On Saturdays, I share my menu plan for the upcoming week along with a photo of my groceries and a tally of my spending. My goal is to spend $100/week for our food, toiletries, and cleaning products. I’m currently in the midst of trying to buy more local, sustainably-produced food while sticking to my budget. Can it be done? I don’t know, but I’m going to try, and I’ll share what I learn as I go along.
I made a couple of food-related trips this week…here’s what I bought at Weis and Aldi:
I bought a whole bunch of local peaches at the local grocery store (for $.88/pound. Yay!) and I also picked up some chicken thighs and some $.98/lb grapes there. And since my parents are still gallivanting around in the woods of Canada, I’m mooched more produce from their garden. 
I spent $15.67 at the local store, $37.03 at Aldi, and $43.90 at Weis. So, my total for the week is $96.60, $3.40 under budget, so for the month of July, I’m $43.40 under budget.
Woot!
I’m just going to roll that into next month’s budget, and I’ll probably use it to buy some local food.
Breakfasts and lunches will be comprised of the typical fare…muffins, bagels, granola, homemade yogurt, scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast meals, and sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, yogurt smoothies, and leftovers for lunch.
Here’s what we’re eating for dinner this week:
Saturday
- Grilled Pizza
- green salad
Sunday (We’re having company over, so we’re not having our usual breakfast for dinner)
- Fajitas, made with grilled chicken, shrimp and veggies
- fruit salad
- Ice cream and Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
Monday
- Grilled Hamburgers (made with local beef) on homemade buns
- Corn on the cob (made with local corn)
- green salad
Tuesday
- BBQ Chicken Pieces
- Glazed Honey Rolls
- Green Beans (local)
Wednesday
- Chef’s Salad
- Homemade English Muffins
Thursday
- BBQ Beef Sandwiches (made with local beef)
- homemade buns (I’ll make extra on Monday)
- steamed green beans (local)
Friday
- This is our at-home date night, so the kids will probably have whole wheat pancakes, and Mr. FG and I will have some sort of takeout.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
those were the best english muffins. my son LOVES them & wants them for every meal. LOL
Kristin, I thought of you this week when I saw that the founder of Aldi (also the father of Trader Joe’s) passed away.
http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748704895004575395251115540766.html
Do your kids get jealous that you get take-out without getting them any? My youngest would pitch such a fit that I’d end up having to deal with her, putting her into time-out, etc. My food would get cold and I’d be in a funky mood my husband wouldn’t be happy with me either. I think we’d have to have date night after she went to bed. She doesn’t really care if we play a board game or watch a movie without her, but man oh man would she be mad if we got restaurant food and gave her pancakes. You’re lucky if you have kids that just take it in stride.
My children are all pretty much past the point of throwing fits and being blatantly disobedient like that. We expect them to do what we tell them to do with a cheerful attitude (Zoe struggles with the cheerful attitude part of things, but not with this particular situation.), and of course we try to be kind in the way we deliver requests to them.
The kids all head back to Joshua’s room while we eat, and Joshua and Lisey usually play Wii while Sonia and Zoe watch. They all think it’s great, actually, so this has not really been a struggle for us.
Even if they weren’t hugely thrilled with this situation, I think we would figure that an hour or two of less-than-perfectly-delightful circumstances for them wouldn’t be the end of the world, and would be worth it for the sake of some alone time for Mr. FG and me. We spend almost every other waking hour with them, so a peaceful dinner is awfully good for us.
I would bet money (were I a betting girl) that it has nothing to do with luck…
Wow, you did great on the grocery shopping. I too am trying really really hard to just spend $100/week. There are two adults, and two teenagers (a boy and a girl) in our family, plus sometimes we have extras as we are respite parents for a theraputic foster parenting service. Our choices of stores of Wal-Mart, Consumer’s IGA or Food Pyramid. Wal-Mart is usually the cheapest.
)
I’m just curious – do you wash the stuffed animals after they’ve been laying on the chicken packages (ours here often have leaked or had something else leak on them on the outside) & pesticide-laden fruit peels/skin before the kids play with them again? I’m not intending to be critical, just curious. Thank you!
Under $100/week is great. Usually I was never able to spend under $150/week. I believe I need to learn from you.
Great resource and wonderful insights; so gently presented. I am linking this article to my blog so the moms who read me will also be able to benefit from your wisdom