Money Monday - Groceries For The Week (March 9th-15th)

I've decided to continue posting our groceries for the week for a few reasons.

1. It keeps me accountable to only spend $50 each week.
2. You can *hopefully* reap ideas for frugal meals for your family.
3. It drives my husband crazy that I take pictures of our groceries each week.

Lol. Ok, so that last reason isn't actually legit, but I do think he's starting to think I'm a little crazy. At any rate, I know he is happy that I'm being responsible with the money for which he works so hard. :)

Ok, so this week was a lot of staple foods. I found myself out of almost everything - flour, salt, baking soda, etc. All of those things that you don't think to buy because they last a long time. (Well, flour doesn't exactly last a long time in our home, but I do buy it in bulk so I don't have to get it every week). Anyway, I did my shopping at Walmart and Kroger this week. I actually spent $51 this week, but since I only spent $48 last week, it worked out. Here is what I got:

Walmart $17 (after coupons):

Kroger $34 (after coupons):

At Walmart, I actually made $1 by buying those 4 hair putties (thank you, coupons and clearance isle)! And...it's hard to tell, but there are actually 6 boxes of that cereal in that second picture (which I paid absolutely nothing for!) and 3 bags of flour (1 whole wheat, 2 white). I am learning to always check the organic section at Kroger as I walk past it. I don't typically buy organic (mostly because of the price) but I have found that there is almost always something on manager's special (i.e. half price) that we would buy anyway and the price is then equivalent. It makes me feel a little bit better about the food choices I am making for my family.

As far as meals go this week, here is what we will be having:

Breakfast
Monday - cold cereal, pears
Tuesday -oatmeal w/ raisens
Wednesday - eggs and toast, pears
Thursday - pancakes, peaches
Friday - cold cereal, apples

Lunch (kids)
Monday - fish sticks, peas, apples
Tuesday - PB&J, cheese cubes, pretzel sticks
Wednesday - ravioli
Thursday - pasta, cheese slices, corn
Friday - hot dogs, peas, pretzel sticks

Dinner
Monday - spaghetti w/ meat sauce, garlic bread
Tuesday - chicken rice bake
Wednesday - baked potatoes w/ broccoli and cheese
Thursday - dog food.....JUST KIDDING! chicken parmesan over spaghetti
Friday - homemade pizza

Since my hubby eats breakfast and lunch at work, I made all of his lunches this evening so he has choices each day. (I will be blogging more about that tomorrow). This week for breakfast, I sent him with a box of cold cereal and a half gallon of milk. For lunch, he can mix and match the following:

salads
deli meat sandwiches
baked potatoes w/ sour cream
apples
yogurt
pretzel sticks

I admit that I don't always plan all of his lunches at the beginning of each week, but I do try to make a few at a time. It saves me time and energy and also saves him from asking the inevitable question that follows not having a lunch: "Is it ok if I run to McDonald's today?"

So there is our week at a glance. Don't forget to vote (if you haven't already voted) in the grocery poll on the top left side of the screen. It's been very interesting to see how much money my readers spend on groceries for their families. And as I mentioned last week, feel free to leave a comment after voting to let me know how many people you are feeding on that budget! :)