My Latest Giant Frugal Grocery Shop


The other day, I was on Facebook, and an advertisement popped up for a produce delivery service in the nearby city, saying they had some really great sales. I went to take a look and found out that their prices really were stupendous. Well, not for everything, but the sale prices were terrific.

Beets were 12 cents a pound, cherry tomatoes were 49 cents a pound, red peppers were 51 cents a pound, eggplants 38 cents a pound- all amazing rock bottom prices for quality produce, not reduced rack stuff. There were some more stuff with decent prices, even if not amazing- lemons at 51 cents a pound, clementines at 64 cents a pound, celery root at $1.11 a head, and ginger $1.97 for a large root. With prices like that, I decided to make an order. The sale items were't unlimited- you were allowed max 6.6 lbs or 3.3 lbs of an item depending what they were. They didn't deliver to my area, but had free delivery if you spent over 34 dollars, and delivery was $5.71 if your order was smaller.
I ordered 6.6 lbs beets, 3.3 lbs cherry tomatoes, 6.6 lbs of red peppers, 2.2 lbs lemons, 2.2 lbs clementines, 4.4 lbs eggplants, 2 celery roots, and a 200 gram chunk of ginger. Total was $14.28, and with delivery I paid $19.99.


So knowing I had to be in the city to pick up my produce order, I decided to go to the market.
But first I met up with a friend who had an avocado tree loaded with avocados- she gave me 6 beautiful avocados, and I gave her a bag of sow thistle, which she loves, as she says it helps her with her water retention issues!

After that, I made my way to the scratch and dent store where I was flabbergasted at what I saw. My kids have been eating cereal and milk lately for breakfast, but they have been getting bored by the corn flakes and rice crispies that I buy. They asked me to get sweet "yummy cereal" but I told them that it is twice or three times the price, and I didn't want to pay that much for something, especially as it's not healthy. But the first thing I saw when I walked into the store was packages of gluten free chocolate cereal- being sold for 71 cents a box!!! I know that probably doesn't sound so cheap to people in the US, but locally, a box of sweet cereal can cost $6.20 a box, even more if it's gluten free, so this was ridiculous! I bought 12 boxes, and would have bought more if I didn't already have so many things I had to bring home in addition to that. I also bought 3 boxes of gluten free crackers for 94 cents each. Cans of corn were being sold for 71 cents a can, so I bought 8 cans. Again, canned veggies are expensive here- usually canned corn goes for $1.50-$1.85 per can. So great price! Total at the scratch and dent store- $17.14.

Knowing that I had my produce delivery on the way, I went to the market with a certain shopping list in mind- fennel, sweet potatoes, onions, fruit for smoothies, tomatoes, and cucumbers. Fortunately I was able to find all that relatively cheaply!

The first shop I stopped at sold gorgeous looking fennel (not sure why it was reduced rack!) for 39 cents a pound. I bought 2.4 lbs for 94 cents. Another store sold bananas, just barely overripe, for 52 cents a pound, so I bought 5.3 lbs for $2.77.

Another store was selling zucchini at 26 cents a pound, I bought 5.3 lbs for $1.39. I bought a hunk of ginger for $3.42, cucumbers and tomatoes were 39 cents a pound (and absolutely gorgeous, not remotely reduced rack type), I bought a combined 10 pounds for $3.91. I wasn't going to buy anything else but they were lowering the prices of their persimmons and pears from the listed price of 65 cents to 52 cents a pound, so I bought a combined 5.5 lbs for $2.85, and guava at 65 cents a pound, so I bought 5.1 lbs for $3.29. Total for that shop was $14.85.

At another store, onions were 23 cents a pound, sweet potatoes were 39 cents a pound, and bananas for 52 cents a pound. I don't know weights, but in total, I paid $9.14 at that shop.

Total at the market for produce? $27.70.

Right as I was leaving the market, I saw them selling a Pringles like product... only this is gluten free. I was a huge fan of Pringles growing up, and I've missed them.... They were selling each package for $1.42. So I bought 4. $5.68. I wasn't going to share that in this post, but my kids looked at my shop and said "Be honest on your blog, Mommy. Show them that you also eat junk." Ok, so there it is.

My entire shop? Including the produce delivery, the scratch and dent store, and the market? $70.51.

That's a ton of food! I had to clean and reorganize my fridge and freezer and pantry/stockpile to be able to put all my groceries away, and now I think I'm finally set. For a long time. I only plan on buying milk now, everything else we seem set for a while.... But we'll see. (I discovered another 8 packages of cereal, so now we have 20 packages at home.... for example.)

