Weekly menus for those who spend <$800/month on groceries.

[Michelle in AL]

If you spend less than $800/month or <$50/person/week, what does you weekly dinner menu look like?

 

Do you buy snacks (chips, crackers, ice cream, popsicles etc)?

 

Here's my menu for the week (I spend way more than $50/person) and this doesn't look extravagant to me:

 

***I'd love to see more frugal menus****

 

Thurs: spagetti & meatballs: bought $1 spagetti sauce and pasta.

 

Fri: Chicken, cheese, tomato panini, salad and frozen french fries

 

Sat: Penne pasta with sirloin beef & Arugula, salad

 

Sun: Roasted chicken, fried okra (frozen), and rice (box)

 

Mon: homemade mac & cheese, broccoli, and field peas (canned)

 

Tues: Shepard's pie, peas/

 

Wed: Taco pie from a kit, corn with peppers.

 

Lunches: baked potatoes, frozen pizza, frozen pot pies, sandwiches.

 

Snacks: always buy myself a bag of chocolates, a bag of crackers and a bag of pretzels. Occasionally get one ice cream or box of popsicles.

 

What am I doing wrong? :confused:

Any frugal menu examples?

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

This is not a particularly frugal menu at our house, but it is typical to what we usually eat. We spend about $100-$125 a week:

 

Sunday, chicken night: Chicken Cordon Bleu (this is our most expensive chicken recipe) with rice and salad

 

Monday: Vegetable-Millet Casserole, made with veggies from the garden, and fruit

 

Tuesday: Leftover Night

 

Wednesday: Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes with salad and fruit

 

Thursday: Split Pea Soup, made with leftover ham from the freezer, and homemade biscuits

 

Friday: Leftover Night

 

Saturday: Ham and Cheese Quiche, my recipe makes two quiches and I make my own pie crusts

 

We eat leftovers for lunch everyday with fresh fruit. For breakfast we eat oatmeal, homemade breads and muffins, eggs, homemade granola, and fresh fruit. We're trying to get out of the habit of eating cold cereal with milk because it's expensive. We eat two snacks a day, one of which is yogurt, flax seed, and fresh fruit and the other usually involves nuts of some sort (plus I have a bedtime snack which also includes nuts). We buy very little snack foods, usually just crackers. We spend the most money on milk (we go through 4-5 gallons a week), nuts, yogurt, and fresh fruits and veggies. I try to make everything from scratch because it is generally cheaper and to avoid strange flavorings and preservatives.

 

ETA: I think the main things that save us money are making everything homemade that I can, having leftovers for lunch and two evenings a week, and eating cheaper foods for breakfast. We don't eat a lot of meat (three nights during my example week is more than the usual), and when we do we usually buy a value pack and freeze what we don't need that week. Also, no snack foods or sodas.

Edited August 3, 2010 by Lisa in the UP of MI

[phathui5]

We end up spending almost $200/week. There are 6 people at our house. I do one weekend trip where I generally spend about $150 and then another "we're out of produce, bread and cereal" trip during the week.

 

I noticed that your menu has meat as a dinner almost every day. I couldn't afford to do that.

[charmama4]

We end up spending almost $200/week. There are 6 people at our house. I do one weekend trip where I generally spend about $150 and then another "we're out of produce, bread and cereal" trip during the week.

 

I noticed that your menu has meat as a dinner almost every day. I couldn't afford to do that.

 

This is how I shop as well. $150 a week with $50 for produce and milk run.

 

Lentils is a great way to keep protein in your dinners and it WAY cheaper. Make taco's with them, they are yummy. www.hillybillyhousewife.com has some good lentil recipes.

[FairProspects]

I noticed that your menu has meat as a dinner almost every day. I couldn't afford to do that.

 

Seriously? Do people other than vegetarians really not eat meat? I grew up in a house that had meat every single night (as did Dh). I thought I was doing pretty good if we went meatless once per week.

 

How do you get enough protein? We really minimize the carbs here for both health and allergy reasons. That means I'm down to protein & veggies for meals. Most veggie meals burn off in an hour and I'm hungry again so I have to have the meat.

[Liz CA]

I bake bread - have for many years.

I make ice cream and sorbets at home.

We buy chips and popcorn or whatever snacks. I snack mainly on fruit and almonds but dh needs his chips. :glare:

 

We get chicken, ground beef, ribs & fish pretty regularly.

We cook less in the heat of the summer and eat more salads.

Grocery budget always goes up slightly in the winter because the baking urge seizes me with force.

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

Seriously? Do people other than vegetarians really not eat meat? I grew up in a house that had meat every single night (as did Dh). I thought I was doing pretty good if we went meatless once per week.

 

How do you get enough protein? We really minimize the carbs here for both health and allergy reasons. That means I'm down to protein & veggies for meals. Most veggie meals burn off in an hour and I'm hungry again so I have to have the meat.

 

We eat lentils, beans, milk and other dairy, nuts, and seeds. Nuts are expensive though, too. We do mostly complex carbs, to keep things healthier. We use whole grain pasta (sometimes bought, sometimes homemade), brown rice, and millet, and when I make my own things I use whole wheat flour.

[mysticamethyst]

I get my meat from Sam's and this is a huge savings to me. I got a beef tenderloin yesterday for $55 and will get 3 meals out of that, I get meat everyother weekend usually then a wkly trip to store for smaller items and the every day trip for milk and bread. I average about $800 a month seems like it is getting higher my kids are ALWAYS eatting or asking when they can eat. The only place you could probably cut your budget is any prepared foods, frozen pizza, prepared meals--those types of things. I am not sure I could cut those out I like being able to say go make yourself a pizza or some mac and cheese.

[Melenie]

I plan a weekly menu around specials - I seldom spend more than $5 on meat per meal. I have a weekly delivery of organic veggies that is super cheap at $30 and I get plenty!

BTW - I love in Charlotte NC, so cost of living is cheap - Or at least I think it is.

 

I load our plates with veggies and salads.

The kids snack on fruit throughout the day.

We seldom drink anything other than water and milk.

