Blowing my grocery budget.....

[Ka' eo]

First, it's impossible without a plan. But you don't need an amazing plan, or a perfect plan. I think that is the problem so often, we think we need to be perfect and that stops us from doing anything. So I make a plan that is very easy going. I have 2-3 go to meals that I know well and are easy but require 15 min of work (tacos), 2-3 meals that require no work (frozen french fries & hot dogs), and 2-3 crockpot meals. And then I have 1-2 meals that require me to actually cook (lasagna.) Then I just follow my mood.

The way I figure is this: Is frozen pizza as cheap and healthy as home made pizza? No. But is it cheaper & healthier than Pizza Hut? Yes. I'm not trying to be perfect, I'm trying to find the middle ground.

........

Banish perfectionism!

Bolded by me. Amen! This is really true. I think I am trying to provide my family the freshest healthiest ingredients. But I work full time, the kids have homework and extracurricular activities, we have lots of animals. Then there's laundry, housekeeping, bills. It's cwazy, cwazy, cwazy!

I will remember these great thoughts.

Tiffany, we printed out your list and my husband has agreed to be the shopper. I will be the fridge organizer, planner, and mostly the preparer. Thank you again for your great blog!

 

[KKB]

E

The way I figure is this: Is frozen pizza as cheap and healthy as home made pizza? No. But is it cheaper & healthier than Pizza Hut? Yes. I'm not trying to be perfect, I'm trying to find the middle ground..

Tell us how it goes this week! Banish perfectionism![/QUOTE

I very much agree w/ most of your post...but we did the math on homemade pizza, and frozen pizza is far cheaper than homemade for us! I can get a DiGiornio or Freshetta for $5 each...to buy turkey pepperoni, ($3.50--2 pizzas worth) a bag of cheese ($1.75-2.00), a can of pizza sauce ($.75-1.00) and a pizza crust mix ($.75-1.00), that is at least as much as frozen--even more if you buy Boboli or Pillsbury crusts. And I am not convinced it is much healthier!

We are lucky that a local pizza place offers large cheese or Pepperoni pizzas for $5 on Monday & Tuesday nights! As cheap as frozen!

 

[travelgirl06]

I do menu planning each week and it works out well for the most part. Sometimes we need to run out and grab a few more groceries, and other weeks we wind up with leftover ingredients to use the next week, so we stay on budget pretty well.

We shop sales (have the ads ready when you are menu planning and look for ingredients that you can use in more than one recipe to avoid waste).

We both work full-time, so quick meals are crucial. For weeknights the vast majority of my recipes are easy (e.g. 30 minute meals, foil cookbook, crock pot, etc) and there are a TON of easy recipes out there, over the past year we've made the same thing maybe a handful of times.

I also keep a stash of skillet means (Voila/Birdseye) and some other frozen quick meals on hand. This way we can make a quick meal at home instead of going out (sometimes going out still wins, but its nice to have staying home as an option)

 

[estherhead]

I very much agree w/ most of your post...but we did the math on homemade pizza, and frozen pizza is far cheaper than homemade for us! I can get a DiGiornio or Freshetta for $5 each...to buy turkey pepperoni, ($3.50--2 pizzas worth) a bag of cheese ($1.75-2.00), a can of pizza sauce ($.75-1.00) and a pizza crust mix ($.75-1.00), that is at least as much as frozen--even more if you buy Boboli or Pillsbury crusts. And I am not convinced it is much healthier!

We are lucky that a local pizza place offers large cheese or Pepperoni pizzas for $5 on Monday & Tuesday nights! As cheap as frozen!

It's true, it's true. Especially if you have a coupon or it's on sale. But I make home made pizza crust with whole wheat & use only half the cheese when I do make home made. So it is marginally healthier & cheaper. Plus, dh & I have an recipe of toppings that we adore and so it is more delicious for us as well. And I never buy the Boboli because that just seems pointless to me. As you say, it isn't cheaper, healthier, or easier than just frozen!

