Grocery Challenge

[mommato3boys]

One of the ways I am trying to stock our pantry is by doing grocery challenges and using the other money to buy extray with. So starting February I will be doing a $20 a week per person challenge. I will use the remaing amount of my grocery budget to plug holes in the pantry. I am on the hunt for meals that have 5 or less ingredients and lean heavy on rice and dry beans. Fresh fruits and veggies are expensive right now in my area, so I will be depending on frozen veggies pretty much all month. We are big Tex-Mex fans and that means lots of burritos, tacos, and other Tex-Mex recipes. BUT that gets old after a while and I will be falling back on my southern roots for comfort foods. Plus I will be making lots of soups and stews so that I can stretch them for 3 or 4 meals. Spaghetti is on the list, one recipe of sauce will yield like 5 quarts. I can use the sauce for many different recipes like stuffed shells, chicken parm and Italian bake. I am not a spaghetti fan but it is hubby's favorite. I also like the website http://www.mexicanplease.com he has some really good recipes that are "cheap." 

 

 

 

 

Week One Menu

We usually only eat two meals a day - brunch and lupper - Brunch around 10 or 11 and lupper around 5. 

 

Breakfast x7

Sourdough Pankcakes x2

Waffles x 1

Breakfast Burritos x2

Molletes X2

 

Lupper

Sloppy Joe Sweet potatoes

Entomatadas

Blackbean and Guac tostados

Chicken Tacos

Quesadillas

Bean and Tostadas

Chicken Flautas

 

Food per Wal-Mart App - (I am hoping to catch some sales / coupons for the chicken and sausage) I did not include flour, blackbeans or oatmeal because I am well stocked in those.

Great Value Corn tortillas - $1.98

16 oz Great Value Sour Cream - $1.88

One dozen large eggs - $2.80

Queso Fresco cheese 10oz $3.38

2 Sweet Potatoes - $2.28

3# bag of yellow onions $2.74

5 limes - $1.50

Fresh Cilantro - $0.47

Fresh Garlic 3 cloves - $1.78

8 Roma Tomatoes $1.68

1# Tomatillos - $1.56

Great Value 3# chicken thighs $8.47 (this will be used over 2 weeks)

1# ground Turkey $3.68 (this maybe replaced with ground beef if I catch it on sale or find it reduced. Plus I will only use half of a pound for the recipe)

1# great value breakfast sausage $2.87

4 oz dehydrated hashbrowns $1.73 ( will buy these at Dollar Tree for $1.25 but for the sake of this thread I am only using the Wal-Mart App)

2 cans of Chipotle pepps in adobo Sauce $2.96

Total $41.76 - 

 

Edited January 13 by mommato3boys
adding menus and grocery list

[Mother]

Thanks for this thread.  It will help make us all aware of our grocery spending.  
 

I actually did set myself a challenge last year to cut our grocery bills by 20% and managed to do that even though I have special diet needs.  (Gluten free and etc.) I did grow quite a bit of greens, tomatoes, and beans last year but not more than the year before so I didn’t have to take that into consideration. Because I keep records of my grocery spending I was able to compare last year with the year before and found I did save about 23%.  
 

Strangely enough I believe it came about more because I was not in the grocery store very often.  Since May neither DH nor I drive any longer so our DD did most of our shopping from a list and I ordered more from Amazon and other web sites.  Later in the year I was able to get set up to order groceries delivered from our local HyVee grocery.  Even with the delivery fee I saved because I could compare and more importantly shop online at my leisure.  
 

Here are some random thoughts. 
 

Spend less time in the store to limit impulse buys. 
 Plan menus ahead, basing them according to the sale items for the week.  

Conversely, make dozens of menus and choose what fits the sales that week. 

If there is a good buy on what you might use in several recipes, ( like rice) buy extra and subtract that amount from future weeks

Compare prices between sale items and buying in bulk.  
Try to stick to a list ( you will have to decide if you are going to use some of your preps like condiments or staples) 

Frozen veggies are much healthier but sometimes canned veggies will be cheaper, ounce for ounce, and are good for soups. (I admit I don’t care for them but keep them on hand.)

 

Make your own pasta, bread items, wraps, tortillas, etc. Be sure to compare prices of bought to homemade.  A good sale might be cheaper.  