We eat little cheese and cold meats and if we do, the portions are small.

We buy few snack foods, but bake treats and bake bread at home.

My kids are still young (and girls) so they do not eat much, yet!

I am trying hard to incorporate more legumes, but it is slow going since DH is really a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

I try to do at least one meatless dinner per week.

 

Last weeks menu (lunches are the kids lunches, since DH takes a packed lunch and I eat salads most of the day)

 

Monday

Fruit smoothie, oats with frozen blue berries

Veggie soup with homemade bread

Balsamic grilled chicken breasts, warm pasta salad with grilled veg and green salad

 

Tuesday

Fruit smoothie, homemade waffles with fruit

Banana muffin, fruit, hummus with carrots and cucumber (from the garden)

Veggie stuffed pork chops, garlic cauliflower and cooked carrots

 

Wednesday

Fruit smoothie, cereal

Pretzels, cheese blocks, fruit and tomato slices

Grilled Tuna, baked potatoes and balsamic roasted veggies

 

Thursday

Fruit smoothie, omelet with cheese and tomatoes

Salad with everything I can toss in it, a slice of bread and a fruit.

Lasagna

 

Friday

Fruit smoothie, boiled egg and toast

left overs

Grilled veg pizza (homemade and low on the cheese)

 

Weekends we help ourselves to left overs or grill outdoors. I seldom plan for weekends. This weekend we ate out for lunch (which we very seldom do) so we helped ourself to a light dinner and Sunday we cooked chicken breasts on the grill.

Edited August 3, 2010 by Melenie

[FairProspects]

You know, thinking about this, I think one of the keys is eating seasonally & learning how to store food. Fruits/veggies & meat (seafood anyway)are always cheaper in season. We buy tons of flats of berries and freeze them for winter. I do the same with lots of veggies - corn, green beans & zucchinis. Salmon is a bargain right now and I can marinate and freeze lots of it. That really helps to keep our costs down and our food healthy.

[Jean in Newcastle]

We do a lot of stir-fries where the meat is not the main ingredient, so you use less.

[KS_]

If you spend less than $800/month or <$50/person/week, what does you weekly dinner menu look like?

 

Do you buy snacks (chips, crackers, ice cream, popsicles etc)?

 

 

 

We do buy chips, crackers, and ice cream (only kinds that don't have MSG or a bunch of chemicals), and the kids are limited on how much of those kind of snack they can eat per day. I do make ice cream sometimes - I have a recipe that dh loves, but we sometimes will buy pints of Haagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. Other snacks are things I make - like muffins, protein balls, etc., on the healthy side and not overly sugary. I try to have fresh fruit available as much as possible.

 

I bake my own bread, weather permitting (in the summer, it gets too hot to be baking).

 

Dh is the only one who drinks milk - I buy Organic Valley milk only - and will use it in recipes and for kefir (which no one drinks, but I use in baking). So we don't go through a lot of milk - maybe a gallon a week.

 

Here are some of our dinner menus - we have meat almost every night (dh wouldn't be happy going to 1 or 2 times a week - the nights we do w/o meat are usually if he's not home for dinner that night). I do try to add a veggie if it isn't in the dish, but don't always succeed:

 

Sausage and orzo

Tuna Noodle

Pad See Ew

Steak (which isn't necessarily a steak cut - it's some type of beef, maybe a roast that I've sliced, and then grilled) and some side like potatoes

Tacos

Taco salad

Chicken enchiladas

Taco Bake

Fiesta bake (taco type meat with cornbread on top)

Beans and Rice with sausage

Reuben sandwiches

Corned beef hash

BBQ chicken

Arroz con Pollo

Egg rolls

Mongolian beef

Meatloaf

Shepherd's pie

Cabbage and noodles (w/ sausage)

Spaghetti with meat

Split pea soup

Mexican corn soup

Potato soup

Italian sausage soup

Clam chowder

Pizza/pizza roll

[SapphireStitch]

Michelle, do you include anything other than food in your grocery budget and does that budget cover breakfast and lunch as well as dinner?

 

In my grocery shopping I find that non-food items eat up a lot of my budget: shampoo, deodorant, toilet paper, laundry detergent, foil, cleaning supplies...I don't have it in me to do the homemade detergent and things like that right now, so it's something I just have to deal with.

 

I also wonder what you're buying for lunches and breakfasts and how much your kids eat. I see you have 2 teenagers and, IMO, $800 isn't too bad for feeding teens if they have the stereotypical teen appetites.

 

I think it's really hard to compare grocery budgets w/o knowing a family's circumstances really well. For instance, someone looking at my meal prep would tell me that I am often making twice as much food as a family of 4 needs for dinners. But my DH and DD both take leftovers for their lunches. They are both slim and very active on their jobs, and they like eating a big lunch. It's much cheaper for me to make extra supper for leftover than it is for them to buy lunch out.

 

One other thought...I find it helpful to have in mind how much I can spend now versus how little I could spend if I had to cut back. We don't choose right now to spend as little as absolutely possible on groceries. We are very fortunate that we can afford to spend more right now. Those extra $$ buy me some time and energy and convenience that make my life as a homeschooling mom go more smoothly.

 

If we had to cut back, I know we could. We have in the past and I know right where I would begin cutting. (75% chocolate bars and Kashi cereal, I'm looking at you. :001_smile:)

[Snickerdoodle]

(75% chocolate bars and Kashi cereal, I'm looking at you. :001_smile:)

 

 

Well, my 85% bars are a necessity for me. But I only eat one square per day. It's really all you can stand at one time anyways because it is so rich.

[Dobela]

I stock up on meat when it is on sale then freeze it in marinade if it is chicken, pork, or beef that isn't ground. Meat is usually a part of every meal but I only cook one serving per person. If we are having pork chops, for example, I cook at most 4 because we only have 4 people. I then fill the menu with lots of veggies and fruit (even canned) because they are cheaper than the meat. Sometimes I will also add in a bread. If there is anything left over, we eat it for lunch the next day or I freeze the pieces for inclusion in a soup or something later.

