Grocery Budget Challenge: Feeding my family of 5 for the week with $38!!

I've decided to cut my grocery budget and this is my first month....I find myself in the last week with $38 left in my budget. I'm a little competitive so I've made this into a personal challenge.

Terms of Grocery Budget Challenge: Be able to provide healthy, well balanced meals for my family for the week. There is no eating out or buying lunches and I can't spend more than $38.

Challenge accepted (and I'm posting it to keep me accountable!).

What do I need for the week???

Breakfast:
40 breakfasts

Lunch:
10 lunches for the weekend
15 lunches for the week (small celebration for the boys having lunch included with their tuition!)

Dinner:
5 family dinners

Snacks:
18 snacks

What do I already have??

Time to take inventory of the fridge, freezer and pantry!!

Make a Plan!

Based on what I had, I brainstormed some ideas and listed it all out with what was needed to complete the meal and then listed what items I would need to buy. It looked something like this:

Natalie's lunches:
5 PBJ sandwiches
5 GoGurts
5 apples
5 juice boxes
5 granola bars

Lunches for us (10)
3 soups
3 frozen meals
4 left overs

Snacks
Apples, Cereal

Dinners:
Kale Tortellini Soup
Quiche
Taco Night
Chicken and Rice
Turkey burgers
Pasta Night

The Grocery List - There's an App For That?!

As if I didn't already love Wegmans...I discovered their app and now I love them more!!  I was able to enter in all the items that were on my "needed" list and compare brand name with store brand prices (I had coupons) and then get a total before setting foot in the store!! All of this in the comforts of my PJs and slippers!

The final list had all my groceries listed in order of the store aisles - so no wandering around trying to find items! (Wandering usually leads to extra items going in my cart anyhow!!)

Stick to the List...Stick to the List.... 

With blinders on and armed with restraint, I went into Wegmans and for the first time ever, I only got the items that were on my list!!!! Here is a picture of my cart!! And the grocery bill was $34.12!!!

I've got my plan, I've got my food....let's see how this goes!

Saturday: 

Homemade chicken noodle soup with on hand ingredients

We were invited to a friends house (dish to pass) and I made these Apple Crumble Bars with items in the pantry:

Sunday:

I made two quiches for dinner and have enough left overs for a couple lunches or breakfasts!

Monday: 

The good news: A neighbor dropped off a loaf of banana bread as a thank you for helping them dig out their driveway!!

The bad news: It didn't take long for my plans to get kinked...I got a reminder email about my Bunco group tomorrow and that we changed the rules this year so that everyone brings a dish to pass (good rule change, bad timing - or bad memory by me!!). Better go back to the pantry and get creative....

Tuesday:
Look what I managed to make for Bunco!!! Mini Wraps with Turkey and Bacon - I knew that Bacon Club would help out at some point!!! $0 spent!

 

Wednesday: 

I had a work event that included free lunch - score!!!! Chicken and rice for dinner with lots left over for lunches!

Thursday: 

The Free Food Gods are smiling on me this week - another work seminar and it comes with free breakfast! Plus, a vendor stopped by with samples of healthy vending food options - perfect timing!

Friday: 

Family dinner at my sisters - no shopping or cooking needed!

Saturday:
Feeling very thankful for the banana bread from my neighbor or it would have been a pretty sad breakfast for me! Lunch was a hodge podge of left overs from the week but everyone was happy and I got to go to the store again!!

Budget Challenge Lessons: 

• I have waaaaay more in my pantry, freezer and fridge than I ever imagined! 
• It is well worth the effort to meal plan starting what you have instead of starting with what would you like. 
• Taco kits will have stale tortillas if left in your pantry too long...children do not think stale tortillas are tasty.  
• My kids actually prefer the Wegmans brand of Honey Nut Cheerios over the name brand!
• I still was able to function each morning with the $2.29 Wegman's French Roast as opposed to  my standard Starbuck's $8.99 Pike's Place....but I can still taste the difference! 
• I saved more by buying store brand than I would have by using some of the coupons I had clipped. 
• It felt really nice to actually use the food we made instead of throwing a bunch away - it felt much more efficient. 
• My kids never noticed that I didn't do a big shopping trip - not one comment about not having enough snacks, breakfast, etc. 

Now, to apply some of this new found knowledge throughout the month so that I have more than $38 left at the end of it!!! 

