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$30 Weekly Shopping and Menu 7-30-18

Can you eat for $30 a week? Look at this family of 3's temporary low grocery budget with a grocery list, menu, and frugal recipes! Week of: 7-30-18.

August will be here this week. And you know what that means?

School will be starting soon.

Allison doesn’t go back until after Labor Day, but it’s still crazy to think that there’s only less than a month of Summer vacation left. And then she’ll be a big girl that goes to school 5 mornings a week instead of 3. It’s getting hard to think about: My baby (Who’s almost 5) will be an almost-full time student, and then next year…. Kindergarten. My soul is crying right now.

This week I’ve realized that simple is definitely best when it comes to meals. Dinner doesn’t need a hundred ingredients to make it good and healthy, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot, either. I typically love to load up a salad with a lot of different kinds of veggies, but I also know that less can still be delicious.

I also now understand the importance of prioritizing what I buy. A box of granola bars, at $2.00, will last us less than a week. But a container of oats, at the same price, will last us a few weeks; and I can use the oats to make even more granola bars than I’d be able to buy with the same amount of money.

And eggs. Eggs are so cheap right now. I’ve been scrambling them for breakfast, eating them hard-boiled for snacks… I have no problem eating 3-4 a day. You’ll probably see a lot more eggs in our future, but I’ll try to use them in different ways to make things more interesting!

As usual, here’s a disclaimer about my $30 weekly menus:

  • I’ve lowered our grocery budget by choice. We’ve chosen not to pursue food assistance from the government.
  • My pantry contains essentials such as rice, pasta, peanut butter, and baking items, as well as a little meat in the freezer. You may not be able to recreate this menu for $30 as I’m not exactly starting from scratch every week.
  • I’m buying whole foods as much as possible- I won’t be perfect, but I’ll do what I can with the money we have.
  • My menu may have more vegetarian meals, or just less meat in general- But I still aim to keep my diet high-protein due to my workouts, which is why you’ll see lots of Greek yogurt, eggs, and cottage cheese.

Can you eat for $30 a week? Look at this family of 3's temporary low grocery budget with a grocery list, menu, and frugal recipes! Week of: 7-30-18.

Aldi

Spinach: $1.19
Romaine hearts: $1.99
Bananas, 3.12 pounds: $1.26
Rolled oats: $2.39
Fresh broccoli: $1.59
Applesauce: $1.89
2 cans crushed tomatoes: $.79 each
Tomato paste: $.39
Potatoes, 5-pound bag: $2.79
Whole wheat hamburger buns: $1.49
Yellow onions, 3-pound bag: $1.59
Carrots, 2-pound bag: $1.09
Cottage cheese: $1.79
2 dozen eggs: $.48 each
Zucchini: $1.49
Milk: $1.09
Raisins: $2.99

Total: $27.56


Can you eat for $30 a week? Look at this family of 3's temporary low grocery budget with a grocery list, menu, and frugal recipes! Week of: 7-30-18.

Kroger

1 can of vegetable broth: $.59
Green lentils, 1-pound bag: $1.49
Kind bar: Free from Free Friday Download

Total: $2.08
Weekly Total: $29.64


Menu

Lunch is always leftovers. Items marked with an asterisk (*) were purchased in previous weeks.

Dinner
Lentil Sloppy Joes, roasted broccoli and potatoes
Goulash, fruit- Using one pound of ground beef from the freezer and cooking it with onion and shredded zucchini/carrots to add bulk, and splitting it with the dinner below
Ground beef burrito bowls (Ground beef mixture*, rice*, lettuce, salsa*)
Broccoli and Cheese Baked Potatoes, fruit
Buffalo chicken salad (Chicken* cooked and shredded with buffalo sauce, lettuce, shredded carrots), homemade Italian loaf
Pancakes
Leftovers

Breakfast
Cereal*
Easy Egg and Cheese Breakfast Casserole
Oatmeal with PBFit powder* and banana

Miscellaneous
Homemade Granola Bars for snacks
Carrot Cake Muffins for Allison’s lunch, made in a mini muffin tin

What’s on your menu this week? Share in the comments below!

Kim

Sunday 5th of August 2018

Can you give me grocery ideas for a family of 4 with a 15 year old teenager who eats non stop. I would like to stay under 250 a month in groceries

Jaime

Monday 6th of August 2018

Hi Kim! I'm going to link to some of my popular posts that will hopefully give you some tips. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask!

https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/frugal/ways-to-eat-healthy-on-a-budget/ https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/abcs-of-frugal-living/how-to-use-your-pantry-to-make-free-meals/ https://www.nogettingoffthistrain.com/frugal/how-i-stick-to-a-60-a-week-grocery-budget/

Michelle

Monday 30th of July 2018

Yep! We do rice, potatoes, barley or pasta and then lean meats, eggs , veggies and fruit plus full fat dairy. Keeps us full and way cheaper. Also only 100% whole wheat bread. Kids are grown so no picky toddlers ?

Michelle

Monday 30th of July 2018

You’re doing great! The only thing we pay less for then you are the potatoes. About $1.50 for 5 lbs.

Jaime

Monday 30th of July 2018

Thanks, Michelle! That's a super good price for potatoes. I'm gonna try to use either Russet or sweet potatoes every week because they're cheap and filling for us. =)

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