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Challenges about Budgeting and Grocery Shopping

Budgeting and grocery shopping is one of the best ways to trim down your monthly expenses and daily spending- but there are dozens of challenges out there- especially the advice that is ultimately unrealistic. Here is a list of budgeting and grocery shopping challenges and how you can make them realistic strategies to save on grocery shopping! Challenges about Budgeting and Grocery Shopping Challenge #1- Unrealistic Research I've spent a lot of time scouring Pinterest and have not felt entirely satisfied with the results. Some articles seem too unreasonable to be applicable. More often than not, it comes down to unrealistic costs of groceries . For example, I cannot find 1 gallon of milk at my local Walmart for $1. And our Dollar Tree out in Montana doesn't have a grocery section- we do have a freezer section, but it is only 2-3 doors of frozen dinners. And our bread and produce is not as cheap as the other articles. What I have done to get around this challeng
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$20 Meal Plan

A $20 Meal Plan in one week is not impossible! It is incredibly challenging and this post covers dinners only, but the grocery budget is one of the most flexible expense in a monthly budget so it's totally worth it! The main way to bolster the cost of grocery shopping is a meal plan, and a routine. Breakfast and lunch can be flexible- you can eat the same thing almost everyday for breakfast and not get bored- almost the same is true for lunch, but having the same dinner everyday? That's where we need variety! And that's why I keep a Meal Plan Rotation- I have 40+ dinners that I rotate through so that we don't get bored. 

Initially, it takes quite a lot of work to begin starting a meal plan. That starts with understanding, or knowing, the different prices between stores- or at least knowing price ranges for items like milk, produce, breads, meats. Meats tend to be the most expensive, breads are sometimes most cost effective if purchased at stores like Costco. I buy my produce from the local grocery store and buy staples plus in-season produce, and I only buy what is on the meal plan, plus snacks, plus extras for breakfast. 

Here is a week's worth of a $20 meal plan, please note that most recipes with be forwarded to my primary blog thetinytwentysomething.blog  (same content, only better!).

$20 Meal Plan

Monday- Cream of Broccoli Soup

Less than $5 for 3 servings

  • Crown of broccoli $0.81
  • 2 cups Milk 
  • Total 6 TBS of Butter
  • Cheese 
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 2 cups Broth $2.69/box = $1.35
  • Homemade French Bread dinner rolls way less than $1

    • Tuesday and Wednesday - Cream of Potato Soup

    Less than $10 for 2-3 dinners for two people

  • Potatoes (estimated 6 potatoes total) about $2-3
  • Chicken/Veggie Broth $2
  • Celery $1.26
  • Carrot $0.10 (guess-stimate)
  • Onion $0.50 (guess-stimate)
  • Garlic $0.10 (guess-stimate)
  • Flour (very little for 4 TBS)
  • (Great Value) Half & Half $1.48
  • Homemade French Bread dinner rolls way less than $1 

    • Thursday- Baked Ziti 


    • $1.99 Alfredo sauce (half jar) so $1
    • $1.99 Alfredo sauce (half jar) so $1
    • $1 for marinara sauce (whole jar)
    • ~$1.49 ground beef (fraction of the cost of the ground beef from Costco) 
    • $0.24 ½ bag of Pasta *bag of pasta was on special sale for $0.48
    • $1 1 cup cheese
    • Salt, Pepper, Italian seasoning
    $5 for 2-3 dinners for two


    Friday- Chicken Pasta (Frozen Dinner)

  • 1 “package” $6 estimate
  • 1 bell pepper $0.98
  • ½ small onion
  • Some butter, salt and pepper
  • Cheese 

    • Saturday and Sunday- Leftovers Night or Fend for Yourself


    If you made a dish for more than one night on the meal plan, then you would waste money by not eating the leftovers. You can also get very creative and experiment with new flavors. Check out my blog post for Leftovers Recreations- four recipes from scraps. 





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