August Grocery shopping & a product review

 Well today was grocery shopping day. I set myself an August budget of $125 and I went through a large portion of that today. I had hoped to spend under $100 and met that goal, spending $88.32 ::happy dance:: I also have a $75 dollar household nonfood budget but knew I only needed two items and so could keep that this month to under $20. I spent $5.22!
I had my little grandson J along with me for a couple of stops and then my youngest son H went along for the Aldi run. Speaking of youngest son H I was pleasantly surprised when he told me he prefers the homemade bread over store bought even though he isn't very good at slicing it. LOL.  I told him from now on I'll slice the entire loaf before wrapping it up.

J and I made our first stop at GFS. I spent $15.47 and brought home a 25 lb. sack of bread flour ($8.99), a 2.5 lb. bag frozen peas ($3.49..these have gone up in price since last month), and a 2.5 lb. bag frozen peas and carrots ($2.99...wondering why if the peas have carrots along for the ride they are cheaper..do carrots lower the property value?).

Our next quickie stop was at BJ's wholesale club. I spent $16.28 and picked up a 12 pck. carton of Chobani fruit yogurt at $11.79. They also carry Oikos at the same price but I quickly discovered the difference. Oikos is only 5.25 ounces and Chobani is 6 ounces..Oikos was the same exact price for 12 as the Chobani ..making the Oikos 18¢ per ounce and the Chobani 16¢ per ounce. My decision was made. Aldi also carries greek fruit yogurt and I have tried that since it is slightly less money per 6 oz. container. However the Aldi yogurt left a strange chalky feel in my mouth that was not at all pleasant. Made me wonder if it had been bulked up with some type of dry milk powder. Since I generally have a yogurt every morning for breakfast while working and I will be back to work shortly I opted for the Chobani.
I also purchased a 5 lb. bag of vidalia onions for $4.49.

J and I made a side trip to his swim lessons and once they were over we stopped at a local 'full service' grocery store, Giant Eagle. I normally wouldn't shop there but they had bottled water on sale ($2.79 for a 12 pck of 8 oz bottles) that I want for trips to the zoo and waterpark as well as the koolaide packets I wanted (flavors not found at Aldi 10 packets = $2.00) and the carpet deodorizer I needed (also on sale for $2.79). I spent $7.48 plus tax. $4.79 from the food budget, $2.79 from the nonfood household budget.

After meeting up with J's mom and having lunch (her treat since I watched J all morning while she was at a doctor appointment with the new baby) I picked up youngest son H and after he took care of some banking we were off to Aldi.
I spent a total of $51.52; $49.09 on food (plus tax on 2 items) and $1.99 (plus tax) on nonfood household items when I purchased a box of gallon sized ziplock bags (for storing bread).
Foodwise I came home with:
Sundae Cones ($1.99)
Ice cream bars ($1.99)
Creamsicle bars ($1.99)
a half gallon of vanilla bean ice cream ($2.69)
64 oz. apple juice ($1.39)
64 oz. 100% grape juice ($2.69)
64 oz. 100% mixed berry juice ($2.49)
2 lb. elbow macaroni ($1.69)
64 oz. 100% cranberry juice ($2.69)
54. oz. ruby red grapefruit juice cocktail ($1.89) (now a taxable item in Ohio)
1 bunch celery ($1.49)
1 pint light sour cream ($.1.29)
1 pint blueberries (89¢)
3 lbs. bananas ($1.14)
1 quart lowfat cottage cheese ($2.29)
2 pcks. hard salami ($2.79 each)
1 gallon Arizona green tea ($2.69) (also taxable)
1 dozen eggs ($1.19)
4 lbs. sugar ($2.09) I do better at the wholesale club..will remember this for next time
1 container old fashioned oats ($2.29)
And then we bought the month's worth of junk food. This is all we will buy and when it is gone it is gone.
1 bag cheese puffs (99¢)
1 bag Tortilla chips ($1.79)
1 bag nacho cheese 'doritos' ($1.19)
1 bag ranch 'doritos' ($1.19)
1 bag bbq chips ($1.49)