How Do I Feed My Family of 5 with Less than $100 a Week: Grocery Sales August Week 3 & 4

Our grocery budget for the month of August was $375 for our family of 5. That is $93.75 a week.

Week 3: Grocery Expenses: $95.32

Food: $0

Meat: $75.21

12 oz. Hot Dogs (Aldi): $0.79

75.17 lbs. Fresh Pork Shoulder (Hy-Vee @0.99/lb.): $74.42

10 Dozens Large Eggs (Hy-Vee @ $0.49/dozen): $4.90

Fruit: $20.11

2-2Lbs. Clementine (Fresh Thyme @$1.99/ea.): $3.98 (saved $4)

7.06 lbs. Bananas (Walmart @ $0.46/lb.): $3.25

9.64lbs. Red Grapes (Aldi @ $0.89/lb.): $8.58

2- 1% Gallon Milk (Aldi @ $2.15): $4.30

On august 18, 2019, we spent $95.32 on groceries. We didn’t spend any food budget. There was nothing in the ads that I needed to stock up on.

We spent quite a bit from the meat budget. Eggs were on sale for $0.49 and we purchased 10 dozens. I made eggs, grapes, and sorrel salad. I served hard boiled eggs on rice as well as hot dogs drizzled with my homemade chili oil. I made egg pie with cornbread for dinner one night. I also served sheet pancake and chocolate milk pudding for dinner another night. I made egg potato soup. I used a lot of eggs during that week.

By the end of week 3, we finished the bananas.

My dinners cost me less than $10 each for my family of 5.

Eggs, grapes and sorrel salad: $4.88 for 5 dinners and 4 lunches

I boiled 24 eggs but used 18. I used the remaining 6 eggs on rice in week 5. If I assume the eggs cost me $0.98 for 2 dozens, Grape cost me $1, extra virgin olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar, salt, and sugar cost $1, and tostadas cost less than $1.90. The sorrel, arugula, onion, and thyme came from my garden. I am not factoring in my labor as I don’t get paid to cook my food or clean my house. It is a necessity that needs to be done. My total dinner cost for my family of 5 was $4.88. The leftover was served as lunch between 4 people. So that was 9 meals out of that salad and cost totaled under $4.88. That was $0.54/meal or per person.

Another low cost dinner example would be my egg pie with cornbread

Egg Pie and Corn bread: $4.24 for 5 dinners and 4 lunches or $0.47/meal

For the pie I used 18 eggs ($0.98), 1 cup milk ($0.13—16 cups in one gallon), greens from the garden, 1 cup peas ($0.74 assuming 4cups in 2lbs bag of peas), Corn meal and Flour ($1 or less), 3 cups milk ($0.39), 6 eggs(included above), extra virgin olive oil and salt ($1 or less). The total cost was less than $4.24 for the meal for a family of 5 dinner and lunch for 4 of us with leftover of pie and cornbread still in the fridge. 5 dinners and 4 lunches cost $4.24. That was $0.47/meal with leftover in the fridge. The meal is complete. It has egg, milk and greens. The remaining leftover egg pie was enough for another dinner and lunch a week later. I made corn bread to go with it. I served 18 meals out of the egg pie and 9 meals out of the corn bread.

Let’s see how much my sheet pancake and chocolate milk pudding dinner cost: $2.90 for dinner for 5 peoples and lunch for 4 people or $0.32 /dinner or lunch per person

6 cups Flour ($0.61 assuming half 5 lbs. bag), 6 eggs ($0.25), 3 cups milk ($0.39) 1 cup chocolate chips ($0.50—my husband purchased the chocolate chips during last fall for $0.99 for 12 oz. bag. He bought 24 bags if I recalled. I used 1 cup of it in recipes that would call for 8 cups and it works for us), 1 cup sugar ($0.50 or less), 5 cups milk ($0.65), ¼ cup flour (also included in the cost above), ¼ cup sugar (included in the cost of sugar above). The meal cost a total of $2.90. We ate it for dinner and the sheet pancake was served for lunch for 4 of us the next day. 5 dinners and 4 lunches cost $2.90 total or $0.32 each.

Purchasing food on sale to stock up my pantry and freezers and cooking from scratch using what I have in my pantry and freezers as well as my garden help me keep my meal costs low. I work full time. Therefore, when I cook dinner every evening, I increase the quantity so that we can eat the leftover for lunch the next day. Egg has been on sale this summer. I incorporated few meals that use eggs as protein. That is less costly than the ground beef I have been cooking.

Pork roast was on sale for $0.99/lb. One bag of roast is a little below 10lbs. One store didn’t have it and we requested a rain check. We went to the same store in another location even closer to our residence and purchased 9 bags. I put them in the meat freezer. I have 4 left from few months ago.

