Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Big Family Grocery Spending for December, 2024

by 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for December, 2024 post!

Here’s how we spent our grocery budget for our large household during the month of December. We fed 12 people three meals each day, plus a lot of wonderful guests. In fact, because of Christmas and lots of birthdays and other fun get-togethers this month, we had many meals with more than 12 people. It’s been awesome!

Because of the larger meals and crowds, we’ve had more frequent grocery store trips so that we could keep up with food needs. And how did the budget fare? Well, we went over. But only by a little, somehow. :) Read until the end to see how our grocery budgeted averaged out during the entire year!

Big Family Grocery Spending for December, 2024

1. Aldi

On December 2, I ran into Aldi to grab all of our “Aldi essentials.” I got fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, crackers, a case of salsa, whole milk yogurt, milk, canned corn (because it was on sale for $0.50), Caesar salad kits, blackberries, and sausage.

Total for groceries at Aldi: $116.36

2. Sam’s

December 3, I was halfway to Sam’s while at Speech Therapy for Auggie. So after his appointment, I took him with me to get some of our Sam’s essentials. We stocked up on our favorite peanut butter, plus got chips, potatoes, apples, grapes, pears, cheese sticks, yogurt squeezies, whole milk yogurt, rotel, and coffee creamer. I was excited to find chicken breasts and beef roasts marked down for quick sale so I grabbed those.

Total for groceries at Sam’s $213.59

3. Honest Abe’s

Remember how we used to have Elias take Brayden out for Bro Time? Elias has a new job now that is very intense as he deals with high need kids all day (kind of sounds like what Elias’ parents do all day, huh?). Because of this, we don’t have a regularly scheduled Bro Time any more. But we have started sending both Brayden and Kiya out with Elias and Malorie from time to time on Monday evenings for a special dinner out.

A local restaurant here in Lincoln called Honest Abe’s offers half price kids meals on Monday nights. This gives everyone a burger and fries and drink for right around $4.00! Amazing. On December 9, the four of them headed out to pick up their dinner. Elias and Malorie help the kids figure out what they want and give them the chance to order by themselves (a skill Matt and I don’t/can’t provide for them because eating out as a family with so many littles is too complicated and too expensive.

Overall, this is a WIN and the kids love this time with Elias and Malorie. This night, the restaurant was too crowded so they brought their food home to eat.

Total at Honest Abe’s: $27.35

4. Wal-Mart

On December 11, we took the four youngest kids to Walmart to pick up the girls’ WIC items plus a few other needed groceries. I found day-old (refrigerated) Rotisserie chicken marked down to just $2.02 each so I got two of those. We got lots of fruits and veggies, eggs, rice, pasta, cereal, milk, and cheese, all covered by WIC benefits. And I picked up some Caesar salad kits, pickles, and ham.

Total out of pocket at Wal-Mart: $32.50

5. Aldi

After we left Walmart that day, we went just up the road to Aldi. I ran in and got fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, raspberries, oranges, zucchini, butter, yogurt, granola, baking items, sausage, deli ham, pasta sauce, fritos, and three large packages of boneless chicken thighs on sale for just $2.49/pound.

Total for food at Aldi: $155.95

6. Walmart 

On December 19, I ran into Walmart to get milk, sour cream, lime juice, a few last minute items for Christmas, plus the last of our WIC benefits. As always, I checked for meat markdowns and scored Boneless Chicken Thighs for just over $2/pound! I bought six packages.

Total out of pocket at Walmart: $57.67

7. Costco

From there, we went to Costco and semi-filled two carts. We needed Christmas celebration food plus regular groceries and produce. We got pears, apples, oranges, grapes, broccoli, blueberries, cream cheese, cream, half and half (marked down to $0.97!!), avocado mash, white queso, guacamole, crackers, two kinds of dips, several kinds of cheese, meatballs, chicken nuggets, tator tots, french fries, fish sticks, yogurt squeezies, applesauce cups, chicken broth, avocado oil spray, and frozen pizza.

Total for food at Costco: $395.59

8. Krispie Kreme

December 20 was Malachi’s 20th birthday. He and a bunch of his buddies spent the night at our house, and he requested donuts for breakfast. I didn’t get a photo of the whole crew, but I got this one when these two got home with the donuts.

Total for Malachi’s donuts: $14.99

9. Sam’s

On December 23, I braved the crowds and went to Sam’s for a few more Christmas food needs, everyday fruit and vegetable needs, and upcoming birthday meals. I got pasta sauce, apple sauce, hamburger meat, sliced cheese, shredded cheese, bacon, cucumbers, bananas, carrots, Caesar salad, mandarin oranges, spinach, veggie straws, coffee creamer, apples, brownie mix, cottage cheese, peanut butter, coffee, orange chicken, oatmeal, gluten free pizza, pickles, brown sugar, fruit strips, and coconut crisps.

Total for food at Sam’s: $310.19

10. Walmart

From Sam’s, I ran to the next parking lot for a few items at Walmart: lasagna noodles, gluten free nuggets, frozen hashbrowns, onion rings, ham, and fake oreos (for birthday brownies).

Total at $54.14

11. Cane’s

Our Christmas tradition has become: make Chicken Strips at home for Christmas lunch after opening gifts, and buy a big container of Raising Cane’s Sauce to go with the chicken. This makes for an easy meal for mom, a perfect meal to accommodate picky kids, and a special way to enjoy our family’s favorite sauce. I picked up a 32-ounce cup of sauce to put in our fridge for the big day.

Total for our Cane’s Sauce: $7.65

12. Arby’s Fries

Matt had some coupons in his wallet for $1 fries at Arby’s, limit 3. So we took advantage one day to treat the kids after an outing to the Children’s Museum.

