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We spent $71.40 on groceries this week (+ what a wild & crazy week!)

Want to save money and eat healthier?

Brigette’s $84 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

We spent $71.40 on groceries this week (+ what a wild & crazy week!)

Want to see what we bought for this week’s $70 grocery budget? I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).

For live updates, be sure to follow my Instagram Stories. See all posts on my $70 Grocery Budget here.

Whew! What a wild week it’s been!

In addition to everything surrounding COVID-19… school cancellations, church cancellations, sports cancellations, my parents cancelling their trip to come see us, Kathrynne being in Suriname while all this was going down*, and just figuring out how to navigate life in the middle of all of the unknown, we’ve also personally had some pretty HUGE things happen at our house this week… namely, we said yes to fostering a newborn who was born prematurely and is currently in the NICU.

So, much of our week was spent at the NICU loving on this little baby and meeting with the social worker/DCS/the medical team and learning how to care for a medically fragile baby.

I had never stepped foot in the NICU up until 4 days ago, so it’s been a whole new experience. And of all of the weeks, this was probably one of the most unique and weird weeks to be spending a lot of time at a hospital!! (They have a screening process just to get in the door and then to get in the NICU is a whole other level!)

The nurses and staff and social worker and DCS have all been amazing throughout this process and they have taught me so much and walked alongside us so well through this new territory. Also, we are so thrilled that the baby is doing so well, has started to bottle feed a little this week, and maybe get to come home in a few weeks!

(And yes, in case you’re wondering, this means that we’re planning to have two newborns at our house soon!! The kids could not be more excited!! Of course, this is foster care, so things could always change at any time… we’re just taking one day at a time and seeking to love well in this.)

If you want to follow along with this journey, I’m sharing little peeks on my Instagram stories every day.

*As of last night, Kathrynne is currently stranded in Suriname because they closed the borders just hours before she was supposed to fly back home today! Her school is working hard to get this situation resolved ASAP and get the girls back home. In the mean time, she has such a good attitude about it all. You can read more details here.

Okay, enough of an update! Let’s talk about groceries!

We checked our stockpile and realized it was lacking in a few areas, so we shored up those areas so that we have a 30-day supply on hand — even though not everything was on sale this week.

I’m grateful that we did this earlier in the week, because our stores are pretty sold out of a lot of staple items now.

Jesse ran by Kroger on Monday to pick up a few things we needed:

Kroger Shopping Trip #1

Potatoes — $2.49
Milk — $2.99
Cheese — $2.29
4 yogurts — marked down to $0.39 each
Total with tax: $9.91

And then he ran by Aldi later on in the week to get a few more staple items:

Aldi Shopping Trip

10-lb. potatoes — $3.79
Eggs — $0.58
Black Beans — $2.45
4 boxes Mac & Cheese — $0.33 each
Steel Cut Oats — $2.99
Great Northern Beans — $1.69
Milk — $2.49
Total with tax: $16.07 (The bag of sugar had a small hole in it, so they gave it to Jesse for free!!)

Psst! Have you checked out my post on my 25 Favorite Things to Buy at Aldi?

I’m glad we got potatoes, because our store was completely sold out of them by Friday! (Who knew potatoes would be the big thing to stock up on?? That one surprised me!)

Kroger had some three-day sales that I wanted to try to take advantage of. I wasn’t sure whether they would have these items in stock when I went by on Friday night, but they did!

In thinking of making sure we have a 30-day supply of food and household items, I made sure we had enough on hand to make 30 dinners with our freezer and pantry items. I always love to have a few frozen pizzas on hand — especially for a quick dinner on busy nights or if the kids have friends over at the last minute! Yay for them being on sale for just $3.14!

Kroger Shopping Trip #2:

2 Kroger Pizzas — $3.14 each with the three-day sale
2 bags of rice — $1.99 each
5 packages Kroger cheese — $1.29 each with the three-day sale
Eggs — $1.19
3 packages strawberries — $1.67 each
2 bunches bananas — $2.71 total
5 packages Nathan Beef Franks — $1.99 each with the three-day sale
Milk — $2.99
Apples — $3.99
Total with tax: $45.42

Our Menu Plan This Week

Note: When you see the meals below, please remember this: I buy ahead often. Which means that when I find a great deal on something I know we’ll use, I buy as much as I can afford in our budget to have on hand.

