Grocery Shopping on a Budget

Today was the first Saturday I've had free for the past month, so I decided to take full advantage of the opportunity to go grocery shopping (you know you're married when...). I spent about an hour this morning being lazy on the couch and planning the meals I wanted to make this week. I then wrote out all of the things I would need to buy at the store to make for simple shopping. The meals for this week include...

{Tuesday: Crockpot Chicken Tacos; Refried Black Beans}

{Wednesday: Greek Chicken Pitas)

{Thursday: Macaroni n' Cheese; Mixed Vegetables}

{Friday: Shrimp Enchiladas; Broccoli and Carrots}

{Sunday: Leftover Pitas With Grilled Chicken}

I've learned the hard way that it's usually easiest to just make the full recipe instead of attempting to cut it in half. This way, we always have leftovers for lunch or the next night's dinner if I'm feeling too lazy to make what I originally had planned. :)

Mark and I budgeted $100 a week for our grocery shopping since we usually try to only out a couple of meals a week. Usually, I don't even spend the full amount, but this week I came in right under our budget at $98.24. 

One of the biggest things I've learned about getting the most for my money is planning my meals so that I can use the same ingredients for multiple meals. For example, this week I plan to use corn tortillas for both the chicken tacos and the enchiladas and the pita bread will be used for two meals as well. While this does make for two somewhat similar meals in a week, I know for sure this food will not go to waste. It's almost like a grocery challenge. :)