Project: Food Budget–Week 5
I am starting to really get a hang of this! Here is this week’s damage:
Budget: $75
Actual: $75.28
| Amazon Fresh | Qty. | Extended Price ($) |
| Baby Apple Medley | 1 | $3.99 |
| Yellow Onion | 1 | $0.69 |
| Baby Carrots, Organic, 1 lb Package | 1 | $2.29 |
| Fiesta Frijol Pinto Beans, 32 oz | 1 | $3.59 |
| Fiesta Garbanzo Beans, 16 oz | 1 | $1.39 |
| Fiesta Light Red Dry Kidney Beans, 16 oz | 1 | $1.59 |
| Food Should Taste Good Multigrain Chips | 1 | $3.29 |
| $16.83 | ||
| Trader Joe’s | Qty. | Extended Price ($) |
| Mediterranean Hummus | 1 | $3.99 |
| Dark Roast Coffee | 1 | $4.49 |
| Mini Milk Chocolate Bars (2Chili made me) | 2 | $3.58 |
| Herbed Goat Cheese Log | 1 | $2.49 |
| Bananas | 3 | $0.57 |
| Large Cage Free Eggs | 1 | $2.57 |
| TJ’s Mini Shredded Frosted Wheats | 2 | $5.98 |
| 12 Grain Crackers | 1 | $1.99 |
| Low Sodium Veggie Broth | 2 | $3.98 |
| Firm Tofu | 1 | $1.29 |
| Greek Yogurt | 1 | $2.79 |
| Organic Fat Free – Gallon | 1 | $5.69 |
| Organic Green Bell Pepper | 2 | $2.99 |
| Strawberry Preserves | 1 | $2.99 |
| Dried Bing Cherries | 1 | $3.49 |
| Almond Butter | 1 | $4.99 |
| TJ’s No Salt Marinara Sauce | 2 | $4.58 |
| $58.45 |
Total: $75.28
Menu for the week:
- Monday: BBQ Seitan Sandwiches with Home Fries
- Tuesday: Easy Veggie Lasagna
- Wednesday: Lentil Loaf with Balsamic Glaze (from Emily Levenson) with Broccolini
- Thursday: Leftover Lasagna
- Friday: Pasta with Arugula Pesto (long bike ride planned for Saturday = yay for carbs!)
- Saturday: Enchiladas, 2Chili Style
- Sunday: Leftovers
Observations for the week:
- I realized when I was entering my receipts that one reason we are able to come close to the budget is I don’t buy that many fully processed foods. That’s a good thing, and it’s lighter on the pocketbook too. I’d say we’ve been falling into the 80/20 rule: 80% “ingredients” and 20% ready-to-eat, or pre-packaged.
- The baby apples from Amazon were a bad purchase. That is the one downer to buying produce online – you can’t tell exactly what you are getting. There turned out to be 5 baby apples (about half the size of a normal apple) for $3.99. So, not the best value.
- One big money saver for us is bread. I have been making our bread for about a year now – and that has turned out to be a huge saver. Bread without HFCS in it is pretty expensive to buy, but cheap to make! This is the bread that is 2Chili’s favorite. I either make a French loaf or put it into a pan and have a traditional loaf out of it.
Budgeting bloggers represent! Here are my partners in budgeting – check out how they’re doing:
- Emily Levenson
- Maria Marz
- Veggie Converter
- Low Budge Veg
- Dairy-Free Cooking
- Motor City Girl In the Steel City
- Veggie Burgher
- Baked Beans and Broccoli…Vegetarian Budgeting
- Sweet Rehab
- The Happy Cactus
- The Vegetarian Salmon
- Newly Vegan
- Always Sick and Tired
- Veggie on the Cheap
- MeloMeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day