Taking home all these groceries just in my metal wagon and by public transportation was utterly exhausting.... I don't want to see another store for a few years. ;)

Have you gotten any great deals lately? What were they? How much food do you generally keep stocked in your house at one time? Do you have a large stockpile? 

Penniless Parenting

Mommy, wife, writer, baker, chef, crafter, sewer, teacher, babysitter, cleaning lady, penny pincher, frugal gal

17 Comments

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  1. How exciting! I rarely see good deals on produce here in southern Indiana, but I do keep a garden and have a nice bed of kale under cover right now that we are using. :)

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    1. A bed of kale under cover meaning what?

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    2. I think she means under a row cover, something that protects plants from the cold. I bet it's very wintry in Indiana right now :)

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  2. I've noticed you've been more relaxed about junk food since your kids got older. Is this a conscious decision?

    When are you going to Cyprus?

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    1. I still try to stick to healthier foods, but I don't want food to be a battle with my kids- my sanity comes first. I'm still more or less paleo, Pringles aside, but I do let my kids have treats. I wish I could afford healthier "junk" to give them, but since that's not an option, I do give them junk sometimes.

      As for when I'm going to Cyprus, you might have missed this post of mine.
      http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2018/02/not-going-to-cyprus-and-sunk-costs.html

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    2. Basically in terms of diet, if I can make the majority of our diet be healthy, I'm not going to be super strict about junk. As you see, the majority of what I got is produce, we eat a lot of it....

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    3. Sounds like you're being smart about a healthy diet for your family. Sorry about your missed trip :( At least you got to go to Belgium.

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  3. Wow, those are great deals. By the way, 71 cents for a box of cereal is a great deal, even in the US! My stock-up price for cereal is $1.00 a box or less. I don't think I've found cereal for much less than a $1.00 a box. Your produce prices are amazing, I'm jealous, but I know you pay more for other things. I have stock up prices for things that I use regularly, for example I stock up on butter when it's $2.00 a pound or less. This Saturday the Kroger affiliated stores are having butter for $1.99 a pound with a digital coupon, limit 5. I"ll be stocking up on that.

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    1. Oh awesome! What is the standard price for cereals where you live? Yea, I'm fortunate for good produce prices, but don't get me wrong, these aren't standard prices for produce here- I work hard to get these. Most people pay triple what I pay for produce, if not much more.

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    2. Honestly, I don't know exactly how much cereal goes for full price, because I refuse to buy cereal unless I can get it for about a $1.00 a box. If there was no other choice, I would pay $1.50 a box, but more than that and I'd tell my family to eat toast until I can find cereal on sale. Thankfully, it's never come down to that. If I had to guess, the full price is over $4 a box, but that's a complete guess. And a lot of the cereals here are naturally gluten free because they are corn or rice based.

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  4. How long is this haul planned to last you?

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    1. Very good question. I'll say the produce should last at least 2 weeks. The cereal longer than that, and the canned corn longer than that- that's going in my stockpile, and won't be used up quickly.

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  5. Wow that is great. I haven't gotten great deals in awhile. Our grocery bill has been through the roof lately, starting with local disasters (fires, mudslides).

    Need to get a handle on it. I have a neighbor who goes to the farmer's market near the end of the day and gets great deals. I don't do that.

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  6. love when your kids said'mommy be honest and show you also eat junk!' so smart! I love looking at all the specials you got. it always looks so yummy, and you can cook up a storm for great prices. as i have said many times, I wish we had a open farm area where we can buy close to our home. enjoy!

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  7. Great shopping day. I wish you had a car to make transporting easier. But hey, working those muscles when ya gotta pull that wagon...go girl!

    I would love to say that I only buy what I need, but if you look in my fridge, pantry & freezer you'd know that I am ready for a zombie apocalypse..lol. Keep trying to do the pantry challenge, but then I run out and spend $100 on stuff at Kroger because the sales are so good. Sigh. Maybe someday, I'll be better at it. Keep up the great posts!

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  8. I live in the US and have never seen cerealfor 71 cents a box, thats amazing! I buy a large box of Cheerios for $2 and that’s cheap. A box of gluten free chocolate cereal is $2.50 for the cheaper brand on sale. I don’t think that’s a bad price so I do buy it at that price (in full disclosure I hide it and it’s my treat, only occasionally do I share with my children). 😁

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