I've decided to cut my grocery budget and this is my first month....I find myself in the last week with $38 left in my budget. I'm a little competitive so I've made this into a personal challenge.

Terms of Grocery Budget Challenge: Be able to provide healthy, well balanced meals for my family for the week. There is no eating out or buying lunches and I can't spend more than $38.

Challenge accepted (and I'm posting it to keep me accountable!).

What do I need for the week???

Breakfast:
40 breakfasts

Lunch:
10 lunches for the weekend
15 lunches for the week (small celebration for the boys having lunch included with their tuition!)

Dinner:
5 family dinners

Snacks:
18 snacks

What do I already have??

Time to take inventory of the fridge, freezer and pantry!!

Make a Plan!

Based on what I had, I brainstormed some ideas and listed it all out with what was needed to complete the meal and then listed what items I would need to buy. It looked something like this:

Natalie's lunches:
5 PBJ sandwiches
5 GoGurts
5 apples
5 juice boxes
5 granola bars

Lunches for us (10)
3 soups
3 frozen meals
4 left overs

Snacks
Apples, Cereal

Dinners:
Kale Tortellini Soup
Quiche
Taco Night
Chicken and Rice
Turkey burgers
Pasta Night

The Grocery List - There's an App For That?!

As if I didn't already love Wegmans...I discovered their app and now I love them more!!  I was able to enter in all the items that were on my "needed" list and compare brand name with store brand prices (I had coupons) and then get a total before setting foot in the store!! All of this in the comforts of my PJs and slippers!

The final list had all my groceries listed in order of the store aisles - so no wandering around trying to find items! (Wandering usually leads to extra items going in my cart anyhow!!)

Stick to the List...Stick to the List.... 

With blinders on and armed with restraint, I went into Wegmans and for the first time ever, I only got the items that were on my list!!!! Here is a picture of my cart!! And the grocery bill was $34.12!!!

I've got my plan, I've got my food....let's see how this goes!

Saturday: 

Homemade chicken noodle soup with on hand ingredients

We were invited to a friends house (dish to pass) and I made these Apple Crumble Bars with items in the pantry:

Sunday:

I made two quiches for dinner and have enough left overs for a couple lunches or breakfasts!

Monday: 

The good news: A neighbor dropped off a loaf of banana bread as a thank you for helping them dig out their driveway!!

The bad news: It didn't take long for my plans to get kinked...I got a reminder email about my Bunco group tomorrow and that we changed the rules this year so that everyone brings a dish to pass (good rule change, bad timing - or bad memory by me!!). Better go back to the pantry and get creative....

Tuesday:
Look what I managed to make for Bunco!!! Mini Wraps with Turkey and Bacon - I knew that Bacon Club would help out at some point!!! $0 spent!

 

Wednesday: 

I had a work event that included free lunch - score!!!! Chicken and rice for dinner with lots left over for lunches!

Thursday: 

The Free Food Gods are smiling on me this week - another work seminar and it comes with free breakfast! Plus, a vendor stopped by with samples of healthy vending food options - perfect timing!

Friday: 

Family dinner at my sisters - no shopping or cooking needed!

Saturday:
Feeling very thankful for the banana bread from my neighbor or it would have been a pretty sad breakfast for me! Lunch was a hodge podge of left overs from the week but everyone was happy and I got to go to the store again!!

Budget Challenge Lessons: 

• I have waaaaay more in my pantry, freezer and fridge than I ever imagined! 
• It is well worth the effort to meal plan starting what you have instead of starting with what would you like. 
• Taco kits will have stale tortillas if left in your pantry too long...children do not think stale tortillas are tasty.  
• My kids actually prefer the Wegmans brand of Honey Nut Cheerios over the name brand!
• I still was able to function each morning with the $2.29 Wegman's French Roast as opposed to  my standard Starbuck's $8.99 Pike's Place....but I can still taste the difference! 
• I saved more by buying store brand than I would have by using some of the coupons I had clipped. 
• It felt really nice to actually use the food we made instead of throwing a bunch away - it felt much more efficient. 
• My kids never noticed that I didn't do a big shopping trip - not one comment about not having enough snacks, breakfast, etc. 

Now, to apply some of this new found knowledge throughout the month so that I have more than $38 left at the end of it!!!