Menu Plan Monday: Once a Month Shopping Cost Breakdown & Weekly Goals

Last week I talked about our new “Once a Month Cooking Plan“. The goal is to spend $125 the first week, then $25 each additional week. This week I’d like to share with you the breakdown of what we spent our money on the first week:

CostCo trip (I set $40 aside to spend for this trip, but only spent $30)

• $6.75 for 25 pounds flour
• $4.35 for 32 ounces Cheddar Cheese
• $1.99 for gallon of skim milk
• $13.50 for Perrier (my husband is now drinking Perrier instead of Pepsi!)
• $1.19 for dozen eggs (I took a friend to CostCo and we split 3 dozen eggs)
• $1.08 for 5 Aluminum pans (again, my friend took most of the package)

Total (with tax) = $29.25

Aldi trip

• $2.97 for 3 pounds strawberries
• $1.68 for 3 pounds Gala apples
• $4.47 for 3 jars (24 oz. each) of Salsa
• $2.38 for 2 bags Tortilla chips
• $1.38 for 2 cans evaporated milk
• $1.98 for 2 cans pitted olives
• $2.97 for Basil, Oregano, & Parsley Flakes (1.125 oz each)
• $1.18 for 2 cans Black beans
• $3.38 for 2 bags Spinach (9 oz. each)
• $2.29 for coffee creamer (though this might be the last time we buy it)
• $1.49 for 2 pounds brown sugar
• $3.29 for 1 pound deli ham
• $1.48 for 4 pounds oranges

Total (with tax) = $33.68

Checkers trip

• $1.79 for Wheat Pita Bread
• $3.99 for gallon of orange juice
• $5.69 for Mozzarella cheese
• $2.49 for Feta Cheese
• $1.50 for Chocolate Chips
• $2.99 for Toasted Oats Cereal (32 oz.)
• $1.16 for 2 cans diced tomatoes
• $2.91 for 3 bags of hamburger buns
• $2.60 for Vanilla Extract
• $1 for 5 packages of Ramen Noodles
• $1.98 for Yellow corn tortillas
• $1.68 for whole wheat Penne
• $2.48 for 10 pounds potatoes (yes, I know this is not the best price)
• $.88 for 3 pounds of yellow onions
• $.94 for fresh Basil
• $2.98 for 12 ounces of blackberries
• $1.10 for Broccoli
• $2.48 for 3 pounds green beans
• $1.38 for 2 bell peppers
• $1 for 1 pound red onions
• $.99 for tomatoes (clearance)
• $1.76 for 2 pints grape tomatoes
• $.60 for 1 pound roma tomatoes
• $1.88 for Pepperoni Link (which we will cut for a pizza)

Total (with tax) = 52.52

Second trip to Checkers on Thursday (for Bananas!)

• $1.46 for 7.7 pounds of Bananas
• $$3.84 for 2 containers of Peanut Butter (the around 11 cents/oz. at Checkers is a cheaper price than CostCo!)

Final total for first week = $121.22!

Menu Plan

Bacon, Tomato & Arugula Pizza from Cooking Light

Monday

Lunch: Tortilla Meatball Soup (we never made it last week)

Dinner: leftover Bacon, Tomato & Arugula Pizza

Tuesday

Lunch: Chicken Fried Steak (from freezer)

Dinner: Soup & Sandwich with Amish White Bread

Wednesday

Lunch: Spinach Salad

Dinner: P.B. & J with fruit (maybe we will still have some leftover Pizza)

Thursday

Lunch: Greek Pizza

Dinner: Soup & Sandwich with Amish White Bread

Friday

Lunch: Homemade Whole-Wheat Waffles

Dinner: Graduation Cook-out!! (My husband graduated last fall and we are finally celebrating this week!)

Saturday

Lunch: Eggs & Bacon Pitas

Dinner: my sister’s Graduation party!!

Sunday

Lunch: Spinach Salad

Dinner: leftover Greek Pizza

What are you cooking this week? We’d love to hear about it!

For more recipe ideas,visit my other Menu Planning Monday posts or Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday Blog Hop!

10 Goals for this Week

I’ve decided to break down all my goals for 2012  and May’s goals into manageable bite size weekly goals. Each Monday I will plan on blogging about my 10 Weekly Goals – how I did and giving my new goals for the week. Here are my goals for this week:

Wife/Marriage Goals

1. Write a love note to Matt

Home Management Goals

2. Declutter project - finish office organization (craft supplies)

3. Calculate the cost for the meals I make this week

4. Freezer cooking: Healthy Granola

Personal Goals

5. Couch 2 5K – Week 7

6. Read 7-10 chapters of the Old Testament

7. Finish the Resolutions for Women study and start a new study

8. 31 Days of No Complaining

Blogging/Business Goals

9. Set up a “recipes” section to my blog

10. Meet with piano students and tutor students’ parents

(I’m linking up to MoneySavingMom’s 10 Weekly Goals)

© 2012, Betsy Pool. All rights reserved.