If you’ve read any of my other posts, you know that I have said how much money I save by meal planning. And I really do! I used to spend hundreds of dollars a week on food, and now it’s typically less than $100, for two people, for an entire week of meals.
New to meal planning? Check out my post that tells you exactly the steps I follow to plan my meals. Too lazy to find recipes and make the shopping list? That’s ok too – $5 Meal Plan is the way to go. It does the work for you.
Related Post: How I Meal Plan every Week
Here are the recipes we are making this week:
- Beef with Broccoli
- Macaroni and Cheese (homemade people, not out of the box)
- Tacos (no recipe, I just buy our favorite taco fixings and cook meat with taco seasoning)
- Chicken Curry (I used a pre-made Indian curry packet, no recipe)
- Pizza (We just buy Boboli crusts, from Costco and make sure to have any pizza toppings we’d like)
My grocery store shopping list:
- Milk $2.19
- Graham Crackers $2.99 (these are for these s’mores cookies)
- Oreos x2 $2.98 (for cookies also but also just to eat)
- Butter – 3lbs $8.97
- Pudding Mix $1.38
- Yogurt $3.75
- Rice Cakes $1.67 (I shouldn’t shop when I’m hungry, I plan to eat these between errands)
- Pickles x3 $6.27
- Salsa $3.29
- Olives $3.99
- Mustard x2
- Olive oil $6.99 – I use Costco olive oil for marinades and a lot of things but like a nicer/tastier version for eating with bread and balsamic
- White Chocolate Chips $3.50 (also for cookies, I am ambitious this week planning to make a few different types)
- Cheezit crackers $2.59
- Mayonnaise $2.49
- Steak $11.67
- Onions $1.98
- Bananas $1.11
- Salad mix x2 $1.98
- Sharp Cheddar $6.38
- Parmesan cheese $3.98
- Gruyere Cheese $8.14
- Apples $4.36
Total $99.80
That’s just $49.90 per person for all our meals this week! I do purchase my meat in bulk and freeze it when it is on sale, so you’ll notice that I don’t have to buy meat every week even though that’s on my meal plan. I save a lot of money this way.
Meal planning and not eating out can save you so much money! You can also pick recipes that have inexpensive ingredients. Use $5 meal plan if you don’t have the time or patience to plan out meals like I do.
Remember that packing leftovers or making a sandwich for lunch will save you $3-$15 for each meal you don’t go out for. Make your own coffee and breakfast to save even more. A little planning can save you a ton of money!
Leave a Reply