Compared to most of American society, {and like 99% of our friends and family} spending under $100 a month for groceries seems impossible. Especially with food prices on the rise and the whole extreme couponing crazy over. I think people assume you’d have to exist on beans and rice {and who wants to do that} to stay within a budget of $100 a month for groceries.
So this year I am going to try something new. I’m going to attempt to break down what we eat on a daily basis and stick it in my weekly grocery show and tell post. I am also going to show you how I am able to spend less than $100 a month out of pocket for our groceries.
If I get food for free, I’m going to tell you about it. If I am given a gift card to a grocery store {or earn one via some sort of program} I’m going to tell you about it. Free vegetable seeds for my garden to grow food? I’ll tell you about it.
Any food I bring through our door this year is going to be reported to the best of my ability. I’ll keep a running tally at the bottom of my weekly How We Spend Less Than $100 a Month on Groceries post so you can keep track as well. What do you think? Would you find that helpful?
I want to do a full show and tell this year is because people are always asking me “What on earth do you eat? It seems like you hardly buy any food.”
The funny thing is, when I look inside someone’s fridge my first thought is always… “How is this person going to eat all this food before it goes bad? Are they buying it just to throw it away? LOOK AT ALL THIS FOOD!”
Most all of us get freebies throughout the year, whether it’s bartering with friends, bringing home extra food from an office party, knowing someone who has extra garden produce, a friend who hunts, and so on. Or maybe you don’t. Maybe you don’t have the first clue on how to look for this so called “free food.” Well, this year I am going to show you. And hopefully you all won’t be bored out of your minds by the end of the year because of all my suggestions on ways to trim your grocery budget.
My hope is, we can all work together and find a way to eat more, by buying less.
Here’s what I fed my peeps this week:
Note: The breakfast and lunch are what I ate. I pack the HH a lunch everyday {and usually make him oatmeal or toast for breakfast on workdays}. Monkey Boy, well he’s decided he’d rather BUY his own lunch then take something from home {I’ve given up trying to convince him he’s throwing his money away}. And the 4 months a year The Girl is home, well, she’ll eat anything. She’s no fool. You couldn’t pry a dollar from her fingers for a crappy value meal burger.
Monday
Breakfast – Steel cut oats with milk and brown sugar
Lunch – Bagel and cream cheese
Dinner – Breaded chicken from Zaycon and sweet potato fries
Tuesday
Breakfast – Dave’s Killer Bread with peanut butter and strawberry jam
Lunch – Leftover breaded chicken
Dinner – Leftover Ham, rice and some cranberry beans I threw in the crock pot
Wednesday
Breakfast – Scrambled eggs and toast
Lunch – PB&J
Dinner – Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
Thursday
Breakfast – Cream of Wheat
Lunch – Leftover Macaroni and Cheese
Dinner – Lentils and Rice
Friday
Breakfast – Sweet and Salty Granola Bar
Lunch – Bacon and fried egg sandwich
Dinner – Copycat Panera Soup
Saturday
Breakfast – Bacon and Eggs
Lunch – I have no idea
Dinner – Leftover soup I found in the freezer
Sunday
Breakfast – Pancakes and bacon
Linner- Salad and leftover soup
Food I Purchased Last Week:
Costco $ Free
Remember last week when I told you we received a $20 Costco cash card from renting a car through Costco travel? Well I used it to pick up some milk and a jar of chicken base and then used the remaining balance to top off my gas tank. Since I earned/redeemed this in 2015, I am obviously not counting it towards my 2016 totals but I did want to include the photo.
Fred Meyer $1.85
I love the Friday Freebie from Fred Meyer!!! This past week the freebie item was for a FREE loaf of bread. I also picked up the free container of Mentos I loaded on to my shopper card 3 weeks ago. This year, I’m going to save all the non perishable Fred Meyer freebies I can and see if I can fill the HH’s and the kid’s stocking for free this Christmas. 🙂 Note to the HH and Monkey Boy – If you are reading this I will be collecting loose change as well so watch out!
Trader Joe’s $ Free
I don’t think their prices are necessarily crazy or anything but TJ’s isn’t a store I’d go into with a list. I feel like it’s more of grocery store that one browses in and we weren’t really sure what to buy.