Total for fries: $3.28

13. Walmart

On December 27, I went to Wal-Mart to check for Ham marked down after Christmas. I found some for $1/pound!! I picked up four, plus found hamburger meat ($3.34/pound) and ground chicken ($2.41/pound) marked down. I also needed Caesar salad, spring mix, and barbecue sauce so I grabbed those.

Total for food at Walmart: $101.77

14. Aldi

I went to Aldi that day also, getting fruit and veggie pouches for Auggie, fresh pineapple on sale, whole milk yogurt, and meat mark-downs. Two packages of boneless chicken thighs were marked down half-price making them just $1.75/pound. Two packages of boneless chicken tenderloins were half-price at $1.99/pound. Plus grass fed hamburger meat was on sale for $4.80/pound. Pork loin was on sale for $1.89/pound so I got one. It was a great meat day and our freezer got filled up!

Total at Aldi: $110.17

15. Wal-mart

Elias and Malorie went to a different Walmart a few days later and I couldn’t resist asking them to check for $0.50/pound hams. Sure enough, they had a bunch so they picked up four more hams for me. It’s hard to pass up such an amazing price for meat that gives us several meals or that will feed thirty people at a Sunday lunch!

Total for four spiral cut hams: $20.20

Total grocery spending for December: $1458

— > Without WIC, our total this month would have been closer to $1658. <—–

If you recall, at the beginning of this year, I decided to keep running totals of everything we spent on groceries each month. I also decided to increase our budget to $1,400/month for food because we feed so many people and my previous $1,200/month average was causing unnecessary stress.

We’ve had adults move in and out of our home all year long. Most of the year, we had 13 people living here, sometimes 14, and now there are 12.

Here’s the breakdown of what we ended up spending each month during 2024…

Summary/Average for groceries during 2024

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611
September: $1,218
October: $1,345
November: $1,150
December: $1,458

Grand total for 2024: $14,715

That’s a lot of groceries. :)

Grocery Budget Plan for 2025

Watch for a post detailing what we’re planning to change and keep the same for our 2025 grocery budget!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for November, 2024

by 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for November, 2024 post!

Here’s how we spent our grocery budget for our large household during the month of November. We fed 13 people three meals each day, plus a lot of wonderful guests…

Big Family Grocery Spending for November, 2024

1. Costco

On November 1, we went to stock up on items we needed at Costco. We got ground beef, shredded cheese, sour cream, cream cheese, butter, heavy whipping cream, spinach, spring mix, broccoli, turkey lunch meat, chicken nuggets, shrimp (for Matt’s birthday!), tilapia, sausage links, cottage cheese, frozen pizza, chocolate chips, bananas, white queso, mayo, peanuts, pepperoni, eggs, yogurt, meat sticks, avocado cups, frozen french fries, and rolled oats. Annie’s cinnamon rolls were on sale so I grabbed them for our nephew’s birthday the next day.

Total for food at Costco: $333.83

2. Aldi

We also ran to Aldi that day, where I picked up lasagna noodles, fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, hard salami for school lunches, pears, cake mixes and frosting, cheese cubes for lunches, Caesar salad kits, pasta sauce, fruits, grapes, brown sugar, sausage, raspberries, whole milk yogurt, coffee creamer, milk, and chicken drumsticks.

Total at Aldi: $128.45

3. Wal-Mart

On November 7, I ran into Walmart to get some of Auggie’s WIC items plus a few other ingredients I prefer to get there. WIC items included milk, beans, whole grain pasta, eggs, cereal, and produce. I got spring mix, spinach, frozen potatoes, blueberries, mandarins, and bananas. Beyond WIC, I got flax seed for Mudballs, coconut flour for Snickerdoodle Bites, and a huge tub of Sour Cream.

Of course, I checked for meat markdowns and while I didn’t find much, I did find Rotisserie Chickens marked down to just $2.02! That made them less than $1/pound.

Total out of pocket at Wal-Mart: $32.99

4. Sam’s

Next, we ran next door to Sam’s to get what we needed there. I got a 10-pound box of bacon, 10-dozen eggs, lunch meat, sliced cheese, orange chicken, frozen pizza, potatoes, raspberries, whipping cream, cheese sticks, butter, tortillas, peanut butter, coffee creamer, whole milk yogurt, maple syrup, Rotel, and brown sugar.

Total for food at Sam’s: $270.23

5. Hy-Vee

Our local Hy-Vee offers the option to order WIC items for pick-up. This has been very helpful for purchasing our three little girls’ benefits because it can be tedious to do this in the store. Here’s what we got.

Total out of pocket from Hy-Vee: $0

6. Wal-Mart and Costco

On November 21, I ran into Walmart for some produce provided to our kids through WIC (spring mix, spinach, potatoes, pears, and bananas). I found a London Broil marked down to just $3.35/pound, plus I picked up three gallons of milk. I forgot to take a picture because I was hurrying to get back out to the van where Matt was waiting with the littlest four kids!

Then we went into Costco where we got strawberries, raspberries, apples, mandarins, tortilla chips, sliced havarti cheese, cream cheese, oatmeal, chocolate chips, condiments, frozen meatballs, white queso, shredded cheese, half and half, avocado cups, butter, chicken stock, and ground beef.

Total for food at Walmart and Costco: $261.14

7. Amazon Subscribe and Save

I remembered to take a picture of our Subscribe and Save box this month!

Total at Amazon: $59.66

8. Aldi

Just before we left for a trip to Kansas over Thanksgiving break, I sent Elias and Malorie to Aldi to pick up fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie plus a few other items. They got some snacks for our upcoming Thanksgiving trip, plus a few items for their upcoming work lunches.

