Grocery budget- family of 5

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP here - I appreciate everyone's feed back and I totally agree I am totally over spending and wasting so much food and $. I have 3 very little kids .. one 1 year old and 2 5 year olds .. they literally eat toast and cream cheese and fruit ... and somehow we blow through $300 a week and then throw food away every week. I think also the problem is my husband and I both randomly pop to the grocery store.. like 3 times a week and don't even know what the other got. I am going to start by cutting this out, only go one time a week if we didn't get something we can manage for 6 days till the next time we go etc. Thanks very much for all the advice. [/quote]

OP, but for the ages, I literally thought I wrote this post! We are also a family of five with 5yo twins and a 3 yo. I waste so much every week and I hate it. Every week I say I am going to cook on Sunday but then something will always come up and by the time we get back from the birthday party/game/whatever, I'm trying to get kids ready, wash clothes etc. My kids are also very picky and I feel like we eat the same thing every week. The times I do venture out and try to introduce new foods they don't eat and I'm made that I've wasted even more. I also make a meal for them and one for my husband and I and he and I eat after he gets home later in the evening. Ugh!!

[b]Is anyone willing to post their weekly menu/food shopping list[/b]? [/quote]

I can give you our menu from last week. Haven't done next week's -- that's for tomorrow!

Sunday: beef & bean tacos with cheese, salsa, sour cream.
Monday: Crockpot chicken with mashed potatoes.
Tuesday: chicken pot pie (with leftover chicken) and salad
Wedneday: spaghetti & meatballs
Thursday:leftovers!
Friday: baked salmon with mashed potatoes, salad & green beans
Saturday: grilled shrimp with lime, cous cous and green beans

Almost all of my proteins come from Costco and are frozen until we need them. I put together a big batch of meatballs about once a month and freeze them, them pull them out as we need them. My kids are on a mashed potato kick. They'd eat them for breakfast if I let them.

I don't have my whole shopping list, but I can tell you how I do it. First, I read the circular and think about what we have in the freezer. Then I figure out whether we have anything crazy going on during the week. I usually run the crockpot on nights that swimming/lacrosse/soccer overlap! Then I put the meal plan together and build the list as I do it. So, if we want to have pork chops and applesauce, I add those items to the list if I know that they're not in the freezer/pantry. I try to vary the proteins and not do the same one 2 nights in a row or more than 2x a week (we had guests one night this week and needed the pasta on Wednesday).

Some folks like more structure when they start meal planning and like a frame work -- something like Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Pasta Wednesday, Chicken Thursday and pizza Friday. [/quote]

I just buy bulk trays of pork chops, boneless/skinless chicken breasts, chicken thighs, pork loins, roasts and a bag of salmon or mahi mahi. When I get home I wrap them in tin foil.

I also buy big bags of white rice, frozen ravioli, instant mashed potatoes, etc to use as side dishes.

Each day I pull something out to thaw and plan a meal around it. Ex: Pork chops, mashed potatoes and a side salad. Chicken veggie stir fry over rice. Baked chicken, mac & cheese, green beans. Honey dijon salmon, spinach and ricotta stuffed ravioli, asparagus...

[Anonymous]

Good for you, OP!

In a month or so, you will start to get a feel for prices and know when you can stock up on things. I'll buy 5 boxes of granola bars when they're on sale and 5 bags of chips the next week when they're on sale. You just have to know the right stock up price and hide the inventory from the family when you get home!

Also, we found that we needed a quick trip mid-week to replenish our fruits/veggie stash. This isn't as much of an issue in the winter when we're eating oranges and apples, but definitely in the spring when we have more berries, tomatoes, etc. Cutting down the number of trips and sticking to a list really helps, tho.