Same thing with fresh vs. frozen veggies. You just simply can't tell the difference in soups & cooked stuff. And frozen are easier, healthier in some cases (or as healthy in others), and cheaper!

And I have to buy my groceries for the family we really are and not the family I wish we were. I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned with my tighter budget. In the past I was buying groceries for my pretend family and then throwing away half the groceries and spending even more money on eating out for my real family.

 

[KKB]

In the past I was buying groceries for my pretend family and then throwing away half the groceries and spending even more money on eating out for my real family.

LMAO--your pretend family

 

[estherhead]

LMAO--your pretend family

Yeah, you know, my pretend kids who randomly go into the kitchen and eat celery sticks dipped in hummus all by themselves and the pretend mom who has 2 hours to make 3 from scratch meals and 3 healthy snacks every day full of ingredients I only buy at my organic farmer's market that I stroll through every morning before going to my painting class.

 

[fakereadhed]

Yeah, you know, my pretend kids who randomly go into the kitchen and eat celery sticks dipped in hummus all by themselves and the pretend mom who has 2 hours to make 3 from scratch meals and 3 healthy snacks every day full of ingredients I only buy at my organic farmer's market that I stroll through every morning before going to my painting class.

We have the same fantasy!

But, my 17yoDD has taken to eating celery sticks lately. Maybe new boyfriend?

 

[SaraJayne]

The http://www.relishrelish.com site has been a lifesaver for me.

It's a site that you get to pick your menu for the week and it makes a grocery list for you too.

It's gotten us to eat a lot more variety of foods and it's also stopped the "what's for supper" questions every night.

 

[hsmamato2]

haven't read all replies yet,but here's my best and easiest tip- when you cook,make double,I've saved so much by having meals ready to pop in the oven or soup pot- just last night I was running late,grabbed some prefrozen containers of my 'super soup'( it has about 10 diff. veggies in it) popped it in the pan on medium heat,while it defrosted/heated (about 20 min) I made a cornbread mix to go with it...
think of it this way,if you're making one meatloaf,why not make 2 at once,and so on?

 

[Ka' eo]

haven't read all replies yet,but here's my best and easiest tip- when you cook,make double,I've saved so much by having meals ready to pop in the oven or soup pot- just last night I was running late,grabbed some prefrozen containers of my 'super soup'( it has about 10 diff. veggies in it) popped it in the pan on medium heat,while it defrosted/heated (about 20 min) I made a cornbread mix to go with it...
think of it this way,if you're making one meatloaf,why not make 2 at once,and so on?

I have used this strategy and it does work. I often cannot find what I have put in the freezer. I wish we had a side by side. I think next fridge we'll get that. Everything gets lost down in our freezer.

I also have another challenge. Our kids are picky! It makes cooking really hard. My other challenge is I would like to lose weight, but end up eating what I make for the kids.

Last night we started Tiff's menu, for week 26. (My dh went right out and did the shopping yesterday afternoon. He will now do the shopping since I sometimes buy more than I should ) I had fresh tomatoes to add to the pesto and ravioli. It was super. My kids hated the pesto, so luckily one had just butter and the other 2 had ragu on it. Luckily it was easy to adjust to each person's taste. Often I can't do that. Challenging!

The relish site looks great, but I'll save $100 a year and try Tiff's for free for now, but I might try it another time. $7 a month is totally reasonable.

 

[SaraJayne]

I have used this strategy and it does work. I often cannot find what I have put in the freezer. I wish we had a side by side. I think next fridge we'll get that. Everything gets lost down in our freezer.

I also have another challenge. Our kids are picky! It makes cooking really hard. My other challenge is I would like to lose weight, but end up eating what I make for the kids.

Last night we started Tiff's menu, for week 26. (My dh went right out and did the shopping yesterday afternoon. He will now do the shopping since I sometimes buy more than I should ) I had fresh tomatoes to add to the pesto and ravioli. It was super. My kids hated the pesto, so luckily one had just butter and the other 2 had ragu on it. Luckily it was easy to adjust to each person's taste. Often I can't do that. Challenging!

