How to create a grocery budget and stick to it!
I go grocery shopping once a week. Well, let me back up. At the first of the month my husband and I we have a budget meeting to go over all this months bills and we set budgets for everything. (He most of the time. Him=Nerd Me=Free Spirit... If you don't get it Check out Dave Ramsey FPU.) Groceries, toiletries, eating out, entertainment, clothing all have their own categories. Once we have a budget amount set for the month I create my weekly menu. My monthly grocery budget for 2 adults and 1 child is between $500 -$600 per month. I know that may seem like a big budget, but I do make almost everything from scratch so buying up all the basic kitchen ingredients could sometimes be a little costly. I write down all the ingredients that I need for those meals and then anything else that I may need to replaced in the pantry. Once I have my list I STICK TO IT!!!
I shop mostly at Kroger’s, Sam’s Club and the Base Commissary. I buy majority of my produce from Sam’s Club. We eat so much fruit/veggies that its just cheaper to buy them all in bulk from Sam’s. Currently I’m shopping at Kroger’s for just about every thing else. I LOVE Kroger’s. The prices are fantastic and they have a really nice selection of meat and produce. (I’m NOT getting paid to promote Kroger’s by the way. I just like this store.)
My shopping cart is a mixture of organic and non-organic items. I'm finding that the area we currently live in doesn't carry a lot organic items so I just make due with what my stores have.
Coupons... I don't use very many coupons. But I do like to check online at coupons.com before I go out to see if there are any that I could use. I also clip the digital Kroger coupons and load them onto my store card for additional savings.
Weekly Menu Plan...
I list out the days of the week and I just throw in some dinner ideas for each day. Sometimes I’ll ask my husband if there’s something that he wants for dinner this week. Its usually no but then mid-week he’ll tell me something and I’ll just throw that on the menu for the following week. If we happen to go out to eat or to a friends house spontaneously for dinner then that days meal just gets rolled over to the next day. When I menu plan I try and plan some of my meals that make good LEFTOVERS!!! Can I get can Amen for leftovers?!?!
Example:
S- Spaghetti & Meatballs
M- Leftovers Spaghetti & Meatballs
T- Fit Men Cook Chicken Enchilada Casserole (recipe here)
W- Leftover Enchilada Casserole
T- Tuna Sliders, Caesar Salad
F- Homemade Pizza
S- Sweet Potato Burgers (recipe here)
S- Crock Pot Roast Beef & Salad
We have homemade Pizza EVERY FRIDAY. I know that may seem overkill but I like to give the people what they want. If they want to eat pizza every Friday fine by me. It's a house favorite and inexpensive to make. I use deli pepperoni (The BEST, get it shaved. 1/4 lb. will be enough for 2 pizzas) and make my own pizza dough. You can find that recipe here in one of my previous blog posts.
My 3-year-old makes her own pizza too. It’s a good mother/daughter bonding moment.
Lunch Meal Prep...
I meal plan my husbands lunches every week. It’s a good time saver for me. I pick a meal from fitmencook.com and that’s his lunch for the entire week. Check out my Instagram Moweeks to see a few of my previous meal prep pictures.
My lunch every week is either leftovers from the night before or I'll have a sandwich or salad.
I hope that you find some of this information helpful and useful for when you make your weekly menu and go shopping.
Lunch Meal Prep...
I meal plan my husbands lunches every week. It’s a good time saver for me. I pick a meal from fitmencook.com and that’s his lunch for the entire week. Check out my Instagram Moweeks to see a few of my previous meal prep pictures.
My lunch every week is either leftovers from the night before or I'll have a sandwich or salad.
I hope that you find some of this information helpful and useful for when you make your weekly menu and go shopping.
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