The adventure continues! Living off the USDA’s Food Plan grocery budget is a bit easier than I thought it would be. We’ve been focused on our weekly menu plan and making an effort to not stray too far from it. We are not eating out as much as we were. {Though we did have an awesome date night in Boston complete with dinner at P.F. Chang’s!}
You’ll recall from last week’s post that our total grocery expense was up to $398.25. We took a field trip to Whole Foods last week and a quick trip to Trader Joe’s, spending an additional $125.48. Now we’re looking at $464.56; and I still have to shop for the big Thanksgiving feast. There is $254.83 remaining in our grocery budget for this month, and only six days left. Even with our Thanksgiving feast, I’m sure we’ll have money leftover. {Which has me super excited!!}
This is what we’ll eat this week:
Monday: Chopped salad with Chicken
Tuesday: Chicken Enchilada Bake (I made this a few weeks ago and froze it. I love getting two meals while only working for one!)
Wednesday: There will be enough time for cooking on Thursday, tonight we’ll treat ourselves and take advantage of our local pizza shop’s $5 pizza offering.
Thursday: A typical Thanksgiving meal with homemade cranberry sauce, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin cheesecake.
Friday: Leftover feast
Saturday: I’m doing father-daughter bonding with my dad at the Bruins game! Leaving The Texan and The Boy on their own. Maybe steak with mashed potatoes?
Sunday: The Pioneer Woman’s turkey tetrazzini. I watched her make this on a recent show, it looked so amazing.
With the rising cost of food, do you find yourself paying closer attention to your food budget? How much does your family spend per month?
Sounds like you are doing really well with the budget! I’m going to try to do more meal planning next month and get my fam on track with a food budget. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
It’s wicked hard, Meg! I’m telling you that I am hyper focused, and I feel like I cannot – or should not – buy anything that isn’t on my list. This project has been interesting, and it’s prompted me to look at the overall waste in our lives. How many pairs of jeans do I really need? Do we need three flat panel TVs, etc. etc. etc. I sense a big ol’ purge coming soon – and sticking to this budget, too!