Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for July, 2025 post!

Curious how much we spent during the month of July and what groceries we bought? Here’s the breakdown!

IMPORTANT: This was a weird and special month. Don’t read this and think, “How does she manage to spend so little to feed so many people? I must be doing something wrong.” NOPE. We had some special perks this month, and I used them wisely, that’s all. Foster-adopted kids receive some benefits, and we say yes to these. This is a lovely blessing, allowing us to focus on caring for these kids’ extra needs instead of worrying about how we’ll put food on the table. This month is a good example of this. It’ll all make sense as you read…

ALSO this month: Our adult kids were traveling for part of the month, so not always around to eat with us. So some meals we fed 14, and many meals we only fed 10-12.

Big Family Grocery Spending for July, 2025

1. Aldi

On July 2, I went into Aldi to get snack items we needed for a road trip we were taking for the 4th. I picked up strawberries (x3), Caesar salad kits (x2), fruit/veggie pouches (x33), mandarin oranges, bananas, bag of apples (x2), fruit cups (x5), cake mixes (x2), colby Jack cheese sticks (x2), freeze dried strawberries (x2), marshmallows (x3), trail mix, 100% juice boxes (x2), grass fed hamburger meat (x4), granola bars (x2), applesauce pouches, cereal bars, cane sugar, raisin boxes (x2), peanut butter snack crackers, tortilla chips (x2), and pure and simple bars (x2).

Total at Aldi: $175.23

2. Freddy’s

Several weeks ago at our school’s special Zoo Night, we were given 14 free Freddy’s kid’s meal coupons. Sweet! I’d been holding onto them for a special outing, which we used while we were out shopping on July 2. The total for this meal would have been $88.27. This is why we don’t eat out! (Well, that and the fact that taking all these sweethearts into a restaurant takes more energy and effort than it’s worth.)

Total at Freddy’s: $0

3. McDonald’s

Wait, another restaurant??

On our way home from our Oklahoma road trip on July 5, we stopped at McDonald’s to get dinner during our last stretch of the trip. We’d packed food for our meals on the way there, and we were fed well during our reunion. So this was our only need to eat out on our trip.

We got 60 Chicken Nuggets and 3 orders of fries to share once we were back on the road after our potty break. We’ve found that “buying in bulk” like this – instead of getting every kid an individual kid’s meal – makes feeding everyone on the road much more cost effective for us. And the kids love this treat!

Total at McDonald’s: $32.62

4. Sam’s

For our Sunday Lunch on July 6, we picked up three Rotisserie Chickens to serve and share with our guests. After traveling that weekend, we needed something simple! Everyone who joined us brought side dishes, and our meal was awesome!

Cost for three chickens at Sam’s: $14.97

Summer EBT Cards

I mentioned last month that because of our kids’ adoption subsidies, they qualify for Medicaid, which qualifies them for free school lunch, which qualifies them for Summer EBT benefits. This is such a lovely blessing! We’d received two of the kids’ benefit cards in May and spent them in June. (They were $120 each.) Then the rest of the benefits came in July. I have no idea why they were split like that. But it’s a gift so I don’t question it.

With $600 on our final Summer EBT card to work with, here’s what my next few shopping trips looked like…

5. Aldi

I stopped in at Aldi for a few of our favorites and needed items there. I bought grass fed hamburger meat (x4), fruit cups in 100% juice (x11), whole milk yogurt (x4), fresh peaches, clementines, whole milk (x3), blueberries, a cantaloupe, and coffee creamer. The total for this, covered by our EBT card was $72.86.

6. Costco

After Aldi, I headed to Costco and picked up shredded cheese, corndogs, mac and cheese, coconut rolls, chocolate crepes (on clearance!), white queso, fresh broccoli, apples, grapes, strawberries, raspberries, spring mix, bananas, cream, half and half, frozen meatballs, frozen pizzas, pork butt, sliced cheese, butter, ketchup, freezer pops, and cream cheese. Total on food for this trip to Costco would have been $286.76, and it was covered by our EBT card.

7. Aldi

On July 14, I grabbed a few items from Aldi: apples (x2), cherries, mixed greens, spinach, strawberries (x3), milk (x3), coffee creamer (x2), sausage patties (x2), granola, fruit bars (like Larabars, x4), salad kits (x3), and yogurt. I also splurged on apple juice bottles and granola bars for the kids to eat on the way home – my incentive treat to reward them for hanging in there with me since I was one-on-four and they are particularly challenging in a store.

Our total was $101.79 – all covered by EBT.

8. Amazon

Our Amazon Subscribe and Save box came on the 18th, filled with Annie’s mac and cheese, freeze dried apples, two kinds of applesauce, and a box of Go-Go yogurt.

Total from Amazon: $76.71

9. Hy-Vee

I put in a Hy-Vee order on July 19, simply because they are the only store in town that allows us to use their Pick-Up feature along with our WIC card. WIC only offers very specific items, so shopping online for these is very helpful and saves a lot of time! We got most of our monthly WIC items through this transaction, though I didn’t get a picture of the entire haul. I also bought chicken breast on sale for an upcoming church event.

Total for chicken at Hy-Vee
(the rest of the order was covered by our kids’ WIC benefits): $26.87

10. Wal-Mart Pick-Up

I used to use this option all the time in York! But now that we’re in Lincoln, I’ve found that Aldi, Costco, and Sam’s are priced better for our family’s needs. On July 22 though? Matt was very sick and I was almost out of milk. I thought I might need to take all seven kids with me to the store by myself. NO THANK YOU. I took advantage of Wal-Mart pick-up instead!

I got milk (x4), lasagna noodles (x4), pasta sauce (x4), pickles, strawberries, bananas, apples (3 bags), shredded mozzarella, applesauce pouches, a family-sized Caesar salad kit, Paw Patrol 100% fruit popsicles (that the kids didn’t like, boo), pepper jack cheese, Colby jack cheese slices, cottage cheese, grapes, and sliced ham.

This wiped out the remainder of our EBT card ($138) and I felt so, so grateful for all the food it provided for our family this month!

11. Elias’ Dinner

Somewhere in there this month, Elias was awesome and made Smoked Queso for our family dinner. He used my credit card to pick up the items he needed for this.

Total for these ingredients: $18.69

12. Sam’s

On July 28, we were very low on many staple groceries. I’d been using up random odds and ends in our freezer and in our pantry, so this was good! But getting stocked back up at Sam’s felt good. :)

I bought 10 dozen eggs, milk (x3), tortilla chips (x4), turkey, ham, salami, sliced cheese, almonds, mandarin orange cups, instant oatmeal (x2), sour cream, heavy whipping cream (x2), strawberries (x2), raspberries (x2), cherries, sour cream, maple syrup, honey, peanut butter, applesauce, white queso, rotel, meat sticks, mini tacos, chicken nuggets, french fries, yogurt, and tuna.

Total for food at Sam’s: $321.07

Total for groceries in June, 2025: $648

Obviously, our total would have been $1,248 without the awesome EBT card. Plus, our WIC benefits provide our littles with around $180 worth of groceries each month. You can read here to learn our 2025 Grocery Budget plus look over ways I’m able to keep our budget at this level.

Running Totals for 2025

January spending: $679
February spending: $1,459
March spending: $1,346
April spending: $1,364
May spending: $1374
June spending: $1,127
July spending: $633