The relish site looks great, but I'll save $100 a year and try Tiff's for free for now, but I might try it another time. $7 a month is totally reasonable.

Everybody puts different values on things.

I prefer to spend the few extra dollars on a menu for my family instead of shoes, purses or makeup.

 

[Ka' eo]

Everybody puts different values on things.

I prefer to spend the few extra dollars on a menu for my family instead of shoes, purses or makeup.

Oh ITA. But Tiff's menu planning is free! Relish's $7 a month fee is totally reasonable. But I am opting for a no fee menu planning for a while.

 

[Zookeeperof4]

Well I decided to try a budget method.....its only been a two weeks but do far I have saved close to 150$ in what I normally spend.
One way I saved was that instead of buying boxed cupcakes for snacks I bought a box of cake mix....same with other things like brownies, and muffins. We are not huge junk food eaters but we do like to eat something sweet so making a box of homemade cupcakes for about 2$ makes more sense then the 6 double packed cupcakes for almost 4$. If you eat a box a week and started just making your own you save 8$ a month just in cupcakes savings..LOL
We started making our own spagetti sause and freezing it. I can usually make about 4 meals worth of sause for what I paid for 2 jars. Savings may seem marginal to some, but it still is a savings.
I buy the rice/noodles and sause when they are 10 for 10 at my local store. There are often coupons to save 1$ on three so your fourth ends up free. We use these quite often so when they are on sale I buy in huge ammounts....also I buy egg noodles when this sale happens and we eat lightly buttered noodles. The very thin egg noodles I add to lipton soup and sometimes add a half a bag of peas and a cut up chicken breast.

I often go to Aldi's or Save a lot to shop. On most things there is not a huge taste difference. Canned veggies are canned veggies whether they cost 33 cents or 99 cents a can.

I spent 90$ on the first week of the month. So far I had to go back only once.....for milk and bread, some bottled water and sugar and for Valentines cupcakes. Oh and for those I bought a cake mix with white icing and I used the McCormick food coloring drops to mix it into colors. I used a third of the icing to make white frosted, then I used a third of it to make pink icing by adding a few red drops, and then the last third I used red and blue drops to make purple. I made 24 cupcakes. The kids were so happy and I saved by not buying half dozen for 4$.

I would like to say I am frugal and thrifty...but I am not. I am just trying to stop spending 600 on food a month....my goal is 400 a month. So far in just under two weeks I am at 112$ (thats food only, on other household needs like pet food, kitchen and hygiene needs I spent 30$)

Oh and I do love my crock pot as well....just wish I could figure out some ways to make my own seasonings..I am sure I could save more to make a set of pre-mixed sandwich baggies full of seasonings.

 

[lovemygoofy]

In addition to a plan for your cooking, you need to be honest with your cooking skills and what your family eats. If you don't enjoy cooking then you already have a bad idea about trying to make a meal. Cook smarter prep ahead of time.

I buy meat in bulk and freeze into individual portions. You can also freeze meat with marinade on it. I have chicken frozen with a soy based marinade and some pork loin with another marinade. The Mrs. Dash is pretty decent salt and other bad stuff wise. Buy a bottle and squeeze some over some meat and into the bag then freeze.

Dice/slice a couple of chicken breasts to freeze. You can later thaw for homemade chicken strips/nuggets or for whatever you want.

Freeze your ground beef/turkey in portions you can use right away. Form hamburger patties and layer between wax paper. You can pull off what you need. You can also freeze browned hamburger/turkey meat.

Did you know you can freeze homemade pancakes? Make a huge batch of pancakes one morning and then freeze after cooling down. You can take out and pop in the toaster or microwave.

Make things easy for you in the fridge. Keep a bowl of diced veggies if you use fresh. I buy a large bulk of broccoli and dice it up first thing. It goes into lunches and salads and dinners. One onion and one bell pepper is diced up and put into it's own containers. I buy a big thing of baby spinach in a container not a bag. It's salad and dinner ready. We eat alot of salads for lunch. On the weekend I grill up a few chicken breasts on the george forman and then slice it up. It can be used all week whether on salads or quick quesdillas.