Mavis Gets a Freebie – For Christmas, My parents gave me a $100 gift card to Whole Foods along with my LLBean Coat. They also gifted the HH a BOATLOAD of Starbucks coffee, a french press and a $100 gift card to Trader Joe’s. Now, if you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know those are 2 stores we rarely shop at. But hey free groceries! Wahoo. Who doesn’t love free food?
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $1.85
Total Spent in Janaury $1.85
Freebies we’ve been gifted or were earned in 2016: $200
- $100 gift card to Whole Foods {Christmas gift from my parents}
- $100 gift card to Trader Joe’s {Christmas gift from my parents}
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Melissa says
OMG!!! I am so excited!!! I love your idea for this year, because I too often wonder what the heck you guys eat and how you only spend $100 a month on groceries.
Just from this first post, I can already see a few differences. Four of our six family members are gluten free. Also, I’m feeding six people on a daily basis. I notice you have no snacks listed…does your family really eat no snacks between meals or while watching football games?
It also appears that our lunches and dinner look very differnent. Every meal in our house consists of a protien source to help keep our kids full. Dinner always consists of a protien source (meat), at least one veggie and a starch (rice, potatoes, noodles, etc.).
I love all you’re freezer meals I’ve read about and your Shepards Pie has become a family favorite! We have a few more we’ve downloaded and are going to try!
Thank you so much for sharing your tips, tricks and how-to’s!!!
Amanda S. says
Mavis, I echo Melissa’s question about snacks. On work days, I eat a morning snack around 10:30am (I try to have it be fruit or a rice cake with almond butter or banana bread or something healthy, but sometimes it’s not) and I also have an afternoon snack around 4:30/5pm (I don’t usually eat dinner until 8pm or later because I have a long commute and work out a couple times a week or have other things after work). I will also usually snack after dinner, whether that’s dessert or just a candy. However, on weekends, I am not on as strict of a schedule and sometimes will forget to snack, even though I should or I will eat too much for lunch or dinner (or too much unhealthy stuff afterward). I definitely do not drink enough water on weekends! Since you work at home, maybe you just don’t think about snacking or aren’t hungry. I also assume when your garden is in full swing, you eat a lot of the fruit you grow. And I know you make a lot of desserts, so maybe you just didn’t this past week.
Mrs. Chow says
Mavis, where does all your tea fit into your budget?
Susan says
Not Mavis, but if she is like the rest of us who did extreme couponing, she has a lifetime supply! 🙂
Mavis Butterfield says
There was a Irish breakfast tea deal I posted a few weeks ago {6 boxes of 50 so 300 bags total} for like $5.65 or something. I grabbed that with an Amazon gift card I had plus my mother gave me 2 Republic of tea canisters {100 tea bags} and a bunch of random “complimentary” teas for Christmas. My SIL also gave me some tea for Christmas and Mrs. Hillbilly tried to give me some the last time I was at her house and I was like I HAVE ENOUGH ALREADY. 🙂 So I think I’m good on tea. For 2016 anyway. Ha!
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes we eat snacks. Just not gobs of them.
Marcia says
This is great, and I think it will be super helpful if you keep track of free food that you get and what you eat. I think when some people see how little you spend on food, they want to know HOW. And most people are thinking inside the small box of the grocery store.
A lot of people don’t think about free food at work, or from friends, or from bartering. It’s interesting that you mentioned food that goes bad – because I just finished reading “American Wasteland” by…Jonathan Bloom (Christmas gift!) and it talks all about food waste from the household to farms. Pretty eye-opening. It really makes me appreciate the kinds of things that you do in your garden or that you use to do when you got food fro the “produce guy” (because many many stores still throw away imperfect produce).
Other comments:
1. On Monkey boy. Well I have to tell you I spent SO MUCH MONEY eating out in my 20’s. I did not know how to cook, and there were days that I ate out breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Hopefully he’ll come around. I found a credit card bill when I was clearing out our garage in our rental to move into our house. It was 2004, and I found a CC bill from the mid-90s. It was over $1000. 80% of it eating out. Ouch.
