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: