How To Feed A Family of 5 On A Budget

We all know that prices are rising. One thing I do to help my family is to have a grocery bill budget.

I try to keep our weekly budget to $130.00 or less. This is not an easy task some weeks, but other weeks I nail it. Our grocery budget is for 5 dinners, breakfast for the kids, and lunch for Paul to take to school. Michael and I take leftovers to work for lunch. I do go to Costco once a month and get a few things. I will write a post about that later on.

Over the past few weeks, we have decided to cut eating out for lunch on Saturday and either dinner Saturday night or lunch on Sunday. We are saving anywhere from $60-$100 by doing this. It’s expensive to eat out for 5 people. The trick, though, is I am only adding $20 to the grocery store budget to cover those meals. Now my budget is $150.00 a week for groceries.

This was a good week. I was able to get the groceries for $143.90. I did something that I don’t normally do. I utilized 3 different grocery stores. I went to United Outlet Grocery for the first time, Kroger, and Walmart.

First Grocery Stop: United Outlet Grocery

I went to UOG on my lunch break Friday and spent $52.26.

• Ribs – $9.90
• Pork Chops – $5.04
• Burger Patties – $7.45
• Hillshire Farm Roast Beef 13oz – $3.99
• Hillshire Farm Ham 9oz – $1.99
• Kraft Cheese 24ct – $3.99
• Sister Schubert’s Rolls – $1.29 (bought 2)
• Crescent Rolls – $.50 (bought 2)
• Pillsbury Hawaiian Crescent Rolls – $1.29
• Bag of Frozen Fruit – $1.99
• Bryan Beef Lil Smokies – $1.99
• Jimmy Dean Frozen Sausage Patties – $1.29
• Swanson Organic Chicken Broth – $1.00 (bought 2)
• Little Debbie Nutty Buddy – $2.25
• Capri Sun 100% Apple Juice Boxes – $2.99
• And something I can’t remember – $1.00

Tip: Grocery store pick-up is a great way to save money and time

For Kroger and Walmart, I ordered online and picked them up on Saturday morning. I love grocery pick-up. If you haven’t ever tried it you need to.

Second Grocery Stop: Kroger

My Kroger order was $44.32 before sales and coupons. I saved $21.08 and which brought my total to $23.93.

• Red Onion – $1.42
• Kroger Au Jus Gravy Mix – $.49
• Kroger Bone-In Chicken Party Wings – $6.99
• Kroger KC Style BBQ Sauce – $1.00
• Kroger Frozen Mixed Vegetables – $1.00
• Kroger Mild Italian Sausage – Free
• Kroger Cream Cheese – $1.79
• Kroger Provolone Sliced Cheese – $2.09
• Kroger Frozen Vegetable Gumbo Blend – $1.00
• Kroger Whole Milk 1/2gal – $1.29 (bought 2)
• Mandarin Oranges – $2.99
• Snyder’s Hot Buffalo Wing Pretzels – $1.89

Third Grocery Stop: Walmart

Finally, there’s Walmart. I spent $67.71 here.

• Fresh Chopped Collard Greens – $4.14
• Boneless Chicken Breast – $10.84
• Great Value Green Beans – $.58 (bought 2)
• Bananas – $1.04
• Romaine Lettuce – $1.98
• Little Bites Muffins – $3.94
• Cap’n Crunch Cereal – $3.66
• Great Value Baked Beans – $1.72
• Great Value Bread – $1.00
• Great Value Canned Pineapple – $1.28
• Great Value Shredded Mozzarella – $2.20
• Frank’s Hot Sauce – $2.74
• Great Value Unsalted Sweet Cream Butter – $3.98
• King’s Hawaiian Rolls – $4.33
• Suave Shampoo – $1.94
• Miller High Life 30pk – $18.98

Using what we already had on hand, plus these groceries, I came up with 9 dinners and 3 lunch options. We used 1-7 for dinners this week, and the other 2 will roll over to next week. Now I just need to come up with 2 more dinners next week because we are leaving on Thursday to go out of town on an adult beach vacation for 4 days. I’ll post that meal plan and grocery details on Sunday.

If you need any suggestions on grocery budgets and meal plans, please reach out. I would love to help. As I have said before, we aren’t a meat and 3 veggie family, but we are fed and happy.

Keepin’ it real,

Magan O.

Other Posts to check out

Costco: Save over $50 On These 10 Items

Meal Planning