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A peek at our weekly grocery shopping
Each week I plan on sharing a picture of our cart at each store along with a breakdown on what we bought and what we paid. Thankfully we have zero dietary restrictions or allergies which helps us keep our budget on the low side. We try to stick between $80-90 each week for our family of seven. A lot of times what is on the menu doesn’t directly correlate to what we buy because I like to plan our meals from what we have on hand currently and use our budget to stock up on good buys plus produce and dairy products.
You might notice that we are under our grocery budget again this week. Yay! I’m using lots of food from the freezer and pantry to make meals with plus I’m trying to see how low I can keep it right now in order to stash a little money away for our summer vacation.
We’ve been very fortunate to build up a good stash of meat, pasta, and basic veggies at home so there isn’t as much to buy each week. I’m really trying to be frugal in these early years of five kids because I know how much they can eat and it’s only going to get crazier! It’s good training for the later years.
Cashwise
Taco Sauce 5 @ 0.48 = $2.40
Taco Shells $0.48
Sausage links 2 @ 0.88 = $1.76
Creamer 2 @ 2.48 = $4.96
Carrots 2 @ 1.00 = $2.00
Total: $11.60
Target
Avocado 4 @ 1.00 = $4.00
Mushrooms $1.87
3lb bag Apples 2 @ $4.19 = $8.38
– 5% off Archer Farms Apples (0.42) = $7.96
Salsa $1.99
– 5% off Market Pantry Salsa (0.10) = $1.89
– 5% Target RedCard discount (0.79)
*submitted receipt to ibotta for any item rebate (-$0.25)
Total: $14.68 after rebate
Walmart
Roma Tomatoes .62lb @ 1.48/lb = $0.92
Carrots & Peas 2 @ 0.98 = $1.96
Pineapple $1.16
Olives $1.54
Salt $0.54
10lb bag Flour $2.77
Sugar $1.98
*submitted receipt to ibotta for any item rebate (-$0.25)
Total: $10.62 after rebates
Sam’s Club
Milk $2.78
Bananas $1.38
Cheese Brick $5.98
Flour Tortillas $4.98
18ct Eggs 2 @ 1.17 = $2.34
Butter $10.39
Tortilla Chips $3.98
submitted receipt to ibotta for rebate(-$0.25)
Total: $31.58 after rebate
Grocery Total: $68.48 after rebates
Menu Plan
I love menu planning and seeing other’s dinner plans! I’m weird like that 😉 As I’ve shared before, being in the kitchen is my happy place so I love finding meals that are new but I also never forget our favorites! These will link to the author’s original recipe unless it’s my own recipe/creation that I don’t have a link for… yet.
If you need some inspiration for how to create menu plans you can read here where I go into detail about how I make a plan for our food week and here to read how I create our grocery list.
I don’t make specific plans for breakfast and lunch but these are the basics I rotate between while throwing in a few other things for special days or weeks when I have the right ingredients.
Breakfasts: Pancakes, Coffee Cake, Egg Sandwiches, Sausage Balls, Eggs (various ways), English Muffins, Banana Bread, Biscuits and Gravy, and various types of muffins.
Lunches: Leftovers, PB&J, Meat and Cheese Wraps, Cheese Quesadillas, and Mac ‘n’ Cheese.
Dinners, however, are always planned for since they tend to take the most ingredients and prep time.
Here’s what’s on our menu this week:
Sunday: Nachos – After our Cinco de Mayo taco bar we have lots of leftovers and the kids love nachos. Plus it’s so simple!
Monday: Pretzel Dogs – I usually use little cocktail wieners for making pretzel dogs but I’m going to use the large hot dogs we have in the freezer this time instead. I haven’t decided if I’m going to cut them in half or leave them as is yet.
Tuesday: Teriyaki Chicken Casserole – I put a few cups of the rotisserie chicken we got last week for free in the freezer for easy future meals. This casserole is quick to throw together and super flavorful.
Wednesday: Pizza Pasta – This one always seems to be a big hit with the kids and I like that it all cooks in one pan. Easy clean up for me!
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Homemade Pizza and Movie Night – you can find my pizza crust recipe here.
Saturday: Bang Bang Chicken – Micah has been requesting this since he took his first bite of it the last time I made it. The kids were split on it so I’ll probably make another sauce to satisfy them.
What’s on your menu this week?