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Shared Sep 9, 2019 comment

15 Inexpensive Meals with Ingredients Already in Your Pantry

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 9, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Looking for pantry recipes to make when your cupboards are bare and money is tight? Here are some of our family’s favorite dinner ideas. Best of all, most of these are super quick and easy ideas, too!

{Trying to save money on groceries? Sign up to get 10 Easy Ways to Cut Your Grocery Bill By $50.}

Cheap Easy Meals on a Budget: You probably have the ingredients in your pantry already!

I have been utilizing the concept of eating from the pantry to save hundreds of dollars on our grocery bill for years! If there’s one simple way to save on your groceries, it’s using up what you already have and reverse meal planning (planning your menu around what you already have on hand)!

If you’re looking in your pantry and things seem sparse, use this list to come up with some easy dinner ideas on a budget with simple ingredients you probably have stashed in the back of the cupboard!

Remember — cooking delicious meals doesn’t have to break the bank! By harnessing the power of pantry staples you already have on hand, you can whip up cheap and easy meals that are both satisfying and nutritious.

Think canned beans, pasta, rice, and a variety of spices—these humble ingredients can transform into many different dishes that satisfy your hungry family without emptying your wallet.

With a little creativity and resourcefulness, you can turn what you already have on hand into comforting meals that don’t sacrifice flavor, nutrition, or your budget! Check out these easy ideas below!

Cheap Meal Ideas When Your Cupboards Are Bare

1. Grilled Cheese

You can use any kind of cheese and any kind of bread!

2. Eggs and Toast

This is an easy meal that even younger kids can make!

3. Loaded Baked Potatoes

Get creative with whatever you might have on hand that would work as a topping: taco meat, chili, beans, ham, bacon, cheese, broccoli, sour cream, cottage cheese, etc. You could even do chopped chicken, salsa, and cheese.

4. Any Pasta With Pasta Sauce

If you have any canned tomatoes or ground beef or onions, you can add it to the sauce. Then, serve it sprinkled with any kind of cheese you might have on hand.

Want to get a little fancier? Try these Mini Lasagnas!

5. Sandwiches

The options are pretty ended here: Peanut Butter/Jelly (or PB & honey — we love to toast the bread for a little extra something!) Egg Salad, Meat/Cheese, etc.

Tip: Did you know you can freeze PB&J sandwiches?

6. Build Your Own Taco Salad

Use whatever taco-like ingredients you have on hand: Ground beef or turkey with homemade taco seasoning, beans, lettuce, chips, tomatoes, cheese, etc.

7. Crockpot Sausage and Peppers

This is a staple at our house. If I have kielbasa in the freezer and I’ve gotten peppers on markdowns, I’ll chop up both and add some onions or potatoes or sweet potatoes (if I have them) and cook this with a little water and seasonings in the crockpot for 4-6 hours on low. You can you serve over rice or pasta (if you didn’t include potatoes).

8. Meat/Potatoes/Frozen Veggies Hash

This was a standby recipe at our family’s house growing up. If we needed a quick dinner, we’d brown some ground beef with onions, and then add some chopped potatoes and fry those until tender. Then we’d add corn or peas. I think this recipe originally came from the More With Less Cookbook.

9. Refried Beans and Cheese

We like to spoon refried beans into a baking dish and top with cheese and then heat these up in the microwave (or you can bake in the oven) until heated through and then serve with chips and salsa or spread onto tortillas to make bean and cheese burritos.

10. Breakfast For Dinner

Breakfast foods are always a quick and easy pantry meal idea, depending on what you have on hand. Pancakes, Waffles, or French Toast served with eggs and/or bacon (if you have any) and fruit. You could also do a big pan of Baked Oatmeal and top it with any fruit you have and serve it with yogurt or milk.

You can find some of our favorite breakfast recipes here, here, and here.

Tip: Have extra eggs on hand and some meat and cheese? Make these yummy Egg & Cheese Bites or this World’s Easiest Breakfast Casserole.

