What I Spent, What We Ate | $150. Oh yeah.
What I Spent
I spent $150.78 this week, but I only have a photo of my $63.40 Aldi trip.
I got a produce box delivery, though, and also made two other smaller stops.
July Spending
Week 1: $189.96
Week 2: $212
Week 3: $150.78
What We Ate
Monday
I made chicken tacos. We had guacamole and chips with those, because of course.
Tuesday
Mr. FG met us at the pool after work, where we ate BLT salad.
Wednesday
I made a shrimp stir-fry with squash, red peppers, and onions, and we ate that over rice.
Thursday
Mr. FG was out having dinner with our pastor, and the kids and I had buttermilk pancakes.
(This is the griddle I have; recommended by Cook's Illustrated, of course.)
Friday
Pizza night! It's supposed to be another hot day, so I may very well opt for grilled pizza again this week. A 500 ° oven just sounds so bad right now.
What were the eats like at your house this week?
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P.S. Joshua and I have FINALLY gotten off of our rears and dusted off our 52 project. Here's hoping we can manage to keep it up. 😉
Another crazy week. We have had everything from chicken pasta to nibbles from the fridge. I am still struggling with meals as mum won't eat what my daughter and I like and I cannot afford to pay $60 plus a kilo for the meats, cheeses etc she prefers.
Best wishes everyone.
No one is much interested in salads here but me. However, a BLT salad might catch their attention. That's going on the menu for next week.
Late July in South Georgia makes cooking so unappealing because of the heat. It's a struggle every year. Can't wait for cooler weather for this very reason!
Monday: The old standby of a Rotisserie chicken from BJs. It's kind of hard to beat $5 for something that's cooked for you but isn't junk food. We had this with rice and veggies.
Tuesday: Leftover chicken means chicken tacos.
Wednesday: BLTs. We didn't do a salad for ours, just plain old sandwiches.
Thursday: I was on my own as the wife was traveling for work and my MIL had my daughter. I ate two eggs and a baked potato.
Friday: Not sure what's on the menu tonight at Bible Study or what we're bringing. I guess it's a surprise.
So far this month we've actually only spent $172 on groceries. Granted we have a lot less people in our house but it's interesting how our budget has been able to be kept low despite formula being so expensive.
Wow! I struggle SO much with our grocery bill! May I ask how you've managed to only spend 172.00 so far into the month? We are only a family of 3 and it's hard to stay under 150.00 a week! we buy and eat ALOT of produce. I am experimenting with more meatless meals as well in hopes that will save money. Seems so many things there are coupons for are not for the choices I want to make for myself and my family. I don't get excited one bit if Totino's pizza rolls or Fruity Pebbles are .17 with sales and coupons........Any tips would be appreciated!
It's just my wife and I with the baby. Plus sometimes we stock up so it's not like $170 for the month is every month. I know we're going to need more food before the month is out.
The biggest expense in my budget is formula and while my daughter is needing less and less of it, it's still expensive (about $20 per week.)
We also have Bible study every week so that's a potluck we don't have to fully cook.
I don't know that we really have any tips other than buying meat in bulk and storing it in the chest freezer and eating the same thing a lot. I think the only major budget tip I have is that we shop at discount groceries like Aldi and Price Rite but your prices will vary a lot as you aren't in the same area I am in.
We do breakfast for dinner a lot. Tossed salads with baked potatoes are common meals as well. Lunches for me are often peanut butter sandwiches (on bread I make myself) with a banana and/or chips and cottage cheese. I've really cut down on drinking soda (it's been hard but I'm getting there.) We rarely buy beef so a lot of our meals are based around chicken and pork.
Over on Reddit there's a sub called /r/Eatcheapandhealthy that has some good ideas.
oo, thanks for the reddit idea
We cut some costs buy meal planning based on what is on sale each week. That does make a difference but we also have a garden so this time of the year we have plenty of free produce and berries.
