On Saturdays, I share my menu plan for the upcoming week along with a photo of my groceries and a tally of my spending. My goal is to spend $100/week for our food, toiletries, and cleaning products. I’m currently in the midst of trying to buy more local, sustainably-produced food while sticking to my budget. Can it be done? I don’t know, but I’m going to try, and I’ll share what I learn as I go along.
The Shopping
Remember how I didn’t go shopping last week? Well, I had to make a quick stop at a local grocery store to buy a few things to carry us through to my real shopping trip. I spent $23 there.
And then later in the week, I visited Aldi and Weis (and Goodwill, where we found two pairs of jeans and a Razor scooter. It was a good day.)
I spent $73.76 at Aldi and $57.83 at Weis.
So, for the week I’m at $154.59 and my average per week for the month of March is $127. If I can manage to squeeze by with a light shopping trip this week, that should help my weekly average a bit.
The Menu
Since Mr. FG works second shift, we eat our dinner meal at noon during the week, and at night on the weekends. And our lunch meal happens at night during the week and at noon on the weekends.
We do eat breakfast in the morning, though, all week long!
Breakfast options are homemade yogurt, granola, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, fruit, and cereal.
Lunches will be comprised of sandwiches made with whole wheat bread, homemade yogurt, yogurt smoothies, cottage cheese, fruit, raw veggies, nuts, cheese, and leftovers as necessary.
Here’s the dinner meal plan:
Saturday
- Takeout date night for Mr. FG and me, something easy for the kids
Sunday (we’re eating with my side of the family)
- Grilled Hamburgers
- a side dish…haven’t decided what yet!
- my mom is bringing a chocolate cake
Monday
- Meatball Subs
- green salad
Tuesday
- Asian-Glazed Tilapia
- Spinach Salad
- Potato Bread
Wednesday
- Cilantro Chicken Pasta Salad
- steamed broccoli
Thursday
- Seafood Quesadillas
- fresh salsa and chips
- grapefruit halves
Friday
- Pizza
Kiki
Sunday 18th of March 2012
Your asian glazed tilapia is soooo goooood!!!! It became our family's favorite. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Cindy
Saturday 17th of March 2012
That hamburger looks fantastic! So does the fish. Gotta try it.
Thanks.
Cindy
Saturday 17th of March 2012
my link back didn't work. i corrected it. sorry.
Elle
Saturday 17th of March 2012
I recently watched a movie starring Penelope Ann Miller. Has anyone told you that you look a lot like her?
Jo@simplybeingmum
Saturday 17th of March 2012
Those hamburgers look great - not sure how long my no-meat diet's going to last once we get in bbq weather in the UK (if we ever get sun!). I did a grocery shop today. Normally I do it on a Friday and at Aldi, but things are a little chaotic currently so I did it today instead elsewhere as it was near my destination. I won't say where, but upon paying I educated the cashier on how much I could have saved had I gone to Aldi - she seemed quite interested. Oh dear, I'd better watch out they probably have trained assassins.
Heather :) :) :)
Saturday 17th of March 2012
The grilled hamburgers sound really nice :) :) My father and I use the grill for just about every meal. We have a flat pan that sits on top of the grill and we cook on that. We rarely actually use the stovetop. It saves us energy AND the food just tastes awesome on a grill!!! Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)