Again.. In Praise of the .99 store

After doing the All you grocery challenge, our cupboard was empty.  Immediately after it ended, I shopped for about a months worth of groceries, however, we ate it all!

Last night, facing an empty cupboard, I made THE LIST of everything that usually lives in our cupboard...

For those of you who do not read this on LJ, and don't care what's on the list, scroll on down.

2 large cans crushed tomatoes
2 cans crushed tomatoes with onions and garlic
2 can tomato sauce
2 cans tomato paste
2-4 cans of Rotel tomatoes (When they are on sale, I buy them a case at a time because when they aren't they are $3/can)
2-4 cans vegetarian, fat free refried beans
2-4 cans sugar free Hunts spaghetti sauce (when it's on sale, I will buy a case)
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans navy beans
2 cans black beans
2-4 packages of chicken broth (usually the shelf stable large cartons)
2-4 boxes of muffin or quickbread mix
2-4 boxes of cake mix
various canned soups and chilis
Tuna in pouches
Cereal
instant oatmeal
Tortillas
dried peas
BBQ sauce
Salad dressing
Misc. Condiments (Mustard, ketchup, mayo)
Spice packets (taco seasoning is the biggie around here)
Of that list, I had less than 5 items on that list.  I  took the list, packed up my re-usable grocery bags (including the padded zip top ones for frozen stuff) and hit the 99 cents only in Fletcher hills!

I bought a cart full of food, 54 items for $50.29.  I had to pick up a few other things at the grocery store (like milk!), so while I was there, I had my 99 cents only receipt with me, so, I did some comparison shopping.  By shopping at 99 cents only, I saved over $200.  Here are just a few things I saved BIG on:

Vons price                                                   How many I bought at the 99 cents for for .99/each
Bagged salad $2.49/bag                                                                   3
Nancy's Frozen Quiche $4.99/box of 12                                           1
Nancy's Black Tie Party Appetizer tray (48 pieces) $13.99              1
Farmer John Sausage $1.50/package                                              3
Frozen berries $3/bag                                                                       3
Orvel Redinbocker popcorn $3.50/box                                              2
Hunts canned tomatoes- large cans $2.50/each                               2
Plums  $2.99/lb - my bag was 1.5 lbs                                                1
Nectarines $2.99/lb  my bag was 1.5lbs                                            1
Starkist Tuna in a pouch $3/ each                                                      2
Campbell cream of chicken soup $1.99/each                                    2
Pepperidge farms stuffing $3.49/each                                               1
Progresso Brand Chicken broth $3.99/each                                      3


Those were the biggies.  Most everything else I saved $1-2/item on, so things, like the Hunts tomato paste (the ones in the tiny cans), were the same price as the grocery store.

So, yes, you can get name brand food at the 99 cent store!