Hey friends! I’m back today with a new $60 grocery budget post!
As you know if you’ve read my blog for awhile, I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Aldi. I like that I can get in and out really quickly and of course I love the prices!
BUT I’ve had a lot of you comment that you don’t have Aldi in your area (so sad!) So this week I decided to switch things up and I did my weekly grocery shopping trip at Kroger instead!
I’m still kind of a newbie to saving money at Kroger so I decided to stick with a $60 grocery budget at Kroger instead of a $50 budget. I may challenge myself and do $50 at Kroger another week, we’ll see . . .
Missed my previous grocery budget posts? Here you go! $50 Week One // $50 Week Two // $50 Week Three (low-carb) // $50 Week Four (no oven needed) // $60 Week One
Anyway, let’s dive in!
$60 Grocery Budget at Kroger – Menu
As I’ve mentioned in past posts, to simplify my meal planning I mainly plan for dinners and just keep some basic items on hand for breakfasts and lunches. (For help with your meal planning/grocery shopping, check out this post and snag my free grocery list printable!)
I’ve placed an asterisk by items that we already had in the pantry or freezer. Obviously if you are starting completely from scratch you will have to spend a bit more than $60 to buy some of the basics.
Breakfast options:
Cereal, Eggs, Toast, Fruit
Lunch options:
Sandwiches, Hard boiled Eggs, Leftovers
Snack options: Fruit, Granola Bars, *Pretzels
Dinners:
- Enchiladas Suizas, Spanish rice, *salad
- White Chili *I already have cooked beans in my freezer to use in the chili
- Chicken Quesadillas, veggies
- Crock-Pot Pork Roast, green beans
- BBQ Pork Sandwiches, veggies
- Frozen Pizza (for our family movie night!)
- Leftovers
$60 Grocery Budget at Kroger – Shopping List
- Apples (3 lbs.) -$3.99
- Clementines (3 lbs.) – $2.99
- Bananas – $1.03
- Tomatillos (green tomatoes) – $4.40
- Grape Tomatoes – $1.89
- Baby Carrots – $0.99
- Serrano Peppers – $0.09
- Garlic – $0.50
- Milk – $2.49
- Mexican Crema -$2.50
- Cheese for the quesadillas – $2.50
- Eggs – $0.79
- Sliced Cheese – $1.88
- Lunch Meat – $2.79
- Bread (2 loaves) – $2.50
- Hawaiian Slider Buns – $3.29
- Corn Tortillas – $1.19
- Cereal (3 boxes) – $5.00
- Granola Bars – $2.49
- Boxed Spanish Rice – $1.00
- Pork Loin (3.5 lbs) – $7.12
- Whole Chicken (4.5 lbs) – $3.49
Total = $54.91
I came in under budget with these groceries. However, I didn’t pick up a frozen pizza for our family movie night yet so that will bring it to $60. š
Thoughts about grocery shopping at Kroger
- The sale prices were good. I got the two main meats for the week – pork loin and chicken – for good prices. I also thought the 3 boxes of name brand cereal I got for 5 bucks was a good deal.
- Some of the basics were higher priced than Aldi, like some of the produce ($4.40 for the tomatillos? That surprised me!), the apples, and the milk.
- I despised the self-checkout at Kroger. I was extremely frustrated with it and don’t plan to use it again anytime soon. I use Walmart’s all the time and it’s great but Kroger’s was horrible. (In case you were wondering, haha!)
- It took me a long time to shop, though partially because I was unfamiliar with the store. Once I’m used to the layout it will be quicker, although Aldi will always be faster just because it’s a much smaller store.
In the end, although Kroger was a bit higher priced than Aldi, it was pretty easy to stick to my $60 budget. Sticking to your grocery budget is less about what store you choose to shop at and more about your prep work. Make a simple meal plan based on what you already have and what’s on sale, then write out a grocery list and stick to it!
Instead of a $60 grocery budget at Kroger, I could’ve cut back to $50 by changing up a meal or two on my menu (Enchiladas Suizas call for a few ingredients I don’t normally buy like the tomatillos and crema) or by skipping a few items that we didn’t really need (like the 3 boxes of cereal, haha!)
For more help saving money at Kroger check out this helpful article I found.
Check out the frugal living section of my blog for more posts about saving money on groceries!
Where do you normally shop for groceries? Is a $60 grocery budget at Kroger something doable for you? Let me know in the comments!
I’m glad you found my Kroger tips helpful, Rebekah! Kroger does take some getting used to but I absolutely love their sales! Often times, their sales beat Aldi’s every day low price. It just takes some planning and looking ahead. Glad you gave it a try!
Thanks so much for your helpful post! I found it after I’d already made my trip to Kroger but I plan to look back at it before my next one!
Have you tried this at priceless…omg I always get so much for so little. It’s hit and miss with the produce section but overall it’s a good deal
Kroger is definitely my store of choice. If you decide to go back, download the app. They have special coupons you can load to your phone. They save us so much money that we can opt for organic rather than conventional in many cases!
Ooh will do Kellye, thanks for the tip!
Hello- thank you for sharing a grocery list and how you came under the targeted $60.00 budget.
Iām a fan of most times you were able to purchase. My question is if can share your side item recipes for the pork loin and whole chicken. Any breakfast served with bacon or sausage? If not meet perhaps avocados with lentils…
Just asking based on the list you got, how balanced are you meals? No greens were listed either.
Would love to have a recipe(s) shared for
Your trip. Thanks
Hello Kristen,
I know you have a smaller family than I do (I’m trying to feed 7 of us!) but I was wondering if it would be possible for you to make a meal plan for a week and a shopping list for a week for a larger family (like mine!) at Kroger so I could use it as a base line for my family? My budget is for the whole month is less than $350! I really need some help!!! If you could please find the time to help me with this it would mean so much to me!! Thank you for your time and consideration!! Your meal prep and shopping lists and the saving you find are AMAZING!!