What is your meal plan?

Anyone that has an organized grocery list, planned out meals weekly, can you help me? I’m tired of spending $500 on groceries a month.

5 Likes

A month wow how many do you feed

1 Like

First go through your pantry and freezers and see how many meals you can make with what you already have, or if you just need one or two things to go with stuff to make meals, write down the meals and make a separate list of what items you need to make those meals. Then go online on Wednesday and look at your local stores sales and plan meals with what meat is on sale and write those meals down and add the ingredients to your list. Then decide how many more meals you need to plan and write down what ingredients you need for those. Shop the sales first, if you have to go somewhere like Walmart for the rest, do pickup to prevent impulse buys. I feed 3 adults and buy household items on $300-$350 a month. It’s a little more work but it’s doable.

I spend that a week. So I don’t know how to help
Here for other comments/advice.

4 kiddos and 2 adults…

1 Like

You’re rocking it for $500 a month!!! I spent at minimum triple that

2 Likes

Please be more specific….how many kids and adults,etc….any allergies? The only advice I can give you,in general,is buy in bulk and when you buy meat….say hamburger,plan to use it in many different ways….meatloaf,lasagna,meatballs,sloppy Joes, hamburger vegetable soup, Spanish rice,etc. pasta and rice go a long way. Check out Pinterest,loads of great recipes,ideas,meal,planning and thrifty shopping trips……you go girl, you can do it! I have always planned my meals for the week….when I was single because I was on a very limited budget,when I was married raising a family because I worked full time and needed to know what we were having especially when they had church or sporting activities…and now, it is just my husband and me but I still plan……mains dish,sides and desserts….it makes my life so much easier knowing what we are having!!! :hamburger::green_salad::pizza::poultry_leg::dumpling::fried_egg:

So glad I don’t live in America. If I had to spent £500 a month I literally would starve :grimacing:

You only spending 500$ on groceries? You’re lucky cause majority of people spend way more than that.

3 Likes

$500 a month?? I want your meal plan! Are you single?

3 Likes

500 a month is cheap. How many people you feeding for that

6 Likes

I would sell my first born to be able to feed my family on $500 a month in groceries!

500 actually sounds not too high for the whole month. We shop at aldis & get a few thing from Walmart and dollar tree and still spend about $150-200 a week for a family of 4

I cut down on expenses by making some vegetarian or vegan meals and using meat more like a garnish vs. the main part of the meal. Quinoa is a great option. Rinse it, put in a container with boiling water & let sit a few minutes until it’s ready. Use as a main dish (it’s a complete protein), side or part of a salad.

Buy stuff on sale & freeze & store the rest in suitable portions to feed your family.

Serve smaller portions and let people have seconds if they want to avoid wasting food.

If hamburger is on sale (buy grass-fed, free range, organic if you can, U.S. meat has horrible amounts of antibiotics, hormones and pesticides), make meatballs and freeze them for spaghetti, stroganoff, to slice on pizza, for cocktail snacks or just snacking in general.

I mix my ground beef with some crumbled tofu, breadcrumbs, an egg, soy & Worcestershire sauces, a little ketchup, dry mustard, and dried parsley for flavor & to stretch it.

Get a rotisserie chicken on sale (organic if possible). Cut up slices for a chicken dinner or sandwiches. Pick off larger chunks for casseroles, stews and chicken salad (my fave is mayo, chopped celery, raisins, pecans & curry powder). Pick off the easily accessible bits for soup. Boil the carcass & skin for a couple of hours with some bouillon cubes. Strain the liquid out and freeze if not using right away. Pick the rest of the chicken bits off for soup or BBQ chicken sandwiches. Dilute fruit juice a bit. It’s a big hit of sugar to the system.

I have a notebook and I write what we’re going to eat for each day then write down what I need to buy. If you can get reduced stuff then this should help for planning the following week’s food. You’d be amazed how little green veg you actually need to buy - and some weeks you might not need potatoes for example. And you only need about 4oz of meat per person. If it’s in a huge pack, separate it into two freezer bags. Stew, pot roast, stir fry, fish pie, any potato topped pie, pasta, pasta bake, chicken drumsticks with sweet potato wedges and peas, hunter chicken…