$100 Budget Weekly Menu (for six people including three teens!): One reason that I am able to stay home rather than work full time is that I try every week to stick to a grocery budget of $100, and the primary way I do that is by menu planning. Here’s a look at our menu for this week.
Check back later today to see my grocery shopping for this week (and link up your savings!)
Read more about how I stick to a $100 a week budget in my FREE e-book Save More-Clip Less.
Print your own customizable menu planner form here.
*Items marked with an asterisk were purchased in previous weeks in the $100 Budget and are in the pantry, fridge or freezer.
BREAKFAST
Fried Eggs with spinach, orange slices
French Toast, bacon*
Cereal with milk x2
Bagels* with cream cheese
Yogurt, banana, scrambled eggs
Cheese Toast, orange slices
LUNCH
Banana Berry Smoothie*, popcorn*
Turkey Sandwiches, raw veggies* and ranch dressing*
Nachos
PBJ*, cornchips*
PBJ*, apple slices*
Quesadillas, orange slices
Mac n Cheese*, canned peaches
DINNER
Steak* and Peppers, rice* (see my Steak Marinade Recipe here)
Turkey Pepper Jack Grilled Cheese, Tropical Fruit Salad (turkey and pepper jack previously purchased)
BBQ Chicken, steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrots*
Crockpot Roast*, steamed green beans*, rice*
Easy Beef and Veggie Soup* (using leftover roast)
BBQ Pepper Jack Bacon Burgers*, potato chips ( we will be using cheddar instead of pepper jack)
Note: I post my weekly menu to encourage you to menu plan and to give you meal ideas, not as a nutritional standard. You should feed your family based on your priorities and values.
What are you having this week? Feel free to comment or leave a link to your blog post. 🙂
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For more menu ideas, check out OrgJunkie Menu Plan Mondays.
Just wanted to Thank you for the weekly encouragement to plan my meals and take control of my grocery budget. I also have a family of six and when I realized what I was spending each week on groceries…. it was shocking. I have been able to bring our shopping into more reasonable numbers, but now I have become the pantry police. I homeschool, so 5 of us are home all day. It seems all I hear is, “I’m hungry”. And on top of that, I have to watch that no one eats things that I will need later in the week. How do you manage not being “pantry police” ? How do you manage to actually have things in the pantry/freezer to add to your meals next week? By the time I get to Saturday morning (grocery day) my family has pretty much cleaned the frig, freezer and pantry. 🙂
Hi Kim! I do make my children ask permission before they eat any snacks and the menu is posted on the fridge so they know what we are having for meals. This is especially important because they usually make their own lunches.
I know that people have varying opinions on this, but it is what has worked best for our family. I think that some times kids eat because they are bored, rather than hungry, although each of my children has gone through growth spurts when they eat more. I try to make sure they are getting enough fat in their diet during those periods. Right now when they are hungry, they know that the fruit in the fruit bowl and the microwave popcorn in the pantry are available at any time, as well as homemade fruit juice popsicles in the freezer. You might try moving all of your snack items to one shelf or section of your pantry so they know that anything else is off limits.
As far as having food left over, I try to buy ahead. For example, roasts were on sale for $3/lb last week, so I bought an extra one for this week. Now I have a large portion of one meal paid for so I have a little extra in the budget this week to spend on something extra for next week. Continuing to use this method over time means that I have a continuous “backup” supply. This week I actually had a little more in the freezer than usual because I was out of town the week before and one of my children was at a friend’s house. The remaining four family members didn’t eat as much, so we had some leftover items from that week’s shopping. If this doesn’t make sense, ask me another question. 🙂
I am following you menu except for I am replacing the burgers with Beef Tips and Rice with salad, and the Chili with Taco Stew. Thank you for all the help, this has saved us. Also has helped me be a better mom because I already have everything planned out.
I love your blog. I have recently lost my job so we are trying to save money. I am having the toughest time in the grocery dept. I have two questions 1) I noticed a lot of asterisks in the above menu plan. Are you saying that you spent $100 on everything without an asterisk? And 2) My current budget is around $100 but that also includes all toiletries, paper products and personal items. Is this included in your grocery budget? Maybe this is why I’m having such a hard time making my dollar stretch. Any advice? Thank you.
Hi Brenda–What I mean is that in previous weeks I purchased items within the $100 budget. For example, the roast and steak were purchased last week because they were on sale. I stuck them in the freezer for this week because I wasn’t using them in the menu last week. By purchasing mostly sale items I can keep the budget down. As I continue with this plan, each week I have more and more food that is in the pantry, freezer and fridge to use in the weekly menu, which leaves money for more sale items. Does that make sense?
You can read about all my grocery saving strategies in my FREE ebook Save More Clip Less . Click the link to read more and find out how to download it. 🙂
That’s great Jessica! I never actually thought anyone would follow my exact menu. I just wanted to show that I actually do menu plan and we actually do eat with a budget of only $100 a week. I am so excited that you are actually using it.
You are probably aware of this, but just a reminder that if you don’t have the same items on hand that I have previously purchased on sale with the $100 budget, your budget for this menu will be more. Once you start purchasing what is on sale and basing your menus around it, you will see a decrease in what you spend. 🙂
Just curious……you use the same menu for the entire family but sub gluten free for one child? 🙂 If so, Wonderful! I have a son with adhd but never medicated that we are trying to treat herbally and homeschool. Yay 🙁 lol I’ve heard that gluten can be a trigger so I’m looking forward to your ideas. Thanks for your inspiration! And I love your Living under 28,000 year post. You are very brave to share your experiences. Thanks for all you do!
Yes Jinna. I have found that to be the most cost effective and simplest way for her to eat gluten free. I usually make something gluten free for everyone for dinner (meat and veggies, etc.), but if we have something like pasta, she or I will cook a gf version. By the way, home school has been a great answer for my son with Aspergers (an autism spectrum disorder).