Project: Food Budget (wk 2) Trina's Family
Welcome back to week 2 of Project: Food Budget!
GOAL: $75/week including any household or personal essentials
ACTUAL: $69.11 ($5.89 under budget!)
SIZE OF FAMILY: 4 -- Daniel, Trina, Brylee and Ian
FOOD GOALS: use items already in pantry, quick simple meals for the couple days when it will be just the kids and I later in the week, restock on some produce and start making smoothies again.
MENU
| B | L | D | |
| M | fruit smoothies | pita pockets | fried rice, egg rolls |
| Tu | oatmeal, fruit | leftover fried rice | date night |
| W | super cereal, fruit | sandwiches | tacos |
| Th | fruit smoothies | leftover tacos | pasta marinara |
| F | oatmeal, fruit | leftover pasta | toast/PB/applesauce, smoothies |
| Sa | super cereal, fruit | picnic | pita pizzas |
| Su | pancakes, potatoes | x | sweet potato burgers, smoothies |
PROUDEST SHOPPING MOMENT
The entire trip! First of all, it was over within about 20 minutes and even Brylee noticed how short we were there. Second, I’m looking over our splurge/indulgence list and I can’t ever remember a time that I counted healthy foods as indulgences. Third, Daniel tried tempting me with my all time favorite candy bar and I didn’t cave. Who am I this week?!
BIGGEST SPLURGE/INDULGENCE
coconut oil for $5.98 (I use it some for cosmetic reasons and am starting to love it in our baking), almond milk for $3.18/ea. to reduce some of our soy consumption, whole grain bread for $2.68/ea., kiwis for $1.98 to try on our breakfast cereal
BREAKDOWN OF PURCHASES
Food (Dry, Canned, Refrigerated & Frozen): $20.45
Produce: $19.73
Staples: $24.68
Cosmetics: $3.97
Tax: $.28
Total: $69.11
SUMMARY OF WEEK
We had no room for going over budget this week. We chose simple recipes using items already in stock, and intentionally worked leftovers into the plan being sure to make enough for two meals whenever possible. We stayed with the list adding only kiwis, frozen corn and spinach to the cart last minute. Daniel even threw out suggestions like frozen pizza, candy bars and specifically Take 5 (yum!); thanks to an upset stomach, it was easy to say no.
CONCLUSION(S)
You can do anything you put your mind to! Or, go shopping when you’re not feeling 100% so you don’t have energy to stray from the plan :)
PARTICIPATING BLOGS
Trina
Trina blogs from "the Good Life" in Middle America where she is a wife and stay-at-home mother of two. She is passionate about God, green as a color and a verb, and sharing her beginner experiences in simple living, motherhood & cloth diapering. Trina has been vegetarian her entire life, and just adapted a vegan lifestyle with her family as part of her monthly resolutions for 2012.
Follow Trina's Experiences on her Blog: Beginner Beans
Comments
Yay, that's great! Very
Yay, that's great! Very impressive for a family of four! Keep up the good work!
Will Power!!
Wow! You are amazing at staying in your budget, and for a family of 4 that's even more impressive. I also can't believe that you walked away from that Take 5 bar! Now that's some will power.
Excited that you are trying almond milk. We really love the Silk unsweetened Vanilla. Let us know what you think!
Thank you :)
This is certainly not how every week goes! But thank you for the compliments :) I knew I wasn't feeling well when I said no to the Take 5! And I love Almond milk for our cooking and on cereal. I still buy soy because something with the taste or texture doesn't sit well for Ian to drink it. Plus the almond is a little pricier, so we're okay mixing it up a little.
Do you have a grocery
Do you have a grocery shopping all that you like to use? I'm still looking for a good one! I'm very impressed that you were able to keep your budget under $70!
my favorite grocery-shopping "app"
Beth, do you mean a grocery shopping "app"? I'll give my answer assuming that's what you meant :) We use Veggie Meal-Maker for all of our meal-planning, then use the mobile site basically like an app. My shopping list is easily accessed on our phone--I love checking things off the list on my phone and getting the "you have everything" message (pictured above)! it definitely keeps us within our budget.
Love it!!
Love it!!
And I love that you talk about your proudest moment. What a great recap of what you did, where the food went, and how it felt in the store.
I also love that you brought cash. Less room to go over. :)
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