[Melenie]

You know, thinking about this, I think one of the keys is eating seasonally & learning how to store food. Fruits/veggies & meat (seafood anyway)are always cheaper in season. We buy tons of flats of berries and freeze them for winter. I do the same with lots of veggies - corn, green beans & zucchinis. Salmon is a bargain right now and I can marinate and freeze lots of it. That really helps to keep our costs down and our food healthy.

 

I agree, the key for me is to buy meat/fish when on special and seasonal veggies are much cheaper. I also freeze fruit for smoothies when I get a good deal.

Edited August 3, 2010 by Melenie

[Prairie~Phlox]

We eat meat, but about 50 % of the time, it's in the dish and not as a dish. I def. grill more in the summer, but in the winter, it's more casseroles, etc. We eat quite a bit of beans, but for instance when I make tacos, it's just not ground beef, I usually add corn, leftover rice & beans to make it go further.

[rafiki]

.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We are a family of 10, soon to be 11. We spend less than that on food. I am assuming your budget is not including household items, since you didn't mention that.

 

We eat well and plenty, in my opinion, of meat.

 

I agree about cooking from scratch. I didn't care for the hillbillyhousewife plan as it cost much more for us, and was lots of time in the kitchen.

 

Breakfasts are generally oats, granola, and yogurt or some variation. We might have yogurt, fuit, and granola one day; granola with milk the next day; and oatmeal the next day. Whatever I have time for and feel like that day. We also do muffins and eggs, just not as often.

 

Lunches are leftovers, ramen, or whatever I throw together like tomato soup and grilled cheese.

 

Dinners we eat are pork chops, spaghetti, enchiladas, breaded or bbq chicken, breakfast like pancakes and sausage, stir fry, taco soup, pizza, meatloaf, soup and bread, quiche, casseroles, fajitas, talipia, salmon, clams over pasta, etc.

 

I like variety and color for meals. So if we have Cranberry Chicken, I will serve it with rice, and a green salad. I feel like its healthier and more pleasing to the eye. Another thing I do is to make the littles' plates and then make sure I have something to set in the middle for if you are still hungry. More rice and salad for the meal listed above.

 

I've noticed that if you cut a pizza into 6, 8, or 10 slices then those that want two pieces will want 2 no matter the size of the slices. I also make sure there are plenty of filling sides. Adding an extra side or two is much cheaper than adding an extra pizza or piece of chicken per person.

[momof2jb]

Hi all!

 

I'm gonna chime in here. We love to cook and eat delicious home made meals, but I'm not on a gourmet budget so this is right up my alley.

 

A girlfriend and I share secrets and make it a game to see who can have the lowest budget per person a month. I have 4 in my household and she has 7. I like to keep my food under $100/week. It really helps to have a garden and by locally. We love a good steak or salmon, but meat is not our main ingredient.

I by my bread at the local Orowheat outlet or Rotella store - this includes english muffins, whole wheat bagels, hoagie & hamburger buns, and the occassional sandwich loaf. If you can find an outlet or a store that sells "day old" it helps soo much!! I'm talking about paying $1 for something that would cost close to $3 or $4 at the local store!

 

Typically a week goes like this:

 

Breakfast = oatmeal, cream of wheat, bagels, egg sandwiches, & sometimes cereal( which is always bought on sale and not filled with sugars)

 

Lunches = leftovers, lunchmeat, pasta & veggie salads, muffins, fruits, quesadillas, burritoes, tortilla rolls, grilled ham & cheese, soups, & the occassional ramen noodles or mac N cheese

 

Dinners = veggies, stir-fry, pasta, pizza, roasted chicken, grilled steaks/chicken/ribs, when we have meat everything is in small portions. 2 chicken breast or steaks will feed 4 of us as we always have a whole grain or veggie as the main filling part of our meal. Baked potatoe "bar", taco salad ( we use black beans as our "meat", quiches, soups, chowders...

 

I usually bake a snack once a week to fill our sweet craving. Chocolate chip zuchinni muffins, whole wheat fruit muffins, banana bread...

 

We have fruit or veggies as snacks, pretzels, chips & salsa(which I put away every year enough to last til next season)

 

I think the less processed you eat the more you become accustomed to not cringing at spending on "healthy stuff"

 

We get our chicken and eggs from a farmer, my girlfriend and I do twice a month shopping at Costco for produce and frozen organic stuff during the winter months ( by splitting items we want we assure that we use what we buy - food ain't cheap!!)

 

My son loves babyback ribs so when they are on an awesome sale - I buy 2 or 3 meals worth and span eating them over as many months.

 

Sorry gals ( and guys) I got carried away.

 

Looking forward to reading post on this subject.

 

Serena

[forty-two]

I spend ~$400/mo, for essentially 3 people (my 21mo doesn't eat all that much yet). So probably $30/wk/person. Seems a bit high to me, but we buy reasonably healthy, good quality food as much as we can, and I don't do much wrt couponing or shopping sales.

 

Breakfast: organic yogurt for dd4, oj & dark chocolate for me :tongue_smilie: (go ahead and laugh - but I need my chocolate like some people need coffee ;)), milk/juice or nothing :glare: for dh.

 

Lunches: leftovers or pb&j (w/ natural pb, all-fruit jam, and ww bread) or cheese, w/ fresh fruit/veggies

 

Dinners (all with fresh fruit and either fresh or frozen veggies):

-chicken & rice (3 chicken breasts in italian dressing, tons of cheese on top, brown rice)

-(the very similar) chicken & noodles (3 chicken breasts, tons of cheese on top, ww noodles)

-hamburgers (pre-made patties, 80/20) on bread, sometimes w/ rice as a side

-spaghetti - about 1lb ground beef or turkey, ww noodles, $1.50 sauce, lots of cheese

-mini-pizzas - ww tortillas w/ pesto and lots of cheese

-some sort of pork w/ rice or noodles (probably some cheese, too)

-grilled chicken breast w/ rice or noodles (again, probably w/ cheese - notice a trend? :D)

 

Sometimes we get frozen pizza or chicken strips - maybe once/wk. We don't regularly buy chips, crackers or other snack foods - only as a special treat. I try to limit junk to $10/wk or less.

