It’s Winco Haul Time!
by Katy on September 4, 2025 · 18 comments
My refrigerator had once again attained “impressive echo” status, so I jotted down a grocery list and drove myself over to employee owned Winco Foods. I ended up with a few unplanned items, but only because they were on sale. (Winco keeps prices low by not advertising.) This is why I picked up pasta, (99¢) cream cheese, (88¢) string cheese, ($1.98) macaroni and cheese, (98¢) and mini cucumbers, ($1.78.)
My list:
The grand total for everything? $40.99! This should get us though until next week.
Other methods that I use to keep our food spending low:
• I buy our bread from the Franz Bakery outlet when it’s $1/loaf on the first Saturday of the month.
• I hit Fred Meyer’s (Kroger) produce clearance shelf whenever I shop there. It can be hit or miss, but always worth a look see.
• We buy certain items at Costco such as cooking oils, frozen berries, eggs, rotisserie chicken.
• I keep an eye out for and stock up on loss leader items from the corporate chains.
• I forage and freeze blackberries during the summer months.
• I shop at Asian grocery stores for specialty items.
• I steer clear of pricier produce such as berries, fancy apples and out of season asparagus.
How are you doing with food prices?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Yesterday, at Market Basket, I found a 16-bag of Kingsford charcoal on the clearance rack for $5.99. The bag was torn open, but it still looked full. When I got home, I weighed it, and it was indeed the full 16 pounds. We spent $40, total.
2. Today, my partner works his job where he gets a free CSA box. That will keep us in veg until I leave on Sunday for a work trip-cum-vacation. For the next 9 days, all of my food consumption (here I come croissants, cafe au lait, and local specialties from Flanders) will be paid by work.
3. Today, I’m doing a mystery shop that requires purchasing both chicken and ground meat (reimbursed). I’ll do another on Sunday.
4. The mystery shop also requires that we buy some products that we use infrequently, so I called my parents and they will take those foods, so a win-win.
5. Harvested a volunteer spaghetti squash from the garden, and used basil, parsley, and mint from the garden as well.
Bonus: making inexpensive meals like congee (with homemade stock), homemade pizza, and Buddha bowls.
Beginning with the frugal fail, I managed to completely ignore the fact that a doctor’s appointment in town with a fasting blood component meant I should make my own coffee at home and have something to eat afterwards. Enjoyed eggs and coffee from Starbucks, but not spending money!
Managed to invent some peanut noodles that I really like. That has been three meals on very little input.
Had a realization that if oldest intact undies no longer fit because they and I have changed, a simple seam in a strap or a side of a garment will bring them back to happy use!
Got things out of the kitchen cupboard for donation.
Covered my garden of pots on the porch since temperatures were predicted to be 37 F last night and I am hoping to bring these large Cherry tomato plants into the house for the winter. Last year, I had a golden cherry tomato that supplied us with amusing and delicious eating and I’m hoping that will work again this year.
Harvested two garlics that had grown in the pot along with the tomatoes in my room.
Thanking everybody on this list for the inspiration to keep going when times feel hard. What a great community!
Kathryn, I love your spunk!
I have a strict budget for groceries. I try very hard to stay under $100 a month. I live alone, and I don’t count household supplies in this budget. Also, if I am hosting, I count that in my gift budget.
I get help from a little free pantry. This is new to me. I never felt food insecure before, but this administration has me running scared. I live on Social Security and I a tiny payout from a modest retirement fund. My income is just high enough that I don’t qualify for many programs. So I use the pantry, always mindful of others, especially the homeless. I don’t take anything that can be eaten on foot. I take canned and frozen food and ingredients. I do this on my walks, maybe a couple times a week.
I shop at Aldi, my main store. Once a month I shop at Jewel, an Albertsons store, because there I can use my rewards from my Advantage plan — $10 a month for self-reported exercise. I go to Walmart when I run out of bread, because I love their $1 French bread (which is now $1.49).
I shop once a week. Sometimes there are four shopping days in the month, and sometimes five. So for each trip I have a $20 or $25 limit. I select items from my perpetual shopping list (which I keep on the phone) and I stop when I have reached the limit. No, I never get everything on the list, but this keeps me using my noggin to come up with creative meals.
Of course I cook from scratch as much as I can. Prepared food would shatter my budget quickly.
Beth, your planning and fortitude are impressive!
99c for Barille pasta is a steal!
* I was shopping at Tesco and the lady at the self checkout beside me asked if she could “borrow” my clubcard as she was buying some items that had a reduction for clubcard holders only. I did of course oblige – she got her items cheaper and I got 80 points on my clubcard!
* I sold a rather awful decorative figurine on Vinted. Absolutely delighted to have it out of the house (it was an unwanted present)!
* There was an avocado in the latest Aldi Too Good To Go box that turned out to be rotten. Inspired by a recent post by Katy I have peeled the pit and put it in a glass of water (with toothpicks) in the hope that it will sprout! Fingers crossed.
* Made another batch of homemade greeting cards using sea glass that I collect from the beaches in Ireland.
* It is such a good year for apples, we have an absolute abundance of apples at the moment! I find it incredible that last year we had exactly 4 apples and this year there are about 400 … I don’t understand what would have caused this huge difference and I guess I will never know. I already made: apple sauce (4 large jars), apple pancakes, apple crumble (gluten free), apple strudel, apple cake bars.
