2013 Week #21 $50 Weekly Budget Grocery Menu

Thanks for acknowledging that not everyone uses handfuls of coupons. There are never coupons for produce and meat, and I despise coupons that make you buy 3 or 4 of something to get 25 cents off. Also, we buy store brand of all kinds of items - no coupons - and look for the store's 2 for 1 deals for other items. As another conundrum, coupons are frequently for pre-prepared dinners and snack foods, which we buy precious few of.

Looks good. We're trying to cut back too as we are recently retired - due to a family emergency, so we didn't plan it out entirely. My problem is that my husband is a really picky eater and does not always eat healthy - he wants what he wants and it's also hard for him to limit portions. We're new to the NW and are just now starting a garden - have tomatoes coming. He loves ribs - I got some, but am trying to save part of my share to put into the tomato sauce for spaghetti tomorrow so that we can save on ground beef. Any suggestions on how to cope with picky eaters?

I added a comment, but didn't see it. Forgive me, but I'm new to this site. I enjoyed the article, but am having trouble with my husband, who is a picky eater. He's not always willing to try new foods that are cheaper and healthier. Any suggestions on this? We are newly retired and are having to cut back on all our expenses.

dot, you have my sympathies on the picky eating. We are staying with my parents while my husband has been going through chemo/radiation to cut down on our home expenses(electric, gas etc.). During this time i have took over my mom's kitchen because i tend to cook healthier and desire a balanced meal. Parents are junk food junkies. Both have health problems and don't eat "food" very well unless it's swimming in extra fat, calories and meals tend to lean toward high starches and fats. I think my mother is the only person i have ever seen add butter to fry hamburgers. Remarkable, i haven't had much of a problem preparing foods for hubby due to the treatments. I wish i had some answers for you and wish you all the luck.

On the Monday 9th menu you have Lunch: Egg salad Wraps where is the recipe? I can't find it.

Originally Posted by Rescuedpanther

On the Monday 9th menu you have Lunch: Egg salad Wraps where is the recipe? I can't find it.

Egg salad recipes are here:

GroceryBudget101.com- - 18 Simple Egg Salad Variations | Egg Salad Recipes | Dirt Cheap Lunches

for a family of 6 that includes 4 teens ages 12 to 23 i have not been able to get below 100.00 a month. this also includes petfood and household items. maybe the area people live in also plays a part in food budgets.....i plan weekly meals around sales fliers and everything else i can think of to help but just cant seem to lower it any more.....i use a few coupons but not many i think the craze is dying down on that

Originally Posted by pjcamp1106

for a family of 6 that includes 4 teens ages 12 to 23 i have not been able to get below 100.00 a month. this also includes petfood and household items. maybe the area people live in also plays a part in food budgets.....i plan weekly meals around sales fliers and everything else i can think of to help but just cant seem to lower it any more.....i use a few coupons but not many i think the craze is dying down on that

Did you really mean that you haven't been able to get below $100 a month? I could see the difficulty in getting it that low for a week with that number of people but to me, it would be impossible for a month. If that's your goal, then you are way gutsier than I am.

What day of the week do you post new menus?

Originally Posted by dotsdots

Looks good. We're trying to cut back too as we are recently retired - due to a family emergency, so we didn't plan it out entirely. My problem is that my husband is a really picky eater and does not always eat healthy - he wants what he wants and it's also hard for him to limit portions. We're new to the NW and are just now starting a garden - have tomatoes coming. He loves ribs - I got some, but am trying to save part of my share to put into the tomato sauce for spaghetti tomorrow so that we can save on ground beef. Any suggestions on how to cope with picky eaters?

I sneak in a lot of things my family doesn't like. I use tofu and my father in law insists he won't eat it, but doesn't have a clue that I put it in stuffed shells or other pasta dishes. I also add veggies to spaghetti sauce, which is more odvious but doesn't change the flavor. You can aslo add cheese to mask flavors. I also add onions, peppers, and celery to anything made with ground meat. It adds bulk, and when cooked doesn't have a lot of flavor.

Originally Posted by tspinks

Did you really mean that you haven't been able to get below $100 a month? I could see the difficulty in getting it that low for a week with that number of people but to me, it would be impossible for a month. If that's your goal, then you are way gutsier than I am.

i ment 100 a week.....sorry

I am having trouble this week (January 28) with the PDF/print file. Is it just me or is it blank for others as well?

I finally got it to print. Thanks.

I'm so glad I found this there are five of us in our home my husband and son lift weights together my son is 16 and he is huge and they eat none stop and my daughter and her soon to be hubby and me, we spend $950.00 month AND I USE COUPONS!!!!! I'm doing something so wrong!!!!!

Originally Posted by tspinks

Did you really mean that you haven't been able to get below $100 a month? I could see the difficulty in getting it that low for a week with that number of people but to me, it would be impossible for a month. If that's your goal, then you are way gutsier than I am.

That's not too bad for six. I had a big family too at one point. (my oldest son is living on his own, and my stepson is not with us right now either) so I am down to four. 2 adults, 1 senior and our youngest. when I took a leave of absence to take care of a family member, we only had about $25.00 a week for food. We were very careful, only planning for essential meals. Our son ate breakfast and lunch at school so we cut those out for him. I planned dinners around what was on sale and used tofu and pasta to substitute meat. We ate a meat dish every other day and a pasta or bean or tofu dish on the rest, that way it wasn't too boring. Everything got portioned and used. If I bought 2 lbs of chicken, we got two meals out of it. During that time I bought a lot of bulk meat. I got a whole chicken for 99 cents a pound, and got several meals out of that by using every last edible bit. if a fruit or vegetable was on sale by the pound, I only got one pound. I also edited and re edited my grocery list before going to the store and I shopped around. I am lucky that most of my stores are in really close proximity to each other so I got milk at costco religiously, and most of my groceries at stop and shop. I also stopped by a produce market for most of my produce. When I had my 25 dollar plan I stuck to it, even if it meant leaving something at the store that I needed but didnt write down. I learned to substitute that way. It would still be there next week. We got day old bread free from a local church and got very creative with it. We cleaned with white vinegar and water and gave up the papertowels and used some old towels as rags. I have to say that it was really extreme, and only lived when I was out of work. that is also when I found this site by the way, but some of it sticks even now. I am religious about planning meals and grocery lists, and grimace if I have to pay full price for anything. I swear by coupons, and rarely shop without them, but only use the ones that have products I will use. If its a prepackaged food or as I call it crap in a box, we use it as a treat, not a staple and it had better be pretty close to free. I guess what I am really trying to say is that if you really want to spend less, you have to figure out what you can live without and experiment with what you have.

Why is it that the breakfast choices do not show up in the print version, nor in the PDF file? They have not been printable since they were listed separately.

Was a menu for week 14 posted? If it was where is it? I have been looking all week.

Originally Posted by Urallee

Was a menu for week 14 posted? If it was where is it? I have been looking all week.

Last weeks menu was not posted, this will be explained later this week! Todays menu is out and ready though