$4.45 a Day-Planning for Week 1

When I first decided to limit my food budget for the month to $267 I knew I needed a plan.

 Therefore, I established these ground rules:

1. I would only go to the store once a week and I would only shop at one store. (Friday/Hy-Vee)
2. I would plan meals for the upcoming week and develop a shopping list every Thursday.
3. I would purchase as little canned/boxed/pre-made food as possible.
4. I would only purchase items on my list.
5. Any money I saved on gas with my Fuel Saver Card would be added back in to the food budget.

I also decided that I would use items like the flour/salt in my pantry and the 2 or 3 items I still had in my refrigerator from the previous week without deducting money from the budget. I figure that everyone has a few "leftovers" or staples in their pantry that they use but don't purchase every week or even every month.

I started planning for the upcoming week by choosing several proteins that were on sale: beef chuck roast, split chicken breast, pork chops, and a frozen turkey breast.

Then, I looked up recipes online that used these items. I tried to find recipes that were easy to make and required little in the way of kitchen equipment.

Here are the meals I planned for the week.------>

Except for breakfast, my goal was to avoid eating the same item two days in a row. Day 7 is going to be dedicated to leftovers.

When I made my shopping list, I included the advertised sale price to make sure I was purchasing the right item. Then, I recorded the price for the other items as I filled my cart.

My shopping list----------------------------->

The yellow items were on sale.

For this week, I only purchased 6 items that were not fresh: coffee creamer, cheese, chicken broth, beef broth, tomato paste, and ReaLemon.

ReaLemon is something I wouldn't normally buy.

However, I need lemon juice for the pork chops.

With fresh lemons at 0.89 cents per lemon, I  couldn't justify buying one when I'd likely waste half of it.

After looking more closely at the ingredients in ReaLemon, I'm not sure I'll use it. In the end, the fresh lemon may have been a better purchase.

The discrepancy in the prices between the receipt and my list is due to the millet. I had purchased it the week before but since it still had the tag and was not something I normally have in my pantry I included it in list for the week.

At $71.76 for the week, I was over my $66.75 budget by $5.01.

Right now I'm okay with this because I purchased a few items (10 pounds of potatoes, lima beans, and a 6lb turkey breast) that I will carry over in to next week.


However, $5 is a big deal when the total budget for the month is $267. I hope I'll be able save enough or gas or spend less next week to make up the difference.

I must admit that even though $71.76 is the least I've spent on groceries in recent memory, it is the first time I feel like I got my money's worth at the store.

I was very impressed with the amount of food I brought home.

And, truth be told, Charlie and I will be eating much cleaner and much healthier this week compared to the last few months.

I'll be back on Thursday with a post on the meals I fixed and thoughts on how the first week went. Thanks for reading!

$71.76 worth of groceries