Another week of budget grocery shopping with my $60 a week budget challenge! Some people have expressed amazement that I always stay SO close to $60. I’ll let you in on a secret… I keep track of how much I’m spending, and I stop shopping when I’ve reached $60! In my credit/debit card generation, that seems like a revolutionary way to shop. There have been PLENTY of times that I reached $60 and I still had essential things to buy, so I had to backtrack through the store and put things back (like the pears on sale that I carried around in my cart and ended up putting back last week).
I’m sure someone will notice the lack of meat being purchased this trip. I knew I would be buying extra things for Christmas baking/gifts, so I planned my menu around my freezer stash of meat. I’m hoping there will be some good deals in the beginning of the new year to replenish my stash. I also had to buy kitchen trash bags this week!
Our menu for the week:
Breakfast: 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.
Monday and Wednesday: My husband grilled meat from our freezer stash, baked potatoes, and Roasted Broccoli
(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: Easy Salsa Chicken over rice
Friday: Our weekly family date night! We have a separate budget of $20 a week for our date nights. This week we used a gift card to Cracker Barrel we received as a Christmas gift, and then drove around to look at Christmas lights. It was a wonderful and completely free date night!
Saturday: Special meal out with family for the holidays
Sunday: Chili 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
Unsweetened almond milk $1.69
1 carton of half & half $1.55
Honey $4.69
Bananas $1.73
For Lunches:
Sliced ham $3.99
Sliced cheese $1.15
Frozen veggies $.75
Mild cheddar $1.45
Honey wheat bread $.99
For Dinners:
Butter $1.99
Tomato sauce $.38
Kidney beans $.49
Salsa $.99
Jasmine rice $3.85
Oyster crackers $.79
For Snacks:
Tortilla chips $2.49
Goldfish crackers $1.74
Other:
Trash bags $4.39
For Christmas goodies:
Butter $1.99 (a second package)
Coffee Creamer $1.49 (for homemade hot chocolate mix)
Powdered sugar $.95
Almond bark $2.69
Aldi total with tax: $47.75
Budget Grocery Shopping at Kroger:
For Lunches:
Unsweetened peanut butter $2.88
For Dinners:
2 tomatoes $.97
Broccoli $4.18
For Snacks:
Mandarin oranges $4.49
Kroger total with tax: $12.83
Grand total: $60.58
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!
