Groceries for 3 under $150/month

I have been working on getting this in the books for about a year now. We have a strict one-income budget and I hate spending so much money on groceries. As it has been a long drawn out process I can’t wait to share this month’s plan.

I apologize for the poor photo quality from my cell phone 😀

I start with a blank calender I print off of excel, it’s not pretty but it works to start out the planning with.  I go through all the recipes I have pinned to my Pinterest account and pick the ones that look most appealing at the moment (aka quick and easy) 

Then I make my grocery list (this one has been revised because you couldn’t read the first one) but, you get the point. Write down all the things you’ll need for each meal in its specified category, if you’ll need more than one-start tallying. This is the most important step: SHOP YOUR CUPBOARDS. More than likely you have that little can of tomato paste you need but normally would say “eh its only 75 cents” – that starts to add up! 

Now, it’s time to shop! We shop mostly at Aldi’s and a little at Meijer. I make my husbands lunches every day, obviously because it is cheaper, but he is a Mountain Dew-a-holic, and since Meijer almost always has sales on it, that’s where we go, as well as for laundry detergent. This week 3 – 12-packs of pop was $10, and I had a rain check for Arm & Hammer power paks for $2.99/27ct pack. They ended up only having the bonus backs so I got 10% more (32 paks) in each bag for the same price.  We ended up spending $86.60 for everything except our ground burger.

Aldi’s Haul

Meijer Items

For all our ground beef we typically try to stock up by buying half a steer and having it butchered, but we were fresh out of that; and we are selling our house so we aren’t planning on doing another steer until we move. So, for now, we buy from our local meat market; they sell ground beef for $3.49/lb about the same as Meijer sells it, and it’s so much fresher, and freezes much nicer! Occasionally, I can even get them to give me a deal on buying so much at one time. 

With the total of beef ($34.90) and groceries/detergent we spent $121.50 to feed three of us for an entire month. That in mind, the only things I found in my cupboard to use were enchilada sauce, diced tomatoes, and one can of tomato sauce.

In the end my meal plan all ends up, written out nicely, in my handy dandy notebook. I carry this thing with me everywhere so I never have to worry about the toddler ripping it up into little pieces like last months calender. When I’ve finished a day I will put one line through it, that way I can still read it for ideas with next months plan. As far as breakfasts we basically have the same thing everyday. It is always 2 eggs each with some sort of fruit (typically bananas) and toast or cheerios. As well as each meal we have some sort of fresh produce, usually some type of berries or grape tomatoes. I don’t write these things down on our list as we get them from a local farm but I do add them into my total spent! I just really don’t like supermarket produce other than for bananas and potatoes. Snacks are where I feel we save the most money, I only buy snacks for my husbands lunch, we do not eat them at home, and I buy one box of graham crackers to have in the diaper bag for on the go if I forget to pack something else. But typically snacks are fruits or fresh baked breads/cakes/brownies/cookies etc. So much cheaper!

Hopefully I’ve inspired some of you to try it for yourselves 😀 

Now, go hug your kids, kiss your husband, and remember; God has a plan!