Food and 18MTTC

It's very easy to go the grocery store nowadays and easily drop $150 a week. Feeding 4 people 3 times a day costs $$. And with the rise in food prices it is only going to get worse. And that is a lot cheaper than buying lunch out everyday.

We like to make a "menu" on Sunday's so we know what we are having for the week for dinner. It's our way of trying new recipes, making life less hectic when we get home from work and allows me to practice a hobby of mine. So it works for many reasons. But since 18MTTC, we have been really good about only buying what we need for the week. We have also been trying to use up what we already have in the freezer and cupboards. How old is that bag of basamati rice in the pantry? So the fridge may not look as full as it always did, but none of us have really noticed too much or made the observation that "there isn't enough food". I also want to add here that we went to BJ's and stocked up on bulk items a few weeks ago (juice boxes, pretzels, applesauce, paper towels, etc) so that we always have that stuff on hand. although we don't eat the paper towels. Note to BJ's - explain to me WHY, WHY, WHY can't you carry Brown Sugar Pop Tarts in bulk?

But I tried something new this week. Jen was going to be in Texas for 3 days this week for work. We normally do the grocery shopping on Sunday and the menu plan only goes through Thursday (Friday is usually dinner with friends at their house or ours and gets a special menu we shop for that day). So I decided with Jen away, I wasn't going to go grocery shopping this week. I figured we could get by with what we had and I would essentially save us $150 for the week. Well, we ran out of ice cream for Owen on Tuesday (they each have their fav flavor and get a small scoop before bed every night). He had applesauce instead. See, no worries. And I have to say, that really was the only issue the whole week. Also, I spent $7 on a pizza for the boy's on Monday night.

Last night I stopped at the grocery store to pick up juice boxes, veggies for tonight's dinner at our friend's house (asparagus) , ice cream (B1G1F), hot dogs for the boys dinner and some green onions for a gratin I was making. Cost me $24.

So I think my experiement worked. That doesn't mean I am going to starve my family, but it was a good test to see if grocery shopping b/c we "normally do it on Sunday's" was more habit or necessity. I think it is mostly the latter, but in this particular case it might have been habit. Ultimately, I saved us $119 this week. Not too shabby.

By the way, here is what I ate for dinner this week:

Monday: turkey sandwich with pretzels
Tuesday: wasn't really hungry b/c I had a big lunch, so I made mac and cheese. had a few bites but saved the rest for the kids lunches
Wedneday: zucchini and corn quesadilla's (stuff we had from last week's menu but didn't use)
Thursday: didn't really eat - again big lunch. had some bread left over from lunch