Total at Aldi: $49.04

9. McDonalds

We traveled to Kansas over the Thanksgiving weekend. On the last stretch of our trip on our way home, we used both Matt’s app and Elias’ app to get the best deals on chicken nuggets to tide us over until we could get home and eat more. We were pretty impressed that we could get 60 nuggets for such a low cost. While handing out nuggets in the van, I handed out applesauce and pretzels to stretch out the meal. The kids loved the treat!

Total at McDonald’s: $14.96

Total grocery spending for November: $1,150.30

— > Without WIC, our total this month would have been closer to $1,35030. <—–

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611
September: $1,218
October: $1,345
November: $1,150

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for October, 2024

by 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for October, 2024 post!

Here’s how we spent our grocery budget for our large household during the month of October. We fed 14 people three meals each day, plus a lot of wonderful guests…

Big Family Grocery Spending for October, 2024

1. Sam’s

On October 3, we had a huge grocery stock-up trip at Sam’s. We got potatoes, grapes, strawberries, nectarines, spinach, tomato soup, hamburger meat, chicken thighs, meat sticks, snacks, peanut butter, honey, milk, cream, eggs, shredded cheese, pistachios, olive oil, coconut oil, brown sugar, condiments, chicken broth, yogurt and applesauce pouches, tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, maple syrup, coffee, bacon, white queso, and avocado cups.

Total for groceries at Sam’s: $582.44

2. Hy-Vee Pick-Up

That same day, I had put a pick-up order in at Hy-Vee for some of our WIC items for our girls for the month. Malorie picked it up for me, which was a huge help.

Total out of pocket at Hy-Vee: $0

3. Aldi

On October 10, Malorie and I took the four littlest to Aldi. I mostly needed milk and salsa, but since it’s tough to get to the store and we were already there, I stocked up on many of our favorite Aldi items: Milk, Yogurt, Granola, Fruit/Veggie Pouches, a case of Salsa, Sausage, Grass Fed Beef (on sale!), Coffee Creamer, Organic Pears, Bananas, Blackberries, Sliced Ham, Frozen Fries, Canned Fruit in 100% juice, and Clementines.

Total for groceries at Aldi: $207.71

4. Costco

On October 16, Auggie and I went to Costco to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies plus other Costco favorites/needs. We got 6 pounds of strawberries, 2 containers of raspberries, bananas, spring mix, spinach, grapes, 6 pounds of apples, a large bag of oranges, applesauce cups, mandarin orange cups, peach cups, frozen fruit for smoothies, cocoa powder, chicken nuggets, fries, applesauce pouches, yogurt pouches, heavy whipping cream, half and half, sliced cheese, cream cheese, frozen meatballs, avocado cups, canned pumpkin, frozen pizza, turkey lunch meat, and butter.

Total for groceries at Costco: $360.31

5. Walmart

I needed Walmart that day too but didn’t have time, so I put in a pick-up order for Matt to grab while he was out that afternoon. My order that day was mostly non-grocery, but we also got milk, pickle relish, wheat germ, cheese, carrots, and Caesar salad. I forgot to take a picture. :/

Total for food at Walmart: $29.68

6. Amazon

We have a standing order of subscribe and save items from Amazon, which is mostly applesauce and yogurt pouches. I also get these pizza crusts for cheap, x2. Again, no picture. :)

Total for food from Amazon: $51.97

7. Wal-Mart

On October 24, Auggie and I went to Wal-mart to finish picking up our WIC items for the month. I also got 8 pie crusts, coffee creamer, fritos, a 4-pound chunk of Colby jack cheese, and a jar of jelly.

I always check for meat markdowns at Walmart because that’s one way I save a lot on meat for our family. This day I got a roast for $4.92 per pound, which is a higher than my preferred price point for meat, but still a really good price for beef. I also got four big packages of boneless chicken thighs marked down to just $2.02 or $1.98/pound. AMAZING!

I checked out and loaded the van, then Auggie and I went in for round two – a cart full of fruits and veggies. WIC covered most of the produce cost that day. I got frozen fruit for smoothies, frozen peas, green beans, and corn, frozen fajita veggies, fresh baby carrots, regular carrots, Caesar salad, broccoli, cilantro, potatoes, spring mix, spinach, mandarins, pears, grapes, mushrooms, blueberries, and bananas.


Total out of pocket at Wal-mart: $113.63

Total grocery spending for October: $1,345

— > Without WIC, our total this month would have been closer to $1,545. <—–

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611
September: $1,218
October: $1,345

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for September, 2024

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for September, 2024 post!

Here’s how we spent our grocery budget for our large household during the month of September. We feed 13 people three meals each day, plus we feed frequent guests…

Big Family Grocery Spending for September, 2024

1. Hy-Vee

Kelsey texted me while they were shopping at Hy-Vee over labor day weekend to let me know that Pork Butts and Watermelon were on sale. Did I want any? Sure!!

The roasts were just $2.49/pound and they are a great size for upcoming Sunday lunches. The watermelon was only $2.99 – a great deal.

Total at Hy-Vee: $38

2. Aldi

On September 6, we headed to Aldi to stock up on our favorites and sale items there. We got milk, whole milk yogurt, pears, grapes (on sale for $1.39/pound), strawberries (on sale for $1.89/pound), sausage, brown sugar, salsa, spaghetti sauce, frosting, cake mix, granola, fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, cheese cubes, pear cups in 100% juice, instant oatmeal, chicken broth, tator tots, french fries, fresh peaches, hard salami, sausage patties, and pork loin.

