Grocery Shopping with 5 little kids

100 Days of Camping Day #20

Today's topic seems so mundane I almost didn't write it.  But then again, it's a question I get surprisingly often, so why not?  Who wants to go to the grocery store with me and my 5 kids?

First off, I have to warn you that it's inevitable that someone will say "You've got your hands full!"  Verbatim.  Every time.  So let's keep a tally and see how many times we hear it this time.  Okay, only once.  But it did happen.

Parking close to the front usually isn't an option, but if we can park next to the stall, that's ideal because we can put the kids in the car, then unload the groceries, and not have to leave them for a minute while we take the shopping cart back after the trip.

Having a big family and a tight budget, or even just wanting to save a money in general means that you need to buy in bulk.  Winco is one of the best places to do this in Southern California, so we'll go there.  Afterwards we'll stop in at Ralphs really quick because they have a great clearance section at the back of the store.  They often have whole-wheat buns and older produce they need to clear out, so I like to check there.  Ralphs is the closest grocery store to Wilderness Lakes.

We spent $101 at Winco and $12 at Ralphs. This was the big grocery store trip of the week.  We often do a smaller one mid-week, and we spend about $600-$700 a month, depending on the sales, how busy we are, and who does the shopping.  When I go, we save more, Michael spends a little more (I don't complain because he usually gets really yummy stuff), when we go together we spend the most.