As of now, your grocery bill should be easily near $100 a week thanks to all that grass-fed beef and those organic vegetables. It’s burning a hole through your pocket.
Cutting back on groceries isn’t an option, you need the fuel. That said, the reality for many of us is that spending that much on food isn’t sustainable. You can scale that grocery bill down to $50 a week.
Don’t get your gym shorts in a twist, it’s completely doable, you just have to be a smarter shopper.
Let’s hope you have an already established monthly budget, and that you are following it. For this coming week, plan to only spend $50 on groceries. That other $50 can grow into savings or be put toward new gym shoes.
Once the budget is made, create your food priorities. Top three priorities should be: protein, carbs, and fat — yes those are your macros.
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Cut Your Waste
Do you truly use all the food you buy? You probably don’t.
Before stepping out of the house to buy more food, take an inventory of what you already have. Condiments, spices, frozen and canned food items should be on at that inventory list; this can easily slash your weekly food bill. Next on the list should be leftovers.
Last night’s dinner can be today’s lunch, freeze it and it could be next week’s lunch too. If you’re one to toss food after a meal, then you are that average American who’s a national statistic. That stat: $28 to $43 of about 20 pounds of food a month gets tossed.
You don’t have to be the next Extreme Couponer, but a few well-chosen coupons can go a long way as you try to halve your grocery budget.
Check your local newspaper, a coupon book, online sites, and in your grocery store’s weekly circular.
Most coupons are for generic brands, which are almost always the cheapest options anyway.
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Meaty Methods
A large chunk of change on the grocery bill is protein.
Three pounds of fresh beef, chicken, and salmon or even all three will deplete your $50 for the week. A smart buying option would be to purchase canned meat: tuna, chicken and salmon.
You’ll be able to buy more while cutting the cost in half. Also, the nutritional value won’t change, that’s along with the sodium content.
As for vegetables and fruit, stock up on canned and frozen — they’re cheap and will last longer.
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Menu Planning
The last step: plan out your menu for the week; this will not only save you money, but also time in the food store. When you’re eating five to seven meals a day, it’s important to keep your macros in check with a fit menu.
You should know by now that each meal and snack should have a protein and carb. When you think about it, menu planning is the backbone to weekly meal preps.
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Sample Shopping List
You’re set; you have your menu and a budget, now it’s time to go shopping. Food items that you should already have are lite mayonnaise, jelly, peanut butter, whey protein powder, and seasonings.
Listed below is a sample shopping list where coupons were applied and store brand products were purchased:
$50 Shopping List
4 pounds boneless chicken breast: $7.96
3 five ounce cans of solid white albacore tuna: $3.75
2 five ounce cans of salmon: $2.50
1 frozen bag Brussel sprouts: $0.99
1 frozen bag mixed vegetables: $0.99
1 frozen bag whole green beans: $0.99
1 frozen bag Asian stir fry: $0.99
2 cans of black beans: $1.60
2 cans of kidney beans: $1.60
1 can of Cannellini beans: $0.80
Large bag of baby spinach: $2.99
1 bag of quinoa: $3.99
1 medium sweet potato: $0.47
18 ounces of oatmeal: $2.69
Steam in a bag brown rice: $0.99
Store brand whole-wheat bread: $1.99
Frozen blueberries: $2.99
1 red onion: $0.50
Reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese: $1.88
Eggs 30 count: $3.99
1 gallon non-fat milk: $2.99
4 non-fat Greek yogurts: $2.36
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-Day Low-Cost Meal Plan
Check out this five-day sample menu, and use this as a template to help build your 50 dollars a week menu.
Note: if you have a stocked-up inventory, you can get more creative with your meals.
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