Starting the year right! (Wednesday Weekly Shopping)

I invite you to link up to your best grocery deals below, to inspire others to save more!

This week, I got the year off to a good start by staying under budget! I give myself $80 per week to purchase groceries, paper and plastic goods, and health and beauty items for my family of 5 - my husband, me, and our daughters ages 15, 12, and 7.

Could I afford more? Yes, I probably could. But I like the challenge of keeping myself to a specific amount while not compromising the quality of our diet. And I like saving the extra money, too!

Here's what I got this week:

Publix: Spent $4.34, saved $29.48

ALDI: Spent $40.22

I took another trip to ALDI with my three daughters and spent $25.65 on milk, bread, juice, tortillas, and several other things that I normally wouldn't buy, like donuts and bagels. Proof you should keep the kids home when you bargain shop!

Overall, this week I spent $70.21 for items which retail for $99.69, or a 30% savings based on the retail value of the products at the stores where they were purchased.

For the year (1 week), I spent $70.21 for items which retailed for $99.69 and saved $29.48, or a 30% savings. That's an average of $70.21 spent each week for a family of five (husband, wife, and daughters ages 15, 12, and 7), including lots of fresh produce, dairy items, and kosher meat, as well as paper and plastic goods, health and beauty items, and cleaning supplies.

In 2011, I spent $4,017.13 for items which retailed for $7,344.08, saving 45% and spending an average of $77.25 per week for the year.

In 2012, I spent $4,007.13 for items which retailed for $7,591.37, saving 47% and spending an average of $77.06 per week for the year.

How did your shopping go this week? What bargains did you get? Please leave a link to your blog post about your weekly shopping. The aim is not to brag, but to inspire! Please link up directly to your post, not to the blog itself. I'd appreciate it if you put a link to Wednesday Weekly Shopping in your post as well. If you don't have a blog, please leave a comment!

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For more great shopping deals and trips, please check out the bloggers listed in my Linkup Parties page under Shopping Deals Linkups. I'm sure you'll find lots of great ideas on saving money on groceries!

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