Breakfast is an easy dinner. Do ya'll eat eggs? Get a large pot of water boiling. In another bowl crack in half a dozen eggs(approximate to your family) with some milk or half and half. Whisk together quickly. Get a sandwhich baggie that closes well on the top. Each person in your family that wants eggs will get their own baggie. Pour in 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of egg mixture with cheese diced meats and veggies if you'd like.

Put each baggie in the boiling water for approximately 3 minutes until no longer runny. Serve on a plate with some toast and fruit.

Cook a meal once and serve it two different ways. Make a big batch of chili and then serve the leftovers like chili burritos or chili mac with macaroni noodles or freeze into small portions for lunch later.

Figure out what your go to meals are. Obviously pasta and breakfast are easy. We also love tuna melts here or make your own sub nights. I do make our own pizza but that's just because we don't like the frozen stuff.

In the end figure out what is easiest for you. Are you getting help in the kitchen? If so you can do more difficult meals. If not then I would make things as easy as possible.

 

[princessbride6205]

Sorry if this has been done before but I find I'm blowing my grocery budget by being illprepared....

We have pretty busy schedules and I find myself scrambling for something to prepare for supper and coming up short so it's takeout between running to the game and running to the meeting (or babysitting or whatever).

What standard ingredients do you regularly stock in your cupboards/fridge/freezer that you can make without too much thinking ahead or if the days plan change? I'm a big fan of things like crockpot recipes, my problem is I never seem to have the ingredients!!!!

I guess I'm asking you to make me a grocery list!!!!

This was me just a few months ago. Totally overwhelmed by our busy lives, stressed about getting dinner on the table within minutes of arriving home from work, going out to eat too often. Four things have helped introduce some sanity into our dinnertimes:
1. Menu planning before my weekly grocery shop. I don't write down what we'll have on specific days, but I come up with 5-7 meals and we can pick the night before or the day of which one we want to eat. This list stays on the side of the fridge, so when we're too tired to think about what to make, we just pick from the list. Sometimes DH will consult the list on his own and start dinner!
2. Frozen foods! But specifically, a coworker told me that you could put frozen raw chicken in a crock pot and have it be cooked when you got home. I keep some kind of sauce, broth or cream of chicken soup on hand. Throw it in there with the chicken. Instant meal. We also like Boca/veggie burgers, a frozen pizza when we're in a pinch, and frozen fish (salmon or once in awhile fried fish). If you coupon, there are coupons every week or two for Green Giant frozen veggies.
3. Accepting that not every meal will be unprocessed, made from scratch. We plan to eat one meal at a restaurant, one night of fend for yourself or breakfast-for-dinner, one "instant" dinner like froz pizza - that leaves just 4 nights to plan "real" food.
4. Foods to always have on hand: salsa, cheese, canned beans, pasta sauce, canned tomatoes, pasta, tortillas, baby carrots.

And I have to buy my groceries for the family we really are and not the family I wish we were. I think that's the biggest lesson I've learned with my tighter budget. In the past I was buying groceries for my pretend family and then throwing away half the groceries and spending even more money on eating out for my real family.

Yeah, you know, my pretend kids who randomly go into the kitchen and eat celery sticks dipped in hummus all by themselves and the pretend mom who has 2 hours to make 3 from scratch meals and 3 healthy snacks every day full of ingredients I only buy at my organic farmer's market that I stroll through every morning before going to my painting class.

I totally agree with you! I've started to let go a little bit and decided it's okay to find the middle ground in our healthy, frugal eating.
One thing that has stuck with me is a quote I heard a few years ago - "The most expensive food is food that gets thrown out!"

