Another week budget grocery shopping on our $60 budget! We had a birthday this week, so there are a few things we don’t usually buy on our list (shrimp for a special birthday dinner and canned biscuit dough to make donuts). Kroger is having their “Buy 6 Save $3” promo, so I got some pretty good deals. I bought Pepperidge Farm Goldfish for $.99, Cheerios for $1.29, and Annie’s Mac and Cheese for $.79!
Our menu for the week:
Breakfasts: Eggs, baked oatmeal, fruit, cereal, breakfast potatoes.
Lunches: Grilled lunch meat sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, quesadillas, homemade mac and cheese, or whatever leftovers are in the fridge. If we have extra time, I might cook some fried rice, but I don’t usually bother during the week. We also have fruit and possibly some chips and salsa. Not a lot of variety for lunches, but we have leftovers often enough that I don’t usually go crazy.
Dinners
Monday: Birthday dinner with family!
Tuesday and Thursday: Cajun Chicken Spaghetti Squash
(Note: We usually “double” our meals during the week. This means that I cook once and we eat it twice. Not only does this save time on our busiest evenings, it also makes grocery shopping cheaper if you are just buying double of one recipe instead of two recipes. If your family objects to having the same thing twice in a week, you might consider making mostly “freezer friendly” meals, and then you could freeze the meal and eat it again a week or two later.)
Wednesday: Slow cooker beef and potatoes
Friday: Our weekly family date night! We have a separate budget of $20 a week for our date nights. We used another Christmas gift card and only had to pay the tip out of pocket!
Saturday: Shrimp scampi with homemade pasta. This meal is what we have to celebrate birthdays in our family! We love making pasta from scratch.
Sunday: Taco dip (for a Super Bowl party)
Snacks: Fruit, cheese sticks, chips and salsa, Goldfish crackers, peanut butter banana smoothies, veggies with ranch, pickles, kale or zucchini chips
What we spent this week:
Finally, here’s how we spent $60 this week. Remember that these are recipes that my family eats quite often, so we have some stuff stocked in the pantry already. It might cost you extra the first few weeks as you stock up, but eventually you will be able to stay close to budget.
Budget Grocery Shopping on $60 at Aldi:
For Breakfasts:
1 gallon of whole milk $2.45
Bananas $1.06
Shredded wheat $1.39
1 dozen eggs $.79
Pure maple syrup $5.89
Unsweetened almond milk $1.69
For Lunches:
100% Whole wheat bread $1.29
Tortilla chips $.89
Sliced cheese $1.15
Sliced ham $2.99
For Dinners:
Chicken stock $1.45
Colby jack shredded cheese $1.65
2 blocks of cheddar cheese $2.90
Cream cheese $.65
Sour cream $.85
Tomato paste $.29
Tomato sauce $.19
For Snacks:
Salsa $.99
Pink lady apples $2.99
Aldi total with tax: $32.34
Budget Grocery Shopping on $60 at Kroger:
For Breakfast:
2 boxes of Cheerios $2.58
1 can of biscuits $1.19 (to make “homemade” donuts!)
For Lunches:
3 boxes of Annie’s Mac and Cheese $2.37
For Dinners:
Whole wheat pasta $1.00
Broccoli $2.02
Lettuce $1.69
1 tomato $.45
Shrimp $6.99
Heavy cream $1.99 (I can get this cheaper at Aldi, but they were all out this week)
Enchilada sauce $1.99
Potatoes $1.99
2 lemons $1.38
For Snacks:
Pepperidge Farm Goldfish $.99
Kroger total with tax: $27.32
Grand total: $59.66
Why Am I Posting About Budget Grocery Shopping on $60 a week?
When I recently decided I wanted to be more diligent following our weekly grocery budget, I started posting my grocery receipts on Instagram stories. This was really just for personal accountability. I didn’t actually think very many people would be interested in how I do our grocery shopping for $60 a week! Each time I posted the receipts, I would get a bunch of questions. “What exactly are you eating?” “Is this really for a whole week?” Because of all these questions, I decided to start posting our menu and how much we spend budget grocery shopping on $60 per week to prove that it can be done.
We try our best to eat mostly whole, unprocessed foods, but we don’t have any dietary restrictions. Although I (usually) follow the Trim Healthy Mama plan, my husband and son are a little more lenient on the things they eat.
Except for special occasions, we eat 20 meals a week at home. That means my budget grocery shopping goal is $3 per meal for two adults and a toddler.
Like what you see here? Follow me on Facebook or Instagram! Planning to try some of these recipes and lower your grocery budget? Leave a comment and let me know how it goes! Be sure to pin this menu on Pinterest. Make sure you don’t miss any new recipes by getting my email newsletter every week.
