New to this series?  Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

You know – every time I sit down to write one of these installments, I swear that it is going to be the last one.  Then I actually start to write and realize how much there is to say…..looks like there is going to be a Part 6!

There is really only way to be successful at feeding a family on only $50 per week..and that is through menu planning.

I know that you have heard of menu planning before.  I know that it sounds hard.  I know that it sounds boring.  I know that it sounds like something only a person with OCD would do.  You may be right, you may be wrong.  I don’t really care what people think about menu planning.  It works, and that is enough for me!

First let me say that there is no “right” way to menu plan.  If you are still building your stockpile, it will be harder to do, as you will be at the mercy of what you have on hand combined with what you can get at the stores (on sale, of course).  As your stockpile gets larger, you will find meals easier and easier to plan. 

Let me also say that menu plans don’t have to be set in stone.  I typically don’t like to assign days to each meal.  I plan my meals on the weekend, usually shop on Sunday or Monday and I then know that I have all the ingredients that I need for the week.  I also like to give myself some flexibility by scheduling a “who cares if we don’t do it?” night (usually one of our pasta nights).  That way if I am having a bad day and the kids are driving me nuts and I would rather firebomb my kitchen than cook dinner, I can just shelve that one night and tell my husband to pick up pizza on the way home (note:  does not apply with my current Month of No Spending).

So how do you get started?

For most people, breakfasts and lunches are the easiest to plan.  If you are using coupons wisely, you can get a nice stockpile of cereal.  One thing that I like to do is make pancakes, french toast or waffles on the weekends…but then I make a quadruple batch of each and freeze them.  By alternating days (waffles on Saturday, pancakes on Sunday, an entire loaf of French Toast the following Saturday), we always have them in the freezer for an easy breakfast that my children love.  Considering the cost of these (and syrup isn’t that expensive), you can create an entire week of breakfasts for just a few dollars.  Lunches can be just leftovers, sandwiches, soups and salads.  We don’t get fancy for lunch.

It’s dinner that gives people the most problems.

One of the first thing you need to do is to take an inventory of your refrigerator, freezer and pantry.  Do you have any cooked chicken left over from the other night?  Some produce or dairy that needs to be used up?  Make a list of those items.  Did you get a good deal on a roast or chicken that you have in the freezer?  Make a list of potential meals based on what you have on hand.  Check out AllRecipes, Food Network, $5 Dollar Dinners or A Year of Crockpotting for some ideas for new recipes.  Another great source of recipes?  The back of the box or can!  Take a look many of the canned tomatoes, broths and pastas in your cupboards…most of them will have a recipe on them!

Look for recipes that you can double or triple.  Are you planning on making a lasagna or casserole this week?  What about doubling or tripling the recipe and making some extras for another week?  Not only will this save you time that week, but if money is tight one week because of unexpected expenses, you will have one less thing to worry about!  I even like to have Baking Days and (what I call) “Mama Leone Day”, when I make muffins, breads,cookies, lasagnas, pasta sauce and baked ziti and just freeze it all!

Grab your circulars (if you are lucky like me, they will come with your regular mail each week.  If not, many grocery stores now have their circulars online) and check out what is on sale.  Every week most stores have what they call a “loss leader”.  Is chicken on sale at a ridiculously low price?  Pork Roast?  Look for recipes that use these items.  Are strawberries on a BOGO sale?  Then it’s a perfect week to have strawberry smoothies for breakfast!

Now grab a sheet of paper and list your meal ideas. 

On a separate sheet of paper, make a grocery list of the items that you are going to need to complete the recipes.  While you are at it, make a list of anything that you noticed that you are running low on when you were taking your inventory (eggs, ketchup, jelly, etc) and add that to your grocery list!

I know that this seems like an awful lot of work.  I don’t want to lie to you…it is in the beginning.  But please believe me when I say that it gets easier the more you do it.  I am now at the point where I have enough recipe ideas in my head and enough of a stockpile that I can devote no more than 30 minutes per week to menu planning…and it’s usually done while I am sitting on the sofa catching up on my Tivo!

Next in the series?  With your menu plan and your grocery list, we are going shopping the smart way!

New to this series?  Don’t forget to read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3!

This was originally set to be the final part of this series…until I started typing and realized that it would be way too long of a post (and I’ve been sick since Tuesday afternoon and that part of the post requires more thinking than I can do right now).  Part 5 should go up tomorrow!  Sorry!

This part of the series takes you to the supermarket with me.  When I say that I spend $50 per week, I only include the cash that I pull out of my wallet.  As a reminder, I am in what I call “stockpile maintenance mode” and as I have said several time before (including in Part 3), I did not build my stockpile on $50 per week.  In the span of 1 year, I went from about $150-$175 per week with a mostly empty pantry to $50 per week with a pantry and freezer that is so full that I put myself on a spending freeze for the month of February.

