I am a SNAP recipient who receives $193.00 per month in benefits. To augment that, I am able to budget an additional $32.00 per month for food. Altogether, that leaves me with a budget of just over $50.00 per week. Join me as I share what I do to make it work.
Welcome to Week Eleven
My week was wonderful because I had some very special visitors. My brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew traveled two hours to spend time with me! They arrived Saturday afternoon and stayed until Sunday morning.
Their visits mean the world to me, especially since I don’t see them often. I had not seen them since the week after Christmas, when Sam & I stayed with them. If things work out, Sam & I will visit them over Memorial Day weekend.
Speaking of Sam, she will be home in less than four weeks! Time has certainly passed quickly. I have not yet had a chance to talk to her about how we’re going to handle dinnertime when she comes home, so that all is still up in the air. I don’t like not having a plan, so we’re definitely going to need to get things figured out soon.
In the meantime, I’ve been doing my best to stay under budget. That includes using up all leftover ingredients. So far, so good! I’ve also been doing pretty well planning meals around sales and coupons. I can’t believe I’ve learned to enjoy meal-planning, shopping, and cooking! I would have never saw that coming.
Next up on my to-do list is to clean out my deep freezer. I definitely want it sorted and organized before Sam comes home. Well, I’ll organize the best I can considering it’s a chest freezer, and I have to layer things. I despise having to take a bunch of crap out to get to the stuff underneath. In the past, I’ve tried using plastic containers, but they take up too much space, and my freezer isn’t very big. I’ve kept things in reusable shopping bags too, but that doesn’t look good. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Meals
Italian Salads (2 nights)
Before I moved away from my hometown, I used to love getting the occasional Italian antipasto salad from one of my favorite restaurants. These days I make them at home with lettuce, tomatoes onions, red bell peppers, salami, ham, mozzarella cheese, and pepper rings. The restaurant’s version also includes pepperoni, but I omitted that just because of the added expense.
These salads were huge, and they were only $6.00 each because I already had the mozzarella and pepper rings at home. The Olive Garden dressing was expensive and unfortunately not on sale, but I love the stuff, so I splurged. I should have ordered it from Sam’s Club where you can get 2 24-ounce bottles for on $7.98, but I didn’t think of that. Instead, I paid $4.29 for 16 ounces. I’ll try to remember to get it from Sam’s the next time.
Potato Soup & Rolls (2 nights)
My brother had requested that I make our mother’s potato soup when he and his family visited. How can I say no to my little brother? I had already purchased a 5-pound bag of russet potatoes the previous week because they were on sale, so I just needed to buy some evaporated milk and ham. I also had some Rhode’s dinner rolls in the freezer, so I made those to go along with the soup.
I love this soup so much, and I’d like to have it once more before Sam gets back since she doesn’t care for it.
Hamburgers & Crispy Potato Rounds (2 nights)
I have been digging burgers. I think this is the third time I’ve had them in the past four weeks! I had ground beef and buns in the freezer, and I used a bit of the lettuce I had purchased for salad. I always have mustard, ketchup, mayo, pickles, and onion on hand, so I only had to buy a tomato!
To go along with my burgers, I made some of the frozen potato rounds I had purchased last week.
I’m trying very hard not to produce food waste, and this meal is a good example of how I’ve been using up what I have on hand. In eleven weeks, I think the only thing I’ve tossed was a few stalks of soggy celery. I probably could have frozen them, but I didn’t.
Hummus & Pita
I was craving hummus, so I decided to make a batch, which I topped with olive oil and Aleppo pepper. I also made delicious Greek pita to go along with it. Other than the lemon, the ingredients required for each recipe are those I always have hand—even the tahini. I only make hummus like once a year but refrigerated tahini lasts forever. I can’t even remember when I bought my current jar. Just remember to let it come to room temperature prior to using it because it needs to be stirred.
Total Spent on Meals: $19.98
Baking/Dessert Project
Along with the soup, my brother requested no-bake cookies, as well as blueberry buckle to go along with our morning coffee. I had everything on hand to make both.
Total Spent for Baking & Dessert: $0.00
Stock Up
Since I was making a double batch of no-bakes, I would be running low on peanut butter, so I bought a 40-ounce jar of Meijer brand peanut butter. While we often buy Jiff Natural, which is $6.97 at Walmart, Meijer brand is only $4.49 for the same size jar. I don’t care for the fact that it contains hydrogenated oils, but if I’m saving over $2.00, I can live with it.
Meijer was running a deal where, if you bought $12.00+ of baking supplies, you’d get $3.00 off. Plus Meijer flour and sugar was buy one, get one for 25% off, and King Arthur flour was on sale. Win, win, win!
Well, the cashier rang up some things wrong, so I didn’t get my $3.00 off. Instead, I got $3.40 off because he rang up my King Arthur flour as Meijer all purpose flour. He also rang up my 69¢ garlic as 99¢ green onions.
Total Spent to Stock Up: $21.02
Miscellaneous
I am still digging smoothies! I don’t foresee myself getting tired of them anytime soon either. I still had plenty of my Daybreak Blend left, so I didn’t have to buy fruit this week. Once I run out of Daybreak Blend, I won’t be able to get more from Costco because the membership is in Sam’s name. Luckily, both Walmart and Meijer sell a blend of the same fruits: strawberries, mangoes, peaches, and pineapples. Meijer’s is $11.99 for 64 ounces, and Walmart’s is even cheaper at $9.94. I’ll wind up having to get it from Meijer, however, since I won’t be getting to Walmart anytime soon.
Total Spent on Miscellaneous: $4.19
The Final Tally
This week the regular price of my groceries was $53.61, and I was able to save $10.42, which means I spent a grand total of $43.19. Another week of coming in under budget! Yes!
Grand Total Spent on Food This Week: $43.19
In Conclusion
A wonderful weekend with family? Check! Another week under budget? Check! Conquering the deep freezer? Still a work in progress. But, hey, it will eventually get done. In the meantime, I will just continue enjoying my journey. It’s all about learning, adapting, and maybe even discovering a hidden talent for freezer organization (fingers crossed!). Stay tuned for the next chapter in this budget-friendly food adventure!
