Meal plans

i did do meal plans.  I'm not going to fed Meyers because we don't need anything.  My daughter and I went to Winco amd I bought a few things.   Yesterday I made muffins, brownies, dried bananas and strawberries.

1. Sloppy joes or hot dogs. Pasta salad, cucumber salad 
2. Shrimp salad 
3. Tacos. Refried beans, rice 
4. Chicken parm ,green salad 
5. Pizza 
6. Breakfast 4 dinner 
7. Ribs , corn on the cob , pasta salad in lettuce cups 

Notes : 

Hot dog and hamburger buns are always less than a dollar at Winco. Sometimes  .68, sometimes  .88 .

Pasta salad was purchased for .75 with coupons.    

Refried beans , not fried are about a third of the cost of a can  and have no fat.   Hamburger is 7 percent and defatted.    Taco seasoning homemade.   Rice is in bulk at Costco.   Taco shells were .50 at grocery outlet.   

Spaghetti was .50 for a full pound at grocery outlet. Chicken breast was .88 a pound at Fred Meyer.  ( it's in form.98 this week) we make our own bread crimbs from crusts.   

Pizza as 2.99 for Freschetta at grocery outlet, pull date end of the month.    

Eggs were a dollar a dozen at Winco,   English muffins are always 3/5 for  a dozen at Fred Meyers.    

I bought ribs for 1.40 a pound at Winco frozen and corn on the cob was frozen at ..25 an  ear.    Baby romaine is,cheaper than field greens at Costco and lasts a lot longer.   You can also use them for lettuce wraps.

Rice is .03 a serving when bought in bulk at Costco.    The cost per pound is .34 .  There are 2 cups of raw rice per pound.  A cup of raw rice makes three cups of cooked rice.   So, cooked rice costs .03 cents a 1/2 cup serving.     That's rounding high!   

Groceries on the cheap is looking at the "put the meal on the table train" from  a different perspective. 

The emphasis is on purchasing good shelf stable or frozen food  for a RBP in quantity - enough to last you until it goes on sale again or to keep a controlled non-perishable stock of the things you  use  on a weekly basis. 

This means that instead of shopping daily or weekly for just the things you need to cook your meals for the week. You go to two stores and buy :
1) a protein that is a RBP - enough to make that meal for x number of days. (I.e.: if you eat it once a week, buy enough for 4 meals.)
2) produce and dairy you will need to fill in the meals for the week. 
3) a stock item, if you need to and it is on a RBP - enough to fill in to your self imposed stock level. 

You often are paying 1/2 price for your food.   This allows you to put well-balanced meals on the table consistently on a four dollar a day per person budget.   You spend more time on the locomotive ( planning and shopping ) end of the train, and less time in the caboose ( kitchen j) by cooking more efficiently. 

 Four dollars a day is the target amount for people on snap.   My premise is that of you can do it on 4 dollars a day, spending more is not difficult and you still get more nutrition for your buck. 

Thanks for stopping by.   Please share.   I would like to reach more people.