CashCrashBlog

Most articles I read on budgeting your food bill had a common theme – plan your meals for an entire week and only go to the grocery store once per week.  Okay, I thought, I’ll give it a shot.

Luckily, I had the week off from work for the holidays, so I had the time to research menus, recipes and write a meal plan.  Where I could, I tried to take advantage of items in my pantry (which I had realized was more bountiful than I thought). I had tons of beans, pasta, tuna fish; lettuce & salad mixes; frozen veggies….the list went on.

As I began thinking about this project, my mind could not help but consider where I might get the best deals.  So, my husband and I set to work doing a little comparison shopping online.  More on this in my next blog.

By the day of New Year’s Eve, I had my menu and recipe list for the month of January.  I figured if I wanted to stick to a budget of $550 per month, I would need to stay to a weekly grocery budget of $137.

Note: I did not include breakfast and lunches in my initial written plan.  From my trial period during the previous ten days, I knew that my family could always find something in the pantry (mac and cheese or tuna fish sandwiches, for instance) and/or eat leftovers.  One of the benefits of cooking was the realization of so many #leftovers that were prepared and ready to go, thereby making lunches super #easy!

My final plan looked like this:

JANUARY 2018

MEAL PLAN AND GROCERY LIST

In future posts, I will highlight a weekly menu plan, recipes, and even a convenient grocery shopping list.  My goal is to help other families, like mine, manage their food bill.  I am excited for a new year and the #opportunity to for all of us to save some money!