 

I also save by growing sprouts in a jar on the kitchen sink.  Designated sprout seeds are pricey but go a long long way and they are sooooo easy. I also grow sunflower and pea shoots.  They only need a window sill and peas like the cold. I use dry whole green peas from the grocery store for the pea shoots. Most stores only carry split ones, which does not work, but if you can find whole ones they are cheap and will give you weeks of shoots for salads and stir fries. (You can find lots of info about sprouts and shoots online) 

 

I probably don’t have to say this but don’t waste anything.  Use every part of a product.  Veggie peelings for broth, root ends can be regrown to make greens, bones make broth, leftovers make lunches or breakfasts or reformulate them into another meal.  
 

Unfortunately many of these ideas take work and time. They might not always be doable for some.  But planning ahead will probably be key to cutting spending.

 

I wonder, too, if some of the Mrs S threads for stocking up cheaply might help.  Maybe those by Nana?  
Good luck….
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Littlesister]

This is a great idea. I am diabetic so I need more protein than most. But I am already covered for that. I have a load of canned veggies that I have decided to use those to make my soups instead of my frozen veggies. 

GS has been eating at work, so not cooking for him any longer and he is now buying his own food. But does eat with me when he is off work. But it is whatever I cook and no longer his choice. This alone has saved me a bundle. 

I am now back to just eggs, milk and coffee creamer. Seems there is one other thing I get weekly but can't think of it now. I will buy meat if it is a really good price and come home to can it. It doesn't make it to the freezer. But at the same time, I am canning what is in the freezer as well. 

Bought eggs yesterday at the tune of $1.78 so they are going up again and I noticed they are not as plentiful again. So, an egg shortage is coming.  I hope to keep my groceries down to less than $20 a week or even every 2 weeks. I need other things so robbing Paul to get those things. I'm on a mission. 

The canned veggies I am talking about are store bought canned veggies. 

Edited January 13 by Littlesister
correction on veggies.

[Mother]

MT3B,  That’s a great weeks worth of menus.  The Walmart buys are good but even better if you find some bargains.  Will you need avocado?  I have found them really pricey lately .  Wondered if they were cheaper at WM.
 

Great start!

Edited January 13 by Mother

[Littlesister]

Mommato3boys I just went over your menu plan. Wish I could eat a lot of what's on there because it really does sound good. 

I am sticking to just meat and veggies. Fruit here right now if fresh is not very good. Even the fresh veggies are bad. I bought a head of lettuce a few weeks ago during Christmas as I haven't redone my aero garden again yet. And paid $1.68 for it and when I cut it open it was rotten inside. But the prettiest head of lettuce on the outside. What is going on with our produce? I stopped buying it. Going to try to grow tomatoes indoors for the winter next winter in 5 gal. buckets. Plus, what I grow in the aero gardens. I really need to find some good fruit somewhere, or just stick with frozen blueberries and such.

[snapshotmiki]

You gave me some good ideas for making the veggie soup with oats, later today!

I will use my own chicken broth, a quart of collard greens and a quart of okra, onion, tomato medley.  A handful of oats and a handful of noodles and some spices will finish it.

[euphrasyne]

We are still trying to eat down the freezer (the 2nd deep freeze so I can get rid of it.)  We are also trying to eat all the older pantry items that have gone 'out of favor' for the family.   Tastes change and I'm trying to work things into meals so I have more space for what we do currently like.   Ie I have 2 cans of sweet potatoes left.  I want to focus more on home canning and less on freezing for preservation.  I want freezing to be more convenience based. 

 

DH lost about 90 lbs last year.   I didn't really lose any and I need to lose about 40lbs.  This year, we are trying to eat less carbs and healthier while including enough 'fun' food that we do not indulge in other vices. Thus, I am on a budget, but it is larger because I am including expensive convenience items like spiced mini pickles, kimchi,  spiced vinegars, prepared pico de gallo, etc.  

 

We like pretty much all cuisine.   I cook a lot of Mexican/South American, Asian of all sorts, Southern.   Last few weeks, I've been making mostly German and Cajun.  I had to look up Molletes.  It looks really good, but I don't like refried beans.  I'm wondering how it would taste with whole chickpeas instead.  I may try that.  

Edited January 13 by euphrasyne

[mommato3boys]

36 minutes ago, euphrasyne said:

  I had to look up Molletes.  It looks really good, but I don't like refried beans.  I'm wondering how it would taste with whole chickpeas instead.  I may try that.  