 

However, we do buy $50 worth of Ghiradelli chocolate each month (blessed sanity :lol:), and probably $50 worth of cheese. Plus we keep peanuts, almonds, and cashews, along with several kinds of dried fruit, around for snacks - probably another $30-40/mo. We also keep cereal around for snacks - about $10/mo. Maybe $60/mo for meat, and the aforementioned $40/mo for junk. About $15/mo each for milk (~6 gallons), juice(~3 gallons), and yogurt (one/day) - ~$50 total. $10/mo for bread, $10/mo for pb and jam. Last $100 or so is split b/w fruit/veggies and noodles, rice, and assorted spices, condiments, and baking supplies.

 

If I watch for sales I can easily stock up some w/out going over budget, but otherwise I have to watch carefully to get everything I need for the month.

[Tess in the Burbs]

we spend less than $800 a month and we have food allergies/intolerances and we have meat with every meal. :-)

 

Tonight is beef tips with instant potatoes and canned peas.

regular meals include meatballs over pasta(gluten free at $4-6 a bag and only one bag feeds a meal), chicken grilled with rice and can veggie, chicken tenders made with corn flake crumbs, served with starch and veggie, tacos with beans, hamburgers, grilled fish.

 

We have to buy gluten free, peanut free, tree nut free, sunflower free(this is hard right now as all chip makers are using this stuff!), sesame free(means I get Tamari for asian meals and no other asian sauces...so I mix up my own), coconut free. I buy a lot of expensive items b/c of the food things. But we still eat meat. They would revolt if there was no meat ;-)

 

Tuna casserole is this week as well as an asian chicken dish with rice and frozen veggies and a sauce I make up.

 

We are a family of 4. We rarely have leftovers but if we do dh eats them for lunch.

 

I buy chips since there are a lot of things we can't snack on. We buy ice cream but usually store brand. We buy IBC rootbeer b/c dh loves it :-)

 

I do shop the sale ads and try to limit myself to ONE store but usually go to two. I spend $350 twice a month.

[tofuscramble]

This is our dinner menu this week.

 

Sunday: Lemon Chicken and rice /w coriander

Monday: Turkey burgers/lettuce wraps

Tuesday: Veggie stir fry

Wednesday: Pasta and marinara /w Parmesan cheese

Thursday: Orange chicken and rice

Friday: Chilli

Sat: BBQ corn on the cob and baked potatoes or carne asada

 

Lunches can be sandwhiches, grilled cheese, cereal, soup, chilli, quesadillas or leftovers.

 

Breakfasts are generally cereal, fruit, toast, bagels or crumpets or sometimes one of us will cook up some bacon and eggs .

 

Snacks are usually fruit, popcorn, otter pops, nuts or tea/coffee

[Night Elf]

We're a family of 4 and pretty much stick to convenience type foods. (God I hope we don't go into THAT thread again.) BTW, I do have one more child but she rarely eats with us. She's either working or out with friends at meal times.

 

We cook things like:

 

Pizza using a Pillsbury crust and leftover roast beef or chicken. (BBQ pizza tonight in fact!)

Chicken: crockpot with soup or baked

Roast beef: crockpot

Pork chops: broiled

Spaghetti with lean ground beef

Taco, using a kit, with lean ground beef

 

We have meat with every dinner and use canned veggies or boxed potatoes/pasta. Sometimes we have fruit as part of the meal, but not enough to call it a regular thing. Yes, I buy snacks: cookies, chips, pretzels, pop tarts, popcorn, ice cream (usually 3 different kinds), juice, and soda. Our average grocery costs (food alone, not health & beauty) is $800 per month. I shop using the Grocery Game and buy the rest from Walmart.

[DawnM]

I use some of the suggestions in this free e-book:

 

http://www.budget101.com/budget101-free-ebook/free-ebook-groceries-200-month-2547.html

 

I try to stay around $20/day for a family of 5. This includes toiletries but I do make my own laundry soap, buy with coupons, etc....

 

Dawn

[Michelle in AL]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Michelle, do you include anything other than food in your grocery budget and does that budget cover breakfast and lunch as well as dinner?

 

I currently spend $1400/month on everything~food, coffee, dog food for 2, shampoo, cleaners, household items, razors, deodorant and girl things for 3. I would like to decrease this greatly! $800/month would be fabulous.

 

Right now, I'm the only one who eats breakfast. I eat cheese, crackers and fruit for lunch. The girls usually eat left overs or a frozen pizza, ravioli or sandwich.

 

One dd and I will eat left overs anytime. Dh says he will, but won't in reality. Not without much frowning.

[Amira]

Here's a list of the stuff I always have on hand. The groceries in my city are very expensive, so 4 times a year I drive to a much less expensive store and stock up on all this stuff. I buy milk and eggs weekly at our local grocery store, and buy meat and poultry and fish when it's on sale (we eat, at most, a pound of that a week, so it's not too much money ever). I walk to a local fruit stand that has produce for much less than any of the grocery stores around me. I also focus on local, in-season vegetables instead of the expensive out-of-season fruit we'd love to eat.

 

Here's a list of most of the food I make for dinner (I need to add some more recipes to that list since I haven't updated it in a while). Unless the main dish has lots of vegetables, I always have a vegetable side dish and often a whole grain one too. We generally have oatmeal for breakfast, or eggs, or peanut butter sandwiches. Lunch is generally leftovers or I'll make a big pot of rice that everyone flavors in their own way.

 

We're a family of 5 and I spend $300-$400 a month on groceries. We rarely eat dessert and I never buy snack food because it's too expensive. I make everything from scratch, from noodles to bread to salsa to smoothies to yogurt.

[SusanAR]

Well, can I just say that I will be reading this thread because after ordering curriculum, I will definitely be spending less than $800 on groceries for several months!:svengo:

[fairfarmhand]

I currently spend $1400/month on everything~food, coffee, dog food for 2, shampoo, cleaners, household items, razors, deodorant and girl things for 3. I would like to decrease this greatly! $800/month would be fabulous.

