Today was David’s day off which usually only happens one day a week but this week David is off on Wednesday and Thursday. That allowed us to get up early after David dropped Charlie off and go grocery shopping. Our morning started at HEB but by the end of the day we ended up not only with a Aldi Day: but we went to Five Stores, and David found Clearance Finds, and a Freezer Surprise for us for dinner this week.
If you’ve ever gone out for “just a few groceries” and somehow spent half the day shopping, then you’ll understand exactly how our day went. As well as why I am exhausted and ready to call it a day but there is still work to do this evening.
David and I went to HEB in Alliance for our first stop. We were specifically looking for meat specials because that’s usually one of the best reasons to stop there. Unfortunately, there weren’t any deals worth bringing home, so we left empty-handed except for David’s bread which was on sale and headed to a Kroger we’d never visited before.
This Kroger was interesting. It was much larger than the stores we’re used to and seemed to have a little bit of everything including clothing and barbeque grills and so much more While we didn’t find the grocery bargains we were hoping for, I did pick up a couple of the retro Kool-Aid drinks. Sometimes it’s the unexpected finds that make a trip worthwhile. Plus the water they had on sale.
From there we stopped at a new Aldi location. That turned out to be one of the better stops of the day. What surprised me was finding David searching the frozen food section for clearance items from the red tags he found that weren’t marked down at our regular Aldi. The exact same products were sitting at regular price elsewhere, which is a good reminder that different locations can have very different markdowns.
One of the clearance finds was a sweet potato casserole. That’s completely for David because there is absolutely no way I’m eating Charlie, David or I are eating it, but David was happy to see it marked down. More than that though was seeing David actually purchasing something he wanted for himself and not putting it back.
We also found two packages of blackened chicken Alfredo with bacon that should help with Charlie’s lunches. In theory this meal should provide two meals. In reality, Charlie is a teenage boy, so we’ll see how long each meal will actually last.
After Aldi we made a quick stop at Dollar Tree where I picked up a few things, including Ramon Noodles and Cheeto’s Mac & Cheese items for Charlie’s lunches. As well as Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice for myself and Sugar and a container to put it in for Coffee in the morning.
At that point we headed home long enough to unload groceries before stopping at Blue Mound Cafe for lunch. After lunch we still weren’t finished, so we made one final stop at WinCo to complete the grocery run. By the time we got home, I was tired and ready to be done with shopping for the day.
Then something unexpected happened. While putting everything away, I decided to clean out the freezer. You know how sometimes you think you’re running low on food until you actually start digging through everything? That was me. I found more meat than I remembered having. In fact, I even found hamburger meat that I’d completely forgotten about.
That discovery may not sound exciting to everyone, but if you’ve ever looked at grocery prices lately, you’ll understand why I was thrilled. Finding food you already own feels almost as good as finding it on clearance. The best part is that now I don’t need to make another trip to Kroger for hamburger meat this week. That’s a win in my book.
One thing this shopping trip reminded me of is that saving money isn’t always about finding the biggest coupon or the lowest sale price. Sometimes it’s about checking another store, being willing to look for clearance items, and occasionally cleaning out your freezer so you know what you already have.
By the end of the day, we had visited HEB, Kroger,2 Ald’s, Dollar Tree, Blue Mound Cafe, and WinCo. It wasn’t exactly a quick trip, but we came home with groceries, a few bargains, lunch, and the realization that our freezer was stocked better than I thought.
Not every shopping day goes according to plan, but this one ended with a few pleasant surprises. Once Charlie got off and went to pick Charlie up they ended up stopping at Walmart for Noodles for tonight’s dinner which didn’t happen because Charlie decided on Hot Dogs so we had to go back to Aldi’s for Hot Dog Buns and Lunch Meat and Cheese for my lunch this week.
After all that was said and done I walked a hour today and got in 23.9 ounces of water. A couple blog post done and now I’m off to make me a Sandwich and to watch a show or two this evening. Would you like to join me this evening for a quick drink a snack and movie night?
Have you ever cleaned out your freezer and discovered food you’d completely forgotten you had?
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