It was quite a haul!

We had been blessed this summer to receive surprise EBT cards for our kids. Through their adoption subsidies, they will qualify for Medicaid until they become adults. (This is a huge blessing for them!) Because of this qualification, they qualify for free school lunches. And in Nebraska, apparently everyone who qualifies for free school lunches received a little EBT (Food Stamp) money this summer. This was such a nice surprise to receive in the mail and I used the benefits at Aldi that day.

Total cost: $164.08/ Total out of pocket: $0

3. Costco

After Aldi that day, we headed to Costco to get diapers, sale items, and staples we needed. We got shredded cheese, Go-gurt, pancake mix, fruit and veggie pouches for lunches, granola, granola bites, frozen green beans, crisp fried onions, sugar, eggs, tuna, barbecue sauce, ranch dressing, clementines, spinach, spring mix, frozen chicken strips, butter, broccoli, cauliflower, tortelloni, string cheese, almond butter, peanuts, heavy whipping cream, and bananas.

Total for food at Costco: $245.63

4. Wal-Mart

On September 13, I went to Wal-Mart to get some of our kids’ WIC items for the month. While I was there, I checked for meat markdowns but didn’t find any worth picking up. I did get some Caesar Salad Kits and a few other small items we needed.

Total out of pocket: $34.31

5. Sam’s

After I left Wal-Mart, I went next door to Sam’s to pick up the Bacon and Peanut Butter we can only get at this particular Sam’s. I got quite a few other necessities also including eggs, potatoes, pears, apples, grapes, cheese sticks, butter, yogurt, olive oil, ketchup, mac and cheese, and oatmeal.

Total for food at Sam’s: $328.32

6. Hy-Vee

Eva was sweet and picked up an order for me on September 18. I was able to get a lot of our girls’ WIC items in this order and just one other item that we paid for out of pocket.

Total out of pocket from Hy-Vee: $3.82

7. Costco

September 19, we loaded up the four youngest and went to Costco to prep for a weekend with company and to get lunchbox items for upcoming weeks.

We picked up Boneless Chicken Thighs, Chicken Drumsticks, Milk, Strawberries, Raspberries, Spring Mix, Grapes, Italian Dressing, Crackers, Sliced Havarti Cheese, Shredded Cheese, Coffee Creamer, Half and Half, Guacamole, Broccoli, Corn, Pork Loin (marked down $5/package!), Watermelon, Sweet Potato Chips, Mini Corn Dogs, Chicken Nuggets, Parmesan Cheese, Sliced Ham, Oatmeal Packets, and Frozen Pizza.

And diapers. Always diapers. :)

Total for groceries at Costco: $334.71

8. Amazon Subscribe and Save

I forgot again to take a picture when our Amazon order came in, but we got several boxes of applesauce and yogurt pouches plus some dehydrated apples we like to take for kids to snack on when we go to the store.

Total from Amazon: $48.61

9. Walmart

On September 27, I went to Walmart to get the last of our kids’ WIC items and scored big on meat mark-downs. I was amazed at all the meat I was able to pick up to restock our freezer for just $47!

Total out of pocket for groceries at Walmart: $47.28

10. Aldi

After I left Wal-mart that day, I went down the road to Aldi. I got fruit/veggie pouches for Auggie, milk, spaghetti sauce, fritos, asparagus, pears, potatoes, yogurt, granola, sausage, cake mix and frosting, and lasagna noodles.

Total for groceries at Aldi: $137.19

Total grocery spending for September: $1,218

— > Without WIC and the bonus EBT cards we received, our total this month would have been closer to $1,582. <—–

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611
September: $1,218

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024 post!

Check out how I went way over budget this month. Then read how I feel 100% fine about this. :)

Big Family Grocery Spending for August 2024

1. Costco

August 2, we were out of fresh produce and several other staples. So we headed to Costco for a big stock up trip. Since it’s Back-to-School time, we grabbed lots of sale items like Ziplock bags and Kleenex on sale. Food wise, we filled the bottom of our first cart with fruits and veggies: Strawberries, Carrots, Blueberries, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Spinach, Spring Mix, Bananas, Apples, Broccoli, and Nectarines.

We got Ground Beef, Brats, Pepperoni, White Queso, Chips, Oatmeal, Ranch, Fruit Cups, Fruit Bars, Granola, Eggs, Meatballs, Creamer, Chicken Nuggets, Shredded Cheese, and some drinks (Celsius, Izze, Water).

Total for food at Costco: $427.07

2. Hy-Vee Pick-Up

The first week of August a decision was made to move our five-year-old Bonus Buddy into our home for a while. So we put a few other things on hold while we went full throttle getting him enrolled in school with our other kids, making sure he had everything he needed, and getting his bed ready.

I decided to try Hy-Vee Pick-Up for our WIC items because going to the store during those days wasn’t a possibility. Eva was wonderful and picked it up for us – a huge help!

I forgot to take a picture until almost everything was put away, but we got several boxes of cereal and whole grain pasta, fresh greens, Caesar salad kits, broccoli, frozen green beans and peas, grapes, lunch meat, and snacks for Auggie.

Total out of pocket at Hy-Vee: $29.09

3. Aldi

When Bonus Buddy moved in, a friend offered to help in any way so I sent her an Aldi list. She got everything in multiples – true Coppinger style. :) She grabbed 6 tubs of Whole Milk Vanilla Yogurt, several jars of our favorite Salsa,  bags of Veggie Straws, boxes of Crackers, bags of Cube Cheese for kids’ school lunches, and a restock of Fruit/Veggie Pouches for Auggie.

