Menus! I have been using a meal plan for awhile now. I find it is always evolving. I haven't perfected it yet. I also go through some extremely lazy phases, but a New Year's Resolution for the Hubs and me was to save, save and save some more. SOOOO that means attempting to use a strict budget of $120 per week while grocery shopping. So far, we have had very few weeks go over budget. I am not making as much from scratch as I used to. I know, I know, not the best for us, but honestly, we are not on the super healthy-clean eating- bandwagon. We try to be as conscious as we can, but lets face it, that way of eating can be pretty costly at times. AND our daughter has the strangest food allergies in the universe, so we can't buy a lot of fresh produce, tree nuts, and soy. I can't base a meal plan on salads and snacking that is nut heavy. She can't eat it. So we do what works the best for us, and do the best that we can to provide nutritious and balanced meals to our kids, even if it does include chicken nuggets from the freezer department.
Some things we have cut out to save money:
1. Chips- my husband LOVES to snack, and he has a super human metabolism, PLUS he busts his butt all day for a living. We have gotten him down to ONE can of Pringles a week. It was hard on him at first to watch the amount he is eating, but he is done whining now. We used to buy two or three bags a week. NO joke!!
2. Individually packaged snacks- This is HUGE on saving money. Those little suckers are expensive. Buy in bulk and make your own snack packs. Plus I limit this to one item as needed. Right now it is pretzels. We have been working on the same $2 bag for a month now. Not buying anything else until they are gone. The kids dip them in peanut butter (daughter) and Nutella (little man). Nutella??? Yes, Nutella. We have had the same jar in the pantry for months, and I bought it before we started the budgeting.
3. Sweet treats- including ice cream, aka my weakness- This is where things get a little dicey... I am a dessert addict. I have something sweet every night. I have tried to do it the healthy ways... an apple and peanut butter, that frozen banana "ice cream", yogurt... The thing is, I always end up eating the ice cream anyway. I could just not buy it, but honestly, you have to live a little, even when using a budget. We have just scaled back. I don't go cheap either. I buy Blue Bunny from Walmart. It is the cheapest price for Blue Bunny. I buy the frozen yogurts, any of them, all are amazing. Even the Hubs likes them. We usually get two not-really-a-quart quarts at a time. One "lighter" and one with chocolate. I won't touch the one with chocolate. Not my go to craving. We no longer buy any of the gimicky frozen treats. We have to stick with this and deal. (Oh so sad, I know.) I also buy one store brand container of sandwich cookies and divide into the snack baggies. What can I say, we like sweets.
4. Meat- is expensive. Ground beef, forget it. I have almost entirely switched to ground turkey OR (this is huge) I go to Wally World on Saturday mornings some times just for this... The chicken breast packages will go on mark down for the sell buy date, I can get an enormous amount of chicken, approx 8 large breasts, for around $6. I then grind the chicken breast with my handy dandy meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. A huge budget saver is that marked down meat. I swipe it up whenever I can. We also always have hot dogs (gag me) and chicken nuggets.
These are some things I have found work for us. I don't buy a lot of fresh produce, It is a waste for us. It will go bad before I can use it all. I buy frozen onions, potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and fruit. I buy fresh apples and carrots, sometimes strawberries or grapes, and lettuce (heads of it.), oh and bananas. I prep my lettuce myself, I like to eat salad for lunch. Chop and wash, put into a gallon baggy with a paper towel, and I can get it to last almost two weeks.
Here is what our week will look like:
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Saturday
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Sunday
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Monday
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Tuesday
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Wednesday
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Breakfast
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Eggs, sausage and toast
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Cinnamon Rolls
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Cereal with milk
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Yogurt and Granola Bar
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Cereal with milk
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Lunch
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Hot Dogs with mac n cheese and
applesauce (I might make a salad for myself or cottage cheese and fruit)
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Frozen Pizza
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Kids: PBJ roll up, gogurt, milk,
cheese stick Me:
Side salad, apple with PB2, turkey slices Hubs: Sammy, chips, apple
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Kids: "lunchable",
gogurt, juice, cheese stick Me: Side
salad, apple with PB2, turkey slices
Hubs: Sammy, chips, apple
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Kids: PBJ roll up, gogurt, milk,
cheese stick Me:
Side salad, apple with PB2, turkey slices Hubs: Sammy, chips, apple
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Dinner
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Baked Chicken with Broccoli and
Rice
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PBJ or turkey sammies, pretzels and
raisins
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Spaghetti and bread with butter
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Chicken Nuggets, Pretzels, and
Applesauce
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Leftovers
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Thursday
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Friday
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Breakfast
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Yogurt and Granola Bar
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Cereal with milk
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Lunch
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Kids: "lunchable",
gogurt, juice, cheese stick Me: Side
salad, apple with PB2, turkey slices
Hubs: Sammy, chips, apple
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Kids: PBJ roll up, gogurt, milk,
cheese stick Me:
Side salad, apple with PB2, turkey slices Hubs: Sammy, chips, apple
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Dinner
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Hamburgers, French Fries and
Broccoli
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Ham Chowder (we have it in the Freezer already)
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I don't always eat what everyone else is eating. If I have just come from the gym or am going to the gym, I will have a protein shake with a banana. I have fish available to me to avoid the higher fat meats we sometimes have. I just wait for a sale and buy the big bag of frozen fish. We always have tuna on hand for a fast dinner. Let's face it sometime life happens, and I am not cooking. I eat a banana for breakfast everyday with some yogurt, not plain. (Ew, how do people eat that chalky mess?). If you are going to try PB2- I recommend the chocolate. I haven't tried plain, but hear it is gag worthy.
What are some ways you save moolah at the store??