Cheap Easy Meals from Our Followers:

11. Quesadillas

Betsy said, “We have what I call refrigerator quesadillas. Tortillas, cheese and anything else leftover– chicken, ham, zucchini, corn, etc. Stick it in between tortillas and cheese and you’re pretty much set!

12. Have a Chopped Competition

One of my followers, Amanda, said that they love to play Chopped when they are trying to use up what they have on hand. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, Chopped is a TV show where contestants are given random ingredients and they have to make a recipe with those ingredients.) What a fun idea!

13. Tortilla Soup

Charity said: “I almost always have bullion, diced tomatoes, canned black beans, an onion or garlic and some veggies (typically celery, carrots and corn) and a handful of rice and crushed tortilla chips around. We’ll top it with shredded cheese.”

{Some of our other favorite simple soups to make are Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Tortellini Soup, Crockpot Taco Soup, Best Ever Black Bean Soup, Cheesy Hamburger Potato Soup, and Hamburger Vegetable Soup!}

14. Cheater Chili

Tanya said: “I always have the ingredients for ‘Cheater Chili’ in my pantry and boxes of Jiffy cornbread mix. A can of chili beans, a can of white beans, a can of kidney beans (or whatever kind you want really) and a jar of Pace Picante sauce. Heat until hot. I add ground beef when I have it or have time, but it’s great without it too.

15. Barbecue Cups

Amanda said: “We make Barbecue Cups — ground beef with bbq sauce, place on top of raw biscuit in a muffin tin add cheese to top, bake in oven.”

More Inspiration for Cheap Meals to Make

You might also find some of these links helpful when trying to come up with pantry recipes or eat what you already have on hand…

P.S. For more ideas, check out this post on my Facebook Page.

What are YOUR favorite pantry recipes to make when money is tight?

Shared Sep 9, 2019 comment

Gretchen’s $63 Grocery Shopping Trip and Menu Plan for 5

Published: by Gretchen on September 9, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Dillons #1

I shopped at two Dillons stores this week as I wanted to check for markdowns at both. We have THREE (yes, three!!) Dillons stores within a mile radius of our house so if I have a little bit of extra time, I like to do this. I didn’t find much produce marked down so I will probably pop back into one of them tomorrow since they usually mark down a lot of produce on Tuesdays.

2 boxes Nature’s Valley Panda Puffs – Marked down to $1 each

2 boxes Mott’s Fruit Snacks – $1.99 with e-coupon (no longer available)

1 Chobani Yogurt – $1, used Free e-coupon (no longer available) – Free after coupon

2 Giant Size Boxes General Mills Cereal – $1.99 with e-coupon (no longer available), used $1/2 e-coupon – $1.49 each after coupons

1 Value Pack Nature Valley Granola Bars – $1.99 with e-coupon (no longer available)

4 pkg Kraft Cheese at $3.19 each – On Sale Buy One Get One Free – $1.59 each after sale

18 count Eggs – Marked down to $0.50

3 lbs Kroger Ground Beef – Marked down to $2.99 (I was SO excited to find this! I will stretch this into 5-6 meals.)

Total after coupons: $20.82

Dillons #2

1 bag Kroger Unbleached Flour – $1.59

1 Breyer’s Ice Cream – $3.99, used $1/1 e-coupon – $2.99 after coupon

1 jar Dry Yeast – $5.99

1 Kroger Tortillas – $1.79 (Aldi was completely out of tortillas.) 🙁

2 Cucumbers – $0.50 each

1.88 lbs Gala Apples – $2.43

1 Green Leaf Lettuce – $1.29

Total after coupon: $17.08

Aldi

1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.95

2 Half & Half – $1.55 each

1 Cottage Cheese – $1.59

2.09 lbs Red Grapes – $3.53

1 Sour Cream – $0.89

1 pkg Frozen Chicken Breasts – $5.85

1 loaf Bread – $0.99

1 pkg Sliced Cheese – $1.79

1 gallon Milk – $1.49

1 pkg Oyster Crackers – $0.79

1 pkg Corn Chips – $0.79

1 Ranch Dressing – $0.89

1 pkg Chocolate Chips – $1.69

Total: $25.34

Total for all stores: $63.24

Menu Plan for This Week

We are still getting veggies from our garden so I’ll be using those this week.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Toast, Eggs

