2014 $50 Budget Menu Plan Week #10: St. Patties day is sneaking up on us, bringing fantastic deals on corned beef (about half price this week!). Seafood is also on sale this time of year, so keep your eyes out for slashed prices on scallops, crab legs and . . .
Stuffed clams. If you haven’t already, we recommend checking out the March Sales Cycles, which lists all of the deals you can expect to encounter this month. Chicken seems to be popping up on sale all over the place this week and I wonder if it’s a way for the grocery stores to counteract the inflated beef & pork prices.
We purchased the following: Lettuce, Tomatoes, bell peppers, red onions, avocados, bananas, vanilla yogurt, (3) corned beef, cabbage, pears, carrots, scallops, 10 pkgs frozen Veggies, limes, cornmeal
From our Backyard: Fresh Eggs (Getting nearly 2 dozen per day again!)
From our Windowsill: Fresh Scallions, Fresh Basil
Total spent this week on groceries $44.31
Breakfast Options for this week: Fresh Fruit – Bananas, Fresh Berries (last week), Cantaloupe from last week, pears
As usual We’ll throw together a fruit salad to snack on and eat for breakfast, along with the following choices:
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Morning Glory Banana Nut Muffins
- Homemade Bagels
- Egg White Omelets (Egg whites, diced veggies, seasonings)
- Banana Nut Refrigerator Oatmeal
- Poached Eggs on Toast
- Pumpkin Spice Raisin Buttermilk Scones
- Fruit/Berry Yogurt Parfaits
Monday March 3rd:
- Lunch: Fruit Salad with Cinnamon Croutons
- Dinner: 6-Min Creamy Mac-n-Cheese with Bacon & Spinach (froz)
Tuesday March 4th:
- Lunch: Leftover Mac-n-Cheese
- Dinner: Grilled Terriyaki Turkey Burgers on Homemade wheat buns, salad
Wednesday March 5th:
- Lunch: Egg drop Soup
- Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner, Seasoned Homefries, Over-easy Eggs and Cantaloupe slices
Thursday March 6th:
- Lunch: Peppered Egg Salad on homemade Thintastic Onion Bagels
- Dinner: Flu be Gone Cabbage Stew, Corn Muffins
Friday March 7th:
- Lunch: Dijon egg Salad wraps
- Dinner: Veggie Quiche
Saturday March 8th:
- Lunch: Leftover Stew (from thurs)
- Dinner: Enchiladas, Spanish rice, salad (leftovers to be frozen for quick lunch/dinner option)
Sunday March 2nd:
- Midday: Get together gathering with friends, bringing Cowboy Casserole(by request!)
Various Snacks & Desserts:
- Fresh Fruit Choices Available– Apples, Bananas, Fresh Pineapple, Fresh Berries
- cantaloupe Sorbet
- GF Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies
Drinks Available:* Iced Tea (Unsweetened or Sweet Tea)
* Coffee
* Hot Chocolate/Cocoa
Less Likely to be used, but still available:
* Copycat Gatorade
* CopyCat Arizona Green Tea
* Lemonade
* Iced Coffee Drinks
* Almond Milk
FYI: People often ask if our “grocery list” includes cleaners. For the most part it does, we purchase baking soda and vinegar for cleaning and rarely use other chemicals. We do not include fels naptha or borax on our grocery list though.
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For Further reading/help we recommend the following:
- March Sales Trends–not sure what Should be on sale right now? Here is a list of the current Sales trends throughout the month of March so you know what savings to expect and look forward to.
© Can Stock Photo Inc. / bhofack2
I was wondering where you got the corned beef and how much it was a pound? Thank you
They have it on sale this week at Aldi for $1.99 if you’re looking for a deal on some!
I am wondering for a lot of the items above you use items that are obviously from your own pantry, apparently purchased at another time. This is where I have trouble figuring out how much I really spend as so many things are used over a long period of time. I spend at least $1000 month on household goods and groceries and am struggling to get this down even though I try planning and price matching. I also have 2 wonderful daughters to help with this and I am sure it has improved but still is not close to your budget.
Do you have prices for what is costs to make some of the recipes above such as the hamburger buns? That might help me figure out some of the costs. Also what about the turkey for the turkey burgers? Shouldn’t that be included in the weekly budget?
Maybe I am missing something and I would really like to make this work as we need to cut down on costs but I am just not seeing how this is possible. Thanks for any additional help you can give.
How many are you cooking for and what type of household goods are you buying? I have 3 children, 2 cats and 2 dogs. I make my own laundry detergent and all purpose cleaner. We shop at Aldi for the most part.
We only spend about $75 a week on food and this includes coffee and creamer. I would love to share some of my recipes and shopping tips if you are interested.
Hi Karen,
I think how this is working is you start by planning your menu – either weekly or monthly, and plan according to what is in your pantry and freezer. What ever is not in your pantry or freezer for the meals you have planned then need to be purchased. If you are starting out with nothing or very little in either of these areas then it may start out being more expensive until you get a good pantry up and running.
Buying meat when it is on sale for at least 5 or more meals ahead is a good way to get your freezer stocked in no time. Following the posted sale trends that Liss puts up is a big help.
So start by writing down some of you family’s favorite meals and plan for that. When you have leftovers, use them for lunches the next day or freeze for a night that you are unable to cook. it is hard getting started but if you keep at it you will get the hang of it.
This is a great website to help you. I hope this helps.
Nancy