 

Right now, I'm the only one who eats breakfast. I eat cheese, crackers and fruit for lunch. The girls usually eat left overs or a frozen pizza, ravioli or sandwich.

 

One dd and I will eat left overs anytime. Dh says he will, but won't in reality. Not without much frowning.

 

 

the frozen stuff/instant stuff is so much more expensive than making it yourself. I feed six on about 600 a month. It is possible to make ahead homemade pizza crusts so your girls can throw together a homemade pizza in as much time as it takes a premade frozen one to cook.

 

And yes, I can see where the girl stuff adds up. Last month I was stunned to pay $40 for feminine products... and that is just me and my oldest dd menstruating. It is not going to be pretty (in more ways than just money) when all three of my girls are needing those products!

[i.love.lucy]

What I don't get is how you all get your kids to eat all these veggies! My kids will eat salad, but ds is not really eating it as much as scooting it around. I have tried all other veggies in all kinds of ways and we are just not there yet. That leaves making sure there are plenty of carbs and meat on the plate, but I am trying to limit refined carbs. And even if I could get my kids to eat lots of veg, it seems like fruits and veggies are just as expensive as meat. And let's not even go down the path of trying to make it all natural and organic.:svengo:

 

I am going to try to be more frugal but part of that for me is limiting our eating-out budget. So that means I have to do more with what I cook. Be prepared. I will be using my crock pot a lot more, and making meals that really make 2 meals. There is no way my family can eat a casserole from a 9x13 pan without being sick of it the next day, so instead I divide it up and freeze 1/2 so we only have to eat it once and the next time it's not really leftovers. I made a really good spinach and chicken lasagne from the 365daysofcrockpotcooking or whatever it's called and it was really good. Only 2 chicken breasts and it fed the 4 of us for 2 dinners.:tongue_smilie:

 

I also could use some good recipes for beans and lentils. It'd be hard for me to convince my family to eat them more than once a week, but maybe in combo with meat to stretch it.

 

We also have eggs for dinner once a week. A great protein source and pretty cheap.

[dragons in the flower bed]

I spend $600 a month for six of us. Following are our staple dinners.

 

* jacket potatoes with choices of sour cream, peas, carrots, soy bits, butter, cheese

* taco bar with veggie crumbles, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, black beans

* pasta with choices of mozzarella, chunky veggie sauce with or w/o meat

* burgers, veggie burgers for some of us and turkey burgers for the rest of us, loaded up with tomatoes and lettuce and pickles

* the kidpleaser of the week, usually chicken or fake chik'n nuggets and french fries but sometimes homemade pizza

* a veggie toss, usually whatever is on sale and seasonal, fried up in appropriate spices, or steamed, and served with rice

 

My partner is good at finding deals. I have some standards for food safety, but mostly we eat from auctions and the discount racks, bringing home produce that has to be consumed the same day.

 

We do cereal and oatmeal for breakfast, or french toast or eggs. We always get cereal at food auctions. Dented boxes full of perfectly fine bags of name brand cereal nowhere near expiration date will sell for a quarter a box at our favorite food auction.

 

We also always have ice cream in the house, again from dent and scratch sales.

 

We spend a fortune on milk, though. We really need a cow.

 

ETA: I realized after posting this that two to four of us often eat away from home while at flea markets out of town. I don't know how much that costs. I imagine it's a lot.

[Melenie]

What I don't get is how you all get your kids to eat all these veggies! My kids will eat salad, but ds is not really eating it as much as scooting it around. I have tried all other veggies in all kinds of ways and we are just not there yet.

 

I like fruit, veg and salads, so my kids have no other choice. They have to eat what I buy right?:lol: Now DH takes some convincing though.....:glare:

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

What I don't get is how you all get your kids to eat all these veggies! My kids will eat salad, but ds is not really eating it as much as scooting it around. I have tried all other veggies in all kinds of ways and we are just not there yet.

 

We like steamed veggies. Carrots, broccoli, and green beans are our favorites. We also add veggies into other meals, such as chicken pot pie, noodle, rice, or millet casseroles, or spinach lasagna. Salads are well liked with cheese, dressing, and croutons.

[Daisy]

We eat a lot of variety so this is something like a typical week. I NEVER cook more than 1lb of meat for our family of four.

 

Monday - Mahi Mahi grilled tacos and Mexican cole slaw

 

Tuesday - Satay Peanut Chicken Kabobs, Veggie Kabobs, & ww couscous (also grill chicken for the chinese chicken salad)

 

Wednesday - Chinese Chicken Salad (shredded chicken, mixed greens, scallion, shredded carrot, mandarin oranges, peanuts or sliced almonds, Chinese noodles, and Trader Joe's Soy Ginger Salad dressing)

 

Thursday - Rachel Rays' Green Noodles and Ham (The kids love this recipe. I substitute half and half for the whole cream and only use 1/4lb of ham). Green salad as side. Zucchini and onions also.

 

Friday - Homemade Sloppy Joes (11yo cooks!) - Again 1lb of hamburger meat used.

 

Saturday -Grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup (The yummiest quick tomato soup! I like to add fresh thyme or whatever herb I have laying around). Raw veggie tray.

[Michelle in AL]

I like your menu Daisy, I rarely cook more than a lb of meat for 4, if I do we have leftovers.

[Carrie12345]

This week-

 

Sun. Hamburgers/hot dogs, corn on the cob, pasta salad

Mon. BBQ chicken, rice, broccoli

Tues. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, salad

Wed. Breakfast for dinner (TBD)

Thurs. London broil, asparagus, whatever side we're in the mood for

Fri. Spaghetti, sausage, garlic bread, salad

Sat. Leftovers (after an afternoon community picnic)

 

Lunch is usually pb&j, tuna, chicken salad, egg salad, or grilled cheese with raw veggies and some sort of fruit (but lunch meat is big this week). Sometimes we do leftovers.

 

Breakfast is usually some sort of egg (most often hard boiled in advance b/c I'm not a morning person :tongue_smilie:) and cereal or toast/bagel/english muffin with pb or cream cheese.

