Meal Plan Monday: A $70 Challenge

As the semester goes on and our extra costs go up (we’re ordering graduation caps and gowns this week! wohoo!), our budget is tightening up. I’ve decided to keep working through the rest of the semester, and we’re going to keep watching our costs to make sure that we don’t run into any unpleasant surprises. Until we’re both permanently employed, we need to really make every dollar we have count and try to limit waste as much as possible. This week my grocery budget was $70 and I’m thrilled that I made it!

I’ve learned a lot during law school about cooking on a budget. There’s nothing like living on student loans to help you understand the value of a dollar! Trust me on that one.

The three biggest things I do to save money are shopping sales, making a thorough grocery list, and doing one large grocery trip. (Also if you want a fourth option to bump things up, working at a grocery store and getting an employee discount doesn’t hurt either 😉 ). For me, saving money starts when I make my meal plan and lists for the week. It keeps me on track and prevents impulse buying and food waste. I can’t tell you how much money I used to waste going to the store a bunch of times every week and ordering out because I forgot to plan anything to cook. I’m ALL ABOUT THE MEAL PLANNING now.

Jason is still very much a carnivore and I am still very much a vegetarian. I’m surprised that this actually hasn’t effected our budget much. If we were both vegetarian, we would definitely spend less on groceries. But even with buying animal and plant based products, our costs are pretty much the same. Here’s the plan.

Sunday: enchiladas leftovers (was working the night shift)

Monday: Indian spiced lamb (for Jason) and tofu cooked the same way (for me), spinach palak paneer, indian rice

Remember that time I made cheese?

Heck yeah! That was awesome. Making some more tonight for that delicious palak paneer.

Tuesday: pasta primavera

Wednesday: chicken teriyaki (for Jason) with rice and broccoli, leftovers (for me, working the night shift)

Thursday: 15 minute creamy avocado pasta

Friday: leftovers

Saturday: dinner at Busch Gardens (because I came in under budget! wheee!)

A lot of the reason I was able to stay within budget was because I’m using things that we already have in our pantry and refrigerator, which is another important part of saving money on food. I’ll show you a little more closely everything new I bought to feed us for the week.

for dinners:

• bell peppers, zucchini, broccoli, tofu, spinach, sausage, basil, canned tomatoes, lamb chops, basmati rice, whole milk and lemons (to make cheese), garlic, oil spray, cherry tomatoes

for breakfasts and lunch:

• cheddar cheese, eggs, bagels, milk, orange juice, mandarin oranges

for dessert:

• ice cream sandwiches! 😀

My total after going to Haris Teeter and Trader Joe’s was $66.95.  Success!

I’m off tonight and I’m about to go really enjoy making some cheese.

Thanks for reading! And be sure to check out the recipe I posted yesterday if you haven’t already.

-Lauren