Here’s an approximate breakdown of where the $50 goes each week:

Milk:  $7-$10.50  unfortunately, there is no getting around this cost or reducing it.  We go through 2-3 gallons of milk per week and Pennsylvania sets minimum milk prices.  A gallon of 1% is approximately $3.50.  I am able to stretch it and only go through 2 gallons per week when I can get good deals on soymilk (for baking and my coffee) or evaporated milk (diluted and used for baking only.  many recipes call for undiluted evaporated milk anyway, since it gives the recipe extra creaminess/body).  I know that some people suggest powdered milk, but I can never bring myself to try it (it just skeeves me out).  I envy people in other states where they allow sales on milk…in PA, a “sale” is selling it at the state minimum.

Bread:  $2-3  I can usually get whole wheat sandwich bread on sale for $1-$1.50 per loaf.  We go through approximately 2 loaves per week. I make “dinner breads” and muffins from scratch.

Eggs and Dairy:  $5  I typically alternate these, as both will keep for 2 weeks or longer (seriously – check the expiration dates).  One week I may get 3 dozen eggs for $4-5 (depending on sales and if those sales include Egglands, since I usually have coupons for Egglands).  The next week I may get 15-20 Yoplait Yogurts for the same $4-5 after sales & coupons.  Sour cream can usually be had for $.66 a pint (Daisy brand after sale & coupon).  “Regular” cheese are purchased at stock-up prices and frozen and are not part of the normal dairy spending.

Fresh Produce:  $12-15  whatever is in-season and cheapest.  Right now, it is bananas (about $5 per week), apples (usually a 5lb bag will last 2 weeks and they have been $.99/lb lately), bagged salad when I can get it for free (Fresh Express on a 10 for $10 sale with a $.75 coupon that is doubled up to $1) or a head of Romaine.  Baby carrots can always be found for $1-$1.50/1lb bag.  A pint of grape tomatoes for $2.50.   Potatoes & onions are always on sale for about $4/bag and will each last 2 weeks (alternate weeks with buying them).

Everything else/the stockpile:  $17-20 per week + any Catalinas and Extra Care Bucks and gift cards.  This includes frozen fruit & veggies, chicken broth, meats, cereals, cheeses, pastas, baking mixes, flour; toiletries and cleaning products at CVS, etc. 

The $17-$20 goes to deals like this or this.  In the weeks where I am unable to do these kinds of deals I will usually just carry the some or all of the balance over until the next week.  For an example of a shopping trip where I just get a few stockpile items and don’t carry over a balance, click here.

As for cleaning items and toiletries?  I have been rolling the same $40 Extra Care Bucks at CVS + about $1-2 cash per week for over a year now.  I haven’t paid money out-of-pocket for toothpaste (except 1 certain one that only my older son uses), shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, shaving cream, razors, pain reliever or cold/allergy medicine since about a month after I started “CVSing“.  The same is true for Rite Aid.  The first month I did about $30 in deals, paid about $25 in cash (after coupons) and got a $30 Single Check Rebate.  I simply took that check to RiteAid and converted it in to a Gift Card and I use that gift card to do more SCR deals.  By repeating this process each month, I haven’t pulled a dime out of my wallet at Rite Aid in more than 6 months and have walked out with a whole bunch of products!

I take advantage of the $10-25 Gift cards for transferred prescriptions all the time (we just have a flouride prescription that we don’t have to pay for anyway)…every month I “make” $10-$25 at Rite Aid, CVS or a grocery store by “prescription surfing” for the gift cards (note:  if you are going to do this and have multiple prescriptions and are put on a new and different one, you must tell the pharmacist about any other prescriptions you are taking!).  Those gift cards go towards things that I need, but for which I sometimes can’t get a good deal (like toilet paper, paper towels, etc).

But by thinking ahead, I can always find good deals.  For instance, back in June/July I purchased 70 boxes of Kleenex for $12.50 by combining a Catalina deal with coupons and doing the deal several times.  People thought I was nuts for buying that many especially in the summer….but it’s February and that stockpile of Kleenex is still going strong (although I’ve put a serious dent in it this week!).  I am down to about 30 boxes which means that I will actively start looking for the next Kleenex/Puffs deal to start replenishing. Dishwasher detergent?  I have a 2-year supply of Electrasol by combining a $2.50 coupon with it being on sale for $2.99-$3.25 (the $2.50 coupon has come out twice in the last few months). 

The bottom line? 

It is very rare that I buy something that isn’t on sale (a real sale, not one of those “let’s knock $.09 off an item and call it a sale).  It is also rare that I don’t use a coupon for those sale items (even rice, butter, sugar and flour have coupons that can be combined with a sale if you look hard enough).

