It's Wednesday again folks! That means I have a new meal plan for this week ready for your reading pleasure! I am really excited to share my plans with you. So excited in fact, that I played some mind games with myself. I had to make the bed, fold four loads of laundry, unload and load the dishwasher, and put away my reusable shopping bags before typing this post as a reward. Whatever helps you get it done, right?
While I spent a good bit more this week than last week, I was able to hold the total expense for what will be consumed in this week's meals to $37.34! Other items I purchased include laundry detergent and meat to freeze for the upcoming weeks.
Remember, my goal is to average $40.00 per week on groceries, eventually working up to $40.00 per week for groceries, toiletries, cosmetics, and cleaning supplies. So far, I'm 2 for 2!
A quick update...
Before I get to the specifics for this week....here is an update on how the first week of meal planning worked out. This is not a perfect system and there are bound to be changes and snafus (or is it snafoos?) along the way. Because you deserve it, I plan to be absolutely honest about any deviations from "the plan" each week.
We ended up eating two dinners away from home this past week: one at a friend's house and one with my father in law. We did not end up making spaghetti or brats. Luckily we didn't need the brats, because they somehow fell out of my grocery bag in the car and I didn't realize it until the next day (yuck)! Obviously, they went straight into the trash along with their $4.99 price tag and a little piece of my heart. Oh well, things happen. I carried the spaghetti option over to this week and made it for dinner tonight. This means a few of the items I originally purchased for last week's meals will be put to use this week.
I must confess, I did make one food purchase Saturday night... and for $3.56 it was sooooo worth it.
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| An impulse purchase, yes. But - it was half off at least! |
Don't worry, I worked some ice cream into the plan for this week and got a much better deal :)
Anywho...let's get back to today's purchases.
A snack was in order before heading into battle....
What I bought:
Stops 1 & 2: Food Lion and Aldi
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| (produce and juice from Food Lion, everything else from Aldi) |
Pictured:
8 store brand sports drinks
1 bag of spinach
1 cantaloupe
4 bananas (still have 3 left from last week)
5 granny smith apples
1 red onion
1 carton of orange juice
1 bag of croutons
1 jar alfredo sauce
1 bottle of ranch dressing
1 loaf of white bread
1 dozen eggs
1 bag of flour
Total Value / Total Spent: $26.18
Stop 3: Harris Teeter
Pictured:
2 boxes of fishsticks (18 count)
1 box of Mrs. T's Pierogies
Blue Bunny ice cream (1.75 qt)
8 Yoplait yogurts
8 oz Cabot "Seriously Sharp" cheddar
1 pack of store brand swiss cheese slices
1 six pack of English muffins
6.86 lbs of 80% lean ground beef
24 oz center cut pork tenderloin
Total Value: $70.17
Total Spent: $32.97
(The ground beef and pork tenderloin alone would have cost $34.15 at full price.)
Stop 4: BILO
Pictured:
2 bottles of 50 oz All laundry detergent
2 cans Hanover baked beans
1 package of black forest ham (10 oz)
1 Hillshire Farm beef smoked sausage
1 roll of Jimmy Dean hot breakfast sausage (16 oz)
2 boxes Morningstar blackbean burgers (4 per box)
Total Value: $38.21
Total Spent: $15.59
Total value of purchases at all four locations: $134.56
Total spent: $74.72
Percent paid: $55.5 %
Percent saved: $44.5% ($59.84)
* I already know that I will need to purchase another gallon of milk in a few days.
I already priced it because thinking ahead is the name of the game!
In case you are dying to know (just humor me, okay?)...it's $2.59 at Aldi.
What will we be eating this week?
(Keep in mind that only $37.34 of the purchases above are included in the following menu.)
Breakfasts and lunches are pretty much the same as last week:
Breakfast options (mix and match): scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, toast, English muffins, bananas, cantaloupe, cereal, oatmeal
Lunches: salads and sandwiches for Nick, salads, veggie burgers, leftovers, fruit for me
I am pretty excited about the dinner options I was able to come up with. I picked out several new recipes to try, and when I checked my cabinets before making my list, I realized we already had a lot of the necessary ingredients. Some of the purchases this week along with the staples left in our cabinets and freezer will be used to make the following:
*Spaghetti (had it tonight)
*Buffalo Chicken Pasta (new recipe!)
*Balsamic Grilled Chicken (new recipe!) with Side Salad
*Breaded Lemon Pepper Parmesan Pork Chops with Au gratin Potatoes
*Beef Pot Roast with Potatoes, Onions, and Carrots (new recipe!)
*Grilled Sausage with Potatoes, Onions, and Peppers
*Beef Stroganoff
Also, there might even be some fun snacks and desserts this week, such as homemade soft pretzels (new recipe!) and cheesecake, yummmm :)
Since I did stock up on a few items, here are some of the meal ideas I have already come up with that you will see in the following weeks:
*Ground Beef with Red Beans and Rice
*Shepherd's Pie
*Chicken Pot Pie
*Pork Tenderloin with Pierogies
*Breakfast for Dinner
*Fishsticks (my fondness for them is both amusing and sad, I know)
The ground beef should be enough for about 12 meals, and the pork tenderloin should make two dinners with some lunch leftovers. We also still have a lot of chicken breasts in the freezer. I predict that my totals for the next 2-3 weeks will be much lower because I will be making fewer meat purchases.
A little accountability never hurt anyone, right?
In an attempt to hold myself to the plan above, which includes four new and possibly time consuming recipes, I will be posting pictures of each dinner...starting with tonight's dinner: spaghetti.
Quite delicious if I do say so myself!
Couponing and meal planning are two processes that take a good bit of time, but the payoffs are huge and they get easier with time. The $59.84 I saved this week will probably cover our next two weeks worth of groceries. While odd to others, it is fun to watch the number go down at the register. The register is my enemy, and the super long receipt I walk away with is evidence of my victory (haha, you should know by now that I am a wee bit dramatic).
It's a hobby you don't have to feel guilty about, because instead of spending money, you are saving money. If anyone is interested in starting meal planning, couponing, or both, I say go for it! Whether you are saving $25 or 25 cents, you are still winning, and let's face it, we all like to win.
Well, if you are still reading, congratulations, because you must possess one of two things:
A) a great deal of mental fortitude, or B) a lot of free time!
If you are interested in the specific prices of any items pictured above or how to get the coupons I used, feel free to comment below or facebook/email me! I would love to see others score some of these awesome deals!
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