Audra from Ohio updates us on her pantry challenge today…
Hi there! My name is Audra, I’m from Ohio and am doing an Aldi challenge this month to restock my pantry, save money, and check out Aldi’s products. I’m still using up the last bits of produce from my garden, but all of my grocery shopping for our family of 3 will be done at Aldi’s this month!
This week I visited Aldi to restock my pantry after having to throw out lots of items due to a pantry moth invasion. I don’t normally spend this much money at the grocery in one go, but I feel like I brought home a lot of food for the money I spent!
Here’s what I bought:
Fruits and Veggies, $17.79
Pantry Staples, $35.74
Dairy and Cold Food (frozen spinach not pictured), $32.74
Dried Fruit, Nuts, Canned Goods, and Bread, $29.58
Alcohol, Snacks, and Other, $32.91
Total Spent (with tax) $146.22
One thing I’m happy to see at Aldi are the fair trade and organic items. For example, this trip I was able to buy organic quinoa, brown rice, shredded coconut, yogurt, almond milk, bread, canned tomatoes, tortilla chips, bananas, baby spinach, multi-colored baby carrots, and pears! I also bought brown and regular sugar that are both organic and free trade. According to this website, 80% of the sugar we eat is produced here in America, but for imported sugar it’s much better for the farmers and the environment to buy fair trade.
Most of the snacks and alcohol were for a party we hosted. I made warm spinach dip with tortilla chips, cheese and crackers (I love the Kerrygold Dubliner cheese!), and a cookie plate with the milk-chocolate butter cookies and pumpkin spice pretzels (which were both delicious). Friends and family brought the rest of the food to share and we didn’t even end up opening the wine or beer because they also brought some beer from our local brewery!
Here’s my upper pantry all stocked up! I put the flour and powdered sugar in canisters right away, and the rest of the sealed items I’ll be putting into jars or canisters as soon as I open them. I never want to have to go through the pantry moth extermination process again!
I’m curious, what items do you feel are worth buying organic and which ones aren’t worth the extra money? I like the taste of organic bananas much better than regular, but I never buy organic avocados.
~ Audra from Ohio
A big THANK YOU to everyone who sent in their photos for the $20/$20 Challenge in 2015. I hope by sharing those pantry pictures and organization stories, you were able to gain a little useful information. The challenge might be over, but I’d love to still see those pantries! If you’re willing to share, I’m willing to share, so keep ’em coming. If I end up using your submission, you score a $20 Amazon gift card!
If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop, pantry or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:
- Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so, show me some picture of how you are going about it.
- Your Pantry Pics – Pictures of your pantry/fridge/cabinets, as well as a short blurb {at the very least} about you and your food habits.
- Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
- Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
- Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
- Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.
You’ll need to send in a Minimum of 5 HIGH QUALITY pictures and the stories to go along with those pictures. Do not send in a couple of grainy photos and a sentence about them. I can’t post that. It doesn’t make for an interesting or informative story.
If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com. You can send your submissions to me at onehundreddollarsamonth @ gmail.com {spaces removed} and be sure and put Mavis Mail in the subject line. Thank you. I’m looking forward to your submissions.
Go HERE for the official rules.
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