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As a stay at home mom, I don’t get paid for my job. I do keep another toddler three and a half days a week and I get about 110$ for that. That is my ‘fun’ money for the week (In reality I spend it mainly on gas, diapers, groceries and anything needed for upcoming holidays/parties/etc). If I need more for some reason my husband is more than happy to oblige if it’s in the budget, but I try to keep my spending to a minimum. I like being able to contribute financially, even if it’s not a whole lot of money. It feels good taking even a little bit of the load off my husband.
(this cool gadget is the snap and shop tray! A LIFESAVER)
I love Aldi.
They aren’t my only stop when it comes to getting groceries but it’s where I like to buy the bulk of our stuff. Since I only make $100 per week (give or take) I like to spend as little as possible on groceries. Couponing is a mystery to me so I haven’t tried to dive in to that yet!
(I was experimenting with my ‘new’ double stroller here. It was pretty fun to try but definitely more work than it was worth. He was also trying out his Munchie Mug and Lil Sidekick!)
A few weeks ago I decided to try to challenge myself to spend $50 or less at Aldi and see what it got me. Here are my results! I ended up spending $47.99 and some change so it really worked out perfectly!
I’m going to break it down for you a little bit now.
Part One
I love Aldi’s produce. For the prices, you get really great quality! Did you know that one of the reasons their prices are so low is because they don’t have to hire as many employees? Their great ‘pay a quarter for a cart, get your quarter back when you return it’ method cuts way back on paying extra people to go out and fetch the carts every day.
I believe the iceburg lettuce was on sale, which is why I bought two. We are trying to eat more salad. I know the iceburg lettuce has pretty much no nutrients, but it’s better than a lot of other things we could be eating!
I am not much of an apple eater, but when I do eat them, Granny smith is my favorite! Leopold loves apples but right now he will only take bites, chew it, then spit it out. If I’m not lazy and I peel it for him it goes a lot smoother/less messy.
Their grapes are so good and SO MUCH cheaper than buying them by the pound anywhere else. I favor the green grapes too 🙂
The pickle chips kind of negate the salad but I love them so much. I don’t buy a lot of chips because my husband plows through them faster than you could imagine, but I seriously love pickle chips and he does too. Luckily they are only about $1.19 at Aldi. I’ve seen them go as low as 95 cents!
Part Two
I have to keep bananas in stock for my little monkey! He LOVES bananas and will eat them at every meal if I let him!
Bagels are pretty pricey everywhere else but at Aldi they are around $2 or so I believe. I do know they are much cheaper than anywhere else and taste just as great. Bagels are one of the only things my husband can cook for himself so I try to keep them around.
When I did this challenge they had their tortellini on sale for about 65 cent. I grabbed a handful obviously! I love that stuff so it got eaten pretty quickly.
Asparagus is a favorite in our house. Ever since I stayed in Germany I love it so much more!
I didn’t buy a lot of meat on this trip because that makes the total go up pretty quick. I just grabbed some lean ground turkey because most of the time my husband doesn’t notice that it isn’t beef. If I’m feeling resourceful I can make this last two meals!
Part Three
Their eggs are only 95 cent. Can’t really complain there. Butter and cheese. Check.
The coffee I got was because we were totally out. Honestly I wouldn’t recommend it unless you have a lot of sugar and creamer to add to make it taste better. I prefer almost any other coffee. But that big thing was less than $5 so I did what I had to.
Leopold has been really into applesauce lately. That big jug of unsweetened applesauce is less than $2 so it works way better for us to buy that then the ones in the individual packages. Plus then I can put it into his Squeezy or his Nature’s Little Squeeze pouches for easy transportation and less mess.
I got the chicken breast strips to add to salads for lunch. I’m not a big lunch meat girl but I get the ham to make James sandwiches sometimes for work, or for the odd dinner or lunch for the toddlers. I usually grab some salami because that’s my go to for sandwiches or bagels but they are closer to $3 for a pack and this was a cheap trip!
Kielbasa sausage is my favorite. I could eat it every night of the week. It isn’t the MOST healthy option but they just taste so good!
I grabbed a couple condiments that we needed and obviously a bottle of wine.
Winking Owl wine is only $2.95 and while I do love wine, I am not picky. Their red wines in this brand are so good! Maybe being a mom has dulled my senses but I actually enjoy it! It’s nice to find something so cheap that I enjoy!
Well, there you have it! Way more information about my diet than you care to know! But I really do love Aldi and most of their food. This was a fun and frugal challenge to try! Do you have an Aldi near you? Try your own $50 challenge and tag me in the results!
? You were cracking me up about your hubby! I don’t buy snacks (chips) because he does the same thing! He does turn his nose up at Turkey though. I’m so tempted to make something without telling him what it is and see if he notices now!! We need to eat more healthy too! (I bet you he notices though. He’s got a “delicate” palate ?)
hahaha! My husband THINKS he has a delicate palate! But then in the same breath he scarfs down whatever is in front of him and asks questions later. Unless it’s fruit, of course!
We also LOVE Aldi and they get the bulk of our grocery money too. Great article and really enjoyed reading it 😀
It truly is the best!! Thanks for reading 🙂