Molly's Budget Challenge: Reflections of a Budget Queen

It’s Molly again, reporting back with reflections after my week of accepting Ryan’s challenge!

As I mentioned in my first blog post, I regularly spend $400 a month on groceries; $200 every 2 weeks equating to $7.14 per day. And let me tell you, this is not willy nilly spending! To make this happen I have to plan my meals down to the T to make sure I spend my money the best way I can.

The Strategy

At the beginning of each month, I think of a bunch of meals I want to make in the next 2 weeks. I also consult Jesse, my fiancé, on types of meals he would like to see on the menu. Let’s just say that Jesse has different ideas of what meals consist of (he would choose hot dogs for most meals if he could). I on the other hand try to plan meals that are not only cost effective, but also nutritious and even adventurous at times!

So once I have an idea of the things I would like to make, I pull out my giant wall calendar and start planning. When meal planning, I take into consideration a number of things. This includes ingredients I already have on hand, what I have eaten in the past 2 weeks to try not to duplicate too much, as well as my busy days of the week and when I have time to make a more elaborate meal verse when I need to throw something together and get off to a meeting. I get all of my recipes lined up calculating each meals cost per serving (this is very important), schedule my meals, and then head to the grocery store!

I shop in bulk (mainly at Costco) and also shop the flyers (mainly at Save-On-Foods). I go to stores with my handy-dandy calculator and add up everything I buy to ensure I don’t overspend.

My Meal Planned Week

This week was a busy week for me, so I planned accordingly. I batch made breakfasts and lunches for the week and planned to stretch my dinners.

Breakfasts:

I am a creature of habit and can go periods of time eating the same thing every day. I know this isn’t for everyone, but it works for me. Almost every morning for breakfast, I eat overnight oats. I love that I can prep breakfast on Sunday and it lasts me 4 out of 5 week days! Helloooo sleeping in 10 more minutes instead of spending time making breakfast. Here is my overnight oats recipe and the cost break down:

2 cups of rolled oats – .58c

½ cup toasted shredded coconut – .39c

1 can of coconut milk – $2.49 (not on sale)

¾ cup of plain Greek yogurt – $1.66

¼ cup of hemp hearts – $1.32

2 tbsp of chia seeds – .30c

1 tbsp honey – .40c

A dash of vanilla – .21c

Mix it all up and divide into 4 servings.

Total cost: $7.35 Cost per serving: $1.83

Lunches:

As I mentioned, I knew I had a busy week coming up, so just like my breakfasts, I prepped all of my lunches for the week in advance. This week was unique, but on most weeks, I double my dinner recipes and take left overs for lunches. Here is the salad recipe I used this week:

1 red pepper – $1.33

10 cherry tomatoes – .75c

½ cucumber – .50c

1 can of chickpeas – $1.50

1 can of black beans – $1.50

1 cup cilantro – $1.00

¼ cup of fresh mint – .50c

½ cup of quinoa (uncooked; prepare accordingly) – .73c

1 lime (juice) – .50c

3 tbsp olive oil – .41c

Total cost = $8.72 Cost per serving (5 servings) = $1.75

So now that you understand my process and thinking a bit better, here was my meal plan for the week:

Monday (Day total = $5.38)

Breakfast – Overnight Oats ($1.83)