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    Grocery Budget Challenge (Week 4)

    April 1, 2019 by Tara Buss 4 Comments

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    Grocery budget challenge for a family of four. All "real food" and approachable meals for families. See what one family ate for a week on a budget.

    Grocery budget challenge

    I almost didn't publish this week's grocery budget challenge because life happened and I didn't stick to my budget, but I decided to anyway because I like to show real life. I also don't consider this week a failure because we still kept a decent budget.

    We had an extra child that stayed with us for 3 days so I already knew that my grocery budget would have to be a little higher.  Feeding an extra person for nine meals is going to require a little more cash, so I allotted myself another $20. I'm comfortable with stretching things with my own kids and feeding them random lunches, but it's a different story with someone else's child. We loved having her here though!

    Friday night we also went off the rails and I ordered pizza and wings.  We had a 50% off coupon and $10 off rewards so the total for two large pizzas and wings was around $20, which I thought was pretty good.

    What I bought

    grocery haul spread on a wooden table

    Again I shopped at Aldi this week. I will share another store next week because I know many of you are wanting me to show another option.

    • bananas           $1.36
    • apples               $2.99
    • peppers            $2.79
    • lettuce              $1.39
    • carrots              $.79
    • avocado            $.75
    • broccoli            $1.79
    • cabbage            $.79
    • potatoes           $2.99
    • olive oil            $3.99
    • ketchup           $1.69
    • hot sauce         $.85
    • pickles             $1.35
    • garlic powder  $1.95
    • wheat bread    $.89
    • tortilla chips    $1.89
    • swiss cheese    $1.79
    • shredded cheese $1.99
    • butter                $2.79
    • 3 dozen eggs    $3.78
    • turkey deli meat $2.49
    • ham deli meat     $2.49
    • chicken breasts   $10.05
    • ground beef         $12.76
    • chicken sausages  $2.99
    • bacon                      $4.99

    Total with tax:     $77.51

    What I prepped

    I was not organized this week and it showed. I talked to my mom on the phone while I shopped instead of with my calculator so I went over budget. I also prepped nothing as far as snacks and breakfasts, which hurt me for the week.

    The only thing I did preparation wise was to divide the bulk ground beef and chicken breasts into smaller portions.  I was able to save about half of it for upcoming weeks, which will be great for the future.

    ground beef and chicken breasts wrapped in foil on a wooden countertop

    Breakfasts

    Just like the last three weeks, we eat what sounds good to us in the mornings.  I typically make a large batch of pancakes to reheat throughout the week and we will add eggs, bacon, fruit or oatmeal as needed.

    • eggs
    • bacon
    • pancakes (regular and oat)
    • oatmeal
    • fruit

    Lunches & Snacks

    • leftover (meatloaf, chicken strips, and tacos)
    • sandwiches
    • lunch meat
    • tortilla chips
    • fruit
    • baked potatoes
    • pickles
    • hard boiled eggs

    Dinners

    Stir fried sausage, peppers, and cabbage in a stainless steel skillet

    Monday

    sausage, peppers, cabbage skillet

    This was a 15 minute meal.  First I sliced and browned the sausages.  Then I added sliced peppers and half of a cabbage, sliced. Because we like some spice, I added Cajun seasoning, salt, and garlic. My family loves this easy meal, but that sadly meant I didn't have any leftovers.

    slice of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, cabbage, and baked apples on a white plate

    Tuesday

    meatloaf, potatoes, cabbage, baked apples

    We were particularly hungry this night so I made sure to have a lot of sides so we would have meatloaf leftovers. I normally make a fancier sauce for the top, but I didn't have the ingredients so ketchup was the topping.  No one complained. I sautéd the second half of the cabbage while the meatloaf was cooking as well as made some mashed potatoes.  The apples were frozen ones that I had preserved from the fall and I sprinkled them with cinnamon and a little bit of sugar and put them in the oven. I wish I had waited to put them in the oven after the meatloaf had cooked because my oven was a little smokey, which gave the apples a smokey flavor as well.

    chicken teriyaki over vegetable fried rice on a white plate

    Wednesday

    teriyaki chicken with veggie rice

    I made this recipe up and it turned out well.  I cooked the cut up chicken in olive oil and then added garlic, ginger, honey, red pepper, salt and fish sauce. The frozen green beans and chopped carrots were sautéd in a separate skillet and seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper and mixed with rice. Again, no leftovers.

    Soaked whole wheat tortillas

    Thursday

    tacos and Mexican rice

    This is always a crowd pleaser at my house. The taco meat was made with my own taco seasoning and I served it with Instant Pot Mexican rice.

    Friday

    pizza and wings

    There's no picture of this.  Just standard takeout pizza and wings with our guest.

    crispy chicken tenders with fries in the background on a white plate

    Saturday

    chicken strips, oven fries, fruit

    These were made with gluten-free flour and were super delicious. All of the kids loved them, even our guest and we even had leftovers.

    Grocery budget challenge series

    Week 1

    Week 2

    Week 3

    Week 5

     

    « Budget Meal Planning ($60 Challenge Week 3)
    Grocery Shopping on a Budget ($60 budget challenge week 5) »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Vanessa

      April 02, 2019 at 4:11 pm

      I'm so glad you decided to publish this week. Even if you went over, the ideas are still very helpful. 🙂

      Reply
      • Tara Buss

        April 04, 2019 at 10:33 am

        I'm glad you found them helpful.

        Reply
    2. Lesley

      April 05, 2019 at 6:25 pm

      I'm just wondering how old your kids are. We have two teens right now, and that has really affected our grocery budget!

      Reply
      • Tara Buss

        April 05, 2019 at 8:07 pm

        Oh yeah, teens will absolutely raise your grocery budget! I feed a hungry group of teens every Sunday night and always have to make more than I expect. We had build your own sub sandwiches last week and some of them ate three six inch subs! We also had chips, rice krispy treats, and fruit salad. It's amazing how much food they consume.

        My kids are 10 and 8, and I think pretty big eaters compared to a lot of their friends, but they still don't have teen appetites. I really load them up for breakfast since breakfast food is pretty inexpensive. It's not uncommon for my daughter to have 2 eggs, a bowl of oatmeal, and bacon in the morning. My son ate two breakfast burritos this morning.

        For dinner, I do offer extra fruit or really any other no-cook sides in my fridge that can help fill in the hungry gaps.

        And just so I'm clear, $60 is not where my normally grocery budget is. It was just an experiment to see if we could still eat well on that lower amount. I hope that helps. Thanks for the comment, Lesley!

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Tara! Mom, wife, and frugal living expert. I believe you can feed your family well even when money and time are tight. Let me show you how.

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