Monday, December 2, 2013

Menu Plan for the Weeks Ahead

Planning a menu helps us keep costs low, minimize work day stress, & also ensures that we eat in, rather than grabbing dinner out.

I'm happy to report that in November, we spent under $500 on groceries! $499.57, to be precise.This is huge for us. :-) Our goal for the month was $540, so it's great to see that we're slowly driving our overall spending down. We had a few expensive months after we moved, & had to restock.

A few things that are keeping our spending low(er):

  • Running to the grocery store after work is rarely possible anymore, due to our schedules. As a result, we do one trip to Costco each weekend, & occasionally I'll go to the produce stand for something during the week. 
  • Free lunches at work during the work week, for me + M, as well as free coffee & breakfast for me. M goes in later, so still drinks coffee/eats breakfast at home. I've always been a lunch packer, & previously took leftovers. Because I'm no longer eating leftovers for lunch, we have more left for dinners, which means both less cooking, & more money savings. Win/win!
  • We continue to menu plan, watch our food waste, & focus on primarily spending our grocery money on: produce, dairy, & meat. We buy  little in the way of snacks.
I premade quite a bit of food before I went back to work, so we are eating our way through those stockpiled freezer meals. Here's what's on the menu for the weeks ahead.

  • Sunday - M's famous grilled cheeseburgers. It's still grilling weather!
  • Monday - tilapia & pasta, as a side dish
  • Tuesday - leftover burgers
  • Wednesday - Tacos (late night, with soccer tryouts)
  • Thursday - Chicken & veggie sautee over rice
  • Friday - Spaghetti & meatballs (Freezer)
  • Saturday - Grilled chicken & pasta
  • Sunday -Homemade pizza
  • Monday - Leftover spaghetti & meatballs
  • Tuesday - Leftover pizza
  • Wednesday - Leftover grilled chicken & pasta
  • Thursday - chicken soft tacos
  • Friday - Tomato, chicken, & gorgonzola soup + homemade bread
  • Saturday - M & I are attending a birthday party, so we'll eat there. The kids will have something quick & easy.
  • Sunday - Risotto
In other news, I made the most amazing butternut squash, goat cheese, & chicken sausage risotto. I doctored a couple of recipes, so I'll try to recreate it into one & post it. It was restaurant quality & absolutely delicious!

How are you doing with your grocery spending? What's helping you control costs at the grocery store?

1 comment:

  1. I don't even want to THINK about November's spending. ugh
    I am determined to keep December's under $300 tho since I've got a ton of food items stockpiled. Wish me luck....

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