This post is all about how to go Grocery Shopping on a budget and to start a budget.
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Published on December 8, 2015
Updated on February 24, 2022
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I am excited to share with you my tips for successful Grocery Shopping! But first, apologies… I was going to post Sunday afternoon after my family’s big get together this weekend, but Matthew and I ended up with the flu or something equally awful. It was bad folks!! Ten of us all ended up with it. Food poisoning, flu, virus, plague… whatever it was, it wiped us out!
I love to meal plan, especially when it involves staying within an established weekly budget. As the years go on, perfecting a meal plan and grocery list sheet has been one big goal. For the last few years, there have been a few different designs for my Grocery Shopping and Menu planner. Then, a few years ago I created a menu planner and gifted it to my husband Tyler. This planner has been instrumental in helping us, as a family of six, remember what meals we have at our disposal.
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Menu Planner and Grocery Shopping Sheet
There have been a few posts where these Menu Planner and Grocery Shopping sheets have been available for download. Once again, I am going to share them with you with the hopes that it can help someone who needs to be more organized. Click the links below to download them for your personal use!
Ethel cat was inspecting my progress as I was making dinner the other night. She often comes into the kitchen while I am cooking expecting treats. She is a cute cat, but very cantankerous. Ethel does not like snuggles or being touched. I just wish rescue cats came with a warning sometimes, like, “I do not like you to touch me”, so we people know and can find a kitty that is nice. But, when a neighbor found her and could not keep her, we did step up and adopt her. She may be cute, she may plead for food like a dog, but she is not that cuddly.
If you do choose to use these planners and Grocery Shopping tools, please let me know in the comments. I would love to hear from you and how it helps you and your budget. If these downloads help you get organized or you do share tips to make them better, I can then update them and make the Shopping tools the best they can be.
How to plan your Grocery Shopping trip
I have been doing weekly meal plans for about a year because it does help me to only buy what we need for the week. In a typical week, planning happens for Monday-Sunday and two meals on Saturday. There are weeks that we switch up the plan or something comes up (like sickness) so we then adjust meals to our schedule.
When planning, Tyler and the boys give their input on what they would like to eat, then I fill in the blanks from my list of meals or from new recipes. I then list everything needed for each meal. Then I look at what we still have in our fridge and pantry and write down what I need to buy.
*Update 9/5/2021: I have since developed a weekly grocery shopping list and on the opposite side it has daily meals. Hopefully that can be added as a printable download soon! *
A Week of Meals
Each week, our family decides which meals we want to have for dinner each day of the week. We try to do this together, so everyone has a say for what we eat in any given week. Before I go Grocery Shopping, the back of the sheet is then filled out with what is needed.
To complete a Grocery List, I then look in our fridge, cupboards and pantry to see what we already have on-hand. If we have, let’s say sugar, then sugar does not need to go on the shopping list. I can then cross it off of the shopping list and save that money. This alone helps keep our family on track with our weekly food budget.
Weekly Meal Planning
Sunday: Crab Sushi (yes, we make it!!)
Crab, cucumber, carrot, rice, seaweed wraps, soy sauce, wasabi, sesame oil, cream cheese, avocado
Monday: Shepherd’s Pie
Mashed potatoes, 1 pound beef, mixed veggies, tomato sauce, cornbread muffins, applesauce, homemade rolls
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas
Chicken, tortillas, homemade taco seasoning, cheese, sour cream, tomato, avocado, olives, salsa, lettuce/spinach, homemade refried beans
Wednesday: Meatloaf
2 pounds beef, 1 egg, homemade beefy onion soup mix, breadcrumbs, carrots, homemade rolls
Thursday: Butternut Squash Soup
1 large butternut squash, chicken base, onion, cheese, bread, tomato soup, milk, homemade rolls
Friday: Quiche
Chicken, spinach, eggs, milk, 2 homemade pie crust, broccoli, cheese, sour cream,
Saturday Breakfast: Pancakes
Flour, eggs, baking powder, vanilla, milk, maple syrup, breakfast sausages, bananas,
Sunday: Lasagna
Pasta, cottage cheese, cheese, 2 pounds beef, marinara sauce, 1 egg, homemade Italian bread, garlic, oregano, parsley, green beans
How to use this Grocery Shopping Sheet
Then I make a list of what I need to buy. I developed this Shopping List with six different categories which include Grocery, Dairy, Produce, Meat, Frozen and finally Toiletries. When I need more of an item, I place a tally next to it and circle the tallies. This helps to keep track while I am at the store, making sure each item is bought. While at the store, I then cross off the food when I found it and put it in the cart.
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In conclusion, I hope you have enjoyed a peak into how I meal plan and Grocery Shop for our family of six on one income! It has been a joy to share this information with you. Keep reading till the bottom to get quick access to a few recipes that were listed in our weekly meal plan.
~Monica
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Copyright: All content and photos on Monica's Scratch Kitchen are copyright protected. Please do not use them without written permission. Thank you.
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