Total from Aldi: $106.27

4. Sam’s

I went to Sam’s on August 9 to get bacon and peanut butter – two items that meet specific preferences for us that I can only find at Sam’s. I also loaded up on cream, hamburger meat, hot dogs, sale items, school lunch items, and lots of fresh produce.

Total for food at Sam’s: $504.35

5. Wal-Mart

August 23, I went to Walmart to finish up our WIC cards for the month. I also picked up three big bags of Caesar salad and Matt’s favorite coffee creamer.

Total out of pocket at Walmart: $27.87

6. Aldi

After Walmart, I ran to Aldi for Fruit/Veggie Pouches for Auggie and four gallons of milk. I always check for sales while there and was very excited that Grass-Fed Hamburger was only $3.99/pound again! I got twelve pounds plus six pounds of Strawberries that were also on sale for $1.89/pound. I grabbed a few other odds and ends – Granola, Onions, Grapes, and Pear Cups.

Total at Aldi: $125.09

7. Costco

After Aldi, I went into Costco for some necessities and sale items. I restocked our Frozen Pizza stash (much cheaper than ordering pizza). For school lunches, I picked up Canned Chicken to make Chicken Salad, Peanuts to put into baggies for lunch bags, and Fruit/Veggie Pouches. We needed Tortilla Chips plus I got Potatoes, Bananas, Blueberries, Spring Mix, Broccoli, and Shredded Cheese. For convenience, I picked up a case of Shredded Hashbrowns to have on hand for an easy side dish.

Total for groceries at Costco: $214.14

8. Amazon

I got a few items from Amazon: GoGo Squeeze Applesauce and Yogurt plus Pizza Crust and Annie’s Mac and Cheese. I didn’t remember to take a picture. :)

Total at Amazon: $31.62

9. Azure Standard

Every few months, I use referral credit I’ve accumulated at Azure Standard to get some of our favorites. This time, I got a case of Tortillas, a bag of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour, a case of Frozen Cubed Potatoes, and a case of Mandarin Oranges.

Total after credit used at Azure Standard: $6.87

10. Sam’s

Toward the end of the month, I knew we were over budget but we were also out of a few essentials. Goodness how we are going through the fresh fruit these days! So we went and bought what we needed plus a few sale items. We got Spring Mix, Spinach, Apples, Carrots, Grapes, Eggs, Butter, Pears, Strawberries, Blueberries, Bananas, Yogurt, Sour Cream, Half and Half, Fish Sticks, Almond Butter, and Chips.

Total for food at Sam’s: $134.45

Total food spending for August: $1,611

As you can see, I went $200+ over budget this month. With a new kiddo moving in, we spent a good deal of time and energy getting everyone settled. This means that I bought and used more convenience foods than is typical for us. I also bought some pre-packaged lunch box items to help us as we settled all the kids into a new school routine. All of this added up.

We’ve been significantly under budget most months this year, so our overall family budget isn’t negatively affected by my spending this month. In fact, over all, we are still under budget for groceries. (Average spending for the first eight months of 2024= $1,193.)

I’ve learned that loving and caring for people matters much more than…anything. I overspent because I needed to. And yay, we survived August and all the BIGGNESS that came with it.

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121
July: $1,190
August: $1,611

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How I Fed 12 People with One Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken

by 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s how I fed 12 people with one Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken…

Oh how we love us a Rotisserie Chicken from Costco or Sam’s! The cost just under $5.00 and can stretch a long way. Plus they taste really good. And the best part? They are hot and fresh and ready to pick up, take home, and eat right away.

Now, we have a large family. So people often ask how many of these chickens it takes to feed us all. If our entire family is getting together plus guests, I definitely grab two. But on a regular day? We can get by with just one. How??

How I Fed 12 People with One Sam’s/Costco Rotisserie Chicken

Here’s how this worked most recently when we had a grocery stock up day at Sam’s and we brought home a Rotisserie Chicken for lunch…

Who we fed that day: Six adults and six kids.

Auggie still can’t eat solids well enough so I didn’t count him as one of the 12. Our three little girls aren’t big eaters yet and didn’t eat a lot of chicken, so that’s worth noting for how we can stretch one chicken for this many people. Keith had a medium-sized portion. Brayden and Kiya ate as much as the adults.

How we stretched the chicken: We did what we do with almost every meal in that we ate our chicken along with lots of healthy side dish options.

  • Some of the grown-ups used some of the chicken to make Chicken Wraps with tortillas.
  • One adult ate a pile of chicken along with raw carrots and broccoli with ranch.
  • The kids all ate their bites of chicken on a plate with grapes, blackberries, and pickles.
  • Keith ate his along with fruit and some pieces of cheese.
  • Some of the kids had a piece of bread and butter with their chicken and fruit.

Those chickens look small, but I’ve found that we can pull a lot of chicken off those bones.

Another day recently we came home from Costco and simply ate a Rotisserie Chicken with Smoothies. That’s it. We ate until we were satisfied (just 3 adults and 5 kids that day) and we had leftover chicken.

Best tip for stretching a rotisserie chicken:

Serve lots of side dishes with the chicken. Fruits and veggies taste great with a rotisserie chicken and they are inexpensive. Here’s a list of inexpensive side dish ideas to make Rotisserie Chicken a fast food that goes a long way:

  • Grapes
  • Strawberries
  • Blackberries
  • Raspberries
  • Caesar Salad Kit
  • Bread/Rolls and Butter
  • Steamed Veggies
  • Carrot Sticks
  • Smoothies
  • Cottage Cheese
  • Canned Fruit
  • Pickles
  • Tortillas (to turn the chicken into a wrap)

How many Rotisserie Chickens does it take to feed your family?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for June 2024

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for June 2024!