Lunches

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches, Turkey Sandwiches, Cheese/Crackers/Fruit/Veggies, Applesauce/Yogurt, Tossed Salad, Leftovers

Dinners

Lasagna, Freezer Biscuits, Steamed Peas, Sliced Green Peppers

Sour Cream Enchiladas, Rice, Fruit

Snacky Dinner (Popcorn, Crackers, Fruit, Leftovers)

French Toast & Eggs

Mac & Cheese, Grapes

Sausage (from the freezer) & Potatoes, Banana Muffins, Steamed Broccoli

Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili, Corn Chips, Sliced Veggies

Shared Sep 8, 2019 comment

$70 Grocery Budget (I’m loving these weekend deals!)

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 8, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Want to see what we bought for this week’s $70 grocery budget? I’m currently challenging myself to stick with a $70 budget for our family of five. This includes almost all of our breakfasts, lunches, snacks, and dinners + most household products (toiletries, laundry soap, etc.).

For live updates, be sure to follow my Instagram Stories. See all posts on my $70 Grocery Budget here.

I was excited about the weekend deals this week! Since the Labor Day sales went through Monday, we split up our budget so that we got some of them last week and some of them this week.

Monday’s Kroger Shopping Trip

5 bags of Tyson Anytizers — $3.99 each with the weekend deals
4 bags of frozen veggies — $1 each
Milk — $2.89
Half & Half — $1.99
2 half gallons Almond milk — $1.99 each
3 dozen eggs — marked down to $1.29/dozen
5 boxes of Betty Crocker brownie and cake mix — $0.50 each with weekend deals
Total with tax: $42.03

I can’t remember the last time I bought Lunchables, but my kids absolutely love them. So when I saw that they were priced at just $0.99 at Kroger this weekend, I surprised them by getting them some. Needless to say, they were THRILLED!

Friday Kroger Shopping Trip

5 boxes Lunchables — $0.99 each with the Friday-Saturday deals
4 lbs. ground beef — marked down to $2.49 each
1 bag of lemons — marked down to $0.99
2 bags of grapes — $0.99/lb.
1 tub lettuce — marked down to $1.79
2 family size boxes of cereal — $1.99 each with the Friday-Saturday deals
Total with tax: $27

What We Ate This Past Week

Note: When you see the meals below, please remember this: I buy ahead often. Which means that when I find a great deal on something I know we’ll use, I buy as much as I can afford in our budget to have on hand.

This means that you aren’t going to see all of the groceries my shopping trip that I used to make all of the meals we ate.

Please also remember that I’m putting this out there and it’s not a perfectly balanced menu. This is just really what we ate — and I hope that it encourages you to see the real-ness and lack of perfection here.

Breakfasts:

Cereal, Toast, Oatmeal, Eggs, Smoothies

Lunches:

Chicken, Capri Sun, Salad, Roasted Brussels Sprouts, PB & Honey Sandwich, Leftovers, Fruit, Crackers,

Snacks:

Cookies, Eggs, Popcorn, Ice Cream, Apple Crisp, Fruit, Veggies

Dinners:

Sunday — Out to eat at Chili’s
Monday — Chicken, Roasted Broccoli
Tuesday — Chicken/Broccoli/Rice Casserole
Wednesday — Breakfast for Dinner: French Toast
Thursday — Pizza
Friday — Fend for yourself
Saturday — Cereal

Total spent on groceries: $69.03

Cashback earned this week: 675 points for submitting my receipts to Fetch rewards, $0.50 back from iBotta

Shared Sep 7, 2019 comment

Brigette’s $83 Grocery Shopping Trip and Weekly Menu Plan for 6

Published: by Brigette on September 7, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My older sister, Brigette, shares her shopping trips and menu plans every week! You can go HERE to see all of her weekly menu plans and you can go HERE to read all about her family!

