Menu Planning

I have been really concentrating on menu planning this month. Feeding all of the mouths that live at our house is expensive! It is worth every penny, but I am trying to work on cutting our costs a bit. We usually budget $1000 a month for groceries/toiletries/diapers (gasp!). It sounds like such A LOT of money, but somehow I still have a hard time staying within that amount. This page made me feel a bit better. According to the USDA, a family our size on the THRIFTY plan (as opposed to the higher low cost, moderate or liberal plan), spent 1008.30 to eat in the month of December. That helped me feel better about how much we spend, but I still want to try to cut back on costs, or at least keep them from going up. I try to cook mostly from scratch, and fix fairly healthy meals.

I seem to drop $200 each time I step foot in Walmart. I thought it might help if I simply stayed out of Walmart more often! This month, I decided to try to do a REALLY big shopping trip at the beginning of the month. I planned our supper meals and bought everything to cook them all. I also bought enough toiletries, diapers, Good Nights, kitty litter and food, paper products and cleaning supplies to last the month. After my first big trip, I will just do quick dairy/produce trips into Kroger once each week.

So far, my plan is working well. I am hoping to come in $200 under budget. We are buying 1/4 of a cow this month, so I would like to put some of our grocery budget towards the beef. We will see if my goal is realistic!

Here is my menu plan--

1. Creamy Rice and Chicken
2 Out for Anna Grace's Birthday
3. Breakfast for supper
4. Supper at a birthday party. I am taking bean dip.
5. Salad Bar
6. Bible Study -- Chili
7. black bean & corn chicken taco bake
8. Chicken and rice soup in bread bowls
9. Pinto Beans & homemade macaroni and cheese
10. Homemade pizza
11. Breakfast for supper -- eggs, pancakes and bacon
12. Barbecue chicken and baked potatoes
13. Bible Study-- Mexican Night
14. Sloppy Joes & home fries
15. Terriyaki Chicken
16. Vegetable Beef Stew
17. Homemade pizza
18. Shepherd's Pie
19. Taco Potatoes
20. Bible Study--Finger Foods
21. Enchiladas & Mexican rice
22. Cheeseburger Macaroni
23. Black Bean Soup
24. Book Club-- New Orleans Celebration-- Jambalaya
25. Breakfast for supper
26. Spaghetti Carbonara
27. Bible Study
28 . Tacos/ Mexican Rice
29. Peanut Chicken & rice