Spending Less than $1000 in April | The Grocery Diaries — Week 3 Wrapup
This is week 3! Here are the previous posts if you missed them:
I really feel like tracking all of this to share here has helped me stay on target with my spending. As the month comes to a close, I’m starting to wonder if I could try to stick to $1000/month next month, too (although I probably won’t do all these posts again). It has encouraged me to keep things simple, to limit my buying of things that aren’t on my list, and to figure out substitutes when I forgot something.
🛒 Grocery Haul
I had six transactions this week: Dollar General, Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Aldi, and Butcher Matt. I did not go to all of these on the same day, but it was kind of a lot of shopping trips. I’m hoping to limit that in the final week of the month.
We stuck to some pretty simple meals this week and then had a weekend of insanity with grandparents in town, Easter, and a neighborhood picnic.
Here was dinner for our 5-year-old one night: smoked turkey sausage, roasted potatoes, and broccoli. Dinner doesn’t have to be complicated!
🗂 Breakdown by Store & Date
📅 Dollar General—4/15/25
Personal care items
Total: $6
📅 Costco—4/17/25
Bananas
Ravioli
Eggs
Rotisserie chickens (3)
Total: $27.22
📅 Aldi—4/17/25
Greek yogurt
Chips
Shredded cheese
Apples
Mandarin oranges
Coleslow
Vegetable oil
Chocolate chips
Paprika
Bread
Zucchini
Total: $53.86
📅 Kroger—4/17/25
Chips
Butter
Shredded cheese
Tater tots
Frozen chicken
Strawberries
Coffee
Total: $59.99
📅 Matt—4/17/25
Bacon
Chicken thighs
Ground beef
Total: $34
📅 Walmart—4/18/25
Capri suns
Milk
Bananas
Total: $18.21
🍽️ What We Ate This Week
For the third week of April, here were our dinners:
Smoked sausage, roasted potatoes, sauteed peppers and onions
Copycat Chickfila sandwiches, green beans
Rotisserie chicken, broccoli, ravioli
Snack dinner
Takeout pizza (ordered by the grandparents while they were in town!)
Smorgasbord dinner
Dinner @ home group
This was dinner on Easter evening. We had a ton of leftovers from other meals so I just pulled everything out, including cake and jello. I just required everybody to pick one fruit and one vegetable. The kids loved it.
💰 Running Total for April
I spent $199.28 this week—right at my goal of $200 or less! In the previous two weeks, I spent $301.83 and $300.75. That means I’ve spent $801.86. I’ve got just about $200 left for the last week of the month.
📝 Notes & Reflections
Spring break was kind of like a fever dream, with me feeling like I was in the kitchen constantly. I was trying not to operate like a short order cook, but I still spent a ton of time cooking or prepping food. It has been a relief to have the kids go back to school this week.
I tried to be creative this week when I could. I wanted eggs but wanted to add something for flavor, so I sliced an onion and added some sun dried tomatoes from a salad I had made for Easter. It was delicious! An experiment turned into finding a delicious breakfast option that I’ll be having again soon.
Going into the final week, I have $200 left. We’re stocked pretty well on some things but my current list is kind of long. I’m going to see what I can skip and still get what I need.
Tune in next week for the conclusion of the challenge!