I'm currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 grocery budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).
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It's Week 4 of my $70 Grocery Budget Challenge and I'm excited to see how this week goes! I'm loving hearing from so many of you who are sharing how this challenge is motivating you to look for ways you can cut your grocery bill, too! That makes me so happy!
By the way, in case you’re interested, I spent $68.36 on groceries last week. And here was our menu last week.
I got these fantastic coupons in the mail from Kroger — including coupons for FREE bacon, FREE cereal, and $10 off any $40 purchase! (If you have a Kroger store, make sure that your address is correct in your account and hopefully you’ll get great coupons like this!)
Here’s what I bought at Kroger yesterday:
Monday Kroger Shopping Trip — $36.18
I wanted to be able to use the $10 off $40 purchase coupon + I hadn’t gone shopping on Saturday or Sunday, so I knew that I could spend extra and have a larger shopping trip (I allot $10 per day — though I don’t always go to the store every day, since it doesn’t always work out in my schedule or we don’t need anything or I’m not going to be driving by a store that day and have time to stop!)
But I have to admit that when my total rang up (before I swiped my card and my discounts and coupons had come off), I was a little scared to see such a high number showing on the screen. It said that my total was $76!!!
I know that’s not a huge amount, but since most of my shopping trips have been more like $10 or $15 each, this felt like some crazy ridiculous amount! 🙂
However, I was super happy that after the discounts and coupons, my total came down to $36.18. Much, much better!
Here’s what I bought:
- 2 16-oz. blocks of cheese — $2.49 when you buy 4 participating items
- 2 Skintimate Shave Creams — $1.99 each when you buy 4 participating items, used 2 $1/1 Skintimate Shave Gel or Cream printable, $0.99 each after coupons
- 2 dozen Simple Truth eggs — $2.50 each
- 3 packages of Salad Pockets — marked down to $1.29 each
- 2 bags of produce — marked down to $0.99 each
- 1 bag of Kroger rice — $1.69
- 1 carton of Simple Truth egg yolks — marked down to $1.29
- 2 pounds of Simple Truth Ground Turkey — marked down to $2.79 each
- 1 package of Bacon — used FREE coupon that Kroger sent to me (see above)
- 2 Simple Truth yogurts — marked down to $0.39 each
- 2 tubs of Hillshire Farms Honey Ham — marked down to $2.39 each
- 3 Suave Professionals Shampoo/Conditioner — $1.99 each when you buy 4 participating items, used 2 $1/1 Suave Professionals Wash and Care Product printable and used $1/1 Kroger Digital coupon — $0.99 each after coupons
- 1 Stayfree Pads — $1.79 when you buy 4 participating items, used $1/1 Kroger Digital coupon — $0.79 after coupon
- 4 packages of Goldfish crackers — $0.99 each when you buy 4 participating items
- Kroger Raisin Bran — used FREE coupon that Kroger sent me (see above)
- 2 boxes of Capri Sun (for lunches) — $2.49 each, used $1.40/2 coupon that Kroger sent to me (see above) — $1.79 each after coupon
- Used $10/$40 that Kroger sent to me (see above)
- Total with tax: $36.18
I was so excited about the salad pockets. I love to use them for quick sandwiches for myself. But in my excitement, I forgot to thoroughly check them before putting them in my cart.
And while two of them were great, one looked like this…
YUCK! Word to the wise: Always carefully check items that are marked down before buying them!
I used the liquid whole eggs to make some French Toast “batter” for that night’s dinner.
I love this cookbook, if you couldn’t tell! 🙂
It might seem weird for me to take the time in the morning to mix up the “batter” for French Toast, but I try to do as much prep as possible for dinner as early in the day as possible, because I’m often not super energetic or inspired at dinner time. So having dinner as done as much as I can, makes it so much easier!
Last night, Silas had a double-header Flag Football Game (his team won!), so being able to whip up French Toast in just a few minutes was such a help for getting out the door!
This Week's Super Simple Menu Plan
This menu is subject to change a little if I find some great deals or markdowns! 🙂
Breakfasts
Cereal, Baked Oatmeal, Eggs, Fruit, Toast
Lunches
Ham & Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, Fruit, Veggies, Capri Sun, Banana Bread, Cream Cheese Blueberry Muffins, (for the kids) Leftovers, Chorizo Breakfast Burritos (for Jesse) Leftovers, Eggs, Pita Pocket Sandwiches, Salad (for me)
Dinners
Monday — French Toast, Bacon, Oranges
Tuesday — Southwest Rollups, Fruit, Rice
Wednesday — Meatballs, Corn on the Cob, Homemade French Fries
Thursday — Haystacks
Friday — Steak (We had some in the freezer that I need to use up!), Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Saturday — Dinner Out
Sunday — Snack-y Dinner (fend for yourself — cereal, leftovers, etc.)
Total spent so far this week: $36.18
Total left to spend: $33.82