Biennial bearing is a pretty common occurance for apple trees. If you want to help avoid it, you need to thin the buds on the heavy years. It is because this year (for example) is producing SO much fruit, that it saps the energy from next year.
I have read that these are one of the reasons for biennial bearing. It appears that the native bees that were designed to pollinate these things pollinate less of the buds. The European bees overpollinate. This results in biennial bearing. Caveat: I do not bear fruit and am not an expert, just an interested bystander.
Thank you BettafromdaVille and Kathryn! It would be nice to spread it out more evenly so I might try thinning the buds the next heavy year (which should be 2027 if it’s every 2nd year). I guess we will have no harvest again next year 🙁
Or, BEES are one of the reasons, as it left my mouth…
I’m looking at your Winco haul, and I see that you’re not a big consumer of convenience foods. To me, one of the best frugal skills is to know how to cook. I was talking to one of my adult(ish) kids yesterday, and they were ranting about how their roommates buy pre-made foods and order DoorDash, and then complain about how little money they have. It was music to this frugal mother’s ears. I’m so proud.
I’m doing OK with food prices. I use the same tricks you do. I’ve noticed that the craziest prices at the grocery store are for some of the highly processed foods like chips and cookies and breakfast cereals and soda. I am happy replacing those items with popcorn, homemade cookies, oatmeal and water. I buy processed food only if it is deeply discounted on clearance. Fred Meyer just sent me coupons that are customized based on my shopping habits. They’re all for whole foods, like vegetables and eggs. They know me well.
I’m not a big fan of “hustle culture”, but this is the time of year when I’m hustling, because there is SO MUCH FREE FRUIT!! I’m busy getting things into jars. The effort will be worth it over the next year as I eat up my goodies.
Totally agree that the ability to cook – with or without a recipe- is a big money saver and also helps eliminate food waste. I do try to have a TJ frozen entree in the freezer for times when I just can’t cook and need a treat. Mostly we have pretty basic meals and find that most restaurants can’t duplicate the quality so we don’t eat out much. If we do eat out, it is a mom and pop ethnic restaurant for something we don’t cook at home. I can’t imagine how families can afford to eat out as a way of life.
Grocery prices are crazy expensive (contrary to the propaganda that prices are coming down). This week tiny broccoli crowns (not organic) were $1.99 at Meijer (a large supermarket chain in the midwest)!
We grow vegetables. Picked berries. Shop sales. I have frozen and canned vegetables that we grew or got for the lowest price. I have gotten free produce and eggs from neighbors. We have a table at church where we take extra produce or food items we don’t eat and I have gotten canned items from that.
I always shop with a list, stock up on loss leaders, load digital coupons, check ibotta for rebates, and scan my receipts into Fetch and Swagbucks. I love when I can stack sale, digital coupon, and rebates in 2 different apps. Feels like I’m winning at groceries lol.
I know where the clearance sections are at every store I shop at, and do a quick loop to check them all out before I start my actual shopping. Sometimes my entire list and menu will change if I find something good marked down.
I try to shop early in the morning when the meat is marked down, and if I find a good deal grab extra to throw in the deep freeze. Even if I’m shopping later in the day I always cruise by meat just to check.
Hate to waste food I’ve already paid for, so I try to always have a plan for leftovers. Fried rice, quesadillas, and breakfast bowls are my family’s fave ways to eat leftovers, so I make sure to keep the basic ingredients in the pantry.
forgot to add – we were camped in the Columbia Gorge this summer, and the foraging at camp was amazing. We stuffed ourselves with marionberries, blackcaps, and blackberries, and anything we couldn’t eat was tossed into a freezer bag that I used in smoothies after we got home. I miss the Northwest foraging I grew up with!
We keep our budget down with many of the same tricks. I always start with a basic meal plan even if it is just “tuber Tuesday” instead of a specific recipe. That helps create a grocery list of foods I know we’ll eat. We thankfully have room in the budget and in the house to buy staples when they are on sale – like your pasta haul. We use digital coupons and apply rewards to the grocery bill. I don’t cross shop at too many other stores because I want to support (and like) our local grocery chain over big national chains. Since we cook at home and like ethnic food (always tasty, mostly inexpensive ingredients like beans and veg), I do go to a couple of ethnic stores for spices and specialty ingredients. Always cheaper than a national chain if you can even find what you need there. Using up sad produce rather than throwing it away is a great technique too. So smoothies, banana bread, fruit crisps. Also having a taste for veg that is filling but inexpensive. I have a mean curried turnip recipe for example. We were on a high protein diet for a while because dh needed more during a medical issue. It was very expensive! Thankfully, we can now use meat more as a garnish and get sufficient protein from other foods.
Neighborhood store always has discount/reduced priced dairy. I never pay more than $0.99/gallon of milk & just scored 15 dozen free range large brown eggs for $8.99!!! Yes, that’s a lot of eggs, but so versatile & healthy, especially when feeding a dual athlete preteen this fall sport season.
I just bought 25 lb bags of flour, pinto beans and sugar. I have food grade 5 gallon buckets with the gamma lids. I freeze all of it for 24 hours and they’ll last in the buckets perfectly.
This is peak produce season in our garden and my friends gardens. Which means that I have bought a single piece of produce except for potatoes for the last 2 months. That really helps the bills.
When I’m away helping with grandchildren, dh buys a Costco pizza which lasts him for 4 dinners. Cheap and so easy.