 

Snacks are fruits, vegetables, sometimes graham crackers or granola, and the ocassional cookie or other sweet. Chips are an event, lol.

 

My grocery bill for the week WAS on the high side ($180), but dh is on vacation, so we've splurged for special snacks and easy fixins for the lunches we're packing for our day trips. My goal is always $100, though I've been hovering in the $120's to 130's lately.

 

I use The Grocery Game and stockpile.

[2squared]

Groceries are my pain-in-the-you-know-what. Right now I budget $700/month for food, toiletries, diapers, cleaning supplies, etc. We usually have a lean last week of the month.

 

I find that having benchmarks in my mind helps. Like I rarely pay more than $2/lb for meat or fruit. I stock up on nonperishables when they are on sale. Right now I'm stocking my freezer with garden veggies.

 

I make breakfast from scratch and lunch is leftovers or cheap sandwiches (pb&j, grilled cheese). Convenience foods just don't happen. They are too expensive.

 

I do cook meat for dinner every night. I cook a whole chicken instead of more expensive cuts. I cook roasts and use the leftovers for lunch sandwiches. I make my own convenience foods - frozen chicken nuggets, pancakes, french toast, etc. I just bought 20 lbs of ground beef and froze it into hamburger patties.

 

My kids usually eat fruit for snacks. I do buy chips, but I stick with the $2/bag tortilla chips. Those paired with salsa are still relatively healthy, tastey, and cheap.

 

We only drink milk or water.

[twoxcell]

$800 dollars a month:confused: how many people in your family? We have 6, and we spend around $400 dollars or less a month on groceries.

[WeeBeaks]

Your menu looks pretty typical for us too in dinners, and we spend about $400/mo for a family of 6, 2 adults plus 3 kids that are youngish still and one who doesn't eat table food yet. We get chips, some sodas, 100% juice, etc., so not bare bones budget either.

 

I think others might have hit on it already - how much per pound are you spending on your meat? Are you getting it when it is lowest price for your area? In my store for example, whole chickens can range from about $0.59/lb to $1.79/lb. That is a huge difference. When they are $0.59/lb I buy 3-6 of them at once. And so forth with all the meats. I keep a price book to know when something is very low price. This week it was chicken breast at 0.99/lb. I got several big family packs and split then up for the freezer.

 

I use coupons on most things, especially shampoo, toilet paper and so forth. Our stores double coupons to $1. I am able to get a lot of things for pennies that way, especially deodorant, toothpaste, dental floss. Again though I may buy 5-10 packages at once when they are cheap/free and then not buy them for a year.

 

Each week I look at the ads and plan my menus based on what is on sale and what is in my freezer. I aim to never pay full price. I also have several markets near me so this doesn't involve driving all over town either, which is not cost effectively obviously.

 

We buy a selection at things at Costco when they are consistently cheaper than regular stores (huge blocks of cheese which I shred and freeze, eggs, milk, oats, 25 lb bags of flour ...). You need to plot out where you can get things the cheapest.

 

We have a raised bed garden but it is small this year. A newborn does that to our household. Typically this time of year I would be eating some zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and so forth from our garden to supplement.

 

I have cut our groceries from when we were a couple without kids as I learned how to shop for us. Let's just say our days of Trader Joes yummy prepared salads at $5/meal are gone. LOL. But we eat well and inexpensively.

 

I do cook/bake more than I used to, but that fluctuates with my time constraints. I heartily agree with others that baking/scratch cooking is a huge savings. The biggest savings you might be able to get right away is your frozen prepared items for lunches if you are looking for a cut quickly. We eat sandwiches, hot dogs (even the all beef nicer ones are pretty economical), leftovers, fruit/cheese/bread platters, etc. Occasional mac and cheese.

[Michelle in AL]

I think our problem is that we eat only humanely raised meat. So chicken and ground beef cost us about $7/lb.

 

We don't want to change that.

 

I'm going to try making homemade frozen pizzas for the kids to pull out and homemade frozen chicken and fish nuggets to cut down costs for lunch.

 

Otherwise, what I buy doesn't seem to differ much from everyone elses'.

[rafiki]

.

[AuntPol]

I budget $150 for a week and that includes paper goods, cleaning supplies, and health and beauty needs and pet food. We are a family of 5. 3 adults and 2 kids. One adult does his own lunch.

 

I coupon like crazy so our meals are centered around sales and what we get in our produce and bread bags. Some things I never pay anything but tax (toothpaste, razors).

 

Produce: I am in a produce co-op. There are 8-10 of us at any given time and we each pool $15 a week and take turns shopping. We buy it bulk at farmer's market (where restaurants buy it). It ends up being about 40-60% cheaper than buying it at store. I end up freezing a good deal of it.

 

Bread: I (or a friend) go to bread outlet every week and get a bag of day old bread for $4. There is usually about 30 loaves of bread (or things of muffins) and usually 2-3 different types of bread in the bag. I split this with friends and freeze what I am not using that week. It averages $.75 a week for about 6 bread products! WHen it's my week, I usually add something for $1 (whatever is on sale for BOGO) and thus get a freebie for spending $5 and get my card punched.

 

Meat: I usually buy the cheapest ground beef that is high in fat when it's on sale, in bulk, and boil it and put in freezer and skim off the fat.

 

 

Typical week

Monday:

**Baked potato bar (make extra for tomorrow's dinner)-toppings include frozen broccoli and melted cheese or leftover chili and cheese.