Aldi

2 64-oz cartons Orange Juice – $3.28

1 can Whipped Dairy Topping – $2.65

1 gallon 1% Milk – $1.49

1/2 gallon Whole Milk – $0.70

1/2 gallon Unsweetened Almond Milk – $1.65

1 5-lb bag All-Purpose Flour – $1.15

1 can Parmesan Cheese – $2.29

1 16-oz bag Shredded Cheddar Cheese – $2.19

1 16-oz bag Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – $2.19

1 pkg Deli Sliced Cheese – $1.79

1 40-oz jar Peanut Butter – $1.99

1 pkg Flour Tortillas – $0.95

1 pkg Hamburger Buns – $0.65

1 pkg Plain Rice Cakes – $1.45

1 pkg Hot Dog Buns – $0.73

1 loaf Sandwich Bread – $0.65

3 dozen Eggs – $2.31

1 jar Spaghetti Sauce – $0.85

1 pkg Zucchini – $1.50

1 bag Mini Sweet Peppers – $2.65

1 bunch Bananas – $0.98

1 bag Broccoli Crown – $1.09

3 cans Green Beans – $1.14

1 pkg Romaine Hearts – $1.99

1 Cauliflower – $1.99

2 bags Frozen Broccoli Florets – $1.90

1 pkg Fresh Brussel Sprouts – $1.29

1 16-oz bag Mini Cucumbers – $1.99

1 3-lb bag Mandarins – $2.49

1 3-lb bag Pink Lady Apples – $3.49

1 large tub Organic Spring Mix – $3.49

1 10-lb bag Russet Potatoes – $3.29

1 48-oz bag Frozen Boneless Chicken Breasts – $5.39

1 16-oz pkg Deli Meat – $2.85

1 pkg Turkey Bacon – $1.89

1 pkg Pepperoni – $1.99

1 pkg Turkey Franks – $1.79

Total: $72.80

Harris Teeter

(Double Dollar Coupons)

2 boxes Kellogg’s Fruit Snacks – $3.34, used $1/2 Kellogg’s Fruit Flavored Snacks, 10-ct+, RMN 07/28 (doubled) – $1.34/2 after coupon

2 pkgs Pecan Sandies – $3.79, used $1.00/2 printable (doubled) – $1.79/2 after coupons

2 boxes Famous Amos Cookies – $3.69, used $1.00/2 printable (doubled) – $1.69/2 after coupons

1 single-serving sized Silk Oat Yeah Yogurt – $2.00, used $1.00/1 printable (doubled), plus receive $0.50 from Ibotta – FREE after coupon and rebate

2 boxes Celestial Seasonings Tea – $5.00, used $1.00/2 printable (NLA – doubled), plus receive $2.00/2 rebate from Ibotta – $1.00/2 after coupon and rebate

1 pkg Stonefire Naan – $2.50, used $1.00/1 printable (doubled) – $0.50 after coupon

2 bags Kettle Brand Chips – $3.94, used $1.00/2 printable (doubled) – $1.94/2 after coupon

2 boxes Special K Cereal – $3.94, used $1/2 Kelloggs Cereals, exp. 10/20/19 (RMN 08/25/19 R) (doubled) – $1.94/2 after coupon

2 boxes Rice Krispies – $5.00, used $1/2 Kellogg’s Rice Krispie Treats, exp. 10/6/19 (RMN 08/25/19) (doubled), plus receive $1.00/2 rebate from Ibotta – $2.00/2 after coupon and rebate