Fruits and veggies – did you eat much this week? I don’t see much on the list, but it’s entirely possible that it’s an afterthought (a lot of people eat them, but don’t list them when they talk about what they had for dinner). I find that by far, the biggest amount of money spent in our house is on produce. (I don’t garden, but now that El Nino is here, maybe I should start). Even with the discount rack and the 99 cent store, it still adds up – between the four of us, we eat a few pounds a day at least. (Although during the school year, I gave up and now let my 9 year old get the school lunch.) Three pounds a day, $1 a pound (honestly most things cost more than that, but I could probably hit that average if I tried), that’s $90 right there.
Mrs. Chow says
Mavis, this idea of yours is fantastic, but I also wonder about the fruits and veggies in the WINTER – I’ve seen what you eat when your garden is producing. Do you sprout a lot? Eat what you froze?
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes we eat fruits and veggies. Some weeks more than others. Also, I snack all day… but can only keep track of so much before I make myself crazy. 🙂
Marcia says
Ha ha, no kidding!
I briefly yesterday thought “I should track what I eat all year too!”
Then the feeling passed. 🙂
Gina says
I’m curious to know about the fruits and veggie’s as well. We eat a TON of those, and during the winter months, they are the largest part of our spending on groceries. Eating all that bread and high carbs is not an option for my family.
Lana says
It is the same here with the fruits and veggies. One day without a salad and steamed veggies and raw fresh fruit and I am ill. I spend at least $100 a month on those things for two of us. And another thought on that is that raw fruits and veggies are what keeps the bodies Ph neutral and prevents disease and tooth decay. We can either spend money on food or health and dental care expenses.
Mavis Butterfield says
Yes on the fruits and veggies!!
Amy says
I love your idea to break it down and share meal plans. I feel like we don’t spend a lot of money on food either, but I find it hard to keep track of my monthly totals. Maybe I need to breakout a spreadsheet, lol…my nerd side coming out.
My goal for this year is to try keep track of our actual grocery budget, and do a better job of actually planning meals for the week.
Emily S says
In hopes to cut down on the food we purchase. I made the family a smoothie consisting of ‘brown cow’ yogurt, banana and the leftover homemade cranberry sauce (apricot jam and cinnamon included). It was a big hit and tasted similar to cherries. Thank you for keeping me inspired to think of different ways to use up what’s in the frig!
Lori says
I’m not sure that I could do food shopping for a month on $100 a month but I do come pretty close and I think we eat well. I have 2 grown children that live with me and while I don’t feed them 3 meals a day I would say my total food bill including toiletries and cleaning products totals about $140. I always have something available for “breakfasts” and “snacks” with dinner every night if they are home and once a week I do a “family” dinner when they also have their significant others with them. This past week my total out of pocket was only $18.89. I am going to follow along for some inspiration! Happy to have found your site
Susan says
Really like this idea! I LOVE Friday FREE-bies at FM/QFC and appreciate them, too.
I hope to have an even bigger garden than 2015 (which was pretty awesome!) I need to do some research into rutabagas!! Nice leaves but NO ruties 🙁 They are expensive to buy – I want some for the holidays next year. I literally paid MORE for the rutabagas than the turkey!!! NOT RIGHT!! 🙂 I’ll figure it out.
Katelyn says
I love seeing “what I ate” posts – I think one significantly hidden/less discussed version of food waste is people who just plain eat TOO MUCH food (myself included, lest anyone think I’m pointing fingers).
Generally speaking, my gut (ha!) tells me that the amounts you’re eating are far more appropriate than what I eat. I see recipes all the time that call for 1.5 lbs of chicken for 4 people; when did that shift from 1 lb or even 1/2 a lb? We’ve become trained to buy things like meat in the packages that sit in the meat aisle rather than asking for 1lb of chicken at the meat counter as we used to – and suddenly those packages are regularly 1.6lbs, rather than 1. It’s a way our food system and our budgets (and waistlines!) have ballooned without anyone really noticing.
Mrs. Chow says
Great point, Katelyn. I agree!
Mavis Butterfield says
I think you are right. I made chicken soft tacos for dinner tonight {for 4 people and only used 1 chicken breast {plus had a wee bit leftover for Lucy}. I think people expect to see platefuls of food. We just don’t eat like that.
Laura Z says
This is AWESOME! Thanks for sharing with us!
