Grocery Budget Challenge- Week #4

While my intentions are usually very good, sometimes my follow through stinks!  What can I say- I'm a busy Homeschooling work at home Mom and it's been a super busy couple of weeks.  But here it is, we are down to the last week and I finally feel like I'm getting a handle on my budget. But I won't lie- it's been hard.  This week, I spent roughly $143- not too bad!

You may look at my meal plans and think "those are pretty cheap meals, why is she spending SO much?"  Well, the reason is that I like to stock up when items are on sale. I pack my husband a lunch each day for work- so that's where some of the budget is going.  I also include all toiletries and dog food in my budget.  And of course, occasionally I splurge and buy some organic ice cream or a big bottle of whiskey for my husband.

But there's another reason that it's been difficult to keep my budget under $150.  When shopping weekly, I am also adding to my stockpile.  Your what?!?

Ok, so if you read my blog, you know that I like to be prepared.  I keep emergency supplies on hand for my family and I try to buy just a little bit each week.  A couple cases of water, some toilet paper, extra jars of peanut butter- organic of course!  All these things really add up and make it difficult to stay under budget!  Hmm...do I hear another blog post in the future....

But let's get back to the Grocery Budget Challenge shall we....Week #4 Meal Plan, here we go!

Week #4

Monday

Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup w/Rolls

Biscuits and Gravy for Breakfast w/Fresh Fruit

Tuesday

Garlic Pasta w/Green Salad

Leftover Biscuits and Gravy w/Fresh Fruit

Wednesday

Taco Salad

Blueberry Muffins & Fresh Fruit for Breakfast

Thursday

Crockpot Cheesy Vegetable Chowder w/Rolls

Fruit & Yogurt Smoothies & Oatmeal for Breakfast

Friday

Leftovers

Saturday

My 10th Wedding Anniversary!!!

Sunday

Freezer Meal- Red Beans & Rice

I've intentionally kept this week's meals fairly simple and cheap to make because my husband has requested pizza for lunch this week.  I buy him the Newman's Own pizza's which are about $5-7 per pizza, yikes!!!!  I usually buy 3 of these and make them last all week but that's about $20 of my grocery budget just on 3 pizzas.  Not good....I have tried making my own pizzas and I just haven't found a crust I like yet- so for now, I will buy the best pizza's I can find and I highly recommend these Newman's Own ones!

I will be baking a Pumpkin Bundt Cake for us to eat this week and also my Mini Pumpkin Pies to put in my freezer for Thanksgiving.  When hosting a large holiday meal- do as much ahead of time as possible!   I have also ordered my $60 organic, humanly raised Turkey for Thanksgiving from a local farm- so there goes $60 of my budget this week.  Oh yeah- did I mention holiday meals are coming out of my weekly budget!!!!!  Want to read more about my tips and tricks for hosting the holidays?  Click here!

Last and most important is my 10th Wedding Anniversary this weekend.  SO excited!  My husband and I will be spending the night in a fancy hotel downtown, eating out, visiting the Chihuly Glass Museum and not caring about our budget at all!  It will be fabulous!  Since we will be home right around dinner time on Sunday, I've planned ahead and simply grabbed one of my many freezer meals from my freezer stockpile.  There's that word again....stockpile.  I highly recommend you do this!  Now I can enjoy a great mini weekend away with my husband and come home to a healthy, organic home cooked meal- now that's awesome!

Curious to see how the previous weeks turned out?

Week #1

Week #2

Week #3