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:
- Ham Hash (cubed ham and potatoes cooked in a cream sauce) with some potatoes and some of the ham and some garden veggies
- Sausages with a side of mixed vegetables
- Soup with some of the mixed vegetables, noodles I already have and some of the ground chuck from last week
- Fried ham with a salad made from things in our garden
- Cheesy baked potatoes
- Chili using the tomatoes and some of the chuck from last week
- 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?
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