Budget // Groceries + Meal Plan Realities

So last weeks meal plan didn’t go quite as I had planned. We ended up with some extra leftovers and we were all hit by a round of sickness so things changed slightly. I would love to share that things went just as planned but that isn’t the reality and sometimes that is just what happens. We have for the most part stuck to the groceries we purchased and haven’t made any crazy changes to the meals just minor ones or shifted our days.

Pen-and-Paper

Last Week’s Meal Plan (see here)

What we really ate last week:

Friday: Planned Meal
Saturday: Planned Meals
Sunday: Breakfast: As Planned Lunch: Hoisin Stir Fried Noodles with Veggies & Edamame; Dinner: As Planned
Monday: Lunch: Neil- Leftover Curry & E & I -Cauliflower & Quinoa Bites with Marinara; Dinner: Pizza (we had leftover dough and toppings) and Green Salad
Tuesday: Lunch: Neil- Leftover Quinoa Bites & Green Salad; E & I – Soup; Dinner: Homemade Lentil Soup, Homemade Bread & Green Salad
Wednesday: Lunch: Smoothies; Dinner: Tofurky Sandwiches

So we ended up doing a little extras shopping this week that we hadn’t planned to and it doesn’t fit into our “rules” but we also didn’t plan on all of us getting sick, especially Edith. So we ended up picking up a few things to help with hopefully healing us all and I picked up a few extras <– this is why one shopping day per week is important.

I had also planned to go to our co-op to use our monthly 10% off but I think I will wait until the following weeks order when we have our budget replenished. Side note: Our budget is based on paydays so $230 1st-15th and $230 for 15th-Last Day of Month; this helps us to stay on track better so that we don’t go ahead and blow all of our grocery budget in the first half of the month. 

New Season’s $40.84 (unplanned purchases)

Frozen Wild Blueberries $4.99
Organic PB $6.99
Frozen Organic Corn $1.00
Frozen Organic Broccoli $1.00
Frozen Organic Peas $1.00
Frozen Organic Cauliflower $1.00
Organic Red Bell Pepper $2.39
Bulk Mushrooms $4.49
Tofurky $2.50
Bubbies Pickles $6.99
Sourdough Bread $4.99
Tomatoes $3.50

As you can see stopping in to get a few cold and flu items adds up because we end up picking up a few other things while we are there. I would like to note we also picked up white vinegar to clean our humidifier, natural vapor rub, raw honey, lemons, popsicles, squeeze packets for Edith and chamomile tea but that came out of our “medication” and cleaning budget.

So we are down to about $98 for our groceries for the next week which means I’ll have to get creative in the kitchen. I had initially planned our menu through Wednesday but because we went a little off schedule and we have been sick I am not planning on doing any major shopping until Saturday at the earliest.

Extended Meal Plan

Thursday: Soup
Friday: TBD
Saturday: TBD

Breakfast will be oatmeal or smoothies for the remainder of the week and lunches will be leftovers.

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