My Husband and I Shopped at 4 Grocery Stores for the Week — We Spent $175 and Came in $5 Under Budget

• Name: Lacey 
• Location: Santa Rosa Beach, FL
• Number of people in household: 3 to 4; Me, my husband, Jay, and our son James (We foster, so sometimes have a bonus kiddo.)
• Age: 36 (me), 37 (my husband), and 5 (our son)
• Occupation: I’m a Realtor, and my husband is a builder.
• Household Income: approximately $120,000; it varies based on our projects/sales each month.
• Where you shopped: Publix, Walmart, Winn Dixie, and Target
• Weekly grocery budget: $175
• Amount spent: $170.37

I shopped at four retailers: Publix, Walmart, Winn Dixie, and Target. I pass by several grocery stores daily throughout the week, so I end up popping in for a few items at a time. We typically buy produce, snacks, and dairy at Publix; pantry staples, meat, and more produce at Walmart; and meat, frozen foods, wine, and sparkling waters at Winn Dixie.

We’ve learned which stores have the best-quality items for the best price, and stock up when our favorites are on sale. I check the grocery store apps for specials on items we buy often and add them to a grocery list in the notes app on my phone. I also like to keep fresh fruit and vegetables stocked for snacking and cooking, so I’ll replenish those throughout the week as needed. 

We are creatures of habit, and have a few staple meals we eat weekly that I always try to have ingredients on hand for. We have one or two nights per week where my husband plays basketball, eats out with a client, or I eat out with friends, so keeping plain grilled chicken or frozen pizzas handy make for quick meals when we don’t all eat together. We live at the beach, so having foods that can wrap up and fit in a cooler for the beach or boat are always good, and much less expensive than eating out.

• Italian sliced bread, $1
• Hot dog buns, $1.46
• Slider buns, $3.28
• Bag of avocados, $3.46
• Green grapes, $3.14
• 2 jalapeños, $0.18
• Organic bananas, $1.17
• Thin sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts, $7.98
• Ground beef sliders, $7.66
• English cucumber, $1.29
• Beef hot dogs, $4.47
• Pepperoni and cheese calzone, $3.94

Total: $39.03

• Chicken tenders, $5.93
• Cole slaw, $4
• Spring lettuce, $3.34
• Eggs, $3.99
• Frozen broccoli, $1.89
• Butter, $4.99
• Tortillas, $3.29
• Cheese sticks, $5.99
• Lean ground beef, $5.19
• Chocolate covered blueberries, $2.64
• Cream cheese, $1.99
• Cheese crackers, $3
• Sparkline water, $3.91
• Milk, $2.99

Total: $53.14

• Turkey and cheese lunch kit, $2
• Hot honey ham sub, $7.99
• Ultimate sub, $9.99
• Bag of persian limes, $3.99 
• Strawberry yogurt, $4.99
• Hummus, $5.15
• Pimento cheese, $8.75

Total: $42.87

• Soy sauce, $1.69
• Sunflower butter, $6.39
• Organic cheddar crackers, $4.59
• Teriyaki beef jerky bites, $10.99 
• Whole wheat flour, $2.49
• Raisins, $2.19
• White cheddar puffs, $6.99

Total: $35.33

Our former foster son is spending the weekend with us, and Saturday morning he, my husband, Jay, and our 5-year-old son eat cereal and fruit. I make English breakfast tea with a splash of milk, and toast with cream cheese. 

My husband starts the grill so I go to Walmart for meat to cook for lunch and the upcoming week. We grill hot dogs and beef sliders for lunch while the boneless skinless chicken breasts marinate in Italian dressing and Dale’s Seasoning. We grilled the chicken and slice it to use throughout the week. 

My husband and I attend a wedding at the beach Saturday evening. We have a few margaritas before the ceremony, and then eat dinner there: salad, fish, chicken, potatoes, and vegetables. We split a slice of wedding cake for dessert. 

Sunday breakfast before church is our foster son’s favorite: avocado toast on the Italian sliced bread, sausage and cheese English muffins from the freezer, and fruit (bananas and a few kiwis left from last week). I make tea to go to drink on the way to church and pack up the rest of the bread and some avocados to send with our foster buddy. 

We pick up sub sandwiches from Publix (aka “Pub subs”) for lunch after church and eat them with chips. 

Jay is playing in a church league softball game Sunday afternoon, so I heat up leftover hot dogs and sliders and individually wrapped them in foil, which will keep them warm in the cooler for us to eat at the park after the game. 

My husband doesn’t eat breakfast on the weekdays, and opts for ice water before heading to work by 7 a.m. each day. He usually eats lunch out during the week, depending on where his jobs are. I make my son an egg (using Jamie Oliver’s 45-second technique) and cinnamon raisin toast with cream cheese for breakfast and feed my sourdough starter. I snack on some of his leftover toast and, after preparing an Earl Grey tea for the car ride, we drive to school. 

