3 Week Grocery Challenge: Feeding a Family on Less than $100

12 July 2019 by diyhomesteading101.com

Grocery challenge! I am challenging myself to spend less than $100 per week on groceries. I have a family of four and various friends and neighbors that come over for random meals. Can I do it? Here is my three-week diary!

Spending Less on Groceries: Week One

On my first week, I didn’t do so fantastic. I spent $115.35. I went a little over, but in my defense, we were out of almost everything, and I got tons of stuff. In fact, I got 42 items. Several of these items weren’t food and included bathroom supplies, so I didn’t do too badly.

One of the things I stocked up on was frozen vegetables. This is key. Usually, there is a lot more in a package of frozen vegetables than in a can, and they cost about the same if you buy the store brand.

Another thing I stock up on is eggs. I buy a 60-count box of eggs because you can use them for everything.

Hopefully, I can spend less next week since I stocked up this week!

Spending Less on Groceries: Week Two

Doing good so far! Here’s how this second week went.

I bought:

• 1 pork sausage (I saved $2.43 using my store card.)
• A family-sized carton of strawberries (I saved $1 using my store card.)
• Strip steak  (I saved $2.30 using my store card.)
• 2 beef kabobs
• 4 pork tenderloins  (I saved $3.02 using my store card, plus they were marked down for quick sale.)
• 5 lbs. ground chuck
• 4 packs of Uncle Ben’s rice (I got two single-serving rice cups free after buying four packs with a coupon.)
• Steak (I got this for $1.65 because it was marked down!)
• 2 packs of sausage links  (I saved  $.98 using my store card.)
• 4 cases of soda (one was free due to a buy 3, get 1 free sale. Plus, I also saved an additional 5.16 by using my store card.)

My balance was $93.27. I saved $18.99 by using my store card. Now, you may be wondering why I didn’t buy any veggies this week. Well, I have canned and frozen vegetables stocked up and a garden, so that helps a lot to keep this week’s prices low. I plan on fixing stir fry with the rice and sausage links, meatloaf with some of the ground chuck and a birthday dinner with the kabobs, steak and tenderloin and Southwest tacos (in the picture) with some more of the chuck and some tortillas I have from a previous shopping trip. We’ll use leftovers for lunches. Those are the only meals I have planned so far…

Spending Less on Groceries: Week Three

So, it is week three of feeding my family for less than $100 per week. I think I did really well on this week’s shopping trip. I ended up spending only $69.60, and a lot of the things I got weren’t food. I bought laundry soap, razors, 12 rolls of toilet paper and shampoo that came with a free, small bottle of smoothing shampoo. I saved $4.05 by using coupons. Since I was shopping at Wal-Mart, and they don’t offer store cards, I didn’t have any extra savings.

Here’s what else I got:

• 10 lbs. of potatoes
• A large bag of grated cheese
• 2 cans of concentrated orange juice
• Frozen peas
• Frozen vegetable blend
• 2 cans of mixed vegetables
• 1 gallon of milk
• 1 12-count box of toaster pastries (for my husband)
• 2 large cans of chopped tomatoes
• Chili powder
• 2 packs of smoked sausages
• Large box of oatmeal for breakfasts
• 5 lbs. of ham

Oh, the things I can do with this seemingly small amount of food! I plan on making:

1. Ham Hash (cubed ham and potatoes cooked in a cream sauce) with some potatoes and some of the ham and some garden veggies
2. Sausages with a side of mixed vegetables
3. Soup with some of the mixed vegetables, noodles I already have and some of the ground chuck from last week
4. Fried ham with a salad made from things in our garden
5. Cheesy baked potatoes
6. Chili using the tomatoes and some of the chuck from last week
7. Beans with ham using some of the beans I already had in the pantry

Plus! The Sunday paper had a coupon for a free Cherry Berry Chiller, so on the way home, I snagged myself a treat. It tasted even better because it was free!!

Do you have any tips for eating for less?