If you’re new here, I practice the Buy Ahead Principle — which means that what we buy each week is often for future weeks. We stock up on the best deals and markdowns each week and that means that we then have a variety of items from previous shopping trips to use to plan a menu from.
With the increase in grocery prices, I’ve decided to raise our grocery budget to $100 a week because I’ve not been having enough wiggle room to stock up like I’d want to. This amount will still challenge me to be creative while also giving me enough breathing room to stock up and continue to practice the Buy Ahead Principle.
In addition to practicing the Buy Ahead Principle, I Reverse Meal Plan. This means that I plan based upon what we have on hand plus what good sales/markdowns I found at the stores. (Read more about Reverse Meal-Planning here.)
{Follow me on Instagram stories for real-time videos on what I’m buying if you don’t want to have to wait for me to get the post written up for the blog!}
With rising costs, I’ve been re-thinking the way that I shop and have been exploring new options for where to buy things. One of those things has been exploring buying things locally — especially since the cost of eggs and milk keep going up.
I discovered a family in our church is selling eggs for $5/dozen (we bought two dozen). They live close to us and their young kids care for the chickens and then earn the profits from selling the eggs, so I was excited to find this source for high-quality eggs — and to support young entrepreneurs in the process!
Kierstyn got to go and see the chickens and get the eggs — and even feed the chickens. And then she and I made fried eggs for lunch with the eggs. She hasn’t stopped talking about it and I love for her to have a better understanding that food doesn’t just come from the grocery store!
I also found a local farm that sells fresh milk, fresh butter, meat, and more. A few friends and I drove to pick up milk this week and Kierstyn got to go with us and see the cows!
We got two gallons of milk ($5/gallon), 2 tubs of butter ($4/tub), and some sausage ($3/pound). I’m loving introducing my kids to fresh milk and butter!
Kroger has a pretty good deal on strawberries this week. You can buy up to 5 packages at this price with the digital coupon. Plus, I had an $0.80/2 packages of strawberries coupon that I’d gotten in a mailer from them recently.
Kroger also has cheese — slices, shredded bags, and blocks — for just $1.49 each with the digital coupon. You can get up to 5 packages at this price.
I found some good markdowns on meat, the Kodiak Flapjack cups were marked down to $0.29 each, and the Lysol cleaner concentrate 2-packs were marked down to just $0.79 each!
I was excited to find the Smoked Sausage for just $1.29. I bought four packages to freeze. And grapes are just $1/lb this week.
The Organic baby cereal was marked down to $0.79 each, the pickles were marked down to $1.29, and the Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes are just $0.99 each with the weekly digital coupon. I was especially excited to find the cup sets for just $1.25 per set!!
Above is everything I got at Kroger for about $80. (Not shown, a $5 pumpkin I bought for Kierstyn because she’s been obsessed with pumpkins. We’re using it to decorate, but I might end up using it to bake a pie with once pumpkin season is almost over with!)
Our Menu Plan for This Week
Breakfasts —Cereal, Scrambled Eggs, Oatmeal, Baked Oatmeal
Lunches (the older kids have lunch at school) — Fried Eggs, Yogurt, Toast, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Fruit, Leftovers, Bagged Salad,
Snacks — Popcorn, Fruit, Cheese, Chocolate Milk, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Dinners
Thursday: Homemade Barbecue Beef Hot Pockets, Fruit
Friday: Dinner out
Saturday: Fend-for-Yourself (the girls were out at Homecoming) + Frozen Pizza
Sunday: Dinner with community group (The host family is doing a build-your-own sandwich bar and we’re all bringing fixings/sides for it).
Monday: Snack-y Dinner at soccer game (PB&J sandwiches, cheese, fruit, Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins)
Tuesday: Barbecue chicken, Steamed Veggies, Homemade Rolls, Fruit
Wednesday: Sausage, Eggs, Fruit, Waffles