Tuesday, October 4, 2011

October's Challenge - Big Cook and Menu Planning

I have decided to work with a cash grocery budget.  I find that it is so easy to go over budget on food when you are constantly popping into the store for this and that.  This is the second month that I have used cash and there have been some growing pains. 

My goal this month is to be under budget. 

To accomplish this I have done a big costco shop on mainly meat and I will be doing a big cook tomorrow.  My friend and I are getting together to cook 16-20 meals. 

I am also going to make a menu plan each week.  I am hoping that with all the meat and pre-cooked meals that I can make my weekly budget be $50 or less a week.  I think this is more than do-able, especially when my grocery budget has to allow for diaper purchases.

What do you do to keep grocery costs down?

2 comments:

  1. $50 a week with diapers? You're amazing! Ours is $125/week, no diapers and just two adults and ONE kid! I'm trying to get it down, but I can't figure out how. We plan the whole week (definitely helps) and I shop at two stores so that I can take advantage of sales, but I'm still around $125/week. I can't wait to see how you do and hear your tips. I'd love to get our budget down!

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  2. I don't let my husband go shopping alone.... lol But seriously.. make a list and stick to it.. avoid the center isles.... you don't need all the processed stuff anyways. The outer edges of the store is generally where all the fruits, veggies, meat, dairy and bakery are... I like to buy a mixed salad in bulk and add different things to it everyday so you don't get sick of it. I do also buy condensed soup by the case as you can use it in all sorts of casseroles and big pots of soup instead of just eating it the way they suggest. (And you can usually catch good sales at safeway and stock up) I just made a huge pot of my own turkey stock and froze it.. so now I can make soup or add flavor to my rice without spending extra money :) Hope some of these tips help!

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