I have received some interested feedback from my last post about the $200 grocery budget so I thought I would elaborate a bit to tell you all how it is going and what exactly I have come up with to achieve this super cheap grocery bill. First of all let me start by saying this budget isn't something Levi and I would do for more than two or three months, kind of a grocery budget fast of sorts. It is a budget that requires minimal spending, minimal waste and a lot of thought and planning. Also let me say that this is my first attempt at the $200 budget in a while so this first month has been a trial run to see what's available and to get me back in the frugal mindset... I have become quite sloppy in my grocery shopping and so this "test" is mainly to get my mind thinking again and considering where my money should go more carefully.
So on with the plan. First of all I make a very strategic menu for the whole month. It alternates cooked meals and leftover "creations" (I never use a recipe) for each week based on what I have cooked and have leftover and it is pretty repetitive to the eye but you can be as creative as you want. Here is an example week;
Monday night; Baked chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes
Tuesday night; Nachos (beans, meat, tomato, salad, etc.)
Wednesday night; Shepherds pie (using leftover unseasoned meat from the nachos and leftover mashed potatoes from Monday plus some frozen "mixed vegi" which is super cheap and a great side dish)
Thursday; Stir fry (use leftover chicken from Monday, heat chicken add soy sauce and garlic teryaki mixed with corn starch, then add frozen stir fry vegi bag)
Friday; Fish, leftover green beans, biscuits
Saturday and Sunday for us are usually a free for all because Levi works late. So that is a simple example of what this menu system is like and it can be altered in SO many different ways. It is simply making food that can be used over and over. Of course our house only feeds two and a half mouths and for lunches we do very minimal stuff, sandwiches, baby carrots, and home-made things mostly. Breakfast is always the same. Linc gets fruit yogurt and oatmeal with wheat germ, I eat cold cereal and Levi eats an egg sandwich or egg and bacon.
When making a menu it always helps me to make a three column list of main dishes, vegi dishes and starches then I can mix and match and I can see what I can use side by side to use up leftovers.
This month there are a couple of things I have discovered work better than my original plan. I was originally going to divide up my money $50 a week but decided that the first week should be the stock up week and the rest of the weeks would work best if just for picking up perishables and little stuff. I used about $90 the first week, $50 the second, $40 the third leaving me with $20 for the last week but I will go over this month for sure. In the first week I bought all my canned, frozen, and longer lasting stuff plus the perishables for the first weeks menu. The remaining weeks I ONLY bought SALE items that were perishable like day old breads and I found 5 lb. bags of carrots, potatoes and onions for $.99 each at our Safeway. That is another thing about this plan, it works best when you have time to shop and look not to mention bounce from store to store. I also carry a calculator with me to the store and add everything up as I go then when I am done I can see where I am at and "cut the fat" again if need be. So this month I will probably be over by about $30 but it's good to give yourself a starter month where you are super cautious but not overbearing because it is necessary to collect data and really find the deals before you can expect to be right on the spot successful. This next month should be right on point :0)
3 comments:
Left overs are totally the key! My problem, is if it's left over more than a day...NO ONE will eat it!! I think what you're doing is awesome...I too am VERY sloppy at times in grocery shopping - esp when I don't have a menu...menu shopping for me is KEY! I need to start that again, thanks for the reminder! I just went to winco and spent $130 and was like, "WHAT DID I BUY!?" :) We were out of a ton because I was sick for more than a week, but it's CRAZY how the grocery bills can add up - FAST!
I love reading this Ashley!I totally carry around a calculator when I grocery shop as well. We're doing about the same thing. We've realized how much "crap" we were buying and finding we are having much healthier meals and saving TONS of money now! It definately pushed me out of my comfort zone with cooking, but I love feeling like we have saved lots of money.
Our grocery budget is about the same, but I go every three weeks or about every ten days and see how I can stretch it and that helps so I can spend a little bit more each trip, but try to stretch what I buy as well.
Welcome to my life. I've had to use menu shopping for... well I guess since Naomi was born. I do pretty much what you're doing with using leftovers from one meal to make a new meal with just a 1 or two new items. I must say that having wild game in the freezer makes a huge difference in our grocery bill. But it bugs me to no end to got grocery shopping and all the prices just keep going up. In order to keep a working menu my budget has gone up to $240.oo. This month was just blown out of the water though because we finally got our tile down and had eat out for two weeks. I'm sick of eating out and my digstive track is not happy about it either.
Keep up the good work!
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