Publix Grocery Haul & Meal Plan

As talked about in my post about Sales Shopping, it is possible to stick to your grocery budget, even if you’re shopping at a higher-end store. It takes a little investment of time, and some creativity, but it’s certainly possible.

To demonstrate, I did a shop at our local Publix, using the week’s sales flier, and digital coupons available via Club Publix.

Now, I know… maybe you don’t have a Publix near by. Or maybe this precise weekly sale is off by the time you read this. No worries! The same principles about shopping the current sales and planning around them still holds. So use this particular week as the jumping off point/potential inspiration for your own sales shopping.

I spent $82 on a week’s groceries for two adults. This includes some snacks, and exactly no dried beans. No beans at all, actually. Mmmm… except for green beans, but those are veggies.

A few items of note:

• This week, Del Monte canned veggies were 10 for $10, which beats out all other brands for price.
• Cheez-Its are 2 for $4, with a $1 coupon when buying two boxes. Snacks!! A little happy snack should always be included in a budget shop. Something that brings joy. We like Cheez-Its.
• Ham was $1.49 per pound and was the primary protein for the week. However, we can’t possibly burn through a 7-pound ham just the two of us, so half of it was put in the freezer for later.
• The Cabot block cheeses are BOGO. We bought two because at $2.75 for a pound of cheese, we can grate or slice our own for recipes.
• For those not in the know, if Publix is running a BOGO, the item will ring up half price. You don’t have to buy both items. So if Biscoff Cookies are BOGO and regularly $3.79, you will only pay $1.90 for one sleeve. (Which I did… because yum!)
• Not all BOGO are a better price than the in-house brand. The BOGO Quaker oatmeal packets are the same price as the in-house Publix brand. However, Quaker’s box only has 8 packets to Publix’s 10 packets.
• I did not buy butter or onions, although I used them in this meal plan. I’d just bought both a few days before and didn’t care to waste food I could not use before it goes.
• I also assumed that most households have basic staples available such as: salt, pepper, and some variety of cooking oil.
• This is just what I purchased as an example. Some items can absolutely be removed if disliked, or to make room for other sales items. Fried onions and cream soups were also on BOGO if anyone wanted to make a green bean casserole instead of having Cheez-Its.
• There will be extra ingredients that go unused and added to the pantry. Half of the ham was frozen, as was one of the packages of hot dogs. Not all of the pasta was used this week and joined the pantry stock. Some of the canned vegetables might became pantry stash also, others were added to a meal to make it more filling.
• The Smithfield brand sausage that was BOGO was sold out, except for the Hot variety. So recipes mentioning Spicy Sausage are using that.
• The Greenwise Gala apples on BOGO were also sold out, so three regular Galas were bought instead. But they are much larger fruits than we could eat alone, so we went halvsies on them.

The Haul:

• 4 Mueller Pasta ($3.50)
• 2 Stahl Hot Dog Packages ($1.59)
• 1 Kraft Mac n Cheese ($.75)
• 1 Biscoff Cream Cookies Sleeve ($1.90)
• 1 Philadelphia Cream Cheese ($1.71)
• 1 Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice ($1.37)
• 1 Idaho Instant Potatoes Package ($.74)
• 7-lb Boneless Ham ($9.15)
• 2- 8 oz Cabot Cheese Blocks ($2.75)
• 1 Hillshire Farms Smoked Sausage [Cajun Flavor] ($2.63)
• ½ Gallon Publix Whole Milk ($2.77)
• 1 Box Publix Honey Nut Oats Cereal ($2.24)
• 1-45 oz Jar of Prego Spaghetti Sauce ($2.35)
• 2 Boxes of Cheez-Its ($3.00)
• 1 Can of Bumble Bee Light Tuna ($1.19)
• 1 Box of Community Coffee K-Pods ($3.75)
• 1 Can Publix Tomato Soup ($.87)
• 1 Can Hunts Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes ($.81)
• 1 Jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter ($1.71)
• 1 Box of Publix Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal Packets ($1.96)
• 1 Roll of Smithfield Sausage [Hot Variety] ($2.50)
• 2.46 lbs Sweet Potatoes ($1.70)
• 1- 32 oz Container of Chobani Yogurt [Vanilla] ($3.05)
• 2 lbs Publix Baby Carrots ($2.58)
• 1 Can Progresso Clam Chowder ($1.55)
• 1 Loaf of Nature’s Own Honey Wheat Bread ($1.71)
• 1- 8 oz Container of Sliced Baby Bella Mushrooms ($2.00)
• 1 Fresh Express Salad Kit ($2.75)
• 1 Head of Celery ($1.50)
• 3 Gala Apples ($2.83)
• 1- 3 lb Bag of Red Navel Oranges ($3.00)
• 10 Del Monte Vegetables [1 sliced potatoes, 3 sweet peas, 3 green beans, 2 mixed vegetables, 1 sweet corn] ($10.00)

Total (pre-tax): $81.79

Savings: $69.83

Time Spent: 2.5 hours

Savings/Time: $27.93/hr.

Q: Why didn’t you spring for bananas, Momma? They’re always the cheapest fruit.

A. Momma is brutally allergic to bananas and has gotten rather fond of breathing.