I did another weeks worth of shopping today and hoped to come in under $75 again, but this time spent $83.73. Partly because my children have all been sick the past couple days with some type of tummy bug which involved throwing up, so I caved in to some sugary sweets and bought them a 2 liter of pop and a box of popsicles to help them feel better. I also used a few coupons that involved buying 2 items, so while I didn't need the other item this week I did save money on the second one which I will use sometime. Since I came in $7 below budget last week it all evens out. Our menu for this coming week is:
Tacos
Lasagna and french bread
Salmon patties
Sausage/sauerkraut sandwiches and fries
BLTs
Baked beans and cornbread
Turkey Ham and scalloped corn
All will be served with a fruit and vegetable (or two!) as well.
Someone asked just what I can buy for a $75 budget. While the below may be boring to some, it may show you how to buy a week's worth of food for that price. My receipt is as follows:
Two bags of french fries $5.00 (I had $1 off 2 so paid $4)
Fish sticks $3.69 (I had $1 off coupons so $2.69)
Gold Medal Flour $1.48
Garlic Bread $2.39 (had a 55 cents off coupon so $1.84)
Package of butter $2.19
Potato bread $1.89
Package of hamburger buns $1.59
Wheat bread $1.19
1 dozen eggs $1.59
Popsicles $2.69
2 rolls of sausage $2.50 (I had $1 off 2 coupon so $1.50)
3 8 oz. packages of shredded cheese $4.44
Frozen brussel sprouts $1.69
Frozen corn $1.29
2 packages Rold-Gold pretzels $4 (had two 55 cent off coupons so $2.90)
2 lbs. ground beef $4.28
16 oz. sour cream $1.50
A turkey ham $4.76
hot dogs 99 cents
Marcel toilet paper $1.19 (had a $1 coupon so just 19 cents)
paper plates $1.49
2 Ragu spaghetti sauce $3.78 (had $1 off 2 so $2.78)
Baked Beans $3.68
2 cans spaghetti o's $1.70
2 ltr. pop 79 cents plus 5 cent can deposit
2 cans corn $1.34
can pink salmon $2.29
Taco dinner kit $2.09
box honey nut cheerios (off brand) $2.29
corn muffin mix 43 cents
Lasagna noodles $1.29
cream cheese $1.25
yeast $1.99
2 cans tuna $1.50 (had a coupon for 50 cents off so $1)
2 sweet onions $1.66
4 oranges $1.00
head of lettuce 88 cents
3 tomatoes $1.26
2 lbs. bananas $1.79
3 lbs. apples $1.99
gallon whole milk $3.13
gallon 1% milk $2.81
That will last us one week for a family of five. Breakfast is oatmeal, toast, muffins, eggs, or cereal. Lunch is usually sandwiches, leftovers, macaroni and cheese, or the spaghetti o's I bought. I could have essentially saved more. Had I made my own bread or went to the bread outlet I wouldn't have had to buy bread this week. Had I bought dried beans and made my own baked beans I would have saved some. Had I been in a bigger town I could have shopped at several stores and ran into better deals. But bringing the budget from $100 down to $83 this week is an improvement and I am slowly improving our diet.
I did do well by not picking up a single sugary snack except for the pop and popsicles for the kids. I am making homemade cinnamon rolls today but we have not bought a store bought sugar snack this whole week! Yay for me!
Are you giveing up sweets for lent?? I am and popcicles are sweet's so your kids alreddy lost
ReplyDeleteYes Katie, I am giving up sweets for Lent. But since the kids were sick I allowed them to have some. You don't actually "lose" during Lent though. lol
ReplyDeleteGood Job trying to budget...that's awesome. I love reading moneysavingmom.com....great coupon ideas on there. I feed our family of five for about 50 dollars a week...it took awhile to get there. We do a lot of meatless meals and that really helps out...
ReplyDeleteBeth yeah you dont actuly lose :D
ReplyDeleteOk so you inspired me. I'm gonna try it to. And I blogged about it and linked to you.
ReplyDeleteHere is what I would have done to get your list down to an even cheaper amount:
ReplyDeleteFor tacos and lasagna, use ground turkey, because not only is it healthier (red meat should be limited to no more than twice a week), but its cheaper. Instead of fish sticks, go with a frozen filet. I know our store has cod pollack, and tilapia, all of which can be fairly cheap, and you can slice them up and bread them yourself. Healthier too than the prepackaged sticks. Garlic bread you could buy the cheap french loaf and make your own, either with fresh garlic or a garlic powder. All your breads you can make from scratch which is much healthier and even rolls and buns can be done with the bread maker doing the dough for you. Since cheese is not the healthiest, start making your recipes with half the recommended amounts, and this would mean buying less. Eliminate pretzels and pop your own popcorn for a crunchy snack. The bags of popcorn seeds are pretty cheap and last forever, and you can control the amount of butter and salt then too. You can mix it up with toppings too with chili powder, garlic, or add raisins for a sweet crunch. Hot dogs in general are completely unhealty for you, so you could just not buy them. Do without paper plates, its more environmentally friendly to do without things like paper plates, paper towels, and paper napkins. You can make your own tortillas and taco mix with pantry staples and spices nearly everyone has on hand, and they will go alot further than just one taco kit. Baked beans can be made with dry beans (or canned if pressed for time) and are more economical than the cans of ones like Bush's. Spaghettios are in the same category as hot dogs; really bad for you, so not a necessity. Did you know there are alot of added sugars to commercial spaghetti sauces? There are some really good recipes out there for homemade, and you can freeze it ahead of time.
Just a few suggestions. I don't know if they'd work for you, but if you're determined enough, you could take alot more off the grocery bill.
SimplySonita- Thanks so much for the link! :)
ReplyDeleteAnonymous- Thank you for all your suggestions. They are much appreciated as that is exactly what I want to do...get down to the very basics. I hate to admit it, but I do still rely on certain foods like spaghetti sauce, taco shells, pretzels, etc. just because it is quicker. But I do want to change many aspects of our diet and love your suggestions! :)
This is great info. I am also trying to budget a lot and right now, the best I have done is 75 bucks for a weekly grocery budget for two adults and a baby. Not very good, but it's an improvement from our old $100+/week habit! You have inspired me to try harder :)
ReplyDelete