Money Saving Menu

In a previous post, I mentioned that we have been working to cut back on our grocery budget and have made several simple changes.
One of the most difficult, simple changes for me, was planning a two week menu. It is difficult for me to plan a menu for a week, so the thought of trying to plan for two weeks was a little overwhelming, but with a little practice I am learning and getting better and better at it.
Here is a two-week overview for you to give you an idea:

Breakfasts:
Oatmeal and toast
Cereal and milk
Bagels
Muffins (on Sunday morning - I mix these up the night before so we can bake them fresh on Sunday morning)
Waffles/Pancakes/Eggs (on Saturday morning)

Lunches:
Rob takes a packed lunch to work which usually consists of a sandwich (PB/J or tuna salad), fruit, and some homemade cookies. Occasionally we have a significant amount of leftovers and he gets to have leftovers for lunch. The vast majority of the time I also have a sandwich and some fruit and try to forego on the cookies.

Suppers:
Mushroom Chicken in the crockpot with pasta, steamed broccoli, and butternut squash (two meals)
Homemade Pizza (two meals)
Homemade Spaghetti sauce with pasta, Salad, and Homemade rolls (two meals)
Breakfast for supper (eggs, pancakes) (one meal)
Chili, Rice, Applesauce, Cheese and Sour cream (two meals)
Mustgo Soup (leftovers with a tomato soup base and ground beef), homemade rolls (two meals)
Sweet and Sour Meatballs, Rice, Peas (two meals)
Tuna Casserole, Salad, fruit (one meal)

The "one meal" meals I usually make on Thursdays or Saturdays. Our Sunday lunch is also our meal for Monday dinner. Then Tuesday I make a meal and we eat leftovers on Wednesday (which works great for Wednesday nights since we have a prayer service at church) Thursdays, I make a meal and we may have leftovers Friday, or we may save the leftovers for Saturday and make a meal on Friday if we have company for dinner. Sometimes we make a "one meal" meal on Thursday, and then make a "two meal" meal Friday that will have leftovers for Saturday dinner. It all depends on the week. :)

I shopped this past Saturday for milk, eggs, cheese, butternut squash (to make for Jake) and diapers as well as a box of cereal we had a coupon for. Our total spent on groceries (not toiletries or cleaning supplies) for two weeks was: $88.36, which means one week's worth of groceries cost us about: $44.18. It takes a lot of planning, but considering that we used to spend close to $100 a week on groceries, it is worth the time and effort and is an amazing improvement. :) We praise the Lord! It is only because of Him that we have been able to plan and save in this way.