Katy says
I definitely shop at Trader Joe’s with a list! I’ve been shopping there for years though, and know every product (and what’s a good deal and what’s not). They’re particularly cost-effective for pre-made things, which I don’t live off of (and know you don’t buy either) but like to have around for emergencies – frozen Indian food, soup in a carton, etc. They also have good prices on fancy cheese, snacks (think crackers and hummus and other dips) and fancy mustards, oils, etc. I’ve also read that they actually get their products from name-brands seen at other stores, but the products are labeled with the TJ’s logo instead, so basically you’re buying name-brand pita chips in a non name-brand package for 50% of the price.
Kelly says
Thanks for all the added detail this year!! Love your blog and have also wondered “what do they eat??” With how little food you pay for. You rock!
Carol says
Such a good idea! Thank you! Like Marcia, I’m wondering about fruits and veggies? It didn’t appear that much in that category was consumed except for the salad on Sunday. I know you love to grow your own vegetables, so was just wondering if you were only showing the mains?
Mavis Butterfield says
Some weeks we eat for fruits and veggies than others.
Karen says
What about fruits/vegetables with your meals? And i am also curious about snacks.
Mavis Butterfield says
Some weeks we eat for fruits and veggies than others and yes we eat snacks. I just don’t have the time {or want} to write every little thing I stick in my mouth down. LOL. I’m doing the best I can. 😉
Jamie B says
I’m looking forward to this series as well ! I’ve been reading your blog for almost a year and wondering the specifics .
I’m trying to get my grocery budget and food waste in check this year.
kristen says
This is perfect – thank you and look forward to the weekly updates especially as your garden food comes into play a bit more.
Kayla says
Thank you Mavis for doing this! I’ve been trying to cut down our bills and since we just bought our first house it seems we spend a TON of money! As always, you rock!
Sandra says
I shop at Trader Joe’s regularly. Not all of their products are good, but those that we have tried and liked go into my pantry/fridge regularly. (If you don’t like something you bought at Trader Joe’s, they will refund your money.)
My daughter also has a few TJ’s favorites, such as the precooked breaded chicken cutlets that she keeps in the freezer for an emergency meal (chicken, pour a good pasta sauce over it, sprinkle with mozzarella and bake until heated through). Though she did come home one day to find her 12-year-old stepson and his uncle chowing down on the entire (12 serving?) bag — as a snack!
This is what we like from Trader Joe’s:
Pita bread
Mediterranean hummus
“Healthy 8” chopped vegetables (stir fry with chicken, simmer with red curry sauce)
Cottage cheese
French cultured butter
Organic corn chips (for the HH)
Olive oil
Dried tortellini (for my daughter, who uses it in her pressure cooker minestrone)
Three-cheese pasta sauce
Pizza sauce (I like the pizza dough, but my HH doesn’t so we use this on English muffin pizzas)
Reduced sodium soy sauce
Basmati rice
Curry sauce
Almonds
Pecans / candied pecans
Asian sesame salad dressing (use with spring mix salad, candied pecans and crumbled blu cheese — yum!)
Interesting cheeses (give the French ones a sniff before you buy ~ some smell like a fromagerie, which annoys my HH)
Lunch meat without the nitrites (for the HH, mostly)
Baking powder
Teas
Head-to-Toe moisturizing balm (best foot smoother!)
Wine (not the Charles Shaw)
I don’t buy a lot from Whole Foods (still using a $50 gift card I got over a year ago). Maybe I’ll use it up this month on organic meat and eggs.
Mavis Butterfield says
Have you tried any of the TJ’s frozen pizza’s? I was thinking about getting those for the boys.
AlysonRR says
I liked the pear gorgonzola pizza, but I think it’s changed to something else now. They’re good, but not enough volume for men and boys, in my experience.
AlysonRR says
That said, my nearly-17-yo boy and husband can polish off most of a family-size Papa Murphy’s Cowboy pizza between them, with only enough left for one person’s breakfast or lunch. So, YMMV!
Marcia says
We have tried a few of the TJ’s frozen pizzas, but seem to just default to Costco’s Kirkland pepperoni pizza (4 pack).
We bought cheese last week because they were out of the pepperoni, and they are smaller! One small pizza for four…um…we were still hungry.
