessons of my Kroger trip, here's what we got for just under $65.00.

I learned that Sundays are HUGE manager's special days... or at least today was. I learned that I don't have to use a zillion coupons to stay within our weekly grocery budget. I only used 2 $.50 off 6 Yoplait printable coupons (HERE) for this trip.

But the biggest lesson I learned was that I can shop with a reasonable grocery budget when I cook from scratch. You'll notice that there aren't many processed foods in the picture above. That's partially for health reasons and partially for budget reasons. Jason's been successfully managing his cholesterol through diet rather than meds for a couple of years, and that means watching what's actually in the foods that we eat. If I make it, I know exactly what's in it. In the picture you'll see potatoes, meats, flour, sugar, and other items that - combined with what's in my cupboards, fridge, and freezer - will make some wholesome meals for us this week.

Of course, I do take advantage of some processed food items when they're on sale and I have good coupons. That's another money-saving strategy that's a favorite of mine. I just wanted to share this trip with you so that you could see that I can also keep our budget under control by avoiding processed foods.