Get $500 to Spend on Groceries!
1. Making plans, not breaking plans
During the last week of November, I sat down and began mapping out what kinds of meals I could make in advance and have ready for me to eat during the week. I’ll mention that I am a life-long vegetarian, so meat (which is something that can be expensive to buy) wasn’t something I had to budget for. But it also wasn’t something that my almost $1,500-a-month food bill included either.
I planned what my breakfast would be every morning (oats and almond milk, yogurt, with a side of fruit), what my lunch would be (a veggie sandwich), and my dinners could be during the week (exciting pasta dishes, big salads, frozen pizza or warm vegetarian dishes). I also accounted for snacks that would be both healthy and keep me full in-between meals (nuts, vegetables, popcorn or fruit). After making an idea list of meals and snacks, I then broke out the ingredients and items I’d need to buy at the grocery store, with the goal of keeping the bill under $70 a week.
The list usually had about 20 items total and looked like this (factoring in items that were on sale that week and leaving off items that weren’t):
- Rice cakes (instead of bread for sandwiches because a package can be less expensive and last longer)
- Peanut butter
- Hummus
- Assorted nuts
- Vegetables (zucchini, sweet potatoes, carrots, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, etc.)
- Fruits (apples, bananas, plums, pears, grapes, etc.)
- Rolled oats
- Assorted soups
- Popcorn
- Pasta/pasta sauce
- Almond milk
- Spinach/kale
- Protein or snack bars
- Applesauce
- Yogurt
- Frozen pizza
- Ice cream
- Cereal or granola
- Ground coffee
- Mystery item of the week (Here’s where I treated myself to one item under $5) click hare to get started https://www.cpagrip.com/show.php?l=0&u=201175&id=24543
