$10 Grocery Challenge

Can you make 5 healthy meals for 2 adults for $10 or less? Yes you can...IF you plan ahead. Today I am going to share not one, not two, but three grocery lists that offer 5 meals for 2 adults for $10 or less per list.

$10 Grocery Challenge

I recently fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of challenge videos where people where challenged to redo home offices, buy make-up, buy outfits and make a week of meals, all for $100 or less. Now, I don't know how much disposable income you have, but for me and my family, we keep a very tight budget. And while I was intrigued by these, I knew in my world, I would never spend $100 on 3 outfits, a face full of make-up or 5 dinners. Thrifty by nature and cheap by choice, I decided to come up with similar challenges for myself but with a severely cut budget - only $10. Today, I am tackling the one closest to my heart (and stomach) - grocery shopping. Can I buy everything for 5 dinners for 2 adults for $10 or less? Let's see...

When it comes to buying groceries on a budget, planning ahead is your friend. So to start, I like to think of where I am going to shop. Actually, that's a lie. 99.9% of the time, I shop solely at Wal-Mart. Their prices can't be beat when I can get a pound of ground turkey for $1.50 and 36 eggs for less than $2. But for those of you reading this who shop around, figure out where you are going. The awesome thing about Wal-Mart is you can create your shopping list on their website or app then hit up other store's ads or even the stores themselves and know if you are getting a deal or if full price at Wal-Mart is actually cheaper.

But the definite next step is figuring out what you are making. To get the biggest bang for your buck, choose things that share ingredients whenever possible. This will allow you to buy in bulk, which can be cheaper (but also it can be more expensive, so check your unit prices i.e. how much an item is per ounce, pound, etc.) as well as reduce food waste. Don't be afraid of ingredients like eggs or beans as your primary ingredient either. Cheap protein helps fill you up without being overly expensive. Also, if you have time, don't be afraid of longer cooking ingredients like dried beans or brown rice. Dried beans are often cheaper than canned and brown rice has more nutrients than white. You can also sprout both which makes them easier to digest and sprouted beans are a great snack and the green little leafy sprouts are full of nutrients.

After you know what you are making, you can check your pantry and fridge to see what you have and what you need. Then it's list making time! Now these lists do not have butter, oil, salt, pepper, other seasonings, etc. but you really don't need them if you 1.) don't have them on hand and 2.) can't afford them. I actually try to buy things flavored when I am low on seasonings, such as ground turkey that is pre-seasoned for tacos or canned tomatoes with garlic, basil and olive oil. If you have these on hand or can afford them, by all means get/use them!

And finally all we have left to do is shop...

You will notice a few things about these meals. First, they are light on meat and only use ground turkey and eggs. You will live if you go meat-light one week. Trust me. And you can save a little money along the way. Second, they are gluten-free. I can't eat gluten, so when I budget, I have to factor in pasta that costs at least twice the amount of regular. The one week I included pasta, I factored in gluten-free prices. If you can eat regular pasta, save yourself $1 or put it toward something like cookies. Third, if you can buy everything for all 15 meals, you can save a little by buying bulk versions of some ingredients. But if you can't, no worries! For my lists, I would save less than $0.25 buying everything at once. Fourth, I estimate high for my budget. For example, my budget for week one came to $10.50 but my actual purchase would be $9.13 pre-tax and $9.32 with tax. And speaking of sales tax, I did not include sales tax with my totals. Where I live (NC), I pay 2% for food. When I lived in SC, there was no sales tax on food. And I know other places are higher, so be mindful of your sales tax when budgeting. (Also, I think it goes without saying these prices are using the US dollar since that is where I live.) And lastly, yes, Phil and I eat like this ALL THE TIME. Our meals aren't elaborate (as you know if you follow me on Instagram) and often are beans and rice bowls, egg bakes or pasta. It's all what you add to it and what you eat the rest of the day. Our food budget is usually around $50 per week for everything (sometimes that includes getting the furbabies their stuff if we don't have a separate pet budget that month), so I have to stretch my budget as much as I can, which means I make the most of everything I buy and we rarely have food waste (our biggest source of waste is forgetting to save leftovers, we can be kinda bad about that, but working on it).

OK...now it really is time to shop...

Week 1

Carrots, 1 lbs, $1
Broccoli, 1 lbs, $2
Onion, 1 loose, $1
White or sweet potatoes, 1 lbs loose $1
Baby portobello mushrooms, 8 oz container, $1.50
White or brown rice, 1 lbs bag, $1
Canned diced tomatoes, 2 14 oz cans, $1
Chili beans, 2 15.5oz cans, $1
Eggs, 18 count, $1*

Estimated total: $10.50
Actual pre-tax total: $9.13

*I buy 18 count eggs because they are around $1 per carton and we can also eat them for breakfast, lunch or snacks. You could easily buy 1 dozen and save a little more.

Meals
3-Can Chili (2 cans of chili beans, 1 can of tomatoes, can bulk up with carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)
Dirty Rice (1 can of tomatoes, rice, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)
Skillet Hash (potatoes, eggs, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)
Stir-Fry (eggs, rice, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)
Veggie Omelette/Egg Bake (eggs, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)

Week 2

Ground turkey meat, Italian-style if available, $1.50*

Bag of frozen spinach, $1

White or brown rice, 1 lbs, $1

Canned diced tomatoes with basil & garlic, 14 oz, $0.50

Noodles, gluten-free, $2

Canned fire roasted tomatoes, 14 oz, $1**

Canned black beans, 15.25 oz, $0.50

Eggs, 18 count, $1

Baby portobello mushrooms, 8 oz container, $1.50

Estimated total: $10.00

Actual pre-tax total: $9.38

*I buy this brand because the next closest price on ground turkey is $4 per pound. I can get it plain, Italian-Style, Taco Seasoned and Breakfast Sausage. All are the same price. Would I love to be able to buy a free-range, cage-free version? Sure. But I would do the same with eggs if I wasn't trying to save money for more fun things like coffee and cookies.

**I picked these out before realizing they were $0.50 more than regular diced tomatoes and $0.60 more than diced tomatoes with green chilies. Since they are going in taco bowls, get the cheaper diced tomatoes with green chilies if you can.

Meals

Meaty Spaghetti x2 (ground turkey, frozen spinach, tomatoes with basil and garlic, noodles, mushrooms)*

Taco Bowls (black beans, fire roasted tomatoes, spinach, rice, mushrooms)

Spinach and Mushroom Omelette/Egg Bake (spinach, mushrooms, eggs)

Stir Fry (eggs, rice, mushrooms, spinach)

*For us, this will make 2 spaghetti dinners. If need be, buy an extra can of diced tomatoes for $0.50 to bulk it up. If you eat all the noodles in one meal, use rice the next time.

Week 3

Carrots, 1 lbs, $1
Broccoli, 1 lbs, $2
Onion, 1 loose, $1

Frozen spinach, $1

Baby portobello mushrooms, 8 oz container, $1.50

White or brown rice, 1 lbs bag, $1

Canned beans of choice, 2 cans, $1

Canned chickpeas, 2 cans, $1