food budget getting out of hand!

[Kim Allen]

Oh I need to rethink my food budget!!!

I have done horrible in the ways of meal planning the last couple of months and I need to do something ASAP!!

Anyone care to help?

We are a meat and tators type of family. My husband has to have meat in every meal!!! He also does not care for brown beans much which I would think would be a great meal with some ham and cornbread..

Anyways I am stuck in a rut and we eat the same thing over and over and I need some cheap dinner ideas and some help on grocery budget list!!!

Oh And I have about 350.00 a month available for food for a family of 4!

[cristeen]

You say he doesnt care for brown (pinto?) beans... Will he eat other types? I dont care for pintos, but really like both navy and garbanzos. Lentils are also a great choice, particularly if you mix them w ground beef. Theyre great for stretching the meat.

Will he eat meat as an accompaniment, like in stir fry, rather than needing something like a steak or roast where overall you're eating more meat?

[Alyantavid]

Check out the meal planning forum. We have monthly meal plans posted and we eat alot the way you describe. Lots of meat and potatoes and little to no beans. We spend between $300-400 a month as well.

[Kim Allen]

No, He will eat chili and such but if its mostly beans he does not care for it. I cook chicken and noodles and chicken and dumplings a couple times a month and he will eat those but I cannot cook something like that all the time or else he starts having withdraws lol.

He likes aleast four courses a nite kinda thing. I dunno he was spoiled as a child haha.

I will be on the meal planning forum I guess!

[HollyBearsMom]

Make him cook!

Seriously he wants a "meat and potato" meal with at least 4 courses everynight? So what- appetizer, salad, main meal w/ sides, dessert?

Unless you meal plan that would be hard to do on conservative budget never mind from a time perspective.

[coyotemist]

Most of the time we eat food that my husband likes. But sometimes he understands that's not possible. In any family on a budget there is probably going to be someone who isn't a huge fan of the meal on the table. We don't make anyone who HATES a food eat that food (beets and squash for some in this house).

I've discovered some things, though:

~homemade bread or biscuits make any meal more appetizing
~lentils or beans snuck into any ground meat dish will stretch it without too much complaint
~shop the "second hand" meat bin
~bake most of your own bread goods, in most places you can find flour cheap in the bulk section or the grocery outlet store (recently found 40 pounds of flour for $5, dates were good, bought 2 of them)
~farm stands often have cheaper veggies that are organic and fresher
~eating on a budget healthfully is hard work, nearly everything is cooked by hand
~homemade things taste differently because they are missing boatloads of salt, give yourself a time to get adjusted
~a small cup of soup stretches the rest of the meal
~bacon, ham, or hamhocks makes everything taste better

We eat a lot of burritos and tacos, stirfried rice (left over veggies from the week can get snuck in here), soup (my family is tired of soup, but bone broth is good for the body, mind, and soul!), baked potatoes (a whole meal with cheese and chili or bacon and broccoli), and other things like this.

We only buy a few organics, we eat a lot of oatmeal, cheese is parceled out. You can do it, sometimes its a challenge and a juggling act, but it's possible!

[coyotemist]

Originally Posted by Kim Allen

No, He will eat chili and such but if its mostly beans he does not care for it. I cook chicken and noodles and chicken and dumplings a couple times a month and he will eat those but I cannot cook something like that all the time or else he starts having withdraws lol.

He likes aleast four courses a nite kinda thing. I dunno he was spoiled as a child haha.

I will be on the meal planning forum I guess!

Sorry, honey, I'm a wife, not your personal cook. Here is the menu for the night, eat it or cook something yourself. Tomorrow you can be responsible for dinner!

The last few years I've worked 12 hour shifts, my husband has to be responsible for meals a couple times a week. It's really changed his perception of "a good dinner". Sometimes it's scrambled eggs, applesauce and toast.

No way no how is he getting a 4 course meal every night.

[Biscuits & Gravy]

My grocery store will discount meat on the "sell by" date. This morning I picked up 2 packs of ground chicken, normally $4.99, for $1.99 each. I shop heavily with coupons and stock up on staple items for free or nearly free. I save the bulk of my budget for meat, fruit and veggies. Everything else is stockpiled with sales and coupons. This morning my total before coupons was $45, after coupons it was $6. I got ground chicken, tofu, 2 bottles of 7th gen dish detergent, soy sauce, pasta, organic canned tomatoes, and a few other things I can't recall right now. My store is doing a coupon event where they will double any coupon up to $1.98 in value. My advice would be to find out how you can work coupons into your budget so you can save where you can so spending money on meat is not as big of a deal. Also, buy meat when it is on sale and freeze it if you don't already.

[Chicky2]

I agree that a 4 course meal is very unreasonable on a regular basis.

You might wanna check out the Frugality and Finances board, too. There are tons of great grocery shopping/ cheap cooking tips there!

[Sol_y_Paz]

Your husband might have to relax on his strict food preferences for every meal given his family's budget.
I would like all mostly all fresh veggies and in season fruits, organic, free range, non gmo, fresh as possible meals for every single meal and snacks and it would be awful nice if it was shopped for by someone else with them finding only the finest ingredients, then prepared for me and I had someone clean up after me too, but all of that really isn't realistic for our lifestyle. So I compromise. Thankfully, my significant other compromises too. He used to be big into 2 types of meat for every meal and now a great many of our meals are veggie because he understands it is more economical and vastly better for our health and saves us on medical bills.
Cruise on over to the finances board on this site. Lots of great ideas.