Tisha says
I am pleased to see this. One thing that concerned me in the past was the thought of somebody in a desperate money situation coming to your site in an effort to feed their family for $100 a month and becoming discouraged because they would not have the same resources (Zaycon credits, etc.). Kudos to you for putting all the information out there.
Darlene says
How do I go about getting the Friday deal from Fred Meyer?
Susan says
Log into your Fred Meyer account- go to Digital Coupons- and it should be there! Friday ONLY!!
It is a digital coupon, so you just get the item in the store and it automatically comes off when you hand them your FM card (or put in your phone #)
I do it early every Friday – I’m not sure if there are so many offered before it is gone. (Anyone know?)
You have a couple of weeks to redeem – the item is available as soon as you add it to your card.
Mavis often has the link on Friday, too!
Mavis Butterfield says
Thanks Susan!!
Emily s says
I have the app from Kroger and I click/load it on my value card. They also have digital coupons to load on which is very convenient
Peggy says
I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with Trader Joe’s. I wasn’t too excited about going either, but I found lots of stuff, granted not all everyday stuff. It’s a bit out of my way to go there, but if I lived closer, I would probably always buy english, or as they call them, British Muffins and my hubby’s coffee there. I’ve bought some cool stuff though too, and very reasonably priced, like chili dipping sauce for chicken and or to throw on chicken or pork chop to zip them up a bit! Have fun!
Mavis Butterfield says
Gaaaa! I forgot they sold crumpets! I will have to get those next time.
AlysonRR says
We *always* get crumpets when we go to Trader Joes. Other favorites are their olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus Soy Vay teriyaki sauce and some of the fish/shellfish. We rarely buy produce there – generally not the best deal.
J says
It seems like you score your meat from Zaycon. Do you include this in your weekly grocery budget?
Mavis Butterfield says
I will be, yes.
constance munoz says
oh thank you for the detail, am anxious to see how you do prep your day for meals, im really trying hard to get our grocery bills down..thank you for your blog, love love it, has help me soooo much….
Vicki says
I was also wondering if the meat from Zaycon is included in the weekly budget. What exactly is included in your weekly budget?
Mavis Butterfield says
All food brought into our house. And yes, if I get free meat, I will be showing you.
Debbie N says
I always enjoy seeing how other people shop and eat. Even though I do things differently I always come up with a few new ideas. I am looking forward to all your posts.
As for whole foods, they are expensive but they also have good deals. Sign up for the newsletter and they will let you know what is going on at your store. My favorite are the one day sales that they have occasionally.They also have monthly sales and coupons.
Trader Joe’s doesn’t have sales. They have some great deals along with some things that are high prices. Some things that my family enjoys are the golden round crackers,Joe Joe cookies and the cereals.They have cute 99 cent cards and their flowers are a good price. Where I live the fruit and veggies tend to be higher but our prices are generally lower here. My mom lives in the northeast and the prices seem better to her.They have a lot of frozen food. Some is a good deal but most is expensive.Our store always has a little sample booth in the back. Every day they have a few different items to try.
Kim says
I love this and I’m looking forward to stealing some great ideas. I struggle because I have a high metabolism so I am eating all day long and it seems I’m always hungry. I could never survive on a bagel and cream cheese alone for lunch! lol. But I’m working on getting items in my diet that are healthy and give me more energy to keep going without snacking. I also wonder about fruits and veggies. We are in Utah and boy do I get sick of oranges and apples all winter long. Plus, we have a one year and figuring what the heck he’ll eat from day to day is probably going to drive me to an early grave. Anywho- I know these posts will be super helpful to me.
Mavis Butterfield says
I snack Kim… no worries. My kids loved roasted and pureed squash when they were little.
AlysonRR says
We buy frozen berries, particularly blueberries, which hold their shape, and thaw them in the fridge as snacks. Also, yes, the mandarins/cuties/clementines/etc., plus whatever apples are still available. Kiwis seem to be available in our area for quite a while.
AlysonRR says
We used to pick enough blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries to feed ourselves through until the next season, but not so much lately due to my health.
