Grocery Spending/Menu Plan | I'm back in the game!
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.
At least, I am more than I was last week. I still feel like I haven't quite gotten my life back together post-vacation, but I'm working on it.
I was too hungry for lunch to bother unpacking my groceries for a picture.
As you can see from these two items, this week has not been a typical week. After thinking about the stuff I needed to get done, though, I decided that homemade bread and homemade yogurt could be taken off my to-do list.
I'm pleased to say that things are a little more back to normal now...this is my kitchen counter yesterday. 😉
I spent $107.81 at Aldi and $35.05 at Weis for a total of $142.86. That means I'm under by $57.14, which is good because I forked over a big fat check for a quarter of a local cow this week.
My quarter had a hung weight (a pre-butchering weight) of 179 pounds, and the price was $2.99/lb. So, I spent $536 on beef this week, but my freezer is delightfully stuffed, and I shouldn't have to buy beef again for a very long time. Yay!
Since I was a little under budget this week, my beef purchase has "only" put me over budget by $478.86. I figure if we just don't eat anything for the next month, we'll be right back on track. 😉
Actually, my more serious plan is to, well, plan better for the next time I need to buy beef. I'm going to take money from another category to pay for the beef this time around, and I'm going to try to spend $80/week instead of $100, at least through the end of the calendar year. If I do this, I should have enough grocery money saved up to buy another quarter without putting myself behind.
Because I won't have to buy a whole lot of meat, I think this could be manageable, and I think I can do it without compromising on the quality of food we eat (if we had to subsist solely on ramen to stay on budget, I'd be opposed!).
I really want to make this work because I'm so on board with the idea of supporting small, local farms, and because I think this beef is healthier for our family.
(Hello! If you were a cow, wouldn't you want to live here??)
Ok, I think I'm done with pictures now. This has been an unusually picture-heavy Saturday post, hasn't it?
Breakfasts this week will be chosen from the usual options...toast, fruit, yogurt, scrambled eggs, cereal, oatmeal, and pancakes.
Lunches will be comprised of sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt, yogurt smoothies, cottage cheese, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, cheese, and leftovers as necessary. Of course, we don't eat all of that every single day...it's just a list of the things we choose from for lunch each day. And Mr. FG eats leftovers for lunch pretty much every day.
And here's what's on tap for dinner:
Saturday
- We're having a misc. night to use up some leftovers.
Sunday
- Pizza with Mr. FG's grandma (we get together with her every now and then to share a meal and play some games)
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
- Meatball Subs
- green salad
Thursday
- Fish-I have some salmon and some tilapia that need to be used
- garlic bread
- fruit
Friday
- Homemade Pizza
Today's 365 post: This is what has become of our tree
I'm getting my grassfed veal this weekend :). Whatever I pay, I just divide it by 4/5 (months) and add the amount to everymoths budget. Like if I pay $200, it would be $40 for beef every month.
Ahhhh. A freezer full of meat is such a feeling of security, isn't it? Add in shelves full of canned tomatoes, and that makes me a very happy person. It's the simple things.
Yes! As long as the power doesn't go out, I'm in good shape. =P
HI,
I had just ordered a half of a beef and was wondering how much room it took up in your freezer? Also, how long do you think your quarter of beef will last you?
I thought it was much healthier to buy from a local farm and possibly cheaper too.
I get very tired of looking over the meats in the meat section of tlhe store trying to decide what to buy. Now all I have to do is grab something out of the freezer!
It IS really lovely not to have to look for a sale on ground beef every time I want to make hamburgers, and it's nice to be able to make my chuck roast recipes whenever I want to. Definitely a plus.
We split a quarter with a family last summer, and we're just now about out of beef. So, I'm thinking a whole quarter might last us a year. We'll see!
I forgot to answer the question of how much room. That's sort of hard to say exactly, but it takes up less space than you would imagine. The beef we buy comes packaged into cuts and portions, so it's easy to stack neatly in the freezer.
