So here is how I do it.
1. As mentioned in the FB post, I plan my meals around what is on sale. For example, if there is a really good deal on Chicken Thighs then I make sure to plan a meal using chicken thighs.
2. I make one dish last for several meals. With the chicken thighs example from above, I will make enough let's say Shoyu Chicken to be eaten for dinner the evening that I cook it, lunch for me and Sam the next day as well as dinner for all 3 of us the next evening. Sometimes I'm lucky enough to squeeze another lunch for at least me for an additional day. I also try to keep the cost of one dish around $15.00 and no more than $20.00.
3. We never skip breakfast and I try to keep it simple. Since my son's school is not close to our house, Sam and him have to leave at 6:30am to get to school by 7:45am. Which means I don't have a lot of time to cook breakfast for my son, however I do let him choose what he'd like to eat. A typical breakfast on a weekday is anything from Cereal, pancakes, eggs/rices/spam, or an egg and turkey bacon breakfast sandwich.
4. The fact that we are promoters of Visalus, helps out a great deal, although even without it I don't see us spending any more on our weekly groceries. We get our meal replacement shakes for free because we shared our challenge with 3 of our friends who also are on the challenge. This is what Sam normally has for breakfast and a snack or post-workout meal and our son chooses this as his breakfast choice sometimes as well. If we have to buy any ingredients for the shakes it's mostly almond milk that we purchase in bulk from Costco that lasts awhile. Note: After I have the baby, I will be jumping back on the challenge full time, which may help us save a little more since I'll be replacing 2 meals with the shakes.
5. I challenged myself to doing a Financial Fast at least 2 days a week. This helps keep me from buying lunch during the week for when I'm at work and forces me to prepare lunch, which if it's not leftovers from a previous night's dinner then I make a sandwich or a quick pasta to take to work. Sometimes it's hard when I see a co-worker pick up a plate lunch or fast food for lunch, however if I bring my own lunch it's typically healthier than buying food elsewhere.
6. We don't qualify for free or reduced lunch for our son. So we let our son pick and choose which days he brings home lunch and which days he eats school lunch. (Note: our $50.00 grocery budget a week does not include any school lunch that he eats, which if he ate all 5 weekdays would cost us $11.25 a week). On the days he brings home lunch, he has a choice of chicken nuggets, pizza rolls or a cold cut sandwich. He typically take home lunch 2-4 times a week. We put $50.00 on his lunch account at a time and that lasts him 2-3 months.
7. Although I stick to a strict budget for our groceries, I always try to include some kind of treat, such as ice cream, cookies to bake as a family, or since it's been cold lately hot cocoa and marshmallows.
8. Lastly, I take advantage of store ad prices and reward card programs. I typically shop at either Tamura's to support local, Sack-N-Save/Foodland (using the Maika'i Rewards Card) and Safeway (using the Safeway rewards and personalized deals that you add online). I look at all three ads prior to meal planning and look for which store has the best deals. I make my list for one store only. Instead of wasting time, money and mileage on going to multiple stores I shop at only one store for the week.
I would probably save a lot more money if I was an extreme couponer, but this system works for me and I still save money by trying to buy mostly what is on sale.
Other ways you can save lots of money on groceries is by growing your own vegetables and fruits as well as fishing or hunting for your protein. Once in awhile we are blessed with vegetables, fruits or fish from friends and family. And this helps out on the grocery budget a lot.
My weekly grocery budget will have to be changed once the new baby arrives and starts eating food other than breast milk. But as I did with our first born, I will make my own baby food. But I don't anticipate having to adjust our grocery budget any more than $10 a week to feed an extra mouth.
We do eat an occasional meal out, the money that we use for those meals comes from our weekly spending allowance that both Sam and I have each have. We try to plan a meal out based on our always busy schedules.
If you have a larger family, I would suggest doing a monthly bulk shopping at Costco or Sam's Club and supplement with once a week shopping at a smaller grocery store to buy the things you can't get at a Warehouse store.
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