** Fruit Salad (Canned pineapple and oranges w/whatever berries or grapes I got in produce box and a banana) served with vanilla yogurt (generic Aldi's unless sale)

 

Tuesday

Flank Steak (about 3 pounds -reserve 1 pound after cooking)

Twiced Baked Potatoes (from last night leftover potaotes)

Salad or whatever green vegetable from produce box

 

Wednesday

Salad topped with leftover Steak

Leftover fruit salad from Monday

Crusty Bread rolls

 

Thursday

Chicken and Pasta w/Alfredo or Pesto sauce (chicken from freezer so not included in this week's spending)

Leftover Salad or sliced tomatoes and cucumbers

Applesauce or some fruit

 

Friday

Macaroni and Cheese

Baked Beans

Hot dogs (cut in pieces and fried)

Whatever fruit and veggie needs to be eaten up

 

Saturday

Leftover beans mixed with a pound of ground beef topped with biscuits and sprinkled with cheese

Fruit and/or veggie

 

Sunday

Sticky Chicken (whole roasted chicken)

Stuffing or Mashed potatoes

Green Beans

 

Breakfast: Usually make a batch of waffles or pancakes on Saturday and freeze for the week; we seem to have homemade french toast a lot due to the amount of bread. English muffins and bagels tend to come often in the bread bags; whatever cereal was really cheap after coupons; recently I've had a lot of toast topped with slice tomatoes and cheese (over run with tomatoes right now); eggs topped with leftovers. I got "paid" to buy a bunch of raisin bran cereal awhile back by couponing so we've been having refrigerator muffins on a regular basis and peanut butter banana bread or banana shakes because I am getting too many bananas in my produce box. If we have leftover biscuits from dinner, we may have biscuits and gravy. My husband keeps oatmeal at the office or takes whatever bread or muffins I make.

 

Lunch

Any leftovers not being used for dinner meals

mini pizzas from bagels, english muffins or whatever bread I have around

Ramen noodles or egg noodles w/a few chicken strips or leftover meat

Salad or stirfry w/leftover meat (chili or chicken salad or taco meat a favorite!)

Soup and Sandwich

Sandwich (Or wrap or pita or english muffin depends on what is on hand)

Bean and cheese burritos

 

Snacks

We usually make some sort of cookie on the weekend and have a few of those

Fruit (i usually have enough fruit in my box for everyone to have AT LEAST 2-3 servings a day)

Cheese or peanutbutter and crackers

Roasted garbanzo beans

Trail mix made from bits of leftover cereal.

Pretzels

Air popped popcorn

 

I use up everything!!!!! I make a meal plan for the week but may bump some meals back a day to use up something else. My husband jokes we only have ever had one meal in 13 years that wasn't a leftover and that was the first one.

[Lovedtodeath]

If you spend less than $800/month or <$50/person/week, what does you weekly dinner menu look like?

 

What am I doing wrong? :confused:

Any frugal menu examples?

You have two teenagers. We spend about $50 more per 2-3 days when the nephews are staying with us.:)

 

We spend an average of $800 with our family of 4, but that includes non-food items. We don't get frozen pizzas, pot pies, chips, etc. because we go through that stuff too fast. We use eggs as snacks and lunches a lot.

 

I can post our monthly menu/shopping list in about 3 weeks, but it is probably not helpful to you since we have young kids. (8 and 3)

[elise1mds]

My kids are young, 7 and 5, but they eat quite a bit. My 7-yo often eats more than I do and is the size of a 9- or 10-yo. My daughter is the size of most 7-yos and eats what you would expect a normal 7-yo to eat. I spend about $150/week to feed the four of us, and that includes cat and dog food, snacks, etc. We have six cats and two dogs, so this is not insignificant.

 

Today was a typical day for us.

 

Breakfast:

I have coffee with creamer; kids had granola bars and a glass of milk. Fruit was available but optional.

 

Lunch:

Kids had leftover Greek moussaka, leftover fried okra, and yogurt. They finished up the leftovers, so I heated up a frozen butternut squash ravioli frozen meal.

 

Snack:

Frozen mini-Twix ice cream bar

 

Dinner:

Burritos with homemade flour tortillas. This included seasoned taco meat (I don't buy taco seasoning packets; I just use chili powder, cumin, and salt) browned with onions, shredded lettuce, homegrown chopped tomato, shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, homemade salsa. Dessert was a blueberry sky pie I'd made last week.

 

The dinner menu for the rest of the week looks like this:

Spaghetti and salad (homemade sauce)

Tortellini and veggies tossed with (homemade) pesto

Shrimp po' boys, steamed broccoli, and sweet potato fries

Homemade pizza with Canadian bacon and lots of veggies

Fish filets with steamed veggies and Boston cream pie

Brats, sauerkraut, and cucumber salad

Chicken curry with jasmine rice

 

Snacks include any baked goods that the kids or I make, fruit, cheese sticks (I buy bulk and cut my own), yogurt, crackers, etc. I made banana bread this morning that we can have for breakfast or snack for a few days, and I intend to make cinnamon rolls on Friday to have over the weekend. I don't usually fix hot breakfasts unless it's a weekend, so we have a lot of cereals, granola, and/or frozen waffles. I also have a recipe for homemade Pop-Tarts that I want to try out, or I'll make a bunch of egg muffins (omelets baked in muffin tins) and store those for reheating. Lunches are usually leftovers, sandwiches, or organic frozen meals/mac 'n' cheese. I shop once a week and have one or two nights a week that are meatless.

 

I love to cook and have a lot of fun with it! I'm sure that if I lived in an area with higher living expenses that my weekly menu would have a much bigger price tag, but it works where I am for now :)

[Guest mblische]

Using Coupon Mom's system has helped us drastically reduce our weekly grocery/ toiletry bill.

[mhg]

Seriously? Do people other than vegetarians really not eat meat? I grew up in a house that had meat every single night (as did Dh). I thought I was doing pretty good if we went meatless once per week.

 

How do you get enough protein? We really minimize the carbs here for both health and allergy reasons. That means I'm down to protein & veggies for meals. Most veggie meals burn off in an hour and I'm hungry again so I have to have the meat.

 

 

We VEGANS don't eat meat (and, I FEEL 1000% better since giving it and dairy up). [We're actually cheating vegans and every so often we'll eat a bit of fish or eggs]. In response to your protein question...Americans EAT a ridiculous amount of protein. Adult females only need about 55 - 65 grams a day. My life (and health) TURNED around after reading and implementing Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book EAT TO LIVE (www.drfuhrman.com).

