Have you ever wondered how much you should be spending on food? Do you budget and meal plan? Or are you an ‘I’ll figure it out later kinda person’? Recently, I was doing some budgeting for our monthly grocery bill….Family of 4 (but sometimes feed 5-6 a few times a week). Now that my kids are going back to school and I have 3 different school schedules and my schedule….PLANNING a menu and organizing is critical for maintaining my sanity. I have an elementary school student who plays soccer, a middle schooler who is a cheerleader and my wife teaches high school~ Needless to say….I have to be organized, prepared and ready to cook and have food available.
I feel like I budget my time well, I work at work most days, and do the mommy thing at home-sometime they overlap. That being said….3 different school start time and end times with practices and games and then don’t forget my schedule too…Anywho….
Here is my last week meal plans and my monthly budget for groceries. The grocery budget is variable on if I have to buy a meat order that month or not.
But on average….$1,200, $1,500 to $2,000 a month on food is normal(high end is $2000)
First I am blessed that I own my business, make my own hours and can afford the highest quality foods available…but even when I was struggling(yes, I have been there with small children), FOOD and NUTRITION was very high on my priority list-I made it work by cutting out things that were not important.
So here is a break down of my grocery budget…Now that is 7 days a week, for 4 people(sometimes 5-6) 3 meals a day plus snacks.
On the high end…that turns out to be less than 6$ a meal of mostly organic, gluten free(sometimes grain free) nourishing, real food meals. I am pretty sure you can’t go to a nice restaurant and get mostly organic, gluten free meals for you entire family for less than $6 a person???? I know a recent trip to a fancy high end restaurant cost us $150, and it wasn’t organic…that was one meal.
If you take that $150 and the other 3-4 times you eat out a week, that is your week or more of groceries for your family.
Meal Planning....Sunday is my meal planning day...As I sit drinking my coffee looking out the kitchen window, I start my meal planning for the week...What needs to be used, do I have veggies on the verge of being tossed, what meat do I have, what is the schedule, how many pressure cooker/crockpot meals are there, what kinds of food prep can I do today to get ready for the week, etc.? All those things go onto my notebook. I then browse pinterest, my recipes books, files and past recipes, come up with a plan or three and make it happen.
This is what my notebook end up looking like. Most days I follow the meal plan, some days I change meat or entire meals...but if I am prepared ahead of time, all goes smooth and easy.
Peace~Love~Chi
Emily