With the kids home all day for summer break, running and playing hard, I feel like all they want to do is eat. We’re going through lots of fresh fruit and popcorn between meals. :)

Here’s what our total food costs looked like for June…

Big Family Grocery Spending for June 2024

1. Walmart

On June 5 we picked up some of the kids’ WIC items. While there, we stocked up on our favorite Walmart brand ice cream (Breyer’s knock-off) so we could enjoy fun treats at home during the upcoming weeks.

Total at Walmart: $24.27 (worth of ice cream, ha!)

2. Costco

Also on June 5 we went into Costco to take advantage of a diaper sale. I had a list of other items we needed, plus I searched aisles for sales on items we always use. That day I picked up two kinds of apples, pears, blueberries, raspberries, baby carrots, mandarin orange cups, applesauce pouches, ketchup, ranch, pickles, frozen green beans, pistachios, coconut rolls, sliced Havarti cheese, crackers, butter, whipping cream, half and half, coffee creamer, cream cheese, and shredded parmesan cheese.

Total for food at Costco: $227.44

3. Aldsco

Eh?? Well, Justus and Kelsey were out shopping one day and I asked them to grab us a watermelon and grapes from Costco for our Sunday lunch. They went to Aldi too and kept texting me about great produce prices there. So they grabbed cantaloupe, mushrooms, blackberries, and blueberries for us too. Great prices on fresh food for our summer meals!

Total for fruits and veggies from Aldi and Costco: $27

4. Ivanna Cone

We surprised the kids with a Trolley Ride downtown to get ice cream – a very rare treat! We told Elias and Malorie to pick whatever they wanted. For all the littles, Matt, and me – we bought a quart then divvied it up to share. This saved money and made feeding the kids much easier. (One scoop was $4+ but the quart was only $11 – so nine of us ate from that for just $1.22 each.)

Total for Ice Cream with Tip: $22

5. Sam’s

Mid-June I went to Sam’s to stock up on fresh fruit and veggies. I picked up some meat markdowns for Father’s Day, pasta sauce, hotdogs, yogurt, heavy whipping cream, avocado cups, oatmeal, cocoa powder, and water bottles.

Total for food at Sam’s: $287.59

6. Walmart

Right after Sam’s, I ran next door into Walmart for Caesar Salad (2 family-sized bags), Eggs (5 dozen), Milk (4 gallons), and Hashbrown Patties (x2). Tip: I’ve found that milk is cheaper at Walmart and Aldi compared to Sam’s and Costco. 5-dozen packs of eggs are the same price and I was out of space on my Sam’s cart that day!

Total for food at Walmart: $42.35

7. Walmart WIC

June 17, I went to Walmart and got the little girls’ WIC benefit items. They get fruits and veggies, yogurt, cheese, eggs, cereal, beans, pasta, and juice – around $190 worth of groceries. A great help to us!

8. Aldi

June 20, I went to Aldi to stock up on Fruit-Veggie Pouches that BabyBoy#11 can eat well. Grass Fed Beef was on sale for $3.99/pound, limit 4, so I grabbed those. I also picked up some Chicken Tenders and Ice Cream Sandwiches for Josie’s birthday plus Chips, Watermelon, Zucchini, Crackers, and lots of Canned Fruit/Fruit Cups in 100% juice.

Total at $124.86

9. Hy-vee

Someone blessed us with a gift card to Hy-Vee, a store I don’t normally frequent because its prices are higher. But it sure was nice to enjoy the gift card, grabbing food to meet regular needs of our household plus a few treat items for an upcoming road trip.

Total after $100 gift card: $12.12

10. Costco

The last week of June, we loaded all the kids and headed to Costco for a few Fourth of July food items plus some fun food to enjoy on a road trip. Chips were on sale, which we enjoyed on the trip plus we’ll have for upcoming picnics and summer gatherings. Our favorite Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola was available so we got it (four bags, thank you very much) while we could. I picked up Chicken Legs, Apples, Mandarin Orange Cups, Yogurt, Havarti Cheese, Half and Half, Coffee Creamer, Guacamole, Mayo, White Queso, Tuna, Mac and Cheese, plus a variety of Snacks.

Total for groceries at Costco: $319.21

11. McDonald’s

We took a two-day trip to Kansas for a family reunion and on our way home, we put in an order at McDonald’s so we could feed everyone during our last stretch. We had chips and applesauce in the van so we just picked up two 20-piece nuggets to hand out to the kids to round out their meal. Then we got burgers and chicken sandwiches for Matt, Elias, and Malorie.

Total at McDonald’s: $32.87

Total Food Costs for June: $1,121

NOTE: Without WIC and the Hy-Vee gift card: Our June total out of pocket would have been $1,421. (<— Though actually, there are items at Hy-Vee I wouldn’t have picked up had they not been a gift. And without WIC benefits I would not be buying as much cereal.) I thought it was fun to calculate that so everyone could see that even if we were paying out of pocket for all of our groceries, we still would have been right about at our new grocery budget for 2024.

Running totals for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356
April: $1148
May: 1091
June: $1,121

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Recipes That Include Bacon

by 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

If you read about our 30-pounds of bacon situation, then you know that it only makes sense that I would put together a post full of recipes that include bacon!

30-pounds of bacon, you ask?

Well, yes. Go big or go home, I guess. Matt was being extra helpful when I sent him into Sam’s to grab our favorite box of bacon. He figured we’d go through one box pretty quickly so he might as well pick up three boxes just to be sure it was enough.

