What We Spent on Groceries the Weekend of 2.7.26 (With Receipts)
Quick Answer
The weekend of February 7, 2026, we spent $519.51 on groceries and household needs across Costco, Walmart, and H-E-B. This total reflects food, health items, and household essentials for one week. One-time non-grocery purchases are clearly excluded and explained below.
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The Total (No Smoothing, No Guessing)
Here’s the full grocery + household breakdown for the week:
Costco: $226.17
Walmart (groceries + household only): $213.67
H-E-B: $79.67
Weekly total: $519.51
This is one week of spending.
Not averaged.
Not rounded.
Not “starting high so it looks easier later.”
Read the receipt transparency section below for clarity on receipt numbers.
Receipt Transparency (Important Context)
You’ll see receipts included in this post for all three stores.
One note about Walmart:
The Walmart receipt total shown is $312.67, which includes:
$90 microwave
$9 protection plan
These were subtracted from the $312 total.
Those two items are not groceries and are not included in the $519.51 total above. They were a one-time appliance replacement after our old microwave stopped working.
Everything else on the Walmart order is included.
I’m calling this out clearly because the goal of this series is accuracy, not optics.
Where the Money Actually Went
Costco — $226.17
This was a needs-based Costco run:
Meat and protein for the week
Fruit and produce for the kids
Staples and AIP-specific items for me
Yes, there were two discretionary items:
A case of Coke
A Columbia work shirt for my husband (not a need, but a brand he wears regularly)
Everything else was food we planned to eat.
Walmart — $213.67 (Groceries + Household Only)
This is just a sample of what we purchased this weekend.
Walmart covered the gaps Costco doesn’t:
Eggs, frozen vegetables, pantry staples
Kids’ food and lunch items
Health and care items (medicine, bandages, hydration support)
Household basics (soap, trash bags)
This also included Valentine’s Day candy for school celebrations, which is a seasonal expense and not something we buy weekly.
H-E-B — $79.67
A small, clean stop:
Fresh produce
A few items we prefer to buy locally rather than in bulk
No surprises here.
About “Convenience” Spending (Because This Is Where It Gets Misunderstood)
We’re not pretending convenience doesn’t exist — but we are defining it carefully.
What we don’t consider convenience:
Kids’ lunch food that gets portioned at home
Health-support items that prevent bigger issues
Seasonal purchases that happen once, not weekly
True convenience this week:
Chomps meat sticks
A few grab-and-go snack items
We also made a deliberate swap:
Buying whole almonds in bulk to stop purchasing individual snack packs
That’s the type of adjustment we’re interested in — not cutting food quality or making life harder.
Why This Total Still Felt Heavy
This wasn’t a chaotic week.
This wasn’t impulse shopping.
This wasn’t junk food overload.
It was normal life:
Feeding kids
Supporting health needs
Packing lunches
Managing a household
And $519.51 for one week still gave us pause.
Not because we think we did something wrong; but because we want to understand where the pressure actually is.
What This Week Is (and Isn’t)
This is not:
A cautionary tale
A “we failed” post
A dramatic turning point
This is:
A documented baseline
A reference point we can come back to
The start of tracking without editing the truth
If spending comes down later, it will be because something actually changed, not because the early weeks were inflated.
What We’re Paying Attention to Going Forward
We’re not cutting Costco.
We’re not cutting kids’ food.
We’re not reacting emotionally.
We are watching:
How much convenience quietly adds up
Which expenses are weekly vs seasonal
Where bulk helps and where it doesn’t
This is refinement, not restriction.
TL;DR
The weekend of February 7, 2026, we spent $519.51 on groceries and household needs. Receipts are included for transparency, and one-time appliance purchases are clearly excluded. This week sets a realistic baseline as we work toward a more sustainable grocery system.