1 8-ct box cans Deer Park Sparkling Flavored Water – $3.99, used $2.00/1 8-ct 12oz box Deer Park Sparkling Flavored Water, exp. 10/6/19 (RMN 08/25/19) – FREE after coupon

1 4-ct pkg Perrier Sparkling Water/Juice – $2.99, used $1/1 Perrier Juice, exp. 9/16/19 (RMN 08/18/19) [4-pk.] (doubled) – $0.99 after coupon

1 pkg Barilla Ready Pasta – $1,99, used $1/1 Barilla Ready Pouch, exp. 9/22/19 (RMN 07/28/19) (doubled) – FREE after coupon

3 1-L bottles Deer Park Sparkling Water – $3.57 – used $1.50/3 Deer Park Sparkling Natural Spring Water, exp. 10/6/19 (RMN 08/25/19) (doubled) – $0.57/3 after coupon

Total after Coupons and Rebates: $13.76, plus received a $1.00 catalina for buying Deer Park (which will double to $2 if I use it this week ;))

Grocery Total for the Week (after Coupons, Rebates, and Catalina): $83.91

Weekly Menu Plan

Breakfasts

Everyone is responsible for making/cleaning up their own breakfasts. Choices include:

Cereal, Toast, Fried/Scrambled/Boiled Eggs, Veggie Omelets, Oatmeal, Yogurt, Fruit

Lunches

Cheese Quesadillas, Apples, Cucumbers x 2

Peanut Butter and Jelly on Rice Cakes, Bananas, Cauliflower Nuggets

Deli Meat/Cheese Sandwiches, Chips, Oranges, Peppers x 2

Leftovers x 2

Dinners

Pepperoni Pizza Bierocks (recipe from an old church cookbook), Tossed Salad

Hot Dogs, Baked Fries, Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Venison Roast in the Crockpot, Mashed Potatoes, Tossed Salad, Broccoli

Spaghetti Carbonara (recipe from my husband’s side of the family – similar to this), Cheesy Naan Bread, Green Beans

Chicken and Broccoli Stir-Fry over Rice, Tossed Salad, Egg Drop Soup

Pancakes, Scrambled Eggs, Fruit Smoothies

Leftovers

Shared Sep 5, 2019 comment

2019 Goals: August Update

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 5, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Did you set goals for 2019? Here’s an update on how I did on my 2019 goals in August.

It’s September 5, 2019. And it’s time to check in on our goals! How are you doing on the goals you set for 2019?

I spent some time today reviewing September and reflecting on the blessings of the past month and the lessons I learned. I also looked at my goals and how I was doing in each area. (If you missed My Goals for 2019 post, read it here.)

In order to keep myself accountable (and because I know some of you really enjoy these posts) I’m sharing a goals update post at the beginning of each month. I hope that this will not only motivate me to be focused and intentional this year, but I hope it might also inspire you in the goals you set for 2019.

So here’s my goals update for August 2019:

Personal Goals

1. Read 40 books I already own. (I’m using GoodReads to track my reading this year!)

Update: I finished 7 books in July — and three of them were from my list of books I already own and wanted to read this year. Look for a Book Update in the next week or two!

~~2. Slowly read through the New Testament using the She Reads Truth Bible reading plans.~~

Update: I finished 1 & 2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, and Revelation.

3. Listen to 2 audiobooks per month. (I use the Libby app to get these for free.)

Update: I finished to 3 audiobooks in August.

4. Complete all of the Organize in 5 Diary tasks to get our home more organized and set up better organizational systems. (Psst! Did you get yours? It’s just $9 right now.)

Update: I have been doing a pretty good job of keeping up with this. (You can see two posts I did on some of my organizing projects in January and February: Cleaning Out the Cookbooks & Organizing My Purse & Bathroom.)

5. Stay offline for 4 hours per day, 5 days per week. (I share more about why I chose this goal here.)

Update: I did a pretty good job of this in August.

