During March, I’m sharing a glimpse into our food budget and menu planning. Each week, I’ll share the groceries we purchased and our meal plan. Our grocery budget is currently $200 a month for our family of 4. {Our baby is still exclusively breastfed but I eat more while nursing!} We no longer try to eat as cheaply as possible, viewing our grocery budget as an area where we can save big. Instead, we view food as an investment in ourselves.
I don’t claim that we eat perfectly healthy. We still have a way to go but we’re making strides towards healthier eating. We’re incorporating organic milk, local cheese, buying organic produce that’s on the dirty dozen list, trying to avoid GMOs as much as possible and are planning to get a few chickens so we’ll have fresh eggs. We are trying to frugally eat healthy, which is possible with a simple diet, almost no food waste and cooking from scratch.
Obviously, we’re not starting the month with no food. Here’s a glimpse into our pantry and refrigerator before our grocery shopping trip:
Pantry
Fridge
Produce {in the bottom drawers you can’t see}3 pounds organic apples and 1 pound organic carrots.
We also have a freezer full of meat! At the beginning of this year, we were blessed with half a cow from John David’s family’s farm {we only paid the processing fee.} In both January and February, we’ve had excess money left at the end of the month that we’ve set aside in a grocery money envelope so we can use it to purchase items in bulk later.
Grocery trip for the week:
- Honey Roasted Peanuts $1.99
- Pineapple $2.50
- Oats $2.99
- Flour $2.07
- Sugar (2) $4.96
- Banana Chips $.32
- Strawberries (organic) $3.99
- Kiwi (organic) $.79
- Bananas (organic) $1.28
- Pasta Sauce (organic) (2) $5.98
- Potatoes (organic) $5.43
- Chips (2) $5.00 (-$1 coupon) $4
- Tortilla Chips (organic) $2.19
- Mac ‘n Cheese $1.00
- Cereal (2) $5.68 (-$1 coupon) $4.48
- Milk (organic) $6.49
Total: $50.46
We also purchased 5 pounds of local cheese which was $33.54 {this should last beyond this month!} And chocolate ice cream for $5.04.
Grand Total: $89.04
We’ve started this month off by spending more than we typically do but we shouldn’t have to purchase cheese anymore this month. If we only purchase milk and fresh produce at the beginning of next week, we’ll be right on track for the month.
Meal Plan
Breakfasts:
Homemade Granola {Based on this Homemade Granola}
Cereal
Fruit
Lunches:
Leftovers
Cheese & Homemade Wheat Crackers
Snacks:
Nuts
Raisins
Fruit
Smoothies
Hummus & Chips
Dinners:
March 1: Mac ‘n Cheese, Fruit*
March 2: Nacho Chicken Bake {a new creation, I’ll be posting the recipe!}
March 3: Chicken Soup
March 4: Dinner out for my birthday!
March 5: Buffalo and BBQ Chicken Pizzas
March 6: Venison Roast with Carrots, Potatoes and Onions
March 7: Dinner at Church
March 8: Leftovers*
March 9: Baked Pork Chops, White Beans and Bread
March 10: Mexican Casserole
March 11: Veggie Soup {splitting the beef from the Mexican Casserole and using home canned tomato juice!}
*John David works late on Thursdays, so we typically have a light supper.
I know there’s a lot of room for improvement {like adding in more fresh vegetables!} but we’re taking baby steps, trying to avoid most processed foods and purchasing local and organic foods as much as we can. And I’m looking forward to really getting our garden going so we’ll be growing our own fresh vegetables and fruits!
Again, we’re not trying to eat as cheaply as possible. I’m not trying to awe you with a shoe string budget or with our super healthy eating habits. I’m just sharing our grocery budget so you can get an accurate picture of how we eat and where we spend our grocery money.
I’d love questions and comments but please keep them polite! {Food related posts tend to bring out spirited comments since views on what’s healthy or not vary widely.}
Linked to: Menu Plan Monday
