How I Feed My Family on $50.00 a Week

I wanted to do a post to show you step-by-step how I manage to feed and supply my family with a budget of $50.00 per week. My strategy is pretty simple:

1) I refuse to pay full price for anything. This is a lot easier if you are not brand loyal. I will go without something rather than buy it when it not on sale. 

2) I stock up on things when they are at rock bottom price, whether I need them or not. Sooner or later, we will need them. If not, I can always donate them or sell them on Ebay. 

3) I do every Try Me Free or No Beer Purchase Required rebate offer that I can find. 

I pretty much buy whatever I post on Loudoun County Limbo, except for the occasional clearance item that I find, plus I get a gallon of milk every week. I am often asked what kind of meals we eat, so I thought I would do a weekly shopping post with pics to give you a better idea. 

August 31

I didn't do any shopping on Sunday. We were invited to a potluck supper for Labor Day and my daughter made brownies from a box in the pantry to take along. We also took the bag of chips and salsa from the Harris Teeter Meal Deal last week. 

Expenses on Sunday = 0

September 1

I ran into Harris Teeter quickly to get the Touch of Grey men's hair color because I needed cash and I hate paying ATM fees. For some reason, my $4.00 ZVR didn't come off, so the cost was $4.45 with tax.  For dinner, we had leftovers.  Expenses on Monday = $4.45

September 2

I got the items pictured at Rite Aid. I had $9.00 in UP Rewards from last week and I also paid $8.48 in cash. I had used my last dishwasher detergent tablet the day before, so the Oxi deal was great timing. I received back $7.00 in UP Rewards, plus I earned tracking towards both the P&G UP Reward and Saving Star with the Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. 

I went to Harris Teeter just to get the Dixie Crystals sugar, as my store had been out earlier in the week. They were still out of that and every other brand, so I got a raincheck. I also impulsively grabbed 5 ears of yellow corn, when I noticed they were on sale for 20 cents each, so I spent $1.03. For dinner we had Oven Cravers chicken breasts stuffed with broccoli and cheese from HT Super Doubles last month, the above-mentioned corn on the cob, and cantaloupe. The cantaloupe came from the produce mark-down rack the week before. Total cost for this meal was $4.00!

Expenses on Tuesday = $12.48

September 3

I ran by Harris Teeter to get a few of the deals that I posted about. The 99 cents a pound seedless red grapes were out of stock, but I found a bag of green ones on the produce re-wrap cart for $1.00. Other $1.00 deals were a bag of green apples and a bag of peaches. My total for this trip came to $12.77 and my cashier commented that my total was higher than usual! I wasn't able to print the Turkey Hill ice cream coupons, since I had printed them previously and they had not reset for me. 

Even though I didn't use very many coupons on this trip, I got a lot of useful things for my family. The fruit and yogurt are good lunchbox items and the pretzels are good after-school snacks. We love ice cream, so  I always buy it whenever I can get it for under $2.00 a carton.

At Rite Aid I got a bag of dog food, because we were out. The Purina was the best deal for me with my Gold Wellness discount and a $1.00 coupon, plus it has the Purina weight circle. I used the $7.00 in UP Rewards from the day before plus paid $7.95, then I got back another $12.00 in UP Rewards.

We had homemade tomato soup with croutons for dinner and ice cream for dessert. Total cost for this meal - about $2.50!

Expenses on Wednesday = $19.32

September 4

I went to Harris Teeter and returned the Touch of Grey that I bought on Monday. I didn't feel like asking customer service to pay me for the ZVR, since I didn't really need the product,so I got back $8.45 in cash.

I spent $3.33 on a bag of HT brand sugar because we were all out, and a head of marked-down cauliflower.  Dinner was the free American Kraft sausage from the last Super Doubles event with onions, roasted cauliflower with cheese, salad, and the iced tea that came with the Meal Deal the week before. Total cost for this meal - about $2.00!

My husband went into Rite Aid without me (gasp!) and bought a big jug of water to keep on his desk at work, a Rice Krispie Treat bar, and an iced tea, which cost $5.35.

Expenses on Thursday = 23 cents

September 5

I got the items in this pic at Rite Aid.  I used the $12.00 in UP Rewards from the day before, then got back another $5.00 in UP Rewards. My cash cost was 17 cents plus 83 cents in tax. 

For dinner we went to the "back to school" potluck. I had purchased a 4-lb bag of potatoes on mark-down the week before, and I used them to make a giant bowl of potato salad. 

Expenses on Friday = $1.00

Saturday 6

On Saturday I took advantage of the special EVIC price on milk at Harris Teeter and spent $8.38 on groceries:

Next I went to Rite Aid to finish off the P&G deal with the Magic Erasers and Mr. Clean liquid. I had to get a 4th Magic Eraser to reach $30.00, and get my $10.00 UP Reward. I spent my $5.00 UP Reward from the day before plus $2.60 in cash.

                               

Finally, I stopped into Food Lion to get the 2 Red Baron pizzas for $5.00, and that was we what we ate for dinner. I scanned my card at the MVP Savings center and got a coupon for $2.00 off any bakery item from the deli, so I decided to buy a birthday cake for my daughter, who turns 16 on Monday. It was $6.99 before the coupon, so $4.99 after. My total at Food Lion was $10.26.

Expenses on Saturday = $21.17

My Total Expenses for the week were $48.65!

I have a $10.00 in UP Rewards for next week and I will be getting the following rebates:

Checkout 51 - 

$1.00 for the 2 Super Pretzels

Ibotta - 

25 cents for milk

Saving Star - 

$5.00 for the Mr. Clean products

69 cents for the Friday Freebie Reese's Cup

40 cents for the Yoplait Yogurt

Rebate total - $7.34

This was an unusual week because we ate out twice, both times at potluck dinners. You may notice that I bought no meat at all this week. My husband is an avid deer hunter, so we always have a freezer full of venison. I buy other meats when I have rebates for them.