6. Leave my phone in the basement every night. (I talk more about what inspired me to make this goal here.)

Update: So, honesty here: Ever since I took email off my phone at the beginning of May, I haven’t really felt such a need to not have my phone by my bed and I’ve sort of slipped out of this habit. But I did a better job of doing it some in August.

7. Go to bed before 10:30 p.m. 5 days per week. (I’m using this little spreadsheet I made to track most of my personal goals)

Update: I did a much better job of this in August — yay!

Marriage Goal

~~8. Go on an overnight trip with Jesse without the kids.~~

Update: We went on an incredibly fun trip to Destin, FL! Jesse and I drove by ourselves to FL and then we met up with two other couples there. We stayed in an AirBNB and split the cost three ways. Since it was off season, it made for a very inexpensive trip and we had the BEST time!

Motherhood Goal

9. One-on-one time with each child at least 3 times per week. (I am planning to dedicate 40 minutes per child after dinner each evening at least three nights per week to hang out and spend time with each child individually.)

Update: I did a pretty good job of this in August.

Family Goal

10. Take the kids to at least two continents and 4 states we haven’t traveled to. (We’re hoping to travel to Europe in the summer and South America at some other point during the year.)

Update: We went to Iceland (Europe) in June and also to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to cross another continent off our list this year… I’m still hoping to find a really good deal on flights/travel, but we’ll see.

Financial Goals

11. Pay cash to redo our room and renovate our bathroom (we have to pull out the shower and put in a new one because it was installed incorrectly and is leaking and ruining the floor/wall and we want to do a few renovations while we’re at it + we want to finally decorate our room — we left it really bare when we moved in and decided to wait to prioritize it in the budget).

Update: We finished the bathroom renovation at the end of July! We still need to work on our room.

12. Pay cash to paint the walls in the main floor of our home.

~~13. Fully fund our Emergency Fund.~~

Update: This is DONE! YAY!

Business Goals

14. Redo/set up a much more intentional customer acquisition experience for all three of our email newsletters.

Update: We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes working on this and made some good progress in August.

15. Finish launching the rest of our beginner Your Blogging University courses. (If you want to start a blog, be sure to check out my other site, Your Blogging Mentor.)

Update: I’m working on my next course, Monetize Your Blog, and it’s going to be a bigger/more comprehensive course than I’ve ever done but I’m continuing to make good progress. It’s launching on September 16!

(Some of the bloggers from my Mastermind group got together for a one day event in July! It was such an amazing day!)

~~16. Launch a Blog Coaching/Accountability Group membership. (I’ll be opening this up to a very limited number of people in January of 2019. Stay tuned!)~~

Update: We opened this up to new members in April and I’m just loving leading this! Interested in being the first to find out when we open up to new members again? Be sure to join the waitlist!

How are YOU doing on your goals for 2019? I’d love to hear about your successes and struggles. Tell us in the comments!

WANT TO SAVE $100 FAST?!Join the FREE 14-Day Savings Challenge!

Click here to sign up!

Shared Sep 3, 2019 comment

10 Strategies for Finding Good Friends

Published: by Crystal Paine on September 3, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Do you struggle to find good friends? In this episode, I share some of my best strategies for finding and developing deep friendship.

Missed previous episodes of The Crystal Paine show? You can listen to them here.

Finding Good Friends

“We can’t win when we go it alone.” -Jessica Honegger

In this week’s podcast, I share more of my struggle with friendships. I talk about the truths that have set me free to develop deep relationships and some of my best tips for finding good friends. If you’ve struggled to develop deep relationships or you know someone who struggles with finding and keeping friends, I hope this episode encourages you.

Jesse and I also share what’s saving our lives this week and we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Jesse just got back from an fun fishing trip in Louisiana, and due to weather, there were a lot of flight delays. He was so thankful that we invested in TSA Pre-check. And I’m just in love with my leopard print flats. They can be dressed up or dressed down, and they’ve added a fun pop to my wardrobe.