I mean, we do feed 13 people daily and extra people on the regular. But 30-pounds of bacon?? Well, it’s a lot.

This is only two of our three boxes. :)

Challenge accepted.Yum

The first few days after acquiring our bulk bacon, we went all in. We made it for breakfast, the adults in our household took it for their lunches, and we made some forgotten recipes that included bacon for dinner. We had company one evening and I planned the entire meal around bacon. I handed off an entire 10-pound box to a friend. So after only five days of picking up 30-pounds of bacon? We only had 11-pound left!

At the top of our list of favorite dinner recipes that include bacon: Creamy Bacon Spaghetti.

Every person from little to big loved this, so I will be making it more often!

In case you ever find yourself in a too-much-bacon situation (is there really such a thing?) keep this post full of recipe links in your back pocket!

Recipes That Include Bacon

First of all, we make bacon bits like this, or I bake bacon in strips like this. Once I have extra bacon made, I can put together any of these great recipes:

What’s your favorite way to enjoy bacon?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Big Family Grocery Spending for March 2024

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Curious how much it cost to feed 13 people every day last month? Here’s our Big Family Grocery Spending for March 2024 post!

Big Family Grocery Spending for March 2024

Here are the details to share where we shopped, what we bought, and how much we spent on food during the month of March!

1. Super Saver

The very first day of the month, we went to Super Saver (a store we hadn’t tried out yet) to take advantage of their Mega Meat Sale. We got pork loin for just $1.58/pound, pork roast for only $1.18/pound, pork steak for $1.78/pound, plus hamburger meat marked down that ended up being $2.20/pound.

Matt spotted packages of Chicken Strips and Popcorn Chicken that ended up only costing $2.98 for a 24-ounce package (which breaks down to $1.99/pound). We bought nine packages to enjoy during the next few Friday nights. I also checked the French fries in their freezer section and found some big bags on sale at a fairly decent price so I took advantage so that I could have a night off or two. :)

Overall this store’s non-sale prices were significantly higher than what I pay at my regular stores (Costco, Sam’s, Aldi). But stopping in this time for this meat sale was worth it!!

Total at Super Saver: $108

2. Bro Time Meal

Elias and Brayden planned a meal for our family and went to the store to buy needed items to make the meal. They decided on biscuits and gravy, hashbrowns, eggs, and orange juice.

It turned out amazing and the night off was a gift to me. I had most of the necessary ingredients on hand for them to make this meal, but they did (use my credit card to) pick up biscuits, hashbrowns, and juice at the store.

Their total at the store: $18.17

3. Sam’s

March 5 I went to Sam’s with two of our girls to give them an outing and to pick up a few of the items I can only find at Sam’s plus some other staples. While I was there, I picked up two boxes of our favorite Orange Chicken so that when I needed a night off, we’d have it on hand. Cost for two boxes is a splurge at $25.96. But when compared to needing a night off and ordering take out, this is super savings!!!

Total for food at Sam’s: $204.67

4. Costco

The next day we needed diapers, plus the littles needed an outing, so we headed to Costco. Since we were there anyway and we always need fresh produce, we picked up grapes, oranges, bananas, and peanuts. (We like keeping those peanuts in the van to help with hunger meltdowns and to feed the parents who also sometimes get hungry and need to eat.)

Total for food at Costco: $31.74

5. Aldi

I hadn’t been to Aldi for a while and needed baby food pouches for our littlest plus a few of our Aldi favorites.

Total at Aldi: $76.56

6. Costco

Matt and I had decided to have a two day getaway! So, I ran in to Costco get a few convenience items for our big kids to have on hand to feed our gang while we were gone.

Costco Total: $47.26

7. Eating Out

While Matt and I were on our short getaway, would you believe that we ate out three meals but didn’t have to pay out of pocket for any of them thanks to gift cards we’d saved up for this? So thankful!!

We enjoyed Cheesecake Factory…

Good Evans…

And Culvers.

8. Costco Lunch

We’d made plans with our littles to have a special Costco lunch sometime during their spring break. So we made this happen mid-March, ordering a pizza ahead of time then ordering some hotdogs once we got there. This is about the only way we can make it work to “eat out” with our crew and the breakdown ended up being only $1.80/person for this fun lunch!

Total at Costco: $21.65 for 12 people

9. Costco

While we were there, I ran through and picked up a few items like potatoes, apples, bananas, maple syrup, and juice for picnics.

Costco grocery total: $78.01

10. Sam’s

We decided to pick up some Rotisserie chickens at Sam’s on our way home from church on March 17. Since I was in the meat aisle, I grabbed hamburger meat – the best price for the best quality that I can find in Lincoln.

Total at Sam’s: $42.68

11. Costco Stock-Up Trip

It had been quite a while since we’d done more than pick up a few items here and there during small shopping trips. So on March 22 we took our five littlest kids on a big shopping outing.

We got what we needed up and down each aisle: chicken thighs, chicken breast, organic hamburger meat, strawberries, sliced cheese, shredded cheese, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, applesauce, avocado cups, crackers, hot dogs, sour cream, ketchup, mayo, coconut oil, turkey lunch meat, tuna, cream cheese, tortelloni, butter, crackers, and pistachios.

Total at Costco: $501.69

12. Gallon of Milk

We were getting low on milk toward the end of the month but I didn’t have time to do anything about it. So Elias and Keith make a quick trip to a local grocery store close to our house to get us by until I could go to Aldi. Milk at this store was significantly more expensive than I’m used to paying at Costco, Sam’s, or Aldi so that definitely solidified these as my favorite three money-saving stores here in Lincoln!

