My One Hundred Dollar A Month Grocery Budget – Week 2

Hello! 

Welcome to my one hundred dollar a month grocery budget week #2 show and tell. 

Before I show you the groceries I bought and the meals I ate this past week, I wanted to remind you of the ground rules I set for myself for this challenge.

The Ground Rules

• Start with absolutely nothing in the pantry.
• All my meals {and beverages too!} will be at the studio this month.
• No cheat days, free meals etc. If it’s going in my mouth, I’ll report it.

What’s In My Kitchen

• Hot plate, frying pan, saucepan & basic utensils {no oven!} 
• Toaster
• Crockpot
• Rice cooker
• Microwave

The Plan Is Simple

• Start with $100
• Buy food
• Show you what meals I made/ate

Week 1 Shopping Trip

On my first shopping trip I spent $38.89. {What you see above.} I wrote about the meals I made last week HERE.

Week 2 Shopping Trip

On my second shopping trip I spent $38.58 {what you see above}.

I now have $22.53 left in my one hundred dollars a month grocery budget. And I’m not worried. Not one bit. In fact, I actually think I’m going to get to the end of the month with a little money left in my pocket. 

And if I do, I know exactly what I’m going to do with that money {and maybe you do too}. 😉

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 

Let me tell you why I bought the things I bought on my second shopping trip of the month. 

I walked into the grocery with big plans! I was going to buy everything I needed for a “big salad” week. 

I was planning on having giant chicken caesar salads for four of my big meals. But when I got to the store there were NO rotisserie chickens! Oh no!

And there wouldn’t be any for a few hours {that will teach me to go looking for a rotisserie chicken right when the store opens!}. So I quickly made a new plan.

I bought ham instead. The ham was on sale for $.99 a pound, so I bought the smallest one I could find {eight pounds!}. And you know what? It was an excellent decision.

Another item that was on my original list was jam. But the cheapest jar of jam was $2.99 and full of junky junk ingredients so I passed. 

I grabbed a jar of peanut butter which is full of protein and on sale for $1.99 and called it good.

The grocery ad and the deals I found in the store were pretty decent. 

5 pounds of potatoes for $2.49, Granny smith apples for $0.99 a pound, English muffins $0.99, Eggs $1.32 a dozen {cheap!}.

Avocados $0.99 each, green beans $0.99 a pound, red peppers $1.99 a pound {bagged}, bananas $0.49 a pound {cheap!}. 

I found a cart with day-old bread and grabbed a loaf for $0.50. Another cart had applesauce cups for $0.25 each. 

I also checked the produce markdown cart and it was full of squishy zucchini, brown cauliflower and pints of moldy tomatoes. No thanks!

I thought about buying butter, but the store brand butter was $2.99 a pound {or $2.29 for 8 ounces}.

Margarine was totally out of the question. 😉 And then I realized… I didn’t need no stinkin’ butter. I had a ham!!

Ham = LARD

I could use lard to cook with, I could make soap, heck, I could even make some candles!!! With lard, the possibilities are endless. 

This is what my cupboard looked like at the beginning of week #2 after my trip to the grocery store. {The donuts were my “luxury, fill me up with sugary goodness” item of the week!} 

12 powdered donuts for $2. Heck ya! It took all my willpower to get home and photograph my groceries before I ripped the box open. 

This is what my fridge looked like. Is that sucker packed or what!?

Below Are The Meals I Ate This Past Week 

Day 8 

Breakfast – 2 Donuts!! Best empty calories on the planet earth!

Lunch – Peanut butter toast with bananas

Dinner – Giant bowl of chicken soup with extra rice {leftover from week #1}

Beverages – 2 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 9 

Breakfast – 2 Donuts – I love sugar!

Lunch – Peanut butter sandwich, banana

Dinner – Hummus, red peppers, carrots, hard boiled egg

Beverages – 3 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 10 

Breakfast – 1 Donut, banana

Lunch – Black beans, 2 poached eggs, red peppers and peanut butter toast

Dinner – Smashed potatoes and green beans

Beverages – 2 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 11

Breakfast – 2 Donuts

Snack – Banana, cold ham

Linner – Split pea soup, toast

Evening Snack – 2 Donuts {OMG!} 

Beverages – 3 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 12 

Breakfast – Avocado toast, applesauce cup

Linner – Split pea soup

Dinner – Smashed potato, ham, green beans

Beverages – 2 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 13

*Part of me was getting tired of eating donuts and the other part thought I was a freakin’ genius because 12 donuts for $2 seems like a heck of a smart spend for this sugar loving girl. 

Breakfast – Peanut butter banana toast

Snack – 1 Donut, banana 

Dinner – 2 Eggs {fried in lard!} ham, black beans and peppers

Beverages – 2 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

Day 14 

* The last donuts were a wee bit firm. 🙂 But ahhh sugar!

Breakfast – 2 Donuts

Snack – 2 Slices peanut butter toast

Dinner – Ham and eggs {fried in lard!}

Beverages – 2 Cups of tea with milk and sugar, water

This is what the cupboard looked like at the end of the second week. 

This is what the fridge looked like at the end of the second week. {Not too shabby if you ask me!}

Tidbits

I got some serious mileage out of that $2 box of donuts. And seeing the box everyday made me smile. 

And the $0.50 loaf of bread!? That was another winner. Yes, I would have loved to have had the money in my budget to spend on a loaf of Dave’s Killer Bread {$5 on sale last week} but the $0.50 loaf worked just fine.

The ham though, that was the BEST deal of the week. 

Penny Pinching Tip

Re-use your tea bags. Be mindful of how long you let your tea {bags} steep in your cup. If you’re strategic about it you can get several cups of tea from just one tea bag. 

The 1st cup is really good. The second cup is pretty good. The third cup is just sad. But if you save two tea bags and use both together for a third cup the tea is still good.

Here are another 10 ways to re-use your tea bags. 

Think Outside of the Box

Trim the fat. Literally. From your next ham. Put that fat in a Crockpot and turn it on low and wait for the magic to happen. 

How does that saying go? Waste not want not?

I think there are a lot of basic things in our everyday lives that we think we NEED. When really, there is so much we ALREADY HAVE… We’ve just forgotten how to use the stuff.

I feel like week 2 was a big success. The variety was good and I definitely ended week 2 with more left in the cupboard and refrigerator than the previous week.

And with only $22.53 left in my one hundred dollars a month grocery budget, I’m going to need it. 😉

~Mavis