Tuesday, September 20, 2011

September Food Spending Week 2.5 and Menu Plan

 I love this little Flow Chart from Summer Tomato to help you find REAL FOOD in the grocery store.
Check it out!lol



Speaking of supermarkets, I made 3 trips to the grocery store last week...really 1 trip last week and 2 trips into Week 3 or Week 2.5.lol  I can't seem to line up the weeks with the menu plans.  I need to come up with a better system for reporting in.

The local market had some BOGO sales so I stocked up on basic things like onions, potatoes, bread and bagels(as I didn't get over to the Bread Outlet yet).  I bought a number of items for #2 son for snacking including 1/2 off muffins, juice, pizza and chicken strips. Also some Gatorade for band practice, and sweets like ice cream and pie.
I picked up some deals.....a package of trout, a package of hot dog rolls, frozen veggies, as well as a General Mills Promotional Deal when you bought 8 items you received $4 off your total.  For that I bought 4 boxed veggies, 1 sack of flour and 3 rolls of whack biscuits.  Total w/sale prices was $11.59....total after $4 and $2 in Qs off=$5.59 for 8 items.
I also used a $10 gift card I won ages ago to pay for a part of this order so my $20.84 total was $10.84 OOP.
Sweet!

My meal plan for last week ended up looking like this....
Sunday--Tacos
Monday--Ravioli, Salad
Tuesday--BLT Sandwiches
Wednesday--Mac & Cheese, Cauliflower
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Chinese take out
Saturday--Pecan Crusted Chicken, Cream of Spinach

The only items I needed to buy to accomplish this menu?.....A loaf of bread

So this week, using what I bought last week and what was already in the freezer/pantry, is looking like this.....

Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs(fresh sauce from garden and homemade balls for the freezer)
Monday--Chicken Biscuits, Corn(roll of biscuits, frozen chicken patties and corn in freezer)
Tuesday--Trout, Fries, Pan Roasted Summer Veggies(trout and taters I bought, veg. in freezer)
Wednesday--Pork Chops w/Apricot Glaze, Potato Salad, Brussel Sprouts(chops in freezer, taters and sprouts I bought)
Thursday--Meatloaf, Roasted Potatoes and Carrots(beef in freezer, taters I bought)
Friday--Leftovers
Saturday--Hot Dogs, Leftover Veggies/Potato Salad(dogs in freezer, rolls I bought)

Left to buy for this menu.....Carrots.
I know it's heavy on potatoes but 2 of us ate a lot of rice last week for snack meals and for lunch, so I'll make #2 son happy and serve fries instead of rice with the trout.

Last week I spent $116.29 at the store on $217.74 worth of items, for a savings rate of 46.60%.
I only used $4 in Qs.  Seriously, I can't find a coupon deal unless I want to buy a bunch of processed stuff lately.

I have spent a total of $181.47 so far for September in 2.5 weeks.  $68.53 left in the food budget with 11 days to go so I am short about $20 at this point in the month.

This week we need some dairy and eggs and I'll pick up what is on special and work it into a menu for next week.
If I find some good deals I won't worry about that $20 overage.

At this point, I'll hold off going to the bread store until next week or October.
I'm debating doing the Campbell's Catalina at Price Chopper(for the Prego sauce) as it will put me over the budget if I do.

What are y'all eating and buying this week?

Sluggy


8 comments:

  1. I cooked last night so that pretty much takes care of tonight. I do have to head out later for more cheese


    Judy

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cabbage and onions, right this minute. I have a box of tomatoes to can and accidentally thawed a pound of ground round on Saturday. Tomorrow will be a huge pot of soup with half the ground round and two quarts of the cooked tomatoes before they are canned. Tonight will be a meatloaf baked for Thursday. Today, I will finish the chicken cooked last week.I cannot plan a week's worth of menus. I just have stuff to cook whenever. Floating around in my head are vague ideas. This cabbage would not have been on any menu because it was free from chickens' produce box. I watched the guy put it in, so moments before it was people food.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Free!--Isn't it so true tho?lol

    Judy--No good cheese deals here this week I'm afraid. Hope you have better luck in your part of town. ;-)

    Practical--I think meal planning would be so much easier if I didn't have other people to cook for. But then again, if it was just me most of the time, I would probably just open a package of something or eat a weird combination of things in their raw or already prepped state.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I did the PC Cat a couple times...the Emerald nuts are an awesome deal as you get 5.99 credit for ea one bought & pay only $1.99 ea..best bang for your buck.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I think that things are cheaper by you! I should visit you, get drunk with you and then go shopping.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sheila--I might just have to actually get my rump over to PC and do this one.....and throw some nuts into the mix too, thanks!

    SonyaAnn--I think they can get away with higher prices on shit in your area, being more affluent than where I call home. I just need to move into the trailer park with me here to bring your food costs down. Of course, living by me will increase your liquor bill exponentially!lol

    So you want to shop AND drink....I NEVER miss work with pleasure....but for you, I'll make an exemption. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. YOU need to move into the trailer park, not I.
    I already live there.....and I never MIX work with pleasure, not MISS.....doh!...my stoopid fingers again.
    Or course I can't blame the booze instead....right?

    ReplyDelete

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