RebekahU says
I’m eagerly watching! I desperately need to save on our groceries this year. My plan is to mimic as much as possible. Are you going to post goals for the year too? Or is this your major goal?
bobbi dougherty says
I am so glad you are doing this again. I love this segment! I wish we had the stores you guys do though. We get NO freebies around here. 🙁 boo-hiss!
I am having a no spend month this month, eating out of the pantry, but in February, I will try to have a $100 per month challenge also! Thanks for doing this again. I really learn a lot!
Diana says
Being single I struggle with whether to cook for myself or to eat out. If I cook there are usually enough leftovers for the whole week. While I don’t mind eating the same thing every day for a week, I would really rather have variety. I prefer to eat only poultry and seafood for my meats, so I look for sales on those products and make good use of my vacuum sealer to freeze any extras.
One of my goals this year is to reduce my expenses for food and to stop the waste. I probably waste more food than I eat. I hate going to grocery stores, so I have to figure out how to stop wasting food and not have to go to the store every week, lol. Getting fresh vegs makes that difficult, so I’ve decided to experiment with growing some of them during the winter. Spinach is up first. 🙂 Beyond that, I’m going to start using up all of the beans/rice/etc. that I’ve been collecting and see how much that saves.
If you have any suggestions for us singles, please post!
Tracie H says
Love, love, love this! Thanks so much for sharing!
GardenNut says
Thank you, thank you for doing this! I’ve always been kind of curious over, well, what do you eat? Which sounds terribly creepy, so *cough* thanks! I also really appreciate you doing the breakdown including freebies. It helps!
Heather says
I had to laugh because right before I read you update I was having a problem getting tonight’s leftovers in the frig since it is so full.
But, I know we will be eating or freezing the items in there this week – ham, soup, polenta (I had no idea I would have this much leftovers tonight when I followed the recipe), etc.
AlysonRR says
I’m looking forward to this series. If I could decrease my food expenses, I could afford to have someone in to clean once or twice a week (I have mobility issues and hate that my teenage kids are picking up the slack for me) and to afford more enrichment opportunities for them. We usually manage a few museums and symphony concerts per year, but more would be good.
Beverly E says
I am so glad you are doing this! There are only two of us,but I still need to learn
how to buy gro for $100. a month. I am looking forward to how you do it.
Thank you for a great site. I have already signed up for “dig for your dinner”
Thanks.
Nicole says
I have been subscribing to your blog for a year now and out of the many blogs I subscribe to, it is the only one that I consistently read. Almost daily. I am so excited for this new post to help get into your money saving mindset by actually seeing what and how you are providing groceries & meals for your family! I love your humor, writing style and all things gardening on your blog! Thank you!
MK says
Thank you for adding your daily meal log to this post! I love reading your blog for gardening tips and online deals and will continue to do so. However, I have often felt overwhelmed by how poorly I must be shopping if someone else can spend only $100 per month on groceries for their family. After reading this post, I won’t feel that way anymore. The way your family eats at meals simply would not work for our family. Each person in our household of 4 (soon to be 5) eats at least two whole pieces of fruit most days (which alone ends up costing almost $100 per month, some months). And if we don’t have significantly more veggies included in our meals, my husband’s biochemistry and mood goes seriously off. A bagel and cream cheese – which you listed as a meal – would be one of the 2-3 snacks for the day between meals, for my growing kids.
I was tempted to enter a day or the week’s worth of meals you noted into an app like MyFitnessPal to see how the nutritional composition/vitamin content broke down….my first guess was that there would be some gaps, but honestly I might be wrong there. I would love to see you include that info in your future posts, just to see whether all of the nutritional needs are being met via those meals. If they are, it would go a long way toward convincing my your plan is doable for the average family. (Using MyFitnessPal helped me realize when my diet was short of iron and potassium, in the past!)
I look forward to your gardening posts and am interested to see the deals you note in the upcoming year!
Cheri says
This is very helpful and appreciated, and I will be following it with interest. I find it interesting, though, that you don’t shop more at Trader Joe’s. I have what feels like an impossibly tight budget for my family of seven, but whenever I buy food only at TJ’s, I manage to stick to my allowed amount. I’ve also done comparison shopping between all the stores in my area (seven different chains), and TJ’s comes out on top in a lot of things. But I think I live in a different part of the country from you, so maybe that makes a difference.