Also, we talk about a book I listened to that Jesse talked about on a previous episode… and let’s just say that I had some pretty strong opinions to share about it. 🙂

In This Episode:

[01:01] Jesse chats about his fishing trip to Louisiana.

[03:19] What’s saving our lives right now? For Jesse, it is TSA Pre-check. For me, it’s my leopard print flats!

[06:24] Listen in to hear what books we are reading/listening to — and how Jesse has such different tastes in books!

[12:41] I read an email from a listener who’s honesty inspired this episode.

[14:11] The first step to finding good friends: Learn to let go of the lies you believe about yourself and replace those lies with truth.

[16:39] Seek relationship, not approval and stop looking for perfection.

[21:08] Be the initiator when reaching out to new friends.

[23:30] Go first with honesty! It’s worth the risk.

[24:10] Don’t give up too soon!

[25:03] Believe the best in the other person.

[25:27] Keep short accounts.

Links and Resources:

TSA Precheck
The Terminal List by Jack Carr
True Believer by Jack Carr
Helping Our Kids Overcome Shame (with Kristin Maher)
The Lies We Believed
Modesty, Legalism, and Grace
Crystal’s Favorite Things on Amazon
CrystalPaine.com
MoneySavingMom.com
Crystal’s Instagram account (I’d love for you to follow me there! I usually hop on at least a few times per day and share behind-the-scenes photos and videos, my grocery store hauls, funny stories, or just anything I’m pondering or would like your advice or feedback on!)
Have feedback on the show or suggestions for future episodes or topics? Send me an email: [email protected].

How to Listen to The Crystal Paine Show

The podcast is available on iTunes, Android, Stitcher, and Spotify. You can listen online through the direct player we’ll include in the show notes of each episode. OR, a much easier way to listen is by subscribing to the podcast through a free podcast app on your phone. (Find instructions for how to subscribe to a podcast here.)

Ready to dive in and listen? Hit the player above or search for “The Crystal Paine Show” on your favorite podcast app.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission — at no additional cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!

Shared Sep 3, 2019 comment

Gretchen’s $66 Grocery Shopping Trip and Menu Plan for 5

Published: by Gretchen on September 3, 2019 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Aldi

1 loaf Bread – $0.99

1 bag Frozen Chicken Breasts – $5.99

1 pkg Hamburger Buns – $0.85

2 pkg Frozen Peas/Corn – $0.79 each

1 pkg Frozen Broccoli – $0.95

1 Cantaloupe – $1.29

2 dozen Eggs – $0.58 each

2.49 lbs Red Grapes – $1.97

2 Cucumbers – $0.59 each

1 Unsweetened Applesauce – $1.95

3 pkg Strawberries – $1.29 each

1 gallon Milk – $1.49

1 Half & Half – $1.55

1 pkg Fruit & Grain Bars – $1.39

1 pkg Shredded Cheese – $2.69

1 pkg Chocolate Chips – $1.89

1 pkg Corn Chips – $0.79

Total: $35.67

Dillons

1 Cheez-It Crackers – $1.99

2 pkg Goldfish Crackers – $0.99 each

1 pkg Kroger Yogurt Tubes – $1.79

3 lbs Ground Beef – $8.97

1 Kroger Greek Yogurt – $1, used Free e-coupon – Free after coupon

1 Kraft Cheese Singles – $1.49

1 Kroger Turkey Breast Tub – $2.69, used Free mailer coupon – Free after coupon

1 lb Kroger Butter – $2.99, used $0.55/1 mailer coupon – $2.44 after coupon

1 pkg Farmland Bacon – $2.99

5 Larabars – $0.50 each

1 Kind Plus Bar – $1, used Free e-coupon – Free after coupon

1 Kroger Peanut Butter – $1.79

2 Betty Crocker Brownie Mix – $0.50 each

2.55 lbs Bananas – $1.25

1 bag Apples – Marked down to $0.99

1 Lettuce – $1.29

Total after coupons: $30.47

Total for both stores: $66.14