How I grocery shop on a budget...

At some time or another, everyone in this world has had to have a budget. It's one of the cruel and unavoidable parts of life. How many times have my parents told me, "Hun, we've been there, don't worry." ?How many times have my husband's parents reminded me "Things always work out, and you will survive"? This is so true of many of us young people. We forget that the people we can turn to for advice were not always as established as they are now. We forget that it takes time to become established and have a safety net. I won't say this is true for everyone. Some people are lucky enough (or rather perhaps smart enough!) to have established themselves before having children. Some of us (most of us) had to learn the hard way. Some of us are still learning.

Not everyone knows all the personal details of my life, and let's be honest, I'm going to keep it that way. But I will share that my husband and I took a dramatic pay cut when I quit my job to stay at home again. I've been back home with my kids and husband since January, and I have had to make quite an adjustment. When I was working I made roughly $700 a month. That's not a lot, but it is dramatic when you are smacked with the reality of how much money you spent once upon a time. I have had the worst time adjusting actually. For all my talk about how I clean the house, and do arts and crafts, and make my cleaners at home I can honestly say that I have cried before over the inability to spend the way I could when I was working.

One of the biggest hits I've undergone is my groceries. I used to spend $200+ every two weeks, and now I can spend quite a bit less. I've done a makeover on my food options. Some things are not an option; milk, juice, cheese, eggs, etc. I don't mean I made over those things. You have to have those. I will however only spend $50-$60 on the rest of my food.
My list looks a little something like this:

• 2 packages of ground pork-avg $6
• One large container of yogurt- $2.18
• Veggies-green beans, carrots corn-2 cans each at roughly .75c each
• Ramen-I will be the first to say that it is not the healthiest thing in the world, but my kids and I enjoy eating it for lunch. :) 6 packs-$1.20
• Pasta- 3-4 boxes at $1.50 each
• Pasta sauce- 4 cans=$4
• Rice- approx. $2 a bag
• Mac and cheese-4 =roughly $2.64
• Bisquick-$2.88
• Oatmeal variety box- $1.68
• Turkey sandwich meat-$4.98
• Bread- 2@.88c=$1.76
• Hot dogs ( I go cheap on these, sorry guys!) @ .98c each x 3= $2.94
• Frozen veggies-broccoli, peas, corn, green beans (1each @.98c)=3.92
• Tuna-3cans@.88c=$2.64
• Tuna Helpers-3@1.68 each= $5.04
• 24 pack of soda for hubby-$4.98

This list adds up to $59.34 before tax. However, we shop at Walmart, which some of you know my husband works for their distribution center, so we get a discount. So all in all, this list would probably cost after tax approx. $62. It's not always ideal, and sometimes things change, but that is the gist of how I buy groceries. Some of these prices are not exact because as I was making the list I remembered the nifty Walmart To Go website where I can get EXACT prices, but I didn't change the previously entered prices that I had already written.

I should also mention that this list is just the basic meal planning list, and that I have quite a stockpile on the pantry essentials. My kids love chicken noodle soup, so one day I went out and bought a whole bunch to make sure it was always on hand. I also have found that a lot of recipes call for diced tomatoes, so I have probably 20 cans in my cabinets. Condiments tend to last longer, so I don't include those into my lists because I don't get them every time. I also have (thanks to my daddy) a healthy supply of broths that I use for most of my stir fry's or soups.  Alternatively, because I buy groceries twice a month, I feel like I have two different lists. Because I buy in multiples (i.e. hot dogs, pastas, veggies) my list tends to change the next time we get paid and I buy stuff like chicken nuggets, fish sticks, tator tots, spaghetti o's, frozen fruits etc. Now that I mention this I feel like my whole post has misled you and that I should actually write out my second list as well, so you don't think my kids eat nothing but ramen and hot dogs! In fact I think I will.

• 2 packages of ground pork-$6
• 1 box of fish sticks-$3.48
• 1 bag of chicken nuggets-$4.98
• 1lb bag of tator tots-$2
• 1lb bag of fries-$2
• 1lb bag of chicken breasts-frozen-$5.98
• 2lbs smoked sausage-$5
• 2 heads of cabbage-$1.56
• 5lb bag of potatoes-$3.77
• Bread-22.88=$1.76
• Applesauce-$1.98
• Pasta-3-4@1.50 each-$6
• Sauce-4=$4
• Cereal-6 boxes@2.50ea-$15

This list would cost me approx $65. I guess you could say that is my average price although I have gone less, and I have gone more. 

Anway. Now that I have shared that, feel free to admonish my crazy food partaking habits while I go type up some of my tried and true recipes that my family loves. :)

If anyone has any cheap, kids friendly recipes they'd like to share, I'd love to hear them. I will be making a post all about the cheap foods we eat on a regular basis. Some will make you laugh, some might make you cry, and some might just surprise you.