We eat our hot meals at lunch time and then "lunch-y" dinners like sandwiches with raw veggies and fruit. That's just what works best for our current lifestyle. Sunday night I made French bread pizza, roasted broccoli, chicken tetrazzini, and beef enchiladas. We ate on those all week and I only had to turn on the oven one time!
I love how healthy your meals are! I'm trying to incorporate more greens into my diet, with mixed results so far. I think it's really hard when you're not raised as a veggie eater to switch over to the good side!
This week we ate:
Monday: Asian lettuce wraps. We add rice noodles to ours. This week I decided to do a quick pickle on the cucumbers and it was pretty tasty! They soaked for an hour in salt and red wine vinegar.
Tuesday: Mr. Picky Pincher and I were out and about, so our schedules were all over the place. I ended up making bean and cheese quesadillas for myself and the Mister picked up barbecue on the way home.
Wednesday: Pita pockets. I wasn't really a fan of these because I forgot to chop up my sautéed kale into little pieces. The result was un-tasty globs of kale that weren't very appetizing. Next time I'll take it easy on the greens!
Thursday: Ground beef poblano tacos. You really can't go wrong with tacos at our house!
Friday: Barbecue chicken sandwiches with cauliflower
Yum. Reading all of these dinners makes me hungry and it's only a little after 9 a.m....
Monday - Shrimp and quinoa skillet with carrots, onions, and garlic. Peas on the side.
Tuesday - Chicken Enchiladas (I broke the no-oven rule because I have a billion corn tortillas in the fridge and lots of homemade enchilada sauce), broccoli
Wednesday - Leftover pork chops cut into cubes and cooked with onions, peppers, potatoes, and bbq sauce. Served with salad. My mother used to make this and call it goulash (:
Thursday - Tilapia tacos, ranch dressing angel hair cole slaw, refrieds (haven't made a dent in the corn tortillas yet but I am trying!)
Tonight - Butter Chicken (jarred Indian sauce with chicken breasts), rice, sauteed brussels sprouts.
Sat - Hubby will grill burgers, and some fajita meat for tomorrow
Sun - Fajita Taco Salads
Our grocery bill has been high lately, too. But I have FOUR menfolk to like to eat. And the 17 year old constantly in the kitchen...
Hi! I'd love your recipe for the shrimp stir fry. It looks so good. I tried to see if it's posted on your blog somewhere, but I couldn't find it.
Thank you,
Alyssa
You are right! I haven't posted it yet...I'll try to do that.
I love these posts. In the photo is that bleach from Aldi? How do you like it? My mom insists nothing is better than Clorox, but it is pricier. Plus it means going to another store and given how far out Aldi is, its not very frugal.
I use bleach super infrequently, and the Aldi stuff has seemed fine to me. But I am no bleach connoisseur!
It was too hot to cook this week.
Sunday we did a pasta salad with cauliflower and mushrooms, garden peas, chickpeas, olives and chorizo.
Monday we had hard boiled eggs, potato salad, carrots and cherry tomatoes.
Tuesday we spoiled ourselves a bit and had smoked salmon with boiled potatoes and red pepper and snap peas.
Wednesday I did pasta with braised eggplant and tomatoes and walnut pesto, a new recipe that's going straight into rotation.
Thursday was quinoa with hummus, broccoli, red onions and olives.
Tonight we're going out for drinks with friends, so I think we'll hit the easy button and do tuna salad sandwiches when we get home.
And there's steak and salad for the weekend. Yum.
What kind of pan do you use for your stir frying?
I'm surprised by the $135 griddle! I am all for investing in key cooking items, but wow. Mine was about $15 at the local grocery store and I use about 1x/week.
