How i feed my family of 3 on less than $300 a month
Even with two working parents it is still hard to afford food sometimes. Sad as it is, it is the truth. This is how I feed our family of 3, 2 and a half if you wanna get technical but that child is a bottomless pit. Also the only meal we eat all together is dinner (except for weekends) because of our work schedules. Anyways let’s get to the boring part. I am in no way endorsing nor getting any sort of special treatment from any of the companies I tell you about.
<-- My kid 24/7
<-- My kid 24/7
The very first thing I do when grocery shopping is shop for the month that way I don’t have to go grocery shopping a lot with my little man. When planning for the month I start with a meal plan, even if I don’t eat 31 meals a month I want to plan for that many and if I don’t eat all of them that month it gives me leftover meat which will help the next month. If you can’t shop all at once just try to make a meal plan and get what little bit at a time. For the month of January this was my meal plan. I started with the second week of January since we were sick the first week.
January 7-13 |
January 14-20 |
January 21-27 |
January 28- 2/3 |
|
M |
Spaghetti |
BBQ Smoked Sausage |
Lemon Pepper Chicken |
Fried Chicken |
T |
Biscuits and Gravy |
Lasagna |
Seasoning Salt Chops |
Teriyaki Chops |
W |
Fried Chicken |
Pulled Pork Sandwiches |
Meatballs |
Spaghetti |
T |
Pork Stir Fry |
Soy Sauce Pork Chops |
Brown Sugar Pork Chops |
Chicken Casserole |
F |
Chili Dogs |
Quesaditas |
Honey Glaze Chicken |
Frozen Pizza |
S |
Teriyaki Pork Chops |
Angel Chops |
Hamburgers |
Pork Chops |
S |
Chicken Casserole |
Chicken Fried Steak |
Pork chops |
Chili Dogs |
My next tip is to shop around. Since there aren’t that many of us we don’t need as much so I shop at Dollar Tree for all of our vegetables and sauces. Frozen vegetables are just as healthy as fresh but about half the cost. Our family likes fajitas so I will pick up about one bag of pepper onion stir fry per meal. The Hubs also takes leftovers for his lunch so it helps with that. I also pick up a few bags of frozen broccoli to steam and toss in meals to make it a little healthier and go farther. Besides Dollar Tree I go to Dollar General on Saturdays and buy a lot of my canned goods, soda, and water because on Saturdays they have a coupon for 5 dollars of 25 dollars or more which you can pair with digital coupons. (Sign up for them here) Dollar Tree covers the frozen veggies, Dollar General covers the canned goods, bottled water, and soda now the meat. My favorite place to shop for meat is a store in a town near me called Shopper’s Value Food (find one near you here) they have a deal where you buy 5 items and they are $19.99 plus a ten percent fee which is kind of a downer but still a good deal. When working with these kind of deals look for the meat with the most weight that way you get the best of a deal. I also will buy in bulk and separate them into little baggies just enough for a meal that way it can thaw in the bag and marinate as well.
If you’re worried about sides I normally just open a can of veggies and fruit or sauté some veggies. Finding sides isn’t as hard as the entrée.
Between these deals and a little couponing this is how I feed my family of 3 for less than $300 a month and normally we are even able to afford snacks.
I haven’t typed up ALL the recipes for my meals, but I will be getting that way. If you have any specific recipe you see that you would like to know shoot me an e-mail and I will get it typed up and posted. Also be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!
If you’re worried about sides I normally just open a can of veggies and fruit or sauté some veggies. Finding sides isn’t as hard as the entrée.
Between these deals and a little couponing this is how I feed my family of 3 for less than $300 a month and normally we are even able to afford snacks.
I haven’t typed up ALL the recipes for my meals, but I will be getting that way. If you have any specific recipe you see that you would like to know shoot me an e-mail and I will get it typed up and posted. Also be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!