We use black beans instead of pinto beans. We hardly ever use pinto beans.

[mommato3boys]

Ok here is Week 2-4 menus and prices from the Wal-Mart App

 

Week 2 

Brunches

Breakfast Burritos

Mollettes

Pancakes

Omelettes (may do crustless quiche instead not sure yet)

Oatmeal

Pancakes

Breakfast Burritos

 

Lupper

Sausage potato Pan

Chicken Parm (*the base sauce will be used for three other meals this week)

Spaghetti*

Stirfry & Rice

Italian Bake*

Pizza

Chili

 

Wal-Mart App (these are the current prices as of 1/13 and will probably change before I purchase)

Eggs (I have opted to purchase an 18 count on week one increasing that total by 1.34 but it will give me enough eggs for week 2)

Smoked Sausage 3.28

Potatoes 2.98

Chicken (this is a package of 5 chicken breast and the other 3 will be used in the next two weeks) 7.48

Parm Cheese 2.22

Crushed tomatoes canned x2 3.04

tomato sauce .96

Ground Turkey 3.68

Italian sausage 3.98

Stirfry veggies frozen 2.54 (will use the leftover rice from last week so no cost there)

Pepperanoi 2.58

ham canned 1.52

pineapple tidbits .98

Chili beans x 3 2.46

Chili tomatoes .92

Tomatoes with green chilies .96

green chilies .84

Spaghetti pasta .98

Pasta shells .98 

Total for week 2 $42.38

 

Week 3

Brunches

Ok I am sick of the brunches we have been having so I will be adding yogurt, cottage cheese, granola and fresh fruit this week.

Yogurt and granola

Pancakes

Gravy & Biscuits

Cottage cheese & berries

Smoked turkey b'fast skillet 

B'fast Burritos

Sausage English Muffins

 

Luppers 

(lots of leftovers this week this will allow for the fresh fruit and extra sausage.)

Leftover Spaghetti

Leftover beans made into burritos

Leftover chili

Will use leftovers to make chicken tacos

Mushroom Alfredo

Leftover Italian bake

 

Week #3 Wal-Mart App prices

Eggs 18 count 4.14 (this will be enough for week 4

Yogurt 5.47

Cottage Cheese 2.58

Blackberries pint 3.37

Strawberries pint 2.88

B'fast sausage 2.87

Smoked Sausage 3.28

Cheddar cheese 16oz block 3.68

Spinach 1.98

Mushrooms 16 oz 3.12

Green Onions .88

Alfredo Sauce 1.82

English Muffins 1.50

Patty Sausage 3.88 (this and the English Muffins will make sandwiches for next week also)

Milk 2.86

Total for Week 3 $40.63

 

 

Week 4

Brunches

Cottage Cheese & Fruit

Yogurt & Granola

Leftover B'fast skillet

Pancakes

B'fast Burritos

Molletes

Sausage Muffin sandwiches

 

Luppers

Will use the chicken from previous week to make Chicken Burrito Bowls

Mexi-Hotdogs

Tuna & Mac/cheese Casserole

Stuffed Shells (Will use the base sause from week 2)

Pizza

Taco Spaghetti

Cowboy Casserole

 

Wal-Mart App prices

Turkey Dogs 3.97

Pepper Onion Blend frozen (cheaper than buying fresh peppers) 2.58

Tuna .96

Mac&cheese box will use left over cheese to make it taste better .58

Cottage Cheese 1.98 (cheaper than Ricotta cheese)

Jumbo Shells 1.84

Fire Roasted Tomatoes 1.18

Whole Kernel Corn .645

Mexi Cornbread Mix (will make my own using pantry items but this is the only way I could figure out how to count it in the budget) 1.12

Black Beans (same here I will use dry beans but counting a can in the budget) .82

Hotdog Buns (may make flour tortillas instead that is what I usually do) 1.38

Bananas 1.35 (they are .27 each on the app so I counted 5)

Avocado x2 $1.00

Total for Week 4 $17.50

 

So if I say on budget and don't take hubby shopping with me  I will stay within the $40 a week budget. The budget is $160 for four weeks and I will spend $143.61 we don't pay taxes on food here in Texas so that will be the bottom line.

 

Edited January 13 by mommato3boys

[mommato3boys]

Anyone want to join in on the $20 a week per person grocery challenge? If so please post your menu and local prices. My menus may change depending on sales I missed a good sale this past week so hopefully in another week or two they will have another good sale.

