Frugal Farm Wife shows you how to feed your family a healthy menu for just $20 per person per week. She shares a complete menu plan and shopping list — so inspiring!
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Very inspiring! Groceries really take a huge bite of anyone’s paycheck. I always try to compare the prices at different stores and even order some stuff online. It takes some time to figure out what works best for your family, but it is definitely worth it. Hopefully everyone can save little more now 🙂
What a great article!! I really enjoyed seeing how she planned out all of it. Very strategic! Thanks for the link. It was a bummer though to read all the negative comments.
I loved the article too! I liked that she stated (in the comments) that this was to spark ideas for meals and show that regardless of location, you can get your grocery bill down!
I hated that there was so much negativity towards her numbers. Seems like some budget conscious people are particularly crabby today!
Thanks for sharing! I love reading articles that help inspire me to get my grocery bill lower. I know I may not be able to get my grocery bill to $20, I can think more about what I am buying and stock up when the prices are the best to really save and lower my bills.
You can eat good food at a reasonable cost. Thanks for sharing the article!
Okay, I just read the article. The prices she lists are nowhere near what I just saw in Meijer tonight in Columbus, Ohio.
I saw some major differences:
eggs 2 1/2 doz was 4.69 (1 doz was 2.69)
10# potatoes was 3.99
3# onions was 1.19
1 # bag of cheddar was $4.99
3# apples was 3.99
1 head of cabbage 1.99
chicken leg quarters was 1.59/#
butter was 2.99 #
Nothing at my store was lower than what was on her list and Meijer has some of the lowest prices (lower than Walmart, Giant Eagle, Kroger, Whole Paycheck, Trader Joe’s, … competitive with Aldi and Save a lOt).
Jessica- I am also in Columbus, Ohio and have raised 11 children. One of the things I love about Columbus is that we have so many different stores to choose from to buy groceries!
I typically buy cheese from Sam’s Club ( 5 lbs of shredded cheese is under $3./lb )
Now that Fresh Thyme has come to Columbus (in Dublin on Sawmill Road), I find loss leaders every week on produce. For example- peaches are 47 cents/lb through tomorrow-Wed July 15! They don’t have limits on their sale items and are constantly restocking.
Eggs I buy at Meijers, Krogers, Walgreens, etc. when they go on sale for between 99 cents – $1.29/dozen. It is not every week that this happens, but when it does, I will buy 4-5 dozen!
I just bought 7 pounds of 80% lean ground beef at Target in Lennox on Monday (July 13, 2015) that had $2 off coupons stuck to them because their sell by date was July 14th! That made each pound $2.49!
I guess my point is that the best way I’ve found to feed my family on a tight budget is to meal plan around those things that are currently on sale or that I’ve bought on sale previously and have in my freezer or canned or dried in my pantry.
I’ve lived in AZ and up in the mountains of Southern California as well as Columbus for the past 22 years and I know that wherever you live, it IS possible to drastically cut your grocery budget if you put in a little time initially to prepare and plan!
If you ever want to get together and shop, just send me a note. I’m the 63 year old mom of 11 and grandma of 30!
I agree. I stock up on 8 dozen eggs when they go on sale. It’s enough to last me to the next sale. Earlier this summer, chicken quarters went on sale for 39 cents/lb and we bought 40 lbs. I peeled the skin off, trimmed the fat, and portioned them out into freezer bags. I’ve started meal planning based on what is in the freezer and pantry. That way I only have to buy staples and a few other items for the week and can focus the rest of my budget to buying what’s on sale for future weeks.
There is definitely a lot of variation depending on location… For examples, just based off our grocery ads for next week, I can beat almost every single price that she has here in Southern CA. I think even if you can’t hit $20, she’s just trying to show that you CAN get a fairly healthy diet (enough protein and calories) on a fairly small budget.
If I didn’t include cleaning items, hygiene, cat food/litter and toiletries (along with the occasional light bulb, pack of batteries, etc), we would be at that amount. However, I do my grocery shopping at Meijer (and a little at Target and Kroger) and I pick up all those other odd items there.
This is great! We are on a $35/week budget (for 2 adults) and it’s nice to get some fresh ideas!! I’ll have to start making some bean, rice, and cheese burritos. That sounds really good!
Great article. I love the list and the meal plan. $20 is excellent. This has me thinking of ways we could get ours down even more. We’ve already cut it down to $200 per month but we could do even better! 🙂 May be trying some of this…
Thanks for sharing Crystal!