Hack your budget back! Join me as I try to reclaim my grocery budget. Post your shopping trip, tips for saving in the kitchen, or how you keep your grocery budget in check so we can all help each other!
My goal to hack my budget back is to spend $200 a week out of pocket on food and household goods. My household is 11 people, but Baby J doesn’t eat much so I’ll call it 10- about $20 per person per week. I’m putting in approximate prices, too.
We do get WIC, though, and I decided not to count WIC foods, though I will note it at the bottom. If you’d like more info on why I buy the kinds of foods I do, (spending more for antibiotic/hormone free meat, for example) read my Real Food Manifesto.
Also, I’m not starting with an empty pantry and an empty fridge. I have a lot of staples on hand- salsa, baking goods, rice, etc.- that will show up in my meal plans. But later I’ll have to replace them so it should work out in the final tallys.
Budget Meal Plan:
1. Pot roast with potatoes and carrots
2. Pasta salad (I have the cutest snowman pasta shapes I was saving for New Year’s Eve – but we were sick. So we’re having them this week w/ 1 lb. grilled chicken breast, white beans, tomatoes, cukes, salad mix, and creamy onion dressing. Ingredients from pantry.)
3. Roast chicken, sesame garlic green beans, rice
4. Lentil enchiladas, refried beans (Sour cream, lentils, rice, chiles from pantry)
5. Meat pies (pierogies? pasties? empanadas?) w/ ground beef, potatoes, leftovers if any.
6. Chicken tortilla soup (using bones/leftovers from Day 3)
7. Dirty rice (ground beef, rice, garlic, spinach, carrot slivers.)
Lunches: burritos, macaroni and cheese, egg fried rice, quesadillas, homemade “ramen”.
What I spent: $199
Whew! Barely made it- and I only managed because I put a package of apples back at Costco.
Costco: $84
20 lbs. organic, frozen veggies (green beans, broccoli, Normandy mix, and mixed veggies) $25.50
2 organic chickens (11 lbs. total @$2.29/lb) $25.50
4 jars all natural applesauce (47 oz. each) $8
1 lb. container organic spring mix salad $4
10 lbs. organic carrots $6
2.5 lbs. celery sticks $3.50
40 oz. bag organic tortilla chips $4.60 (tortilla chips are a staple at my house!)
2 lbs. Tillamook mild cheddar $7
Kroger $52
I stocked up on beef- my store was running Nolan Ryan beef at 40% off.
6 lbs. antibiotic/hormone free 85/15 ground beef $18.50
9 lbs. antibiotic/hormone free boneless chuck roast $27.50
2 6-packes 7-UP, 17.9 oz bottles (husband’s comfort food when he’s sick) $4.50
Softsoap .88
99 Ranch Market (local Asian supermarket) $19
5 lbs. red skinned potatoes $1.80
9 lbs. cuties, $9
12 lbs. yellow onions $5.20
Japanese style noodles, 12 oz. $1.20
Rice sticks, $1.80
HEB – $44
HEB was having a great deal- buy a gallon of milk, get a dozen eggs free~ and they were the fancy eggs I like to buy, from vegetarian fed-antibiotic-hormone free hens. Also they had SmartTaste pasta for $1 a box- it has 5 grams of fiber and isn’t as heavy as whole wheat, so it’s our preferred brand for making macaroni and cheese.
4 gallons whole milk $15
4 doz. eggs (FREE!)
4 lbs. sugar $2.30
2 cartons oatmeal, 42 oz. $5
12 oz. cocoa powder $2.30
4 boxes SmartTaste elbow macaroni $4
8 lbs. dry pinto beans $6
8 oz. organic white sesame seeds from bulk bin $2.25
10 lbs. organic russet potatoes, $6
50 ct. sandwich bags $1.30
WIC:
2 lbs. cheese, 4 packages whole wheat tortillas, 2 pints raspberries, 1.5 lb. roma tomatoes
Share your grocery Budget Hacks!
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Linking up!
Karen (1)
Raso @ lasagnarec... (1)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you! You have motivated me to work on my food plan and to create my menu, which I always seem to procrastinate on =)
I need to get a post on this knocked out. I should also go to the grocery store, first.
On Day 5, you can try Nebraska style runza’s…. they’re a staple in our house… simple bread dough with onions, ground beef, spices, cabbage rolled into it and baked. brush with some melted butter and garlic and pop into the oven, and you get what looks like little loaves of bread with deliciousness inside.
I need to make a conscious effort to get costs back under control, things have gotten a little wild around here while I had a major project under way. But I notice that you paid $2.29/lb for your Costco organic chickens. I say this a lot, and you are probably sick of hearing it, but if you buy them by the case it goes down to $1.74. We live on Costco chicken! I roast, fry, broil and grill and then cook the bones for bone broth.
I am also planning on ordering some ground beef. Hubs and are talking about either 50# or #100 from US Wellness. The 75% lean ($5.54/lb) is less money than the 85% ($6.28/lb) , a lot less, but it still a major investment. Eeek!
Since everyone is totally gonna go buy cases of organic chickens, I want folks to save the skin, bones, neck and whatever to make fabulouso bone broth. It is full of protein and mineral and tastes great and makes your meat budget go further. I have occupied the soap box long enough, it is someone else’s turn!
Ditto Dyno-mom. I only purchase by the case now! Such a HUGE savings!
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