Tuesday, January 17, 2012

$50 a week

I'm a stay at home mommy to 4 daughters and wife to a big eater. Instead of planning meals I decided to try a new approach.  I am horrible at planning anything and following any recipe is a pain for me.  I find its much easier to to work with what I have and use that to make a meal.  I also think its more fun and our meals are not as boring. I do set aside $50 a week for groceries and stick to it for the most part.  Only time I don't follow the budget is if I find a good deal on something we eat a lot of.  It usually consist of baking items or seasonal fruit.  I also share with you everything I buy and this keeps me on budget as well.  So enjoy!


WHOLE FOODS

$4.99 Organic Gallon of Milk
$1.99 Dozen free range vegetarian fed eggs (soon I won't have to buy them anymore. Whahoo!)
$1.49 Sunshine Dairy Half n Half (local dairy)
$3.99 Organic 5lb bag of carrots (super stoked because I was spending $5 at New Seasons. From now on its from Whole Foods)
$1.50 Organic Kale (sale)

Total=$13.96

NEW SEASONS MARKET

$5.99 Cheddar Cheese 2lb Tillamook (local dairy)
$3.98 Organic Heirloom Oranges (sale 79 cents per lb)
$2.55 All natural Pork Chili sweet patties (will use to make meat balls in soup. Yummy extra added flavor)
$4.11 All natural ground pork (I prefer this over beef)
$1.62 All natural free range chicken drumsticks (using to make soup then stock)

Total=$18.18

I was getting my bread for almost free from a organization(20miles away) but I have now decided we are financially good and will buy it from a local outlet instead.  This will save me on gas and mileage on my vehicle. I also have decided to go back to making my own bread again.  I do not buy sugar filled cereal for my daughters and have not for years now. These are the things my kids like to eat.  Each will decide which one they want and add a piece of fruit with it.  Or sometimes they just want homemade oatmeal.  One day I will learn to make these on my own and not have to deal with the plastic bags. Here in Portland Oregon they can be recycled but thats besides the point. 

FRANZ OUTLET

$4.00 English muffins sale 5/$5.
$5.00 Bagels 5/$5
Free-bread
Total=$9.00
Every time you spend $8 you get a free item of choice.  I decided to pick bread just in case I forget to make a loaf of bread myself.  It's nice to have a back up. 

GRAND TOTAL= $41.76

As you can see I beat my budget and have a little extra to stash away.  You never know if I will need more milk or eggs.  I might even go get the girls a Redbox movie since they are a dollar and sports were cancelled due to bad weather.  My hubby is working so its a girls night in .  Woot!

Another added note:For years I have been having to plan our budget due to my husband getting paid only once a month.  This year they decided to pay him every two weeks and its totally screwing my budget up.  So for the next few weeks its going to be trial and error with keeping on budget. 

3 comments:

Improbable Farmer said...

I love this! I have a love/hate relationship with menu planning and recipes. I like trying new recipes but I spend too much money when I feel like I need to buy all the bits and pieces that I need to make it. Although the discovery of bulk spices at my coop and Stone Cottage saves me tons on that. I do have a menu planner template I made though just to keep me a bit more on track. I'll have to blog about it soon.

Kristina (The Greening Of Westford) said...

Very impressed! I try to stick to a budget but not nearly like this. Will you post the meals you create? I'm really curious. I am more of a planner and can't do the "make something with what I have."

Surviving and thriving on pennies said...

The Greening of Westford-I post pictures of our dinners on my blog Facebook. Hmm maybe I should do it here too. Probably a good idea. I tell you what I made, whats in it and how much it cost me. Almost all are under $5.
Sarah-same here. Love the idea but hate the actual process. I found I was spending too much money. Like my mama always said. "Make due with what you have". Can be used in many parts of my life. Im glad you found it inspiring!