Feeding a Family of 4 on 250 a Month

One of the hardest parts of the upkeep to stick to is: the grocery upkeep and healthy meals at that.

Our budget for groceries (for a family unit of 4) is well-nigh always $250 (some months accept been under that!)

Now hither's the matter: no we practice not starve, in fact, quite the opposite. No, we don't restrict. And Yep, we swallow fairly healthy.

So, what's the trick, you might ask? It'south your budget, if you lot're planning, how you're spending, and mayhap even where and how you're buying.

I was asked literally TONS of questions on Instagram when I put upwards a poll almost finances and budgeting, and to my surprise – most of the questions were related to groceries. Which tells me the grocery upkeep is in fact the hardest typically to stick with.

I'll also start uploading more YouTube videos of our grocery hauls – you tin picket them on our YouTube channel here!

I hope answering some of these burning questions will aid yous with your grocery upkeep, too! You can do this! It may take a trivial (OK, a lot) more than planning, but when you tally up the money you've spent on groceries, even inside the terminal three months, you'll be happy you stuck to your upkeep!

*Sharing tips, tricks, and hacks on my Instagram*

Top Grocery Budgeting Questions

How do yous save coin on groceries? How do you only spend $250 every MONTH?

Make. A. List. I exaggerate this one considering I've heard so many people say they e'er forget to write a listing. Write out your list of groceries before you shop. Information technology'south easy to pick things upwardly off of the shelves that you may not demand. They all add upwards. Better nonetheless?

Programme your meals, first. This manner, y'all'll know what ingredients you need, if yous can scale down those ingredients, or even find a different recipe that calls for less ingredients for the aforementioned or a like meal.

Buy frozen, or melt and freeze. This is By FAR one of our biggest "hacks" to saving coin on groceries. Frozen lasts Then MUCH longer than fresh. And then buy information technology frozen and avoid throwing away fresh food. (I volition get into what frozen groceries we buy for healthier meals below in the next question.)

Brand a budget and stick to information technology. Nosotros have little in our pantry and refrigerator right now, but we yet will not need groceries for another week. This is because we are able to brand tons and tons of meals from our freezer.

Walmart Grocery Pickup has been awesome for us. Brand a listing, see your groceries before purchasing, and view the end total to make sure you've stuck with your upkeep. Get $10 off your first grocery pickup with my referral link!

What types of good for you meals can you make with freezer foods/groceries?

I'll exist a straight shooter with this question – shop with the right mindset that you Tin can buy healthy foods in the freezer section, or foods you lot tin can purchase fresh, and then freeze and you will find them!

Favorite Healthier Meals Nosotros Make From the Freezer and Pantry:

• Chicken breasts (experience free to make them crusted – mix 1 tablespoon of olive oil with panko crumbs, mozzarella cheese and/or parmesan cheese), frozen veggies, and rice (or lentils)
• Salmon/tilapia with frozen veggies and sweetness potato fries
• Craven breasts with veggie tots, fresh asparagus
• Smoothies, smoothies, and more smoothies! (hither is one of my favorite smoothie recipes)
• Burgers – from frozen basis beef/turkey), sweet white potato fries, veggies
• Breakfast Burritos – frozen turkey sausage, eggs, salsa, spinach, mozzarella (buy cheese when information technology's on sale – can too be frozen and taken out when needed)
• Taco bowls – frozen ground beefiness/turkey or shredded craven breasts, shredded cheese (we stock upwardly when we see sales, and then freeze), any extras

Sample Two Weeks of Full Meals

Below are examples of healthy meals for the whole family for two weeks. Our kids honey almost things we make (at that place are a few they won't eat), so toddler-canonical! Some mornings, prepared breakfast can be difficult. We try to have options for them on the busier mornings. Hither are some samples of meals we make given our small-scale grocery upkeep.

