Skip to main content

Menu Planning #165

 

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out.  


Instead of guessing regarding our food budget, I looked up the Official USDA Food Plans as of December 2020 which was enlightening.    Since, we have 3 members in our household and use the thrifty plan, the food only weekly budget would be $123.40.  However the monthly SNAP benefits average $125 per person or about $260.00 per household.   


Goal: $500.00 

What did we spend? 


Week 1- $108.97

Kroger: $87.83

Meijer: $21.14

Rebates- $9.65

IBOTTA: $7.55

IBOTTA: $1.10

Kroger Cash: $1.50


Week 2-$84.37

Kroger: $84.37

Rebates: $7.44

IBOTTA: $7.44

Kroger Cash: $2.19


Week 3: $183.11

Meijer:$10.19

Kroger: $25.08

    $36.60

Aldi: $111.24

Rebates: $13.29

IBOTTA: $11.00

Coupon.com: $2.29


Week 4-$133.87

Kroger: $76.87

Aldi: $57.00 

Week 5- 


Total: $510.32

Rebate Total: $30.38

Final Total: $479.94


NOTE: Rebate total DOESN’T include Kroger Cash or Refunds because they will come off of the Kroger Bill automatically the following week.   In addition, I don’t count CVS as part of the grocery bill because I normally use gift cards and ECB to get my items for free, so in the end the money is usually to my benefit.   


Grocery Shopping Tips:   Incorporate high nutrition, filling and low price items in your meal planning. For example, I know that a bagel for breakfast will keep me full and satisfied until lunch time.    This prevents me from overeating at breakfast and snacking before 12:00.  

     

Let’s take a look at what we ate this week. 

NOTE- If you want to see the recipes, just click on the picture to see the link. 



Breakfast Options: 

https://sweetlifeonabudget.blogspot.com/2018/11/making-yogurt-101.html


Yogurt

Cereal

Eggs


Monday


Greek Chicken

Salad

Pita/ Hummus


Tuesday


Tacos

Chips w/ Salsa

 

Wednesday

(Homemade Gravy)

https://sweetlifeonabudget.blogspot.com/2020/04/classic-gravy-aka-marinara-sauce-049-cup.html


Pasta

Meatballs

Salad



Thursday

https://www.budgetbytes.com/cajun-sausage-and-rice-skillet/


Cajun Sausage Rice Skillet

Broccoli 


Friday

https://sweetlifeonabudget.blogspot.com/2019/05/pizza-277-per-pie.html


Pizza


Saturday


Steak

Baked Potatoes

Salad


Sunday

https://sweetlifeonabudget.blogspot.com/2020/03/california-three-bean-chili-053-per_9.html


Chili

Bread Sticks



This week’s rough plan: 


M- * Food Court Bourbon Chicken

T-  * Black Bean, Pepper and Rice Casserole 

W- Pasta w/ Sausage

Th- Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie

Fri- Calzone

Sat- Greek Chicken

Sun- Cowboy Soup 


* Indicate that the recipe is a new one for our family.    


What is your family having this week for dinner?


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out.   The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon.    We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can.     This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in.    We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner.    What did we spend?  Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Menu Plan #322

  NOTE-  1- Click on the picture and get a link to a post sharing the recipe.  2- Although all prices were correct at the time of the blog postings, the current cost of these dishes may be higher due to inflation and/or location.      Published September 2025:  USDA Thrifty Food Plan According to this plan, our family has a weekly budget of $190.50. Since  October has 5 weeks, our monthly budget is $952.50.   We elevate our dining experiences by including fresh fruits, vegetables, and higher-quality meats.  Since our family has specific dietary needs, we limit our consumption of highly processed food.   Grocery Shopping Tip:     Rethink lunchmeat.     The deli will provide you with thin-sliced meat or presliced deli meat, but you will pay a premium per pound.     ($6.49 to $15.00 per pound) However, if you buy a ½ boneless ham (unsliced or presliced), the price point will drop to between ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19)

Fruit by the serving: Pineapple ($.06-$.19) Fruit by the serving is a concept that I first read about on Pennies & Pancakes several years ago. The concept is basically how much does each serving of fruit cost you. Apples or bananas may be ch eaper that a larger fruit such as cantaloupe or pineapples, but if you pick one up when it is on sale and cut it yourself, it may actually be cheaper per serving that the apple or banana.   In addition, it will give you a wider variety of food. Furthermore, if you have children who would not eat an entire banana or apple, it may be beneficial to purchase the smaller sized fruit. Pineapple Selection: A lot of pineapples we see in the states are mainly green.  When you find a pineapple with a golden color to the majority of it, there is a good sign that the pineapple will be sweet and delicious.  As with all fruit, check for busing. If a piece of fruit is bruised in the transportation process then ...
Post a Comment
Read more