In the never-ending saga of trying to feed six adults and not bankrupt our family, I am more encouraged today.
After I spent a crazy $240 last week due to poor planning and purchasing convenience foods, I was able to lower that to $174.14 this shopping trip. That’s still $50 over our previous budget of $125/week and makes me uncomfortable, but I was able to purchase lots of fresh produce, dairy products and meat — and my people are not going hungry.
You can read Why We Increased Our Grocery Budget HERE and if your budget is super tight this week, check out my $60 Budget Weekly Meal Plan and Grocery List HERE.
Note: To keep costs low for the gluten free items we shop sales, buy GF products from Aldi and order items from Vitacost (click here to grab a FREE $10 credit!).
Weekly Total: $174.14
August Monthly Total: $700.32
(Whew, reading that monthly total gives me heart palpitations but hopefully I can do a little better next month.)
Weekly Gluten Free Menu
See what we’re eating this week!
*Items marked with an asterisk were purchased in previous weeks in the $125 Budget and are in the pantry, fridge or freezer. Click colored links to go to recipes!
BREAKFAST
Tie Dye Waffles, boiled eggs
Veggie Breakfast Scramble, orange slices
Organic Yogurt with Crockpot Granola and fresh blueberries
Cereal with milk X2
Cheese Toast, banana (GF bread)
Bagel, cream cheese (GF bagel for GF kids)
LUNCH
Homemade Pizza Bagels (GF wrap for GF kids)
Turkey Sandwich, carrots and ranch dressing* x2
Nacho chips with melted cheese, avocado slices cherry tomatoes
Apple Sandwiches, GF pretzels
Leftovers from Dinner
DINNER
BBQ Pepper Jack Bacon Burgers, Kettle Chips, Tomato Cucumber Salad
Authentic Mexican Enchiladas, rice
Baked Potatoes with bacon (from Zaycon Foods)*, steamed broccoli and cheese, salad
Crunchy Chicken Salad, fresh cantaloupe slices
Frozen Pizza, salad (Aldi GF pizza for GF kids)
Dinner Out with Friends
Breakfast for Dinner: pancakes, scrambled eggs
Read what we do about snacks here.
What are you eating this week? Leave a comment or link. 🙂
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I live in California and my family of five has always had great meals. I always thought groceries were more expensive in California but looking at your monthly grocery bill shocks me! I have never spent that amount on groceries.
We eat homemade crepes, waffles, English muffins, omelettes loaded with produce, tons of fruit, oatmeal, turkey sausage and more for breakfast.
Lunches and dinners are amazing too.
If we spend $300 a month, that’s going way over budget for us.
I regularly watch ads and combine them with coupons or rebates. I don’t drive all over wasting precious gas just to get the sale. I plan out when I will be in a certain area in order to grab the sale item.
I work besides…sometimes three jobs…even though I am comfortable not working. I spend less in order to be able to afford more time to spend with my family.
For entertainment, we take hikes locally, we go on bike rides, play board games like monopoly, scrabble, Life, or dominoes.
We cook together. We have movie night most Saturday’s (at home) on the TV.
We do crafts with found free objects. We go on what we call “can hikes” where we collect recyclable aluminum cans and bottles which also helps with litter clean up.
I’m only saying all this as maybe it will open a door or window into some insight to easier ways. And I hope it does. Take care and I do love reading your articles. Just sometimes it hurts me that things could be easier for you.
Thanks so much for your suggestions Janice. I was able to keep our grocery bill much lower for many years but with four young adults, three of whom work physical jobs, we need more food and more protein. It’s easy to lower the grocery bill when purchasing/cooking cheaper foods like pasta, bread, pancakes, etc. but we now have three family members who need to eat gluten free for medical reasons and that is a HUGE strain on the budget. I am also buying a few gluten free convenience foods because I have a busier schedule right now because I am taking some classes at night in addition to working from home during the day and I don’t always have time to make dinner. I really appreciate your concern and your ideas and I know this is just a season. One day soon these young adults will be on their own and my grocery bill will be drastically reduced, but then, so will the joy I receive from having them around. 🙂
That’s so true. Thank God you are a mom that realizes that. Take care.
Janice