Feeding My Household for $50 a Week....

We all know how important it is to save money, yet why is it so hard to do when you actually can and then find yourself spending frivolously on things like groceries when you don't have too? Setting habits of eating and spending that not the healthiest or sustainable? I am the worst culprit of this, I admit it, arrest me, I'm done.  

Recently we have encountered the harsh reality of going from two incomes to one.  Now I know a lot of you have dealt with that and if you are my mom, you are saying, "you will be fine" (you are saying that right now, huh Ma?).  But I want to do what I can to continue to "Feed my Household" in a healthy and sustainable way.  So in comes some different ways of doing things.  There was a season for freezer cooking...now comes the classic homemaker style of shopping weekly and eating fresh!  I'm kind of excited..I haven't lived this way in a while...ok I don't know if I ever have, I have always been a horder and bulk shopper.

Ok, let me share with you what I have learned, and then I will be sharing with you what I am doing.  First off: STAPLES.  Not the metal things for paper, or if you have ever been injured, the kind that hold your wound...ok this is about food...let's not go there...oy

8 Staple foods that should be in your house: Chicken, beans, potatoes, cheese, flour, yogurt, chicken stock, and oats. 

 I will share with you how I am using those along the way.  But first, let me tell you how I started this journey.  It is all about action first. 

PLANNING!  

1. I did an inventory list of my food supply, fridge, freezer, pantry, spices.  Feel free to use the Simply Thirty-One Inventory List as a starting point.
   
   
   
2.  I looked at only the inventory list and highlighted all the ready meals, then the meats, then the sides...and was left with the components to meals (condiments and pieces)
3.  I then took made a Simply Thirty-One Meal Planning Calender, and wrote in those ready meals for dinners.  Let's use the stock we have!  
   
4.  I then used this meal planner for the week to get detailed. I thought about some sides we could have with those and looked at the inventory, and scheduled them.  
   
5. Ok for me that filled a week of dinners. With maybe a few things to get on the shopping list, like chicken to make the meals complete.  
6. Now I want to make my husband fresh sandwiches every morning.  Lucky for me, he always needs a cold lunch, unlucky that leftover are not doable for his lunches...so those are mine :( Anyway, I found a few pins about lunch ideas and just joined them together with what I already have and go from there.  A few sandwich types that my husband hasn't been able to have with me doing freezer sandwiches were egg salad, chicken salad, BLT, any fresh wraps with lettuce.  So those are first on my list.  Now we already had fresh bacon bits, and canned tomatoes, so I put lettuce on the list and made him a wrap!  It looked divine.  I'm also making Egg Salad right now.  Eggs are a staple, so keep lots in your house! Get fool-proof perfect, easy to peel hard-boiled eggs with this method. 
7. Ok, I got off track...sorry.  Next is snacks.  I was on a weigh loss program for a while and learned the proper portions and snack ratios, so I want to keep that as a constant in my house.  Snacks high in Protein for morning, Protein and Good Carbs for afternoon, and Fun/carbs for evening. Once again, I checked my inventory and added the specific snacks to the list.  Not just making sure I had them all, making sure I use what I have before I get more.  
8. Now the shopping list.  Look at your meal calendar and just add the things to your list that you need.  Now things like milk, yes add that, but I didn't need milk this week.  

Now Go Shopping!

This first week should not only be exciting...but hopefully the cheapest honestly.  I walked into the store, had my list, looked at the unit rate on everything, chose the best option of product....bought a whole chicken!  (I will share that adventure later) Knowing that I had most of what I needed made this trip quick...OH!  have that calculator out...if it doesn't fit in the $50 budget, it goes back!  Truth be told, this first trip cost be less than $30!  That doesn't mean I should adjust by budget, it just means I have supplies I need to use.

Ok so that is my starting point.  I will share all the details next time right here!  Stay tuned!  I have to go make egg salad :)