Hello Everyone – Laura over at Organizing Junkie asked how much each person spends a week for groceries and tips to save money. On of my favorite topics!!
My Best Tips for Saving Money on Groceries
#1 – Menu Planning and buy only what you need! I also base my menus on meat I have on hand or is on sale.
#2 – Shop every two to three weeks – less times a month in the store = less opportunities to spend money!
#3 – Make your own/cook from scratch whenever you can.
#4 – Freeze Extra Produce before it goes bad. I just froze a number of peppers from our garden.
#5 – Eat Your Leftovers or Use for Lunches
Below is my menu for the next two weeks. I spent a total of $97.91 for the next two weeks of our menu. I spent 82.04 at Aldi and another $15.87 at Festival. I am having another week where I planned my meals around what is in the freezer. I buy meat when it is one sale and stock up. I am pretty stocked on Chicken and Hamburger. I have cooked and uncooked chicken and hamburger ready to go. I was happy with staying with in my budget. It has gotten to be a bit of a game for me. If you would have said that a year ago I would be feeding my family of 5 or 6 people for less than $50.00 a week, I would laugh!! But all the things I have learned from various blogs and internet sites has really helped me stream line this area of our budget. I buy very little processed food and cook from scratch most of the time.
Many times I am able to stretch my grocery shopping an additional week by utlizing my leftovers well. I am hoping the menu plan below will actually last 3 weeks!
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Friday – 19th – Make Your Own Sandwich Platter/Chips and Dip
Sat – 20 – Rotisserie Chicken/ Mac and Cheese/ Mashed Pots with Gravy
Sun – 21 – Slow Cooked Steak -(crockpot 6-8 hrs) – Parmesan Noodles and Veggies
Mon – 22 – Chicken Pot Pies – (D)*
Tues – 23 – Taco Cresent Bake/ Vegetable
Wed – 24th – Easy Parmesan Garlic Chicken/Box Potato or rice/Vegetable
Thursday – 25th – Paul’s Choice – (D)*
Friday – 26th – Crockpot – Versatile Slow Cooker Chili/ Corn Bread
Saturday – 27th – Crockpot Sloppy Joes/ Chips and Dip
Sunday – 28th – Hashbrown Soup/Biscuits
Monday – 29th – Paul Cooking (D)*
Tuesday – Chicken and Noodles /Vegetable
Wednesday – 31st – Leftovers or Sandwiches
Thursday- November 1st – Crustless Quiche x 2 and Bacon
Friday – 2nd – Turkey Cheese Rolls/ Artichoke Dip and Chips/Snack Crackers
Saturday – 3rd – Sticky Chicken – Potatoes and Gravy
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New Reccipes from Last Week That Were a Hit (Add to my Online Cookbook)
Scalloped Potatoes and Ham/ Apple Crumble – The Apple Crumble was requested and made again this weekend for Dessert!
Slow Cooked Steak -(crockpot 6-8 hrs) – Fix-It and Forget It – 5 Ingredient Favorites pg 88
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Meals/Items Not Made Last Week – Carry Over
Other back up quick meals……
Chicken Nuggets/Fries
Garlic Chicken Skillet (frozen bag meal)
Frozen Pizza
D = Dad is cooking that night as I am not home for supper
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Are you struggling to figure out what to cook for supper??? Join us in planning our menus each Monday. Stop over to Laura’s Blog “Organizing Junkie!” and see what is on all of our menus and find new great recipes to try!!
Thanks for sharing, Jen! Jenn
thanks for all of those wonderful tips!! You have a wonderful extended meal plan too. have a wonderful week.
Wow: I am so impressed with people who can be this organized and this good with their money and have such good food on their tables! Have a terrific week!
Wow! Great advance planning!
I am a mother and wife to a family of 6, including myself. My goal for this year is to feed my family on $40.00 a week. I don’t have problem with the $60 but I have found that when I follow grocery and menu planning priciples I am able to buy what we need on less than $60.
I spend about $50 a week on what we need, but I still use the other $10 to fill up our pantry. I have begun keeping a pantry, #1 because my husband can become unemployed at any time. We are a one income family. And I also started a pantry because of inflation. The price of dairy products and meat are constantly increasing. If I can at least keep the pantry stocked with non-persihables I think that the pressures of the economy may not affect us to much.
I like your blog and have put it in my favorites so that I can remeber to come back. Your blog is the first that I’ve found that addresses feeding what today’s society considers a large family. By your menu I can see that on less than $50 a week you guys are not living off of beans and rice. Your menu is very creative yet budget friendly.
Do you keep a pantry?
Do you bulk cook for the freezer?