$50 per week

I have a general food budget of $50 per week. I lot of folks are asking me- especially with money being tight- how I do that. So I thought I'd poke into my cooking blog and write a little about my budgeting and food detail.

First of all, the monthly budget is actually more than the $50 per week. (uh oh everybody says). I allow about $300 per month (instead of the $225 that $50 per week for 4 1/2 weeks would be).

Second of all, we are lucky to get "breaks from the budget" due to my mom sometimes treating us to grocery items. So we are not living this day in, day out, all year long. However, if the need arises we could, and that is part of the point of the exercise.

Our $50 per week is also contingent on local food prices. If you are paying $5 a gallon for milk, that's more than the $3.50-$4.00 we are paying here, and other items in your store may be impacted. You have consider this when budgeting. It is better to first consider what you need, how much it costs, and where it is sold cheapest, and thereby determine what your food budget should be, rather than slapping a $50 limit and hoping you can squeeze what you need into it.

Also, there is initial investment. how much you spend on that initial investment depends on your local resources: dent-and-scratch sales or centers (for example, we have Sears Appliance outlet in Richmond), Freecycle, generous friends and family getting rid of old items, etc.

The initial investment:
A freezer. The bigger your family, the bigger freezer you should get. Upright freezers are easier for access. Chest freezers tend to hold more food. If you have a choice, get as energy-efficient a freezer as you can. You don't want to save on food, only to have the electric bill skyrocket.

Good plastic containers and bags. Tupperware, gladware, whatever. Get lots of different sizes. You will need space to organize them when not in use. These are for leftovers, storing items with less air so they last longer, and freezing recipes like soup or chili for later eating.

Plastic wrap. Go to your local wholesale club and get one of the big industrial rolls of saranwrap. This will let you portion out items that are bought in bulk.

Freezer bags, gallon size. You can find these on sale if you watch for it. I prefer zipper-top ones.

A crockpot. Crockpot cooking is a wonderful thing, and its cheap. Potatoes are cheap, or can be grown in your yard. Look for cheaper cuts of meat, and in bulk. Potatoes, a peice of meat, a can of cream-of-something soup, maybe some frozen veggies, and you have dinner.



Next, remember that extra $75 a month? Take $50. Start shopping for meats. You want to look for meat by the pound. Ground beef isn't cheap like it used to be. You want to look for deals, and you may need to spread out this $50 over the month as different specials come and go. Look for that magic $.99 per pound or below. Then go buy it. Divide up these packages into single portions using your plastic wrap. Then put the wrapped portions into your freezer bags, and put them in the freezer. You now know the bulk of what you will be eating in the future. Keep an eye out for these specials, but keep in that $50 per month- partly for budget, partly for rotation. Never buy anything you won't actually eat (if you hate chicken, buying $.99 chicken isn't saving you any money. wait until the beef, or tofu, or whatever you actually eat goes on sale). Also, you may find the "magic number" where you are, or for what you eat, is higher, like $1.99. Just try to get it like the stock market- buy low. $1.99 is great for boneless chicken breasts around here, and $.99 is good for whole chickens; but I do keep my eyes peeled for real bargains. Turkeys at Thanksgiving are a good example- they were $.29 a pound at Turkey Day, and they keep in teh freezer very nicely, thanks. And you can eat off of 'em for four or five days.

Next, the $25. This is for buying in bulk things you use that can be stored. For example, we buy cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, and canned green beans by the case, in stead of by the can. It's cheaper. I include school snacks in the weekly calculation below, but these also tend more often to be bought by the case around here.

OK, now we come to the $50 per week. First, we determine what food we need each and every week. I do go weekly, so I can get fresh food. Don't forget tax when you are counting up your food basket. I include it in approximating prices.

Milk 1/2 gallon, $2.50
fruit/veggie budget (fresh) $10.00
Potatoes, 5 pounds $2.00
sweet onion $1.00
Sour cream $1.50
Cottage cheese $3.00
Cheese for shredding $2.00
yogurt $2.00
bacon $3.00
Frozen veggies, $5.00
School snacks $4.00
School drinks $2.00
Chips $2.00 (I buy Utz chips, so they don't keep so well; hence, they are a weekly item)

That's about $40.
The other ten dollars is for "occasional items":

Toilet paper
Paper toweling
Trash bags
Peanut Butter
Ketchup
Whipping cream
Jello
butter
eggs

These are items I do not need every single week, but I do need over the course of a couple weeks or over the month.

Note that we do not buy bread, pasta, rice, cereal, or sweets. If we need these things, they are in my "occasional" budget. We don't do a lot of carbs around here. Joey gets plenty of them at school.

So that's how we do it. I suspect over the summer to bring the veggie budget down so it can be used to supplement elsewhere- buying more stuff to freeze for later. Planning your meals ahead of time also helps- perhaps you won't use sour cream this week, so you can use that $1.50 to buy extra cheese, or more milk, or a loaf of bread, or even a treat. Also, don't be afraid t place extra money elsewhere into the food budget to stretch it all later- Got an extra $5, and the frozen veggies are on sale this week? That will save you down the road!

Best of luck pinching those pennies, clipping those coupons, and keeping to those budgets!!!