Costco Haul Vlog - February 2017 - (PLUS a look at our overboard grocery spending)

Yet another big grocery trip - we spent almost $300, PHEW! But we hadn't been to Costco in a full month, and it was time. Here's my vlog of my Costco haul:


For $300, we bought lots of snacks, a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies, some frozen stuff, some pantry items (my kid is set for mac and cheese for at least a month, if not more), and some health and beauty items (I'm particularly excited to see if the Kirkland contact lens solution is acceptable - which I suspect it is - because that will save me quite a bit of money over Target's house brand). The video has details AND prices, so please watch.

According to Mint, we definitely went a bit overboard with grocery shopping in February, and I'm trying to figure out exactly how we went off the rails. We started off the month with a big trip to Trader Joe's, and that certainly didn't help. This was also the month I discovered Aldi and my pantry shows it - I think that my spending at Aldi will come down as I get used to it (and I also bought a $20 steam cleaner there). There was a trip to Whole Foods, but that was primarily vitamins, and another trip to Rainbow Natural Foods, but that was mostly for household items.

What really got us, of all things, were quick little trips to Kroger - we made ELEVEN trips to Kroger in February, and that includes me going for a short walk and spending $3-$8 in a trip, but it adds up for sure. I also bought food to bring to work, which is new - frozen meals and snacks to keep me away from restaurants, food delivery, and vending machines.

We didn't go to YDFM at all in February because I'm the one who usually goes but instead I was at work and my husband was busy and didn't have time. I think we need to do more YDFM and less Kroger though.

I used all the rebate apps, but most of that cash still hasn't come in yet because of cash-out thresholds. Still, that saved us or will eventually save us money. (I really like Mobisave because it's an instant cash out - even if it's just 10 cents.)

I want to keep our spending for our family of three to about $100-$150/week, and we busted that, but I guess what I'm writing around is that some of our spending at grocery stores wasn't food, and I probably should figure out if our grocery budget means "all spending at any grocery store" or "food only."

In any case, we had a lot of fun at Costco and hopefully we're set for groceries for a while to come.

Second Costco Haul of January 2017 (Vlog)

So....I made a really crappy haul video!

The story is that I made the first half with my phone in my typical dorky way and then put everything from that half away so it wouldn't melt/go bad.

Then I started making the second half and...my phone ran out of room.
I deleted stuff and tried again.
Ran out of room.
Deleted...ran out.
Then I sent a bunch of stuff to Dropbox to clear off more room, and it was taking FOREVER so I pulled out my DSLR and made the second half.
That ALSO took....many tries.
Finally I got a full take that I thought was good enough to post and I did.

We spent $300, yikes.
But $100 of that was air filters, a bathing suit, Breathe Right strips, and *cough* Prosecco.

The rest was groceries both to eat now and to bring to lunch at my NEW JOB HOORAY! Nope. The best laid plans. No job for now. But hey, food.

Enjoy this blurry, shaky video as best you can!

Costco Haul Video - January 2017 (First trip of the month)

The biggest dork in the universe....

Here are some additional details:

I forgot to mention that we also bought a six-pack of organic hearts of romaine lettuce. (It's hiding behind the kale.)
This trip was to fill in a few gaps in the fridge (and to return the cheese I talk about in the video).
My husband and kid are going to try to go later to YDFM to pick up a few more vegetables, some different cheese, some nice bread....
I think I can get fancier with these videos going forward but I was trying to make this one fast and just get it out there before I chickened out.
The total for everything was about $135, and we'll get 2% back because we are Executive Members.

Tadaaaa.