[mommato3boys]

2 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

prepared pico de gallo, etc.  

 

Euphrasyme, a good Pico recipe is 

 

Roma tomatoes seeded

Jalapeno peppers (if you want heat leave the seeds if not seed and devein)

Red Onion

Cilantro

Lime juice

 

This is my DIL recipe and she is from south Mexico. Dice your tomatoes, peppers, onion and cilantro add 1/2 of lime and you are all set. I usually do about 8 tomatoes, 3-4 peppers depending on the size, 1/2 of red onion (why they call it red when it is purple I have no idea) the leaves of a 1/2 bunch of cilantro mix together and add juice from 1/2 lime. This will give me about 2 quart jars. 

[mommato3boys]

15 hours ago, Mother said:

MT3B,  That’s a great weeks worth of menus.  The Walmart buys are good but even better if you find some bargains.  Will you need avocado?  I have found them really pricey lately .  Wondered if they were cheaper at WM.
 

Great start!

Oh shoot, you are correc Mother, I omitted avocados from week one. So with this week's prices adding 2 more avocados will increase my total by a $1 for a total of 42.76 with a grand total of 144.61

[mommato3boys]

17 hours ago, Mother said:

Make your own pasta, bread items, wraps, tortillas, etc. Be sure to compare prices of bought to homemade.  A good sale might be cheaper

Mother I will be making our own tortillas and bread. I am well stocked on pasta. The only reason I added it in was to account for the cost if I had to purchase it. Same with the canned beans. I will cook a pound of dry beans and that will be more than plenty for all the recipes. I would make corn tortillas but I never can get them thin enough or they crumble on me. So to me is just as cheap to purchase them. I can get store brand pasta for $1 or less and store brand AP unbleached flour for less than $2 for 5# so I try to buy 2-3 bags whenever it is in stock. They don't sell it in 25# bags. I can only find self-rising in that big of bags. 

 

 

We don't drink anything but water that is why there is no tea or other drinks add. We do drink coffee but I order whole beans online and do not count that in my grocery budget. I will need to purchase stuff to make homemade creamer but that will come out of the remaining $15.

[euphrasyne]

The prepared pico thing is a lazy thing for me.   My toddler takes all my energy lately.  If I make it homemade, I usually make it similar, but I like to add garlic and parsley along with the cilantro to it.  Sometimes I add white onion too.    But above all garlic.  We eat it in everything.  

 

I've done the $20 per person in the past, but that isn't where we are right now.   Neither DH nor I can really eat pasta at all, bread is limited, and potatoes are very limited.  We have some health issues and it is just a no-go for those.  It is not a gluten issue, but a carb issue.  I had GI surgery a few years back and my insides are just not wired that way anymore.  Rice sits well, so most of our meals involve rice, rice noodles, or just meat and veg.  

 

If you like mexican, we eat Bocharro Black Beans with rice all the time.  I often add smoked sausage to it as you would with red beans and rice.  

 

We also make a guacamole with avocado, red onion, feta, bacon, pineapple, and garlic.  I always eyeball the amounts and spice to taste.  I have that for lunch with corn chips or smeared on cooked chicken for lunch often.  

[Littlesister]

For my house it is just me so $20 a week would be more than enough. I buy my milk at the Dollar Tree for $1.25. It is shelved stable so right now I have one in fridge and 5 on shelve. Good till end of this year. I do have GS, but he eats what I cook from pantry. If it is something he doesn't like, then he is on his own. He has an EBT card for food, so he won't starve. But he is very wasteful, and I can't stand that even if he bought food himself. Right now, he has fried chicken sitting on his car seat from the other day. Did I mention he's wasteful. 

[Mother]

  While I can’t eat.a lot of the food you will be having, your Walmart list has really opened my eyes to possibilities for lower costs on the foods I can have.  Walmart doesn’t deliver out here  but I will sit down and compare prices from my last HyVee order and see if there would be a significant savings.  Already I know I pay $1.09 each for small avocados?  Twice WM.    Then I might have to have a grocery challenge of my own to lower our costs.  
 

With the prices of food I was skeptical of your $20 per person per week at first but it really does look possible. 👍

[mommato3boys]

4 hours ago, euphrasyne said:

Neither DH nor I can really eat pasta at all, bread is limited, and potatoes are very limited.  We have some health issues and it is just a no-go for those.  It is not a gluten issue, but a carb issue.