We split a quarter with my mom. I am not much of a meat eater. However, I would fight someone over my ground beef. The beef that we got is fantastic. We had 17 packages of 1 1/2lbs of hamburger and I thought we would never use it. I treat it like gold, it is so tasty! In fact, I suggested to my husband that we turn a lot of the odd-ball roasts into ground beef. The fat on the roasts is icky, but ground up into hamburger... Yummy! I can't wait to order our next one and it does take up less room than you would think. Our butcher had them nicely packaged and they fit great in the freezer. We have a stand up freezer (about 14 cubic feet), it took up about 2 shelves and a little bit of drawer space.
My 100 lbs hung weight of pig (half a pig) filled 2.33 copier paper boxes.
Disclaimer: I do not eat meat.
However, I DO wholeheartedly support your decision to buy a happy cow. And be able to afford it.
Might I suggest (although you've probably thought about it) not buying other meat for a while? So eating up whatever chicken/fish/etc you have in the house, and then going veggie/vegan? Dried beans are cheap and delicious.
Rant done. 🙂
If Mr. FG liked beans, I'd be all over that. Alas, he loathes legumes. And eggs. But since there are other fabulous things about him, I've decided to keep him anyway. 😉
We don't typically consume meat at any meal except dinner, and even then, we don't eat tons of meat (often we have meals like a salad topped with grilled chicken, or a pizza topped with crumbled bacon). So, even though we don't often have totally vegetarian dinner meals, I'd hazard a guess that we consume a lot less meat than the average American family.
Ah. Now never seeing beans and rice or refried bean tacos makes a lot more sense. I wondered about that ... because they make up such large portions of my dinners. 🙂
And I do actually love beans myself! So I eat them and I add them to stuff like my bowl of Tortilla Soup, but I can't exactly make a family main dish comprised of legumes.
Oh well!
well your hubby's better than my dad (except for the eggs!) my dad would only eat pinto beans - no other kind other than the baby limas and both of those were the occasional meal and the only way my mom could get by with no meat on the table wth one of those meals was to 1) peel and slice an onion 'just right' 2) fry squash and/or okra - both had ot be salt and peppered and cornmealed 3) fix homemade cornbread (not the mix) and 4) have sliced tomato with a salt shaker handy - like right beside his plate. even then he only ate a spoonful of the beans - two at most.
The other times she would fix meatloaf or steak with them. we had 4 in the family and my mom wasn't a meatlover - she's eat some but could live without it - but she'd order a 1/2 beef at least once a year and sometimes twice if we ran out of the 'good stuff' and just had hamburger and roasts left(my dad liked the chicken fried steak parts and tbone steaks)
I don't eat meat either. And I'm sorry, but I don't think the term "happy" would really apply. Yes, happy while they are alive but not so much as they are led to meet their fate. They know something is up and it is not a pretty sight to see them led to the "house." However, I do applaud anyone for at least buying local where these animals at least have a normal life for awhile. MUCH better than supporting corporations that abuse their animals all their lives.
I'm sure I'm going to get hated on for posting this, but just one gal venting. AND I don't think I'm better than anyone else. I used to eat meat all the time.
My belief is that God made the animals for people, and so that's why I'm not opposed to eating animals and animal products (I think that properly raised animal products are actually very healthy).
I do, however, think that the animals should be treated humanely while they live and that they should be slaughtered in a humane way as well. I think such practices are better for the animal, better for the environment, and better for people.
I don't mind that you disagree with me, though. 🙂
Thank you for responding so eloquently. I hold nothing against people that eat meat. I'm not one of those people. But whenever I see the subject brought up, I find it hard to keep my views to myself. Just like others that disagree with me share their views. Have a good day.
I'm trying to make small changes to move towards more local eating..it's not easy but it's something that I want to do. Unfortunately we onl have a small freezer, or I would buy our beef this way too.
Those do look like happy cows! Good for you. 🙂 And I bet that meat is delicious!
