Yup you read that right. Â Our total grocery bill this week came to $57.23 Â for a family of 3. Consequently, it’s for a total of well over 21 meals! Below you will find our weekly meal plan for breakfast, lunch and dinner; as well as, my son’s school lunches that he takes and my husband’s separate breakfasts. Â As a result, it is a total of about 32 meals.
Here’s a picture of our grocery haul:
First, let me state that in order to keep our grocery bill super low we do the following:
1. Shop at different stores. Â We mainly shop at Publix but also frequent Aldi, Save-A-Lot, Winn-Dixie or Walmart when meat sales are good.
2. Our son is also a picky eater and does not eat the same meals as us different times during the week.
3. We stock up on beverages, snacks, staples etc. when we have extra money available or especially when there is not a great sale on meat.
4. I do make quite a few items from scratch. Â Especially snacks for my son’s lunch, bread, muffins, soups, sauces, etc.
5. We do not include non-edible items in our grocery bill. When I do our weekly meal plan and grocery list, I do not include trash bags, dish soap or laundry detergent etc. on our list.
Without further ado, here’s our weekly meal plan:
Weekly Meal Plan
Breakfasts for my son and me:
(M) Pineapple Cottage Cheese w/Mandarin Oranges
(T) Â Brown Sugar Oatmeal w/Honeydew
(W) Thomas’s Bagel w/Butter, Jelly w/Mandarin Oranges
(T) Cereal w/Milk, Honeydew
(F) Thomas’ English Muffin w/Butter & Jelly
(S) Homemade Banana Crumb Muffins http://armagazine.com/2uyj68CÂ w/Butter & Jelly
(S) Late Brunchy Breakfast: Â Pancakes or Baked Eggs w/Bagel
My Husband’s Breakfasts:
(M/T/W) Hard Boiled Eggs w/Smoothie
(T) Cold Cereal w/Milk
(F) English Muffin (Toasted) w/Cheese Slices (Melted)
(S) Homemade Banana Crumb Muffins http://armagazine.com/2uyj68CÂ w/Butter & Jelly
(S) Late Brunchy Breakfast: Â Pancakes or Baked Eggs w/Bagels
Lunches for my husband and me:
(M) Progresso Soup w/Bagel too
(T) Tuna Salad w/Crackers, Canned Pinapple
(W) Egg Salad on Toast, Canned Pineapple
(T) Progresso Soup w/Homemade Croutons & Shredded Cheese
(F) Lean Cuisines
(S) Chicken Salad (made from canned chicken) w/Crackers too
(S) Late Brunchy Breakfast (See above)
Next, my son’s school lunches presently consist of a bologna, turkey or peanut butter & jelly sandwich. Â Then he takes an applesauce or yogurt, chips, pretzels or homemade muffin and (2) juice boxes too.
Dinner:
(M) Tortellini w/Chicken Sausage
(T) Sweet and Spicy Chicken Drumsticks, Baked Potato, Corn
(W) Salad w/Oven Fried Chicken and Homemade Bread too
(T) Turkey Meatloaf wrapped in Turkey Bacon, Pasta Salad
(F) Slow Cooker Chicken & Dumplings over Egg Noodles http://armagazine.com/2vwVezx
(S) Turkey Burgers with  Green Bean Salad
(S) Baked Spaghetti with Garlic Bread
Moreover, we have a German Shepherd dog whose food I supplement with chicken. Frequently,  I find chicken legs for $.59/lb at Save-A-Lot.  I roast them and then pick the meat off them and ultimately get about a 12-14 day supply of food from 10 lbs. I purchase the dry dog food from Amazon using gift cards or cash that I earn in different ways online.  If the chicken is not available at the above price, I will supplement it with canned salmon when that ultimately goes on sale  Presently, I make my own dog treats too.
For the most part, because we presently stock up on staples, beverages, treats, etc. when meat sales are less than stellar, our pantry is stocked too.
For instance, presently I have about 7 boxes of spaghetti, 6 boxes of cereal, 4 jars of peanut butter, juice boxes, etc. In addition to stocking up on staples when meat sales are not great, my favorite deals are the buy one get one (BOGO) deals. Â I scan the BOGO deals and then try to find a coupon for both items. Â Actually in Florida, you are then able to apply a coupon on the free item too. Â Even better, Publix and Winn-Dixie allow you to use a store coupon & a manufacturer’s coupon on the item purchased as well as the free item too. In fact, I can’t tell you how many times we have ultimately paid $0 for a multitude of staple items.
Lastly, I come home and then use all the savings/rebate  apps available for the items we purchased. Presently, the best ones in my opinion are: Checkout 51, Savings Star, Receipt Hog and Ibotta.
Above all, with a meal plan and grocery list in hand, as well as a mindset to conquer your grocery bill, saving money is no doubt -attainable. Ultimately, by then setting time aside each week to meal plan and brainstorm additional ways to stretch your money, you too can pay off debt or even buy a home with cash.