My son’s snack and lunch are prepared the night before: an apple and Zbar for snack, and lunch is salami and pepperoni, a cheese stick, some kiwi, grapes, a few organic cheese puffs, and a gummy vitamin. I worked on a real estate contract throughout the day. Jay eats lunch out in between meetings. I eat my leftover sub sandwich for lunch with some chips. 

Monday afternoon, I make a quick “one bowl, one banana, one egg” mini muffin batch and add protein powder and fresh blueberries for an after-school snack.

We have egg roll in a bowl for dinner with ground beef, fresh ginger that I keep in the freezer, fresh garlic, the coleslaw mix, soy sauce, and sriracha, with a side of rice. 

I mix my sourdough using ¾ bread flour and ¼ whole wheat flour to let it rise in the bowl overnight. 

I take a sparkling water to my 7 p.m. ladies’ bible study at the beach. 

My husband leaves at 7 a.m., and James has avocado toast for breakfast. The sourdough rose overnight, so I knead and form into two loaves: traditional loaf and — you guessed it! — cinnamon raisin. I play tennis in the morning, and eat a protein bar afterward for a late breakfast.

My son’s snack is an apple and Zbar, and lunch is a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich on a bun, grapes, a mandarin orange, organic cheddar puffs, and a gummy vitamin. I finish the egg roll in a bowl for lunch, and Jay eats lunch out. 

James has a tennis lesson after school, so I bring him a cinnamon oatmeal granola bar to eat on the way. After tennis, he eats a banana for a snack, and I have a handful of cashews. 

I chop some of the grilled chicken and mix with a little sour cream, ranch seasoning, butter, and cheese, and bake over the leftover rice for a quick chicken casserole. I also bake my sourdough loaves, and slice them to keep in the freezer. My husband has a fantasy football draft so he eats pizza there for dinner. 

My son has a frozen strawberry yogurt tube for dessert, and I eat a few frozen blueberry Tru Fru bites. I make a ginger turmeric herbal tea and work a little before bed. 

I have an early appointment about an hour away and leave the house at 7 a.m., so Jay feeds James cereal for breakfast and takes him to school. I eat a protein bar and sip an Earl Grey tea on my drive.

I packed James’ lunch the night before: cinnamon raisin and cream cheese sandwich with the fresh bread, a mandarin orange, grapes, cheese puffs, and a gummy vitamin. Snack is a Kind bar and applesauce pouch. I’m home by lunch so I heat up leftover chicken and rice casserole and drizzle with buffalo sauce. 

We plan to go out on a pontoon with my parents and sister and her family in the late afternoon, so I chop an English cucumber and put it in a container, along with a side of hummus and ranch. I add the veggies to our chilled cooler along with some cheese sticks, a bottle of sauvignon blanc and a bottle of pinot noir to share, plus some sparkling waters and lime wedges. I also have a few hot dogs and beef sliders left, so I heat those, wrap them in foil, and put them in a separate cooler to keep warm for an easy boat dinner for the kids. 

We come back to the marina just as the sun is setting, and decide to stay out a little later and order a pizza to share as there’s live music on the lawn. 

My son requests his usual cinnamon raisin toast with cream cheese for breakfast, and I add a scrambled egg and a glass of orange juice. I finish his leftover toast for breakfast. 

He takes a Zbar and an apple for snack. Lunch is a sunflower butter and jelly sandwich on sourdough, a mandarin orange, grapes, organic cheese puffs, and a gummy vitamin. I have cheese toast on sourdough with cucumber slices and my husband picks up a sandwich from a Jimmy John’s close to his job site.

I have a baby shower dinner at Emeril’s Coastal restaurant Thursday night, and we have family in town, so my husband and son hang out with my side of the family and cousins. They have baked feta pasta, and I eat a wedge salad and crab cake for dinner at the restaurant, plus an extra dirty grey goose martini. All of the ladies decide to share key lime pie and olive oil cake for dessert. 

We are packing up to go to an out-of-town college football game for the weekend, so we’re trying to eat up what leftovers we have before they spoil. James has cereal topped with a sliced banana for breakfast. I have a coffee and protein bar for breakfast at my real estate continuing education class.

I pack my son a pepperoni, cucumbers, grapes, goldfish, and a frozen yogurt tube for lunch. He takes a Zbar and unsweetened applesauce pouch for snack. We leave around 1 p.m. and realize I didn’t eat lunch, so we pick up a fast food burger and fries for me. 

We all eat a few bites of beef jerky in the car for a late afternoon snack. 

We barely make our 8 p.m. dinner reservation at a French restaurant close to our hotel in Atlanta. It ends up being a favorite meal of the weekend: I have the Anis Plateau, which was the soup du jour (crab and tomato bisque), artichoke and tomato salad, pan roasted salmon with garlic sauce. My husband has the croque madame with frites, and my son has the fresh pasta with butter and Parmesan.

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