One of the of the best ways to lower your grocery bill is by keeping a well stocked pantry. A well stocked pantry allows you to lower your grocery bill by stocking up on items when they are on sale. It will also save you some time because you will make less unexpected trips to the store.
However, besides being budget friendly, there’s a comfort in knowing that there is always something to eat no matter what lies ahead.
Here’s what our meal plan looks like this week:
Budget Friendly Meal Planning
Monday
Eggplant Parmesan – served with garlic toast and a tossed salad.
- Serves 10
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Make your own marinara sauce using crushed tomatoes.
- Instead of throwing out the heels or stale bread, store them in a Zip-loc bag in the freezer. Whenever you need bread crumbs or garlic toast pull out what you need.
- Don’t buy the bags of salad. Instead buy salad ingredients separately, it’s cheaper and you’ll get more for your money.
- Make your own salad dressing, it’s cheaper and tastes better. Bonus, you only have to make what you’ll use so no more wasted space in the refrigerator.
Tuesday
Honey Sesame Chicken (Pressure Cooking Today) – served with chicken flavored rice and buttered baby carrots.
- Serves 6
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- If you have a fully stocked pantry you’ll only need to purchase a few inexpensive items to complete this meal.
- Instead of purchasing a box of chicken flavored rice make it yourself at a fraction of the price.
Wednesday
Leftovers
- Eggplant Parmesan, garlic toast and tossed salad, leftover from Monday night.
Thursday
Spaghetti – served with garlic toast and a tossed salad. This is one of my go-to meals, the family loves it, it’s cheap to make and it can be made quickly.
- Serves 4
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Make your own marinara sauce using crushed tomatoes.
- Don’t buy the bags of salad. Instead buy salad ingredients separately, it’s cheaper and you’ll get more for your money.
- Make your own salad dressing, it’s cheaper and tastes better. Bonus, you only have to make what you’ll use so no more wasted space in the refrigerator.
Friday
Shrimp & Asparagus Pasta – served with biscuits.
- Serves 4
- Cost Cutting Tips:
Saturday
Teriyaki Chicken – served with white rice and Asian green beans.
- Serves 4
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- Make your own teriyaki sauce it’s cheaper and more tasty than the pre-made versions.
- Chicken thighs often go on sale, when they do be sure to stock up.
Sunday
Meatloaf – served with mashed potatoes, corn, biscuits and for dessert caramel apple bars.
- Serves 8
- Cost Cutting Tips:
- This recipe calls for lean ground beef, which can be pricey. To cut the cost, purchase when it is on sale or purchase in bulk at a fraction of the price.
- Instead of purchasing prepared biscuits, try making biscuits from scratch. They’re cheaper, more delicious and super simple.
Download – Week 13: Menu & Shopping List
Budget Friendly Tips
✔ Keep a well stocked pantry, it is an essential part to feeding a family on a small budget. Plus it’s comforting knowing that there is always something at home to cook.
✔ Stock up when prices are at there lowest. Sales usually go in a 3 month cycle, so if you see an item at it’s rock bottom price, buy enough to use between now and the next sale.
✔ One way that I keep my grocery bill low is by using coupons for the items that I need. I rarely plan my menu around the coupons that are available, I find that I end up spending more. Instead I create my menu first and then look for coupons that will lower my bill.
Time Saving Tips
✔ Do your grocery shopping online, you’ll save so much time because someone else does the shopping for you. It also allows you more flexibility for staying on budget, you don’t check out until your total is just right. Use my Walmart Grocery Pickup link and get $10 off your first order of $50 or more.
✔ Spending a little time meal planning can make your life so much easier. It’ll save you time and money, improve your nutrition, it’ll make cooking more manageable and it will give you more control over what you put on the table.
✔ A simple way to save yourself some time in the kitchen is by prepping your food for the week. This can be done by simply washing your fruits, chopping your vegetables or portioning the food for each meal. It’s up to you how much you want to do to save yourself sometime later in the week.
About Our Meal Plan
✔ Our menus are designed to feed a family of four, two adults and two teenage boys. It can also feed two adults and 3-4 young children.
✔ Many of the meals included in our meal plan are budget friendly to begin with, however we do offer tips that will reduce the grocery bill even further.
✔ Our menus do not include breakfast or lunch, but there is space for you to fill in what your family likes. Our family eats a pretty simple meal for breakfast and lunch, like cereal or sandwiches and sometimes leftovers. We don’t make to much of a fuss over it.
✔ Sunday dinner is our biggest meal of the week, that’s when all of the family gets together, so we tend to spend a little more money and include dessert. I try to make enough for leftovers during the week.
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About the Author
Robin
A mother to three amazing boy, wife to an incredible husband and a former finance manager who traded in her spreadsheets for cookie sheets. I blog about things that make life a little more fun, a bit more manageable, slightly prettier, a great deal tastier and considerably cheaper.
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