It IS good...definitely better than the stuff I've bought from the store.
I've been wanting to try homemade bread - been trying to eat healthier along with saving money so not sure if i'd be able to stop at a slice or two...but a friend just had a garage sale and I'm gonna be the owner of a bread machine - yeah! I've always wantd to try one esp since I don't think my 30 something year old oven - gosh maybe 40 yrs old! - does well in baking - and figured $5 would work. Do you -or anyone- know if that wheat bread you posted will work in a bread machine or I can cut the rcipe in half and try? Im not sure about loaf pounds and I think this machine does big loaves. I dont' even know the difference in heavy bread and the regular kind yet! I've been eating the low cal kind like sara lee delightful so I"m not used to the 'real deal'!
I am all for happy cows!!! In fact, I am looking for a local farmer who is willing to sell a happy cow this fall ( I think I am going to split it with two other neighbors). Local meat and produce is SO much better than anything you can buy at the store. I am so thankful I live in a semi rural area. I love being able to support the local farmers and eat healthier. I have been mixing brown lentils with the ground beef for tacos, meatloaf, and spaghetti sauce. They take on the flavor of the seasonings and cook down enough they the legume dislikers at my house will eat them (with out really knowing what they are)! ;D
We purchased half a cow last year and you can tell that it's better for you! There is hardly any fat and when you fry your hamburger there is barely any grease! Not only that, but it tastes so much better than store bought!! We will never go back to store bought and it saves money!;)
We are local beef folks, too. A quarter of a yearling cow lasts us a year, for two adults, plus I give some to my mom who lives in town. We eat beef once a week mostly. Fish and chicken once a week, too, and then fill in with vegetarian meals and leftovers. Now if i could find local chicken, I'd be a happy girl!
As for paying for it, this year I've started putting all my leftover grocery $$$ aside--I meant to do an ing account but so far it's in a tin in the pantry, and I'm hoping that will pay for most of our yearly beef expense.
Great blog. Our family has never quite made the leap to getting that much beef, but it's interesting to hear about the savings and quality people get!
I love those farm pictures!! I would really like to do the local beef thing, too. First I need a freezer...and I need to make some space to put a freezer(actually that should be first). 🙂
As soon as we have a chest freezer instead of the little one above our refrigerator which is usually jam-packed anyway, I'd love to start buying local meats! Does the place you buy yours do smaller than a quarter? And also - I think you answered this already, but they already have it divided into various cuts and bagged up for you? Because I'm sitting here thinking to myself, if I had to chop up and bag 179 pounds of meat....WHEW. 🙂 And one more question! Do you find that any of it ever seems freezer-burned? I probably don't freeze my meat correctly but I find that after 3 months in the freezer it's tasting a little less than fresh when I finally cook it...
YAY for happy cows! Loved your photos of the country road. 🙂
If you get a chest freezer that is not self-defrosting, your meat should not taste freezer burnt. In a freezer that doesn't defrost itself, your meat should stay fresh for a year (I think mine will be gone in that length of time).
And yep, it comes all cut up and packaged. If I had to do that myself, I don't think I'd be brave enough to buy a quarter of a cow! It comes frozen and it's packaged in freezer paper, so you don't have to worry about freezing it properly.
Great example of how to work this kind of purchase into a food budget. Congrats on your meet!
Great example of how to work this kind of purchase into a food budget. Congrats on your meat!
One of our local vegetable CSAs also have a meat CSA available, so for those that want to buy direct from the farmer, but don't have the space, can sign up. For those that are interested in local beef/pork/chicken, I would recommend looking it up! Thanks for the post! Happy eating!!!
I just discovered a local meat processor, I'm heading over to their place today to see how it all works, where they get the meat, cost, etc.....I also found a guy that has his own chickens to get fresh eggs from!!! Will find out the cost for a dozen today too!! It feels so good to buy from local people and to know how the animals were raised and treated and that they aren't full of hormones and steroids!