February Grocery Recap

(I needed something life-affirming this week. A potted tulip from WinCo was just the thing. I'll transplant these beauties into a pot on the deck later Thursday, so that they will slowly develop over the next month.)

Here we are, in the last week of February. Once again, it's time to wrap up my grocery spending for the month. I shopped twice this month: once, with a curbside pick-up at Walmart, spending $99.81; the second time, in-person at WinCo, spending $84.85, for a total of $184.66.

Here's what I bought, what it cost and where I bought it all:

2 boxes crackers, $1.78 & $1.68, Walmart

2 boxes graham crackers, $1.71 ea, WinCo

1 box animal cookies, $1.38, WinCo

80-ct corn tortillas, $2.18, WinCo

16-oz pretzels, $1.52, Walmart

9-oz bag oyster crackers, 80 cents, Walmart

12-oz bag oyster crackers, $1.18, WinCo

2 jars instant Folger's decaf, $6.32 ea, Walmart

2 jars instant Folger's decaf, $6.54 ea. WinCo

large jar Folger's reg, $8.65, WinCo

ketchup, 88 cents, WinCo

yellow mustard, 78 cents, WinCo

3 cans olives, $1.26 ea, Walmart

4 cans olives, 98 cents ea, WinCo

garlic powder, 98 cents, Walmart

1 package hot dog buns, 88 cents, Walmart

1 small bag mini powdered sugar donuts, 1 small bag chocolate donuts, $1 ea, Walmart

64 oz cranberry-black cherry juice cocktail, $1.78, Walmart

2-lb bag frozen broccoli cuts, $2 Walmart

2-lb bag frozen broccoli cuts, $2.30, WinCo

2 bags frozen mushrooms, $1.98 ea, Walmart

8 Roma tomatoes, 15 cents/lb, Walmart
1 head green cabbage, 58 cents/lb, Walmart

2 heads green cabbage, 78 cents/lb, WinCo
15 bananas, 42 cents/lb, Walmart and WinCo

3 heads iceberg lettuce, 25 cents ea, Walmart

5 avocados, 68 cents ea, Walmart

3 avocados, 58 cents ea, WinCo
6 lbs clementines, $5.96, Walmart
3 lbs fuji apples, $3.17, Walmart

two 3-lb bags fuji apples, $2.58 ea, WinCo
1 bundle organic celery, $1.26, Walmart

1 bundle celery, 98 cents, WinCo

2 green peppers, 73 cents ea, Walmart

3 green peppers, 38 cents ea, WinCo

2 lbs fresh carrots, $1.34, Walmart

5 lbs fresh carrots, $2.48, WinCo

6 oz dried apricots, $2.87, Walmart
24 oz dried cranberries, $4.94, Walmart

5 oz dried cherries, $2.98, Walmart

5 dozen eggs, $4.75, Walmart

2 dozen eggs, 98 cents ea, WinCo
7 gals 2% milk, 2 gal whole milk (for yogurt), $2.18 ea, Walmart and WinCo

2-lb block of cheddar cheese, $5.51, WinCo

1-lb block sharp cheddar cheese, $3.36, Walmart

2-lb bag shredded mozzarella cheese, $6.28, WinCo
pint whipping cream, $1.98, Walmart

2 packages turkey kielbasa, $3.16 ea, Walmart

2 packages turkey smoked sausage, $2.48 ea, WinCo

36-ct, turkey breakfast sausage links, $4.48, WinCo

21-oz pack pepperoni, $6.32, Walmart

You may not realize this, but I post these grocery lists for myself as well as you, friends. I find interesting insights in my own grocery shopping, sometimes helping me shop smarter in the next month. WinCo doesn't list any prices online, so I only know the cost of each item when I'm actually in the store. Pricing between Walmart and WinCo is very competitive on many items. However, there are a few things where I could save a bit of money by buying them at one store over the other. I'll be keeping that in mind the next time I need to shop. 

I haven't bought much meat in a while. Neither Walmart nor WinCo are my favorite places for buying meat. Next month I'll shop specifically for meat, going to another store. 

So, maybe you're wondering why I went to WinCo for my second shopping this month. My last batch of whole milk yogurt only partially set. I don't know what went wrong, but one thought was Walmart's milk supplier has changed their process (using a higher temp for pasteurizing could be an issue). I wanted to try WinCo's milk for my next batch. I also wanted to shop at a store that wasn't part of a mega-chain. During this past year, there's been a huge shift of wealth toward corporations like Walmart, Amazon, Target, Home Depot, etc. I don't want to lose the smaller venues, so I'll be trying to shop at more of the stores that I especially don't want to lose, WinCo being one of them. (WinCo is a chain store in both the western and central US, but they are employee-owned, which is a good thing for economy diversity in supermarkets.)