Yeah, that is what I am struggling with with these menus. I am hoping to fine zuchinni for about $1.25 a pound so that we can have zoodles instead of pasta. I can also use zuchinni in the stuffed shells instead of pasta. I am will not have buns with my hotdogs nor will I have tortillas with my burritos. I will have naked burritos aka burrito bowls. The mornings that we have pancakes I will probably just have boiled eggs, cheese and nuts or jerky. I am not a fan of bread. I will make it all day long for hubby because he doesn't seem to have an issue with carbs 

 

This maybe a one and done but I needed to see if I could do this for emergency sake. ... 

 

As for the convenience of prepared food with toddlers...girl I hear you. I raised three and lived to tell about it. There is 3 years between the oldest and middle and 2 years between the middle and the youngest. So I had 3 under the age of 5 and 2 in diapers at one time. I didn't think the middle one would ever potty train. I am not sure what was harder 3 under the age of 5 or 3 teenagers in sports 

Edited January 13 by mommato3boys

[mommato3boys]

38 minutes ago, Mother said:

Already I know I pay $1.09 each for small avocados?

 That is about the only good thing living this close to the border right now. We get a lot of fresh veggies and fruit from Mexico. Our Latino flare fare is cheaper because we have such a large Latino population. If I shop the Hispanic food section I can get Latino labels cheaper than store brand and it is the same product. I mean black beans are black beans. The only place I can get them cheaper than the Hispanic food section is Dollar Tree. I just have to be careful sometimes they only have 12oz bags instead of the 16oz bags. 

[Mother]

I am envious!!!  🤢  We eat a lot of fresh produce and it is especially pricey now in the Midwest.  Even frozen is costly.  Organic is even higher.   

[Littlesister]

Everything is going up these days. We have to get creative with what we buy now. Mommato3Boys, you are doing great with keeping your groceries under $20 for each person. Your menus look great. 

My pantry is overflowing so I am shopping from my pantry and freezers only for a while. I will by meat if I can get a great manager's special or something but otherwise, I just keep canning what's in freezer. My soups and things I make, and can is coming from freezer which came from my garden.  The challenge for me will come when I basically deplete the pantry and freezers.

I have noticed the price of butter here has gone nuts to say the least. One pound of any type of butter has gone up anywhere between $4.00 to $7.00 depending on the brand you get. Eggs are going up as well. 

This economy is going to make this challenge interesting. 

[euphrasyne]

We are crazy.  I have DD 26, 20, 15, and 3.  I am wore plain out.  I am a homemaker, but the house is too big.  We used to have 4 cats in 2020 but are now down to 2.  So much to do. I haven't gone to the bathroom by myself in over 20 years.  I had surgery about 2 years back on my wrist and I told the nurse who had to watch me pee after waking after surgery the same thing.  I wasn't even ashamed because I was used to people watching me pee.  I'd trade 3 teenagers for 1 toddler in matter of stress.  I pay extra not to have to do it at this point.  I can do it, but ... energy.  

Edited January 14 by euphrasyne

[Ambergris]

Went to Publix the other night and gagged when I saw $28 a pound for regular (not prime or anything special) boneless rib eyes.  They were running half that a year ago.  Greenwise was cheaper.  I asked DS1 how he's been handling that.  He said, "not eating steak."  I'm not the only one exploring a different world, I guess. 

(DS2, on the other hand, never was into steak, which is to his advantage in times like this.)

DS1 spent a few months living out of the freezers and pantry.  There's still a ton of stuff to throw away because he didn't and won't touch it.

 

[Mother]

Euphrasyne, been there done that.  Mine were 18,17,16, and new born, back in 1980.  By the time I got to go to the bathroom on my own I had a service dog Ho never left my side.  Just wait until the grandkids come along.  By then you are afraid to go alone. 
 

Since my fall I have been using short cuts in the kitchen like precut veggies, and already washed and finding it does help but I’m not sure the cost is worth it.  I do like frozen veggies though. 

[euphrasyne]

My wrist complains about cutting things since I broke it.   DD15 likes to butcher meat so that is helpful.   But angle and time mess with my wrist, so I try to cut as few things as possible.  You posted your cutting board hatchet knife set up and I'm thinking about making one of those myself more and more lately.  It is hard to even type with my wrist as it didn't heal properly.    

[Mother]

That cutting board sure helps.