 

[Applemomma]

Breakfast is an easy dinner. Do ya'll eat eggs? Get a large pot of water boiling. In another bowl crack in half a dozen eggs(approximate to your family) with some milk or half and half. Whisk together quickly. Get a sandwhich baggie that closes well on the top. Each person in your family that wants eggs will get their own baggie. Pour in 1/4 to a 1/2 cup of egg mixture with cheese diced meats and veggies if you'd like.

Put each baggie in the boiling water for approximately 3 minutes until no longer runny. Serve on a plate with some toast and fruit.

What a neat idea!

One thing that has stuck with me is a quote I heard a few years ago - "The most expensive food is food that gets thrown out!"

Ain't that the truth!

 

[MrsPooh]

Dh does not like crockpot food so I don't have that option. We always eat dinner at home and some nights I'm just tired, busy or crabby and don't want to deal with making dinner. For those nights I keep some easy meals on hand in addition to the menu posted on the fridge.

Some things that work for us...

I always have frozen pizza on hand - like the pps said, it is cheaper than takeout and just as healthy. I can get two for (one the kids prefer and one dh prefers) for about $8 on sale without coupons and we have plenty left over for a couple of us to take for lunch the next day.

I also always keep a bag of Tyson Frozen Breaded Chicken Breast Strips. These are the kind that are already cooked and can be heated in the microwave or oven. I use them to eat plain as chicken strips. Other times we put them in a wrap with lettuce and ceasar dressing for a yummy ceasar wrap. Sometimes I bake them and then top with spaghetti sauce and a bit of cheese, toss back in the oven to melt the cheese and serve over pasta. I do not buy the processed chicken but only the breast strips so we all enjoy them. I buy them on sale for $5/bag and our family of four gets at least two meals from the bag.

I try to also have on hand a package or two of the frozen meals - like TGIFridays or Tyson where everything is in the bag. I find that on sale they cost about $12 - $13 for two bags which is what my family seems to consume with a little left over for my lunch the next day. This is one of our pricier meals but if they weren't there we might go out and that would cost at least $35 at a casual restaurant so I figure it is ok for an occassional splurge.

Oh yeah, I also keep a package of hot dogs on hand and usually have tuna that I can make into tuna melt sandwiches. Served up with chips and we're good to go.

These are not my super healthy meals but they are my super easy meals.

 

[Ka' eo]

Dh does not like crockpot food so I don't have that option. We always eat dinner at home and some nights I'm just tired, busy or crabby and don't want to deal with making dinner. For those nights I keep some easy meals on hand in addition to the menu posted on the fridge.

Gosh, I think he should cook on the nights you would prefer to make a crockpot meal.

TIffany, we have been following your week 26 and it is great! We had your nachos last night. My husband took the leftovers to work yesterday. This is going to save us a ton of money. No more throwing out meat, fruits and veggies that we didn't eat in time. Our kids are not liking everything I cook. That is the biggest challenge, but I am working on alternative to have for them. I have been on vacation this week so getting organized has been easy. I am pretty sure this will be a no brainer when I head back to work on Monday. I am so relieved to know ahead of time I have options for dinner.

 

[TiffanyK]

Gosh, I think he should cook on the nights you would prefer to make a crockpot meal.

TIffany, we have been following your week 26 and it is great! We had your nachos last night. My husband took the leftovers to work yesterday. This is going to save us a ton of money. No more throwing out meat, fruits and veggies that we didn't eat in time. Our kids are not liking everything I cook. That is the biggest challenge, but I am working on alternative to have for them. I have been on vacation this week so getting organized has been easy. I am pretty sure this will be a no brainer when I head back to work on Monday. I am so relieved to know ahead of time I have options for dinner.

I'm glad you're liking the menu and I'm really glad it's saving you time and money!

 

[Harlie]

Try the Big Cook cookbook. Its a neat concept. You can see it in action if you search (he Big Cook on youtube. I believe you can find them on facebook and become a fan. I already am.
It is where you get a big or small group of people together and prepare a certain amount of dishes together and everyone comes home with lots of meals for the freezer! We don't do it in a group but we do this its fun and easy.