Missy's Helpful Grocery Tips

Ok, well I mentioned last week about grocery shopping for 2 weeks for $100.
Several people have asked me how, so I am here to give you some of my tips.
In reality I spent about $85 on groceries, because I had to spend $20 on non-food stuff.

***Disclaimer- I do not do this every week. This was just a particularly tight week.


1. Take inventory of freezer, fridge, and pantry. See if there is any meat hiding in that freezer that you can use. With your pantry items, see what you can throw together to make a meal.

2. Think soups and casseroles. For my family of 4, a large batch of soup, or a 9x13 casserole will last 2 meals.

3. Breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, breakfast casseroles, again, all good ways to eat cheap. Bacon and Sausage are also cheap.

4. Settle on two main meats when going to the grocery store. For instance, I bought a 3lb package of ground beef, and a bag of chicken breasts. Those will be my only meats for the 2 weeks. But if you use 1 lb of meat in a casserole or soup, then you've gotten 2 meals out of 1 lb.

5. Keep easy snacks on hand. I always like to have some sort of homemade goody on hand for hungry children. Lately I've been making some sort of bread in my bread machine, that is a good snack with some butter or jelly...or I make some quick bread like banana bread, applesauce bread, etc...in small loaves to keep around for munchy children.

6. For me, Aldi is one of my best cheap grocery allies. If you don't have an Aldi near you, there are other discount grocery chains that offer cheaper food. I had to run into Food World the other day for some canned goods for a food drive, and I was shocked at the difference between them and Aldi for things like canned corn. 20 cents here and there really starts to add up.

7. Go generic. Besides Cottonelle TP, Colgate Toothpaste, and Suave Hair products, I cannot think of anything that I don't buy in generic form.

8. Plan your meals. This is the biggest help!


Here is my list of meals for the 2 weeks:

Sloppy Joe Biscuit Bowls, green beans
Potato Soup, corny cornbread
Venison Pot Roast (already in freezer), rice, corn
Baked Fish and Rice (already in freezer)
Chicken and Rice Casserole, Broccoli
Beef and Mashed Potato Casserole, green beans
Sausage and Egg Casserole, Fresh bread
Country Style Stk (already in freezer), mashed potatoes, corn
Pancakes and bacon
Enchiladas

Lunches:
Baked Potatoes
Hot Dogs ( the very cheap kind)
Ramen noodles and Grilled Cheese
Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
PB & J
Cheese Quesadillas

Snacks:
Popcorn
Pretzels
Homemade cinnamon raisin bread, banana bread, pumpkin bread
Hot chocolate and Marshmallows
Apples, bananas

Breakfast:
Cereal
Oatmeal
Leftover pancakes