Breakfast

• Quick oats with brownish sugar/frozen fruit (thawed)/assistant
• Scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and hashbrowns or toast
• Bagels or Eggos (paired with coffee, smoothie, or protein shake)
• Smoothies
• Protein Shakes

Lunch

• Sandwich with turkey or ham slices and cheese, so we include veggies/fruit, a few snacks, and nearly likely, a protein shake (h2o and protein powder)
• Some other option is including: a meat (turkey brats, craven breasts, salmon, burgers, or tilapia), carb, and veggies
• Salads – kale/spinach, sliced almonds, chicken, dried cranberries, shredded craven, additive
• We eat leftovers from supper the night before oft for the adjacent day lunch. (listed beneath)

Snacks

• Fresh fruit – bananas, apples, oranges, pears
• Cut veggies with ranch (green peppers, carrots, celery,
• Mozzarella Cheese
• Yogurt with frozen fruit (thawed)
• Almonds (Bluish Diamond Lightly Salted are my favorite)
• Crackers/Wheat Thins/Triscuits
• Protein shake (I currently use Orgain Organic Chocolate Protein Powder)
• Protein bar (nosotros beloved ONE poly peptide bars)
• Sausage/cheese/crackers

Supper

• Different types of crockpot meals like, chili, chicken noodle soup, pulled chicken/steak (can be eaten alone with veggies or every bit a sandwich with a condiment)
• Tacos or taco bowls – ground meat, flour tortillas, sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa
• Chicken breasts or stuffed/breaded chicken with veggies/carb
• Tilapia/Salmon with brown rice/lentils/fries, and veggies
• Burritos – pulled chicken or ground meat, with shredded cheese, rice, sour cream, flour tortillas, and salsa
• Turkey, beef, or soy burgers, veggies/carb
• Stuffed green peppers – peppers, ground turkey/beef, shredded cheese, tomato plant sauce, canned tomatoes, and brown rice. Optional: topped with sour cream
• Lasagna, Enchiladas, breakfast burritos,

Like shooting fish in a barrel Meals we make when we're pressed with time:

• Hamburger Helper
• Bird'due south Eye Viola frozen meals
• Breakfast Omelet
• Spaghetti with meatballs (previously frozen or made from ground meat)
• Chicken alfredo

How do you go about buying fresh fruits and veggies?

Virtually fruits and veggies we buy frozen, and so they terminal longer. Every 2 weeks (when we buy groceries), nosotros choose well-nigh 4 fresh fruits and veggies. Otherwise when we buy too many, we don't eat them all and they go bad.

Example: i week we will choose 4 fresh fruits/veggies similar, spinach (for smoothies, can be frozen properly in freezer bags so it doesn't spoil fast), strawberries (fun snack for toddlers), green peppers (for blimp peppers, and red potatoes for our supper meals. The next week we'll purchase kale (for smoothies and salads, again can be frozen), carrots, apples (both for snacks), and a few other items we're peckish.

If your family unit eats lots of fresh fruits and veggies, you can allow that in your budget. If you notice you're going over budget or most of your grocery budget every month is on fresh fruits and veggies, find areas where you could possibly substitute with frozen.

For instance: our family equally loves smoothies and fresh fruit. Then nosotros purchase frozen fruit because they can be thawed and added to something like yogurt OR you tin can make a smoothie out of it.

Do you shop at wholesale stores like Costco for groceries or necessities?

No, we don't. My In-Laws accept a Costco membership and my Male parent-In-Law said some necessities (like toilet paper and laundry detergent), you can get at a discounted price. However, with other items (insert highest purchased items like dairy, meats, and grains), information technology'southward substantially the aforementioned toll equally if you were to buy multiple of the same item in a regular grocery store.

So, we opt out of the membership cost and just stick to our upkeep.

We merely started using Walmart Grocery Pickup and we dearest information technology! It helps us program out our list, view our groceries in list form, and meet our end total instead of trying to keep track in-shop with ii kids. (LOL)

You tin try Walmart Grocery Pickup now and get $x with my referral link!

Save Money Where Yous Can

I tried many, many different ways to save coin, specially when it comes to groceries. Recently, I've loved Piggly Wiggly for their costless rewards carte (last shopping trip my full was $142, when I swiped my rewards card, my grocery total went downwards to $100.78!

1 site I've loved for YEARS now is Rakuten (formally known as Ebates). You go cash dorsum for every shopping trip, including popular drug and food stores and websites, like Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, Home Chef and more! When you sign upward and spend just $25, you'll get $10 in cash back! Love, love, love this website! Y'all'll start to run into greenbacks back adding up like crazy!

How do you budget for groceries? Practice you take any questions about grocery budgeting? I'll answer them below!

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