Total at Russ’ Market: $5.02

13. Aldi Bro Time Dinner

Elias and Brayden spent another Bro Time afternoon making dinner for us. They had gone to Aldi earlier in the week to decide on what to make and to pick up needed groceries.

They made us a Taco Feast with Cinnamon Rolls for dessert.

We already had most of the needed ingredients at home, but they grabbed limes, cilantro, taco shells, cinnamon rolls, and a few other things when they were shopping.

Total from Aldi: $16.61

14. Aldi Stock Up Trip

On March 28, Matt and I loaded up our five littles and got stocked up on all of our favorite Aldi items. I bought a case each of Organic Spaghetti Sauce, Organic Salsa, and Whole Milk Yogurt. Plus we bought 5 gallons of Milk, about 15 Fruit/Veggie Pouches to try and feed the baby, Organic Spring Mix, Bananas, Blueberries, Apples, 6 containers of 100% Fruit Cups, Tortilla Chips, French Fries, Granola, Cottage Cheese, and Salami.

Total from Aldi: $203.68

Total Grocery Spending for March:

$1,356.

I stayed under budget, but barely. I felt great about this because it had been a while since I’d focused on stocking up fully on all of our staple foods. As of the end of March, we had full freezers, fridges, and pantry to get us kicked off into April!

Running total for 2024:

January: $1,178
February: $849
March: $1,356

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

5 Grocery Items I Can Only Find at Walmart

by 16 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This has been my experience: There are 5 Grocery Items I Can Only Find at Walmart.

Are these all random items? Absolutely, wait till you see! And would I surely be able to find them if I continued to drive all over Lincoln and see what my options were at all of our many different grocery stores? Maybe. But here’s what works for me:

  1. I do the majority of our grocery shopping at Costco, Sam’s, and Aldi. (None of the items I’m mentioning here today are found at those stores.)
  2. I don’t have time to check out other stores in town, especially since I’ve found my rhythm now that we’ve lived here for eight months.
  3. Even if I discovered any of these items at a different grocery store, it’s unlikely that the price would be much better and it’s not worth it for me to go to another store for just one or two items.
  4. And…while Walmart isn’t my favorite place to shop anymore (prices are overall much better at Costco, Sam’s and Aldi) – I do go to Walmart a couple of times each month.

Why do I go to Walmart every month if I don’t buy much there?

There are two reasons. One is to get these grocery items I’m about to tell you about. And the second is because our four youngest kids qualify for WIC benefits through their Foster Care or Adoption Subsidies. I’ve found that Walmart is the easiest place to shop for WIC items, especially because BabyBoy#11 has to drink Pediasure and Walmart is the only place we can find it so far.

So off to Walmart we go.

Are you ready to see the very exciting list of items I must get at Walmart? You aren’t ready for this level of excitement.

5 Grocery Items I Can Only Find at Walmart

1. Dry WHOLE Milk

There is Dry NONFAT Milk at other stores. But finding the whole milk variety was super exciting for me! Now I can make my favorite Peanut Butter Honey Puffs regularly – which I do. We love these.

This large package costs $12.44, which seems pretty expensive. But I’m still going strong on the first package I found a few weeks ago and there are many cups of this left in my pouch. This is saying something because I truly make this recipe at least once each week.

2. Jif Natural Individual Cups

Sam’s has these cups in the “regular” Jif variety – the kind with the hydrogenated oil we like to avoid. Those cups are cheaper at Sam’s, but I’m not willing to compromise on the unhealthy fat. So I pick up a couple boxes of these Jif Natural Cups at Walmart when we need them as they are fantastic to send in school lunches.

Did you know that baby carrots dipped in peanut butter is the only way to eat baby carrots? So says my eight year old daughter and I’ll certainly get behind it! Also? These don’t have to be refrigerated so typically one of these cups can be used for three of her lunches because she doesn’t eat the whole thing in one day. We just slip it into a baggie and send it back with her carrots the next day.

3. Wheat Germ

Costco, Sam’s, and Aldi don’t carry this in my area so I always get it at Walmart when I need it (which is rare). This jar lasts a long time and I use it when I make Mudballs.

4. Mr. Dell’s Shredded Hashbrowns

This 4-pound bag provides two or three casseroles or soups for us and only contain 100% frozen potatoes.

5. Walmart Markdowns

Ok, fine. Sam’s and Aldi have markdowns too. Plus Costco offers good clearance finds.

But there’s something about Walmart Markdown items that are unique and they are very fun to discover! Whenever we go to Walmart, if I have a few minutes, I walk up and down aisles to see what I can score. I also look in the refrigerated sections and end caps to see what’s waiting for me to snatch at a crazy low price!

Remember my $5.00 hams?? These were marked down after Christmas to just $0.50/pound!! Best deal on meat I’ve ever found!

During the fall, cans of Pumpkin were just $0.50/can so I bought 12.

A couple of weeks ago these super large pizzas were $6.88 or less each.

These Christmas Fudge Kits were marked down from $6.46 to just $1.50. Note that this box contained an entire package of Nestle chocolate chips which normally costs $2.98 (and the off-brand costs $2.32). So buying these kits at this price was worth it just for the chocolate!

I’ve gotten super cheap tomato sauce, marked down chicken and roasts, crazy low priced pork loin – these are all such fun finds!

Chicken breast for $1.76/pound!

It can be easy to be sucked in to buying something that’s marked down just because of the deal, so I’m careful to only get what we’ll use and what actually saves me money. But it’s very worth looking up and down (literally down as typically many of the clearance foods in the aisles are toward the bottom) to see what you might find!

Are you a Walmart shopper? What are your favorite items to get there?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!