Learn to live off your stockpile, replenishing when you get the deals.  Meats freeze – so do cheeses, breads, etc.

Respect the stockpile by rotating it.  Frozen bread is no good if it has freezer burn.  Pancake mix is no good if it has been sitting in your pantry for a year.  Use a “First In, First Out” system to avoid any waste and make your stockpile work for you.

Learn that food is nourishment, not emotional fulfillment.  I don’t look for my food to give me happiness (well – except Snickers bars).  When I want the “indulgent” food, we budget for it accordingly.  When I want to give my family tasty food to give their bodies fuel for the day, I look online for recipes using what I have in the house.  Believe me – grab almost any 3 items out of your pantry/freezer and Google the 3 of them in 1 search….you’ll find a recipe that uses them!

The next and final installment?  A few weekly menus for our house with plenty of links to recipes and resources.

Are you new to this series?  Don’t forget to read Part 1 and Part 2!

As I have mentioned before, I did not get to my current weekly budget overnight.  When I started my journey to (what I like to call) Psychotic Couponing, I was spending approximately $150 per week.  At the time, I was pretty proud of myself because that total was after sale prices and about $30 in coupons each week.

That was just over a year ago. 

There’s a few things that I need to mention as they are a huge part of how I am able to keep my grocery bill so low:

1.  We have no food allergies in our house (other than the allergy my husband seems to have to healthy food)

2.  I live in an area where all grocery stores double coupons up to $.99.  A $.75 coupon has an actual value of $1.50.  This fact alone makes it much easier for me to keep my grocery spending so low

3.  I am a stay-at-home mom who lives less than 5 miles from 4 major grocery stores, a Rite Aid, 2 CVS stores and (soon) a Walgreen’s.  While I don’t visit all of them each week (typically 1-3 per week), I do have the flexibility of just “popping in” to one if I am on my way home from a playdate or appointment.

In Part 1 I spoke about the importance of using your freezer and pantry to hold your stockpile.  The question is, how do you create your stockpile with a minimum amount of money?

1. Find the coupons
2. Get them organized
3. Either create a price book or find a site that details the best deals at your area grocery store.

The first, second and third are easy.  I could take up space here going over them, but just by clicking on the links you will get all the information you need.  Let’s skip right to #4 & 5!

4.  Look for items that you can get for free or close-to-free each week with a sale and coupon (and that you will use, not that you need right now) and stock up on those items as much as you can. 

Almost every week, there is something that you can get for free (if your store has double coupons) or close to free. Occasionally it will be your favorite products, but very often it is a new-to-the-market product.  Sales at the store are often subsidized by the company, especially in the beginning as companies hope to to hook you on their new product.  The best recent example I can give is Green Giant Valley Steamers.  Since they came out there have been lots of $.50 coupons and just as many 10 for $10 and 4 for $5 sales…..and I haven’t paid a penny for one of them.  If you have a CVS, Walgreens or Rite Aid near you, there is almost always shampoo, toothpaste or something similar that is free after Extra Care Bucks, Register Rewards or Single Check Rebate.  Get in the habit of scouting out those deals until you have a nice little stockpile! (still not convinced on the value of stockpiling?  Click here )

One of the reasons that my weekly budget is so low is because I no longer pay for shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, baby wipes and many other toiletries.  I have stocked up on these items when there was an amazing deal at the drug stores and now I don’t even have to think about buying those things.  I just keep an eye out for the next deal (and the good thing?  They come with enough frequency that I either skip a bunch or get them for free and donate them!)

5.  Look for Catalina/ECB deals.  Roll your Catalinas/ECBs for as long as you have coupons or storage space.

When I say that my grocery budget is $50/$57 (depending on if I am counting in my diaper budget) per week, I don’t include Catalinas and ECBs.  My budget is based on the money that I physically pull out of my wallet, not the total at the register.  Almost all stores (I believe that WalMart is an exception…shocking, I know!) offer Catalina deals and when you can combine a Catalina deal with double coupons, you can seriously clean up!  Check out this post, this post and this post to see some examples of how Catalina Deals have helped me to stock up on an obscene amount of groceries for an average of 95% off.  Incredible stock-up opportunities like that happen about once every 4-6 weeks and I take full advantage of them.  They help to make up for the weeks where I “only” save 50%!

Repeat #4 & #5 the following week and every week until you hit the lottery and hire a personal chef and shopper with your $624 million(and don’t forget to invite your friend Mindi to your mansion.  I’ll bring Bisquick!).

The next post (and possibly final) post in the series?  You get to go shopping with me, see how my $50/week breaks down and what I feed my family!