 

I'll attach a link to his other website if you're interested in reading about why I say most Americans overdose on protein.

http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/hurtful-food-how-safe-are-protein-drinks-and-powders.html

[mhg]

Two more thoughts I forgot to add.

Have you seen that website www.e-mealz.com

?

My sister loves it and swears by it. (recommended by dave ramsey).

 

Also....consider growing a garden. In mine I plant / grow

the expensive stuff so I don't have to buy it.

[Britomart]

My kids eat lots of veggies, but I think that's because I always cook with them (curries, stir-fries, etc.) and so they just think that's what food is. Even when they were babies, we'd just put some of what we were having for dinner in the food grinder and grind it up for them and feed it to them mushed.

 

Our family is another one that eats meatless perhaps 1/3-1/2 of our dinners, and pretty much all of our lunches and breakfasts. And when we do have meat, it's usually a pound or less for the 6 of us.

 

Here's a typical week's dinner offerings:

 

- curried lentils with brown rice

- creamy swiss chard pasta

- curried meatballs with green beans and brown rice

- butternut squash filled with sausage and onion

- skillet veggies on cream cheese toast

- tuna pan bagnat

- fried rice (veg, brwn. rice and a bit of ham) on a bed of greens

 

It's taken awhile to build up a stable of recipes that we all like, and that can accommodate the various seasonal veggies we get in our CSA baskets, but it's been worth it. I surely didn't cook like this when we first got married! But I think you'll find that tweaking here and there, making a few changes at a time, will mean that in a year or two you'll be cooking just the way you want to, and your kids will be eating it too.

 

Trying new recipes is the fun part, for me. I get a lot from Cooking Light and Vegetarian Times. I only try the ones that 1) sound like something I want to eat, 2) have enough protein (the VT ones can be sketchy on that), 3) don't cost too much to make and 4) don't have insanely long prep times. That means only about 1 out of 30 recipes are worth trying, for me. But I'm usually pretty happy with the ones I do try. I save myself a lot of grief by giving myself permission to skip recipes that don't meet my requirements! But I find a lot of new, good food by being willing to experiment.

 

(Though my husband teases me and says I'm a "spice cook" because he thinks I really chose my recipes by whether or not they have enough interesting spices! If it has garlic, ginger, cardamom, garam masala . . . well, I'm probably hooked!)

[Pretty in Pink]

I spend about 170.00 on my weekly trip and make up the other 30.00 on a mid-week milk/fruit run.

 

Here's a sample menu for our home:

 

Monday: Salisbury steak, baked or mashed potatoes, 2 veggies (frozen veggies, turkey burger patties, homemade gravy)

 

Tuesday: Lasagna or spaghetti, 2 veggies (whole grain noodles, organic: marinara, cheese & ground beef)

 

Wednesday: Soft tacos, raw veggies w/ dip (cooked pintos, assorted toppings, corn tortillas, homemade veggie dip)

 

Thursday: Flounder fillets, saffron rice, baked sweet potatoes, veggie (wild-caught fish, frozen veggie)

 

Friday: Macaroni soup, salad, bread (organic ground beef, onions, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, organic salad, homemade dressing)

 

Saturday: Pancakes, fresh fruit (freshly ground flour, organic produce)

 

Sunday: Macaroni & cheese, sausages, salad, veggie (frozen veggie, organic salad, natural or organic sausages, whole grain noodles, sub 1 lb. creamed cauliflower for 1 c. milk in cheese sauce, orgain dairy)

 

Breakfasts: Fruit, milk, plus one of the following: oatmeal, whole grain bagel or toast, grits, brown rice, or dry cereal (organic or natural)

 

Lunches: Fruit or veggie plus one of the following: leftovers, PB & J, grilled cheese, egg served w/ toast or corn tortillas, whole grain pasta tossed w/ olive oil, garlic, parmasean, and whatever veggies I need to use up that day, veggie sandwiches (tomato, avocado, salad, etc.), pizza (homemade w/ day old italian loaves from the bakery), quesadillas...

 

Snacks are things like: nuts, fruit, veggies w/ dip, PB & J, popcorn, homemade trail mix, dry cereal, raisins...

 

I don't buy any soda pop, chips, cookies, snack cakes, donuts, etc. I buy one half-gallon of orange juice per week. We do all organic dairy and beef, some organic poultry, only wild-caught fish, some organic produce (the 'dirty dozen'), no perservatives, HFCS, etc.

[forty-two]

We VEGANS don't eat meat (and, I FEEL 1000% better since giving it and dairy up). [We're actually cheating vegans and every so often we'll eat a bit of fish or eggs]. In response to your protein question...Americans EAT a ridiculous amount of protein. Adult females only need about 55 - 65 grams a day.

See, that is a lot of protein to me (though I believe it to be a good, healthy amount) - I find it hard to believe the average SAD-eater is even hitting that, let alone wildly exceeding it (your linked article was about athletes adding in protein powder to an already protein-heavy diet - I'm not sure that is very representative of Americans in general).

 

When I was pg with #2, I was loosely doing the Brewer pg diet, which rec's 100g of protein a day, and I had to work to hit my daily goal of 50-60g; a full half of that came from the meat I ate at dinner. With #1 I ended up with pre-e, and in retrospect I doubt I got more than 15-20g/day - too many refined carbs and not enough other stuff. I tried to keep my snacks low fat, but that also inadvertently made them low protein, too :glare:.

 

Now I'm mostly used to limiting refined carbs, but I still have to pay attention to get enough protein - it's only fairly effortless when I'm eating at home and I've been successful in keeping the junk out. I get thrown off any time I eat out or get ready-made stuff. I just can't see how the average SAD-eater, with nothing but processed junk, is getting *any* protein? :confused:

 

(One caveat: for me, processed protein - like McD's form-repressed nuggets - doesn't count. It is so nutrient deprived that my body seems to consider it no better than refined carbs. I have to work to get 50-60g of *quality* protein; maybe a SAD-eater gets more than I think. *I* didn't, though - and so. much. of the crap in stores has virtually *no* protein, processed or otherwise.)