Budget Grocery Shopping: Our $60.08 Trip and What We Ate

Another week of budget grocery shopping with my $60 a week budget challenge, and I almost made it this week! I know this was my last chance to be under budget until after the first of the year, so I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t make it. The next couple of weeks I will be buying extra items for Christmas baking, etc.  I have tried to save some extra chicken breasts or ground beef from the packs I buy to freeze. Hopefully using some of the frozen meat will help me stay close to my budget even with buying some extra ingredients next week!

Kroger was having their Buy 5 Save 5 promo last week. This promo is great IF you are using it for things you would buy anyway. If you end up buying five packs of Oreos (just to save $5) the deal isn’t going to help your budget very much! After looking at the items in the sale, there were only two things that we buy very regularly: Kraft ranch dressing and Cheerios. I bought 3 bottles of dressing (that will probably last us 2-3 months) and two boxes of Cheerios (will probably last us one month). I also had a $1 off digital coupon for two boxes of Cheerios, so we got all five of these items for $5.95!

Our menu for the week:

Breakfast: Eggs, baked oatmeal, fruit, cereal, breakfast potatoes.

Lunches: Grilled lunch meat sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, quesadillas, 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.

Monday and Wednesday: Pork chops, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies

(Note: I have found that it saves us SO much time and money to “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 some freezer friendly meals, and then you could have the meal again a week or two later.)

Tuesday and Thursday: Chicken Broccoli Alfredo Sauce (This sauce is great over pasta, on spaghetti squash, or baked in a zucchini lasagna.)

Friday: Our weekly family date night! We have a separate budget of $20 a week for our date nights. This week we spent a little less than $17 on Japanese food at our local mall and did some Christmas shopping.

Saturday: Homemade Pizza

Sunday: Chicken Tacos in the Slow Cooker

Snacks: Fruit, cheese sticks, chips and salsa, Goldfish crackers, peanut butter banana smoothies, veggies with ranch

What we spent this week:

Finally, here’s what we spent budget grocery shopping 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 at Aldi:

For Breakfasts:
1 gallon of whole milk $2.43
2 dozen eggs $1.58
1 carton of half & half $1.55
Old fashioned oats $2.39
Pure maple syrup $5.89 (I use this in baked oatmeal)
Shredded cheddar cheese $1.75
Bananas $2.28

For Lunches:
Honey wheat bread $.99

For Dinners:
Heavy whipping cream $1.55
Boneless Pork Chops $4.34
Sour Cream $.85

For Snacks:
Cheese sticks $1.34
Goldfish $1.74
Salsa $.99
Baking cocoa $1.75

Aldi total with tax: $33.90

Budget Grocery Shopping at Kroger:

For Breakfasts:
2 boxes of Cheerios $2.98 (I got $2 off because of the Buy 5 Save 5 promo at Kroger. I got another $1 off with a Kroger digital coupon)

For Dinners:
2 tomatoes $.50
1 large pack of chicken breasts $7.93
Broccoli $1.65
Zucchini $2.32
1 lemon $.69
Fresh basil $1.99
10 lb bag of potatoes $4.49

For Snacks:
3 Kraft ranch dressings $2.97 (I got $3 off because of the Buy 5 Save 5 promo at Kroger.)

Kroger total with tax: $26.18

Grand total: $60.08

Why Am I Posting About Budget Grocery Shopping?

When I recently decided I wanted to be more diligent following our $60 a week grocery budget, I started posting my weekly grocery receipts on my Instagram stories. This was really just for personal accountability. I didn’t actually think very many people would be interested in how I do budget grocery shopping! 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 on groceries to prove that it can be done.

We try our best to eat mostly whole 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. (For instance, I will make myself homemade bread that is on plan, but they eat bread we buy at Aldi)

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!