Monday: Chicken pot pie (using broth from last week's chicken) and salad
Tuesday: Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and fruit)
Wednesday: Red beans and rice, salad
Thursday: Left-overs
Friday: Bean burritos (made with homemade refried beans), Mexican rice, chips, salsa
Saturday: Manicotti, garlic bread, Caesar salad
Sunday: Left-overs
This was a pretty uneventful shopping week for me. I bought what I needed for our meals, plus I did stock up on a few things. The tomato sauce was a little more than I normally pay for it, but I was running low and the price was decent, so I bought a few. I also stocked up a little on cheese. I typically prefer to buy blocks of cheese, but it's hard finding cheese for under $4/lb these days, and that's what these were ($2/8 oz), so I bought a few to throw in the freezer. I came in quite a bit under budget, so I'll have a little extra to use in the future, whether it's to stock up on ingredients or to buy some more expensive items that normally don't fit into our budget.
Tuesday: Breakfast (pancakes, eggs, and fruit)
Wednesday: Red beans and rice, salad
Thursday: Left-overs
Friday: Bean burritos (made with homemade refried beans), Mexican rice, chips, salsa
Saturday: Manicotti, garlic bread, Caesar salad
Sunday: Left-overs
This was a pretty uneventful shopping week for me. I bought what I needed for our meals, plus I did stock up on a few things. The tomato sauce was a little more than I normally pay for it, but I was running low and the price was decent, so I bought a few. I also stocked up a little on cheese. I typically prefer to buy blocks of cheese, but it's hard finding cheese for under $4/lb these days, and that's what these were ($2/8 oz), so I bought a few to throw in the freezer. I came in quite a bit under budget, so I'll have a little extra to use in the future, whether it's to stock up on ingredients or to buy some more expensive items that normally don't fit into our budget.
Store 1: Food4Less
Tomato sauce: $0.25 each
Natural peanut butter: $2.99
Cake mix: $0.99 each
Cantaloupe: $1.07
Cheese: $2.00 each
Dried garbanzo beans: $1.50
Croutons: $1.19
Tortilla chips: $1.50
Cottage cheese: $1.79
Eggs: $2.79
Total: $23.81
Store 2: Sam's Club
Milk: $2.75
Baby carrots: $3.98
Romaine: $2.58
Total: $9.31
Store 3: Valley Produce Market
Broccoli: $1.52
Pitas: $0.79
Red onion: $0.26
Iceberg: $0.69
Red bell pepper: $0.87
Cucumbers: $0.39 each
Carrots: $0.50
Nectarines: $1.41
Onions: $0.58
Total: 7.40
Grand Total: $40.52
Pitas: $0.79
Red onion: $0.26
Iceberg: $0.69
Red bell pepper: $0.87
Cucumbers: $0.39 each
Carrots: $0.50
Nectarines: $1.41
Onions: $0.58
Total: 7.40
Grand Total: $40.52
When do you do your menu planning? (Day/Time of the week) Do you take input from the rest of the family? I like how you post the cost of items you purchase at each location. Do you look for sale prices at each place or just usually buy certain items at certain locations? In the past I've done menu planning but I never cost it out as well as you have. You inspire me to get back into menu planning BEFORE I go shopping!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Wendy! Part of the reason for doing this is to help inspire others. :)
ReplyDeleteI typically do my meal planning in the evening (no interruptions from kiddos!) Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night, depending on which night I have the most time. Sometimes we're busy and I just do a little bit each night, but I try to have it done by Sunday night, so I can go shopping first thing Monday morning. I sometimes ask my family what they'd like that week, but I know what their favorites are and try to plan those into the schedule periodically.
I look at the grocery ads every week to see what's on sale and base my menus around sales and what I already have on hand. One benefit of checking the sales is that I know when things are at a really good price and can try to stock up on them, as much as our budget will allow. For other things, I just know which stores usually have the best prices. I hope that helps!
Hey Kimiko, do you coupon at all? I too have 4 kids (13, 11, 9 and 1) and I love that you plan meals each week and take the sale items into account. I am also big on using leftovers to transform food into a different meal. I'm using spaghetti sauce to make chili tonight and a few days ago used meatloaf to make a Hamburger Helper meal (busy day! LoL) Thanks for your tips and sharing! Love it all :)
ReplyDeleteHi, Shelly! I have done couponing in the past, but no longer do. I found that most of the time, coupons were for things I didn't buy regularly. That, combined with the amount of time it took made it not worth it at this stage of my life (I have 3 kiddos who keep me busy :) ). Good job on those leftovers! I always love it when I can transform last night's meal into something new. :)
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