Mandi from Chewsy Lovers is back with another 64 Dollar Grocery Budget post! This time, she’s sharing everything that she purchased at Publix, and all of the meals she was able to create from her shopping trip without using coupons. Thanks for sharing with us, Mandi!
A few days ago as part of the 64-dollar grocery budget challenge, I shared how to save money when shopping at Publix. This challenge challenged my creativity but it was fun! Today we’ll talk about what I bought with the $64 and what I made with it. I spent $62 and some change. Pow! We’ll talk about that too.
This trip was to feed a family of four (and a mini). We have a toddler in the house. While her portions are much smaller, she pretty much eats what we eat. I built my grocery list around our staples on hand, to make my life easier and to trim my bill a little. You can get in on how to use your staples to maximize your grocery budget in last week’s post. I bought things that we love to eat like zucchini and chicken, and I bought some things I just wanted to eat like fresh cod. It was the most expensive thing I purchased but we made it stretch. So let’s get to it.
My Bill:
1 Gallon Whole Milk – $3.29
2 Salad Bags (1 Garden Salad, 1 Baby Spinach) – 2/$4.00
4ct. Bakery Hoagie Rolls – $2.29
2 jars Pasta Sauce (1 Tomato & Olive Oil, 1 Creamy Alfredo) – $1.40 each
5lb. bag Red Potatoes – $3.49
1 bag Frozen Broccoli – $1.69
1.5lb Fresh Cod Fillets – $13.89
4lb. Frying Chicken – $6.19
2 1lb. packs of Ground Turkey – $5.59 each
1 1lb. Box of Ziti – $1.00
1 1lb. Box of Thin Spaghetti – $1.00
2 Sweet Onions – $1.26
8pk Mango-Peach Applesauce – $2.00
12oz. pack Sliced Portobello Mushrooms – $1.69
1.19lbs. Yellow & Zucchini Squash – $2.02
1pt. Fresh Strawberries – $2.50
1 dozen large eggs – $1.77
Total: $62.06
Breakfast
- Cold Cereal & Milk
- Vegetable Omelet (Just grab any veggie scraps left, onions, spinach, mushrooms, etc.)
Breakfast Potatoes
- Scrambled Eggs, Orange Slices, Toast
- Green Smoothie – (Used spinach, strawberries, milk, ice), French Toast
Lunch
- Fish n’ Chips (Red Potato Chips)
- Peanut Butter Sandwiches & Milk
- Turkey and Spinach Meatball Subs and Homemade Chips
- Chicken Fried Rice (Pulled Chicken, Rice, Eggs)
- Leftovers from Dinner (Probably Meatloaf Night)
Dinner
- Spaghetti with Ground Turkey (Used half of the spaghetti box, pack 1 of ground turkey. Reserved a little less than half and made meatballs with spinach for lunch subs.)
Garden Salad
Roasted Chicken (Pulled and used in four dishes, one for lunch):
- Orange Chicken “No Mein” (Used half of the spaghetti box), Broccoli (Half of Bag)
- Creamy Chicken & Mushroom Soup (Used one hoagie loaf for croutons, and half of mushrooms)
- Chicken and Broccoli Ziti Bake (Used half of broccoli bag, half of ziti box, and alfredo sauce)
- Stuffed Tomatoes (Stuffed with rice, zucchini, and half of mushrooms)
- Cod Cakes (cod, potato, onion), Sauteed vegetables (Squash, onion, zucchini)
- Turkey Meatloaf (Pack 2 of Ground Turkey), Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Spinach Salad
Snacks
- Oranges
- Strawberries
- Cinnamon Toast
- Mango-Peach Applesauce
I could’ve added maybe another fruit somewhere or got jelly for our peanut butter with the $2 I had left. I also like to grab a pack of Turtles candy in the checkout line to eat in peace and reward myself for being such an awesome mom and wife.
Not spending $13 on fish would’ve brought my cost down also. Ha! The key to making this list and menu work was building the menu around staples and what I had, and also buying ingredients that could stretch into different dishes. I used pretty much all of everything except milk (which the toddler will drink up) and potatoes, and they can go on my menu for next week.
