Not that the previous budgets were bad, the menus just were not to the tastes of my family. I put together a menu that my family would eat or at least the majority of them. It is hard to please everyone. You ought to see pizza night. It sounds like an auction around here. "Mushrooms! Who wants my mushrooms?" "Me! I'll give you my pepperoni for them."
The prices I used are normal, everday prices. If it happens to be on sale, I'll stock away the savings for another week's groceries or more likely lunch for me, myself and I. It is hard work saving money so I like to treat myself. First things first though which is the menu.
Breakfast
Monday - Pancakes, Banana, Milk
Tuesday - Oatmeal, Milk and Juice
Wednesday - Banana-Oat Muffins, Milk
Thursday - Waffles, Orange Slices, Milk
Friday - Rice Cereal, Milk and Juice
Saturday - French Toast, Orange Slices, Milk
Sunday - Oatmeal, Milk and Juice
Lunch
Monday - Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Milk
Tuesday - Ramen Noodles with Egg, Grapes, Milk
Wednesday - Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Lettuce, Carrot Sticks, Milk
Thursday - Pigs in a Blanket, Grapes, Milk
Friday - Egg Salad Sandwiches with Lettuce, Carrot Sticks, Milk
Saturday - Macaroni & Cheese with Tuna, Grapes, Milk
Sunday - Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Carrot Sticks, Milk
Snacks: Popcorn, Celery with Peanut Butter, Carrot Sticks, Muffins, Fruit, Cinnamon Toast, Biscuits and Jelly
Supper
Monday - Bean & Beef Burritos, Orange Slices
Tuesday - Chicken Gravy over Potatoes, Green Beans, Cooked Carrots
Wednesday - Shepherd's Pie, Coleslaw
Thursday - Biscuits & Gravy, Fruit Salad
Friday - Hamburger Soup, Garlic Bread
Saturday - Scrambled Eggs, Potato Pancakes, Applesauce
Sunday - Goulash, Salad, Garlic Bread
Now the grocery list. I have a pretty well stocked pantry, but for this exercise I am listing everything I need to buy.
Grocery List
$1.99 -- 3 lbs Oranges
$4.00 -- 3 lbs Grapes or 2 Melons
$1.85 -- 3 lbs Bananas
$ .99 -- Celery
$ .99 -- Lettuce
$2.07 -- 6 lbs Carrots
$1.89 -- 10 lbs Potatoes
$ .69 -- 3 lbs Onions
$4.17 -- 15 lbs Flour
$1.86 -- 2 3-pack Yeast
$ .82 -- Baking Powder
$ .49 -- Baking Soda
$2.02 -- 5 lbs White Sugar
$ .99 -- Powdered Sugar
$ .99 -- Maple Syrup
$ .99 -- Jelly (32 oz.)
$ .99 -- Vanilla
$ .33 -- Salt
$ .50 -- Cinnamon
$ .50 -- Garlic Powder
$ .99 -- Black Pepper
$ .29 --Taco Seasoning Packet
$ .99 -- Chicken Bouillon
$ .99 -- Beef Bouillon
$ .54 -- Vinegar
$1.79 -- Vegetable Oil (1.5 qt)
$1.49 -- Mayonnaise-type Salad Dressing (32 oz)
$2.30 -- Gallon Milk (fresh)
$5.99 -- Instant Non-Fat Milk Powder(20 qt)
$ .58 -- Margarine (1 lb)
$2.61 -- 3 Dozen Eggs
$2.55 -- 3 cans Apple Juice Concentrate (12 oz)
$1.50 -- Unsweetened Applesauce(50 oz each)
$1.14 -- 3 cans Green Beans(15 oz each)
$ .38 -- Corn (15 oz)
$ .49 -- Tomatoes (15 oz)
$ .47 -- 1 can Tomato Soup (10 oz)
$ .92 -- Spaghetti Sauce (48 oz)
$ .48 -- 4 Ramen Noodle Packages
$ .99 -- 3 boxes Macaroni & Cheese
$ .88 -- 1 lb Macaroni
$1.34 -- Popcorn (32 oz)
$ .50 -- 1 lb Rice
$ .94 -- 1 lb Kidney Beans
$1.29 -- Peanut Butter (18 oz)
$ .54 -- Tuna (6 oz)
$4.00 -- 4 lbs Ground Turkey
$1.56 -- 2 lbs Chicken
$ .65 -- Hot Dogs
Total: $68.50
That total is for my family of nine (one who is nursing). My family eats these meals. Yes, I might have to be food police a bit to make sure that night's dinner isn't snack. All bread items (biscuits, breads, tortillas) are homemade as are soups. I probably could get away with a spaghetti sauce packet and such, but like the can because I can get the chunky version for some extra vegetables or cheesy which is usually what I do. I also tweaked a couple of my recipes to save costs. Since the total is less that I thought (my brain hurts too as that is a lot of hard thinking on little sleep), I might get more fruits for snacking as well as raisins (for cinnamon-raisin bread and the oatmeal). Adding cocoa will allow me to make milk shakes and brownies.
In Part 4 of $40 Weekly Grocery Budget, I will give some of my recipes and how I prepare the meals with what is on my grocery list.
I'm very excited to see where this is going, Ranae! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI think I need to shop where you shop and live. A few things that stuck out on your grocery list and the fact that they are at least twice as much here: fresh milk (we crossed $4/gallon here - I don't even get to that price mixing our drinking milk with reconstituted milk), powdered milk, potatoes, onions, eggs, maple syrup, flour sugar, vinegar, and meat. Actually, when I think about it, sadly, everything on your list is almost twice the price here, welcome to east coast living I guess.
ReplyDeleteThis actually makes me want to go to the store and see just how much those things would be here. Of course, my well stocked pantry would probably make it possible to spend about $40 on all the fresh stuff needed for the weekly menu.
Donna Jean --
ReplyDeleteI agree. Costs do fluctuate wildly in areas. I remember moving to NV once and for 2 weeks coming home from the store empty-handed thinking I'd wait for sale. Sadly, I realized I better used to the higher cost of living. I'm glad to be back where it's cheap.
thank you for sharing your ideas. I wish I'd found this place sooner. This week i have to buy groceries for a family of 3 with just $40 and didn't know how i was going to do it but your ideas have helped me decide what to buy,thank-you!
ReplyDeleteJust for grins, I input this into my local store's grocery list maker. I used store brand whenever possible, only subbing a alb bag of apples for your oranges (because it's $2 cheaper), and I had brown sugar instead of powdered sugar, and added a head of cabbage that you were missing from your list. (I assume you meant to have it since you have coleslaw planned.
ReplyDeleteThe total for Western NY in July of 2015, is $134.51
Now, I know I could reduce that a bit by shopping Aldi/ Walmart, but for generic items, Walmart is usually only a couple of pennies cheaper than our store brand. Aldi's might save me a couple of more dollars on top of that, but still certainly not going to get me anywhere near your $63 lol
And obviously, like you, I don't actually NEED to go buy baking powder, salt, etc.... but that's just goes to show you how bad food prices have gotten.
I still like your menu plan as opposed to the Hillbilly Housewife plan, like you - her food was really not our family's style, and your menu just gave me a quick launch to our menu plan. Thanks!
Blessings,
Jessica