This means that you aren’t going to see all of the groceries my shopping trip that I used to make all of the meals we ate.

Please also remember that I’m putting this out there and it’s not a perfectly balanced menu. This is just really what we ate — and I hope that it encourages you to see the real-ness and lack of perfection here.

Breakfasts: Cereal

Lunches/Snacks: Leftovers, Salad, Apples/Peanut Butter, Mac & Cheese, Banana Muffins, Danimals, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Cookies, Pears, Yogurt, Random other markdowns/sale items 🙂

Dinners:

Sunday — Fend for yourself

Monday — Turkey Meatballs, Breaded Eggplant, Salad

Tuesday — Rotisserie Chicken, Steamed Veggies, Twice Baked Potatoes

Wednesday — Chicken Tetrazinni, Banana Muffins, Veggies

Thursday — Meatballs, Apple Crisp

Friday — Leftover Meatballs, Leftover Twice Baked Potatoes, Steamed Veggies

Saturday — Pumpkin Waffles, Bacon, Strawberries

Total spent on groceries: $71.40

Cashback Earned: 75 points from Fetch Rewards and $1 from iBotta

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Brigette’s $84 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan

Aldi

1 gallon Whole Milk – $0.97

1 gallon 1% Milk – $0.97

1/2 gallon Unsweetened Almond Milk – $1.65

1/2 gallon Orange Juice – $1.59

1 can Whipped Topping – $2.65

1 2-lb bag Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – $5.19

1 2-lb bag Shredded Cheddar Cheese – $5.19

1 pkg String Cheese – $1.99

1 container Goat Cheese Crumbles – $2.39

1 can Parmesan Cheese – $1.99

1 24-oz carton Lowfat Cottage Cheese – $1.59

1 2-lb pkg Fresh Ground Beef – $6.59

1 16-oz pkg Deli Meat – $2.85

1-lb Country Sausage – $3.05

1 pkg Turkey Bacon – $1.85

1 8-ox pkg Sliced Cheese – $1.33

1 jar Spaghetti Sauce – $0.89

2 cans Tomato Paste – $0.58

2 large Cans Crushed Tomatoes – $1.58

2 cans Tomato Sauce – $0.38

1 Garlic Powder – $0.69

1 Onion Powder – $0.79

1 jar Organic Coconut Oil – $4.00

1 bag Mini Sweet Peppers – $2.69

1 Cabbage – $0.89

2 cans Green Beans – $0.76

1 3-lb bag Yellow Onions – $1.19

1 6-ct pkg Organic Unsweetened Applesauce Cups – $1.19

1 pkg Zucchini – $2.15

1 Pineapple – $1.79

1 Cauliflower – $2.19

3 cartons Strawberries – $3.57

2 bags Green Grapes ($0.95/lb) – $3.72

1 large tub Organic Spring Mix – $3.69

1 pkg Romaine Hearts – $2.19

1 bag Spinach – $1.39

1 3-head pkg Fresh Garlic – $0.89

1 pkg Taco Seasoning – $0.29

1 loaf Sandwich Bread – $0.65

5 dozen Eggs – $4.90

Weekly Grocery Total: $84.89

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Everyone is responsible for making/cleaning up their own breakfasts. Choices include:

Oatmeal, Cereal, Toast, Fruit, Smoothies, Fried/Scrambled/Boiled Eggs, Veggie Omelets

Lunches

Deli Meat/Cheese Sandwiches, Grapes, Carrots x 2

Baked Potatoes with Shredded Cheese, Strawberries, Mini Peppers x 2

Veggie Omelets, Applesauce

Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Amazing Lasagna, Make-Ahead Butterhorns, Tossed Salad, Fruit Salad, Green Beans

Build-Your-Own-Soft-Taco Bar (Seasoned ground venison, shredded cheese, salsa, chopped romaine, chopped onions, rice, homemade tortillas)

Hamburger Vegetable Soup (I’ll use mostly ground venison), Biscuits

Waffles, Turkey Bacon, Strawberries

Venison Roast in the Instant Pot, Steamed Carrots, Baked Potatoes, Tossed Salad

Date Night Out (kids eat mac and cheese at home)

Leftovers