A week for the slow cooker (every day but today):
Monday - cooks country swedish meatballs with noodles and Asian coleslaw and lots of fruit
Tuesday - Swedish meatballs and noodles again this time but with zucchini and squash fried up with lemon juice and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
Wednesday- chili with cornbread cooked in the toaster oven
Thursday - repeat of Wednesday
Friday- pizza we had in our freezer. I've been caring for sick kiddos since Wednesday and I'm pushing the easy button whenever I can. The kids and I were supposed to go to my parents' for a few nights this week and the trip was canceled due to illness. I'm pleased we managed to eat from our pantry/freezer the whole time even with the change of plans.
This is a late comment but I enjoyed reading everyone's menus. I live alone in Anchorage, Ak where groceries & especially produce are a bit high. I do have a Costco membership as it only works out to being $4.50 monthly & it's worth it to me as I buy a lot of their large bags of frozen fruits for smoothies (The strawberries & blueberries!) & mixed veggies. Also I like their fresh fruits such as apples & bananas as they come in relatively small packages. I recently got 2, 2lb packages of Ranier cherries that were so good I ate them in 3 days straight! (Hadn't had fresh cherries in years). I eat very simple meals with a lot of repetition, will admit.
It's been warm for Anchorage, up to nearly 80 degrees! ( I can hear you all laughing)
I don't have a vehicle & walk to a Safeway 2 blocks from my apt & use a "roller tote bag" to haul home my groceries a couple times weekly. Last week they had a deal if you bought $50.00 in groceries you'd get a $10.00 discount & the same thing with $5.00 off a $25.00 purchase. My food budget is about $60.00 weekly & that's being careful. I was able to get $75.00 worth of groceries for $60.00 so stocked up a bit. Also I use the store club card & actually paid $35.00 for $80.00 worth of groceries, admittedly including some "treat items".....The cashier said she was impressed...
I am "mostly" vegetarian with occasional salmon etc. Grew up that way so it's easy. I do like Morningstar Farms vege foods when they are on sale. Those are considered "treat items".
Silver salmon is in season right now but is still $9.99 lb in grocery stores. I occasionally get some & cook enough for 2 meals, (1 lb) with a baked potato & green vegetable. My favorite meal in the summer! I never eat out. (1 or 2 times yearly maybe) Anyway, thanks for all the meal ideas!
Cherries are so good! I think they're especially tasty because we only get them for a short while each year.
Alaska is expensive. Great job on the budget.
I didn't realize that Alaska was expensive. I was always under the impression that it would be a cheaper more affordable place to live given the extreme weather. Thank you for posting that. How do you manage? I am very curious.
After I read your post, I did an inventory of our freezer. I have everything to make chicken tacos, thanks for the inspiration!
Yay! A chicken taco night is always a good one.
We'd starve before I spent that much on groceries. My budget is 40.00 every two weeks. There are two of us and we live in Kentucky. Having a salad and fresh veggies are a luxury we can't afford. I'm glad you can afford it, but, be realistic on how you budget. Not everyone can afford to spend more than half their paycheck on food.
I hope I didn't say anywhere that my grocery budget is what is right for everyone. 🙂 When my kids were littler, we got by on a smaller budget, but right now, they are older and hungrier, and thankfully, we do have the income to support a larger grocery budget now.
But good for you for living within your means!
I spent $80.00 on groceries for 2 weeks. YUP $80.00. I got fresh chicken legs .59 cents a pound ( I stocked up), ground beef $1.53 a pound (I stocked up), pork chops .99 cents a pound (I stocked up), salad stuff. I got limes, strawberries, milk ,cheese, big tortillas. I got eggs at .77 cents for 18 I bought 8 packs of them.
I went to Big Lots and found stuff cheap. I got peanut butter, I got muffin mixes like Krusteaz Cranberry and Lemon Quick Bread Mixes for a buck. I got Annie's fruit snacks for .50 cents I got English Muffins for 1.60 cents which is cheap where I live and I got bagels 12 for $1.60 ( I kinda stocked up) So for 80.00 for a family of three plus grandchildren I think it is pretty good! Oh and I got a nice big back brush for a buck and 4 bars of shea butter and coconut soap for $1.90!