Although I want to get back into the swing of things again and follow my 7 Steps to Success plan, I must say that digging around in my freezer made me realize how easy it can be to feed your family if you use the pantry principle.
In our case, it might be called the “freezer/pantry principle.” Dinner has been sooooo easy and simple at our house the past few weeks.
- Put a frozen roast in the oven and a few hours later it is done. Bake sweet potato fries and whip up a salad ~ Dinner is done
- Put a frozen roast in the crock pot, smother with salsa and a few hours later it’s done. Add a frozen vegetable and carrots ~ dinner is on the table.
We all get a little tired of eating this way, but sometimes Momma needs a break without breaking the budget! It’s interesting to note that my family eats a lot less food when I serve something that they don’t love {including me.} This might be creative deprivation at its best!
Over the holidays, I’ve definitely spent more than $100 per week on groceries. I wrote about how that works for my family on my grocery budgeting post.
When you see the items that I buy for the week, keep in mind that part of my routine is to look and see what items we already have on hand before I go to the store. Items on hand PLUS items bought feed my family for a week or more.
On hand this week I had carrots, frozen vegetables and fruits, some rotten bananas, a LOT of meat and eggs, cheese, sausage, bacon, etc.
Here’s how shopping turned out for this week: 
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4 comments
Pamela
January 7, 2012 at 3:53 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Hi Johnlyn, I realy enjoy both of your websites. I downloaded your step 4 excel and was wondering how you expand the list if its larger than what you have. Thank you for all your hard work. I down sized my job and am use to spending over 1200.00 on groceries. That is impossible know, so I’m hoping I can learn to save. Old habits are hard to break, the other day I spent 398.00 at Walmart by just mindlessly throwing everything in my basket. Oouch.
Johnlyn
January 9, 2012 at 3:02 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Pamela – I’m so sorry – I didn’t see this message before!
If you could send me an e-mail with the number of lines you’d like I’d be happy to customize it for you. Thanks for your comment ~ I do need to let people know how to customize it.
I used to spend quite a bit on groceries as well. My tip for you at Walmart – use a basket instead of a cart – you’ll get a workout in! Impossible with kids I know, but it always sounds good anyway LOL.
jaebroeder @ yahoo . com
Pamela
January 11, 2012 at 6:43 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
How sweet of you to do that for me. I love the basket idea, I will try it next time.
Amy @ Pounds4Pennies
January 9, 2012 at 1:41 PM (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I think any savings is better than none! Great to be under budget. I have reduced my budget this year, since we have one out of diapers. We will see if I can keep it.