Trying out some new recipes can somewhat throw your budget out of wack - Meal Plans and Grocery trip for August 29th - September 4th

Written by Post Comment

So, the other day I started looking for some new recipes via Pinterest so that we wouldn't get into another rut.  Since this weekend we are going to be out of town for Jon's family's reunion, the dinner meal plans are on the short side.  Here's what we have coming up:

  1. Cheesy Chicken Tater Tot Casserole (have the chicken - look for a post on this later)
  2. Taco Bake (have the hamburger - look for a post on this later)
  3. Hot Dogs (already have everything)
  4. Spaghetti Boats (look for a post on this later)
Yep, I'll be trying out three new recipes this coming week.  I'm rather excited about them and looking forward to sharing them with you.  Since Jon is a rather picky eater and Michael is a picky toddler, I sometimes hesitate trying new recipes.  These are basically twists on foods I know Jon will eat.

Since we will be out of town, we had to get all of our shopping done this morning.  Before heading out, I was able to find some coupons to take with us.  Here's the list we had for Walmart and the price of each item:
  • Grill Mates marinades  $0.98 x 3 = $2.94
  • Grill Mates blends  $1.98 x 2 = $3.96
  • cheddar cheese soup  $1.58
  • 32oz frozen tater tots  $2.00
  • bacon pieces  $2.22
  • loaf of French bread  normally $1.68 on sale for $1.00
  • spaghetti sauce  $1.88
  • chicken strips  $3.98
  • 5pk Kraft mac-n-cheese  $4.50
  • Kraft American cheese  $3.78
The total spent at Walmart was $26.79.  I was rather pleased with this total because of the amount of items that we were buying.

After Walmart, we went straight to Wegmans.  Here's the list with the prices for each item:
  • gallon of whole milk  $3.49
  • OJ  $2.49
  • head of lettuce  $1.49
  • bananas  $1.13
  • tortilla chips
  • salsa  $1.99
  • Fritos  $2.99
  • shredded mozzarella cheese  $2.79 x 2 = $5.58
  • shredded cheddar cheese  $2.79
  • spaghetti noodles  $0.99
  • Mott's applesauce to go  $2.49 x 2 = $4.98
  • Pop Tarts  $2.89
  • butter
As you can see, I had to cross some items off the list because the running total was starting to get higher than what I had available.  The total amount spent at Wegmans was $30.58.

Since we had $3.00 carried over from last week, the budget was $53.00.  We spent a total of $57.37 which made us over budget by $4.37.  I happened to have some extra cash in my wallet and that's how we paid the overage.  I only used three of the four coupons and saved in total $2.75 and will earn $0.10 for each coupon through Inbox Dollars.  I also earned $0.25 for the bananas, $0.25 for the salsa, $1.00 for the Grill Mates marinades, and $1.00 for the Grill Mates mixes through Checkout 51.  I also earned $0.25 for the milk through Ibotta.  So, that pretty much makes up for the overage.  How do you stay in your budget when you're trying new recipes out?

If you like what you just read please click to send a quick vote for me on Top Mommy Blogs- The best mommy blog directory featuring top mom bloggers

Tags:

Share:

0 comments