$30 Weekly Shopping and Menu 8-6-18

We’ve had so many blessings this week I can’t even begin to express how thankful I am.

First of all, I’m kind of a gift card fanatic. At any given time, I’m doing at least 3 passive things to earn gift cards. One is Swagbucks, where I earn at least a $25 gift card every month by playing videos on an old phone. Second is Fetch Rewards where you scan your receipts and the app will give you points you can redeem for gift cards. Most of those gift cards for me so far are from your sign-up referrals, so thank you! You can sign up here and use code PV2QH and we’ll both receive 2,000 points when you scan your first receipt.

Third is through a site called MyAchievement, where I’ve synced my Fitbit and I earn points based on how active I am. I earn a $10 gift card maybe once a quarter, but it’s passive income so I don’t even think about it. I just happened to be able to redeem one last week.

Anyway, all told… I had $70 in Sam’s Club/Wal Mart gift cards from all of this, so I went to town buying the essentials that we were out of (Yes, chocolate chips are essential in this household!).

The next big blessing is a Kroger gift card we received from the parents of a friend at church. We’ve never met each other, but they decided to show a kindness that I just can’t thank them enough for. I’m using this gift card as wisely as I can, stocking up on pantry items to hold us as long as possible.

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.

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Sam’s Club

Dannon Light n Fit Greek yogurt: $12.98
Vinegar: $4.42
Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips: $7.98
Baking soda: $6.74
Mandarin oranges: $7.98
Honey: $14.98
Maple syrup (Not pictured): $9.98
Decaf coffee (Not pictured, I bought it at Wal Mart using the same gift cards): $3.88

Total: Totally FREE thanks to a ton of gift cards from Swagbucks, Fetch Rewards, and Achievement!

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Aldi

Zucchini: $1.09
Cantaloupe: $1.19
Pepperoni: $2.19
Sliced cheddar: $1.79
Grapes, 3.46 pounds: $2.39. They were $.69 a pound so I had to get a ton!
Carrots: $1.09
Bananas, 4.46 pounds: $1.74
Rolled oats: $2.39
Tortillas: $1.39
Tomato soup: $.49
Crushed tomatoes: $.79
Sweet potatoes: $1.99
Cottage cheese: $1.99
Juice boxes: $1.45
2 gallons milk: $1.45 each, they went up in price almost 40 cents!
2 dozen eggs: $.48 each
Salsa: $1.19

Total: $27.36

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Kroger

White whole wheat flour: $2.99
Gatorade: $1.00
3 boxes General Mills cereal: $.99 after the Friday/Saturday deal Kroger coupon
Fruit snacks: $1.50

• Used $.50/1 digital coupon
• Final Cost: $1.00

2 packages baby carrot snacks: $.99 each

• Used $.60/2 coupon given by a sponsored deal by Kroger
• Final Cost: $.69 each

Market & Mill bread: Free from a coupon given by a sponsored deal by Kroger
Dried kidney beans, 1-pound bag: $1.49
Deli ham, 1-pound bag: $3.00

• Used $.75/1 coupon given by a sponsored deal by Kroger
• Final Cost: $2.25

Cornmeal: $1.89
Dried chickpeas, 1-pound bag: $1.49
Gum: $2.00
Hershey dark cocoa powder: $3.79
Annie’s mac and cheese: Free from Free Friday Download
Sandwich bags, 90-count: Free from a coupon given by a sponsored deal by Kroger
Peanuts: $2.50

Total: $0 out-of-pocket thanks to a gift card
Weekly Total: $27.36

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Menu

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

Dinner
Small Group- Making Pizza Pasta Casserole
Annie’s mac and cheese with Nathan’s hot dogs*, frozen peas*
Refried bean* quesadillas, roasted zucchini
Tuna melts, roasted sweet potatoes
Creamy Broccoli Rice Casserole, fruit
Carrot Pancakes
Leftovers (Or Kings Island, we’ve been doing that once a week)

Breakfast
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Baked Oatmeal
Cereal
Scrambled eggs
Smoothies (Milk, PBFit powder*, cocoa powder, frozen banana, spinach*)

Allison’s Lunch
Ham and cheese sandwich kebabs, fruit snacks, carrot sticks, raisins*

Miscellaneous
Granola Bars if we run out from last week- These are delicious, you must make them!

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