Purchasing meat on sale helps me spent less on meat. I cooked a lot of meat. One way I have kept my meat cost low was to stock up on it when on sale.

I don’t usually plan meal for the whole week. I have tried but found myself changing my mind few times during the week. What I usually do is to write down what I cook for dinner every day. That gives me an idea on what we eat on a daily basis. From that point, I wrote a list of different meals I cook during the week, weekends, and holidays. Writing down what I cook, helps me no to cook same meal twice or three time a week. I reviewed what I cooked already during the week and choose something else in the meals list to cook for dinner. I cook meals that I can cook in less than 1 hour during the week and meals that take longer during the weekends. The goal is to have enough of meals in my meals list to make meal plan for each week but I have been comfortable with my current method. It works for me to have a list of the meals I cook frequently and daily choose for that list taking into consideration what I have in my pantry. I have pantry and freezers stocked up so I just pull ingredients to cook. Weekly ads allow me to stock up my freezers of vegetables I don’t grow or in meat. I just cook from my pantry, freezers, and fridge. Stocking up on food takes time to perfect to meet your family need. I have made few mistakes in the past. One example is that I purchased dry cereals that could last a year and some expired before we were able to use them. I became creative and used some in meals. The following year I purchased some cereals that we didn’t like and we donated them before they expired. Now we purchased enough we need to consume within the expiration date. I don’t calculate the number I exactly need for each item. For instance, I purchase butter on sale around fall. The goal is to purchase 52-1lb. of butter if I save enough in food budget to afford it. Why 52? At the moment, I make biscuit once a week and use 2 -3 sticks of butter. 1 stick can be used on toast a week. That is 4 sticks (1 lb.) butter a week. For a year, that would be 52-1/lb. butter. My buying price is $1.29 or less. I keep them in the freezer. In reality, I make biscuit in winter when I don’t have eggs at home. In summer when egg is on sale, I have eggs and I make cornbread instead.

Cheese: 52-8oz

We stock up on cheese in fall or winter. Our purchasing price is $0.99/8oz of cheese shredded or block.

I make sourdough pizza once a week. I use 8 oz. of cheese. Therefore, if my savings in food budget can afford it, I like to purchase 52 and store in the freezer.

Week 4: Grocery Expenses: $31.45

From Food Budget: $18.52

Non Food: $14.30

Smoke Alarm Detector—Dual Sensor (Walmart): $14.30

Food: $4.22

1% Gallon Milk (Aldi): $2.44

2 White Bread (Aldi @ $0.89/ea.): $1.78

Meat: $2.94

6 Dozens Large Eggs (Aldi @ $0.49/ dozen): $2.94

Fruit: $9.99

34.45 lbs. Bananas (Hy-Vee @ $0.29/lb.): $9.99

Our smoke alarm needs its battery replaced. I suggested we replaced it as they are supposed to be replaced every 10 years from the manufacturer date. The old one has a manufacturer date of 1982. It should have been replaced in 1992, 27 years ago.

We purchased more eggs to continue making more egg meals.

When I checked my food, meat, and fruit envelops to see what I have left, I have $38 in food envelop, $74 in meat, and $1 in fruit from this month and prior months saved. We spent the food budget to purchase school supplies and school clothes and shoes for the kids, and on bolt cutter for the new garden I put on our investment property. The kids’ clothes and supplies cost about $141 and the bolt cutter about $18. That was $159 spent on non- food items in the month of August. The food budget is $200 a month. I was able to purchase these items because of the saving I made by not paying full price on my groceries. I have $100 saved up before the start of August. The $200 August budget and the $100 helped make these purchases. I purchased few staples in August for my pantry including 101 oz. extra virgin olive oil ($19), 4 bags Flour ($4.80), 4 tostadas ($6). I put $15-20 aside for cereals and $20 aside for milk and white bread. That was breakfast budget for the month. We have $1 left from the milk money which I put back in the food envelop and put away. We left about $12 in the checking from our food budget at the start of August for my husband to order sweet and sour from Walmart website. He has not made the purchase yet. I made different meals using few staples. It is easy for me to stock up on raw staples without the need of too many space as I don’t purchase different brands of the same thing or too many condiments, sauces, and dressing. My husband likes sweet and sour and ketchup so we buy them. I make my own dressing using extra virgin olive oil and raw apple cider vinegar from my pantry. I purchase the olive oil monthly as I go through a lot of it but the raw apple cider vinegar lasts me more than 6 months. I also purchased big jug of apple cider vinegar which I could cook with but use it to rinse fruit. I use about one jug a year. I have white distilled vinegar that I use to clean the house. I go through few jugs of that a year. The olive oil is used in cooking, popping popcorn, making soaps, and to oil our body.