Everything We Spent On Food In A MONTH!
Where did our family food budget go in September? Let’s take a look!
With the cost of food and the busy-ness of every day life, sticking to a monthly food budget can be a challenge! It used to be an area of shame and frustration for me – and it’s still a juggle to make happen cos food prices are what they are, but we now know what it has to look like to make our budget work. And that helps enormously. So in this video I’m diving in to everything we spent on food in September, with a sample meal plan and my basic budget shopping list below, a look at how we budget, and a meal by meal look at the final week of the month.
Budget food shopping list: Maximising the monthly food budget
There are lots of pieces to getting through the month on a tight budget without crash landing at the end! It takes good planning, sometimes hard conversations if you’re shopping for more than you, assessing prices and your own values, and knowing the cost of your meals. But one key thing is creating a strategic meal plan that’s built from budget friendly ingredients.
- Lentils
- Cabbage
- Carrots
- Dry Beans (various types)
- Baked Beans
- Yogurt
- Whole Chicken
- Chicken Carcasses
- Seasonal Fruit
- Seasonal Veg
- Fairtrarde Cocoa
- Butter or Vegan Butter
- Soy Sauce/Tamari
- Passatta
- Jam
- Honey
- Tea
- Milk
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Eggs
- Wholegrain Flour in bulk
- Yeast
- Oats
- Peanut Butter
- Nuts to make nut butter (often cheaper)
- Coconut Oil for cooking
- Split Peas
- Chick Peas
- Rice
- Fairtrade Organic Coffee. (22p/cup)
- Sea Salt
- Ketchup
- Mayo
- Cheese
Sample Meal Plan for eating on a budget
The practice of meal planning in itself is a huge help in sticking to a budget! It can take time to really hone in the practice and there are many different ways it can look. For us, it looks like very detailed planning of every single meal. Drawing from someone else’s meal plan only works if the cheaper foods where they are, are the cheaper food where YOU are! They key is to find the ingredients that work for you where you shop and with your values. But this is an example meal from our home, cooking from scratch, that works for our life, values, and budget.
| Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Homemade Granola with yogurt, + fruit (or nut milk) | Eggs and Toast with shredded carrot + beetroot salad | Mac and Cheese with Sausages and foraged nettles |
| Tuesday | Sourdough Toast (our fave recipe) | Mac and Cheese leftovers | Simple Bean Tacos with beans from dry, cheese, cabbage slaw, and homemade high protein chickpea tortillas |
| Wednesday | Pancakes | Taco leftovers: tacos or quesadillas or taco salads | Veg Packed Frittata with roast potatoes |
| Thursday | Smoothies with foraged berries, and toast | Leftover Frittata | Veg + Rice Stir Fry with Chick Peas and Tahini Dressing (vegan rice in this book) |
| Friday | Sourdough Discard Pancakes, nut butters, yogurt | Eggs, toast and salad | Chicken + Veg Soup with Soft Rolls |
| Saturday | Waffles, nut butter, berries, yogurt | Roasted veg, rice, and pesto bowls | Sourdough/Quick dough pizzas |
| Sunday | Toast | Chicken + Veg Soup with Soft Rolls | Leftovers, and baked beans on toast |
Other budgeting posts you might enjoy:
How to use Monzo for easy, ethical budgeting in busy life
8 Budget Friendly Protein Sources we use every week
A simple tool for helping with your food budget
