We ended April far under budget for groceries and with a fairly full freezer. Even though we will be celebrating a lot this month, I feel good going into the month. Here’s my grocery haul for the first Saturday of May:
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It is so exhilarating when there are good mark downs at Ralphs. It can really turn the day around.
Here are some quick FAQ about my Ralphs grocery hauls:
Ralphs is the California subsidiary of the Kroger Co, and the largest of its chain grocery stores.
The deals are available every day of the week, but the time of day when mark downs are set out will vary by store. My local store tends to put those items out between 6:30 and 8 each morning. I try to shop during this window.
Ask! Ask your butcher or a worker in the department you’re interested in. They are not likely to gatekeep this information. They want to move the food!
Here’s what we got this week:
I paid full price for the bananas (which went up in price!). The water was FREE with a digital coupon.
- bananas – $0.75/lb
- baby spring mix $3.99 after digital coupon
- grape tomatoes $1.99
- tortillas $2.32 after digital coupon
- seltzer FREE
- bell peppers $2.32 after digital coupons
- mushrooms $2.92 marked down
- mashed avocado $1.57 marked down
- jumbo avocados $2.29 after digital coupons
Did you watch my reel of the freaky bunny cookies? They marked them down another ten cents so I bought some to put in the freezer.
- classico pasta sauce $1.49/jar digital deal
- buttermilk $1.89 marked down
- cheese $3.49/package digital deal
- half and half $3.99 marked down
- sour cream $0.99 marked down
- ready to bake cookies $0.99 marked down
- onion powder $2.10 marked down
- sliced cheese $1.49 marked down
The meat department was rife with great things. What we didn’t cook by Saturday night went in the freezer.
- cross rib roast $4.78/lb – cooked for roast beef sandwiches
- cinnamon toast crunch bacon – $3.24 – this gets marked down often so I thought we’d try it and see if it was gross.
- pork/beef grind $3.39/2# package – cooked for Bryan’s burritos
- breakfast sausage $2.68 – will use in egg bake
- hamburger patties $2.56 to $3.22/pound
- diced ham $0.90 – will use in egg bake
- pancetta $3.15 – will use in egg bake or pizza
- Italian sausage $1.94/lb
I ended up getting almost 20 pounds of meat for $73.56, averaging $3.67/pound. These days I figure that is pretty good!
The total grocery haul was $151.
The only other grocery purchase was one that my grown son made for the household. Eggs were back at a decent price at Costco business. He spent $32 on eggs and egg whites for us.
This brings our May total to $183.
Vicki Skonieczny
Jessica,
I simply cannot believe the mark down prices you pay on meat!!!! I’d never heard of Ralph’s before I started following your blog. There’s no store in the area of NY where I live that can even come close to those prices. Kudos on being such a savvy shopper and making time to grab those deals:)
Jessica Fisher
Keep your eyes peeled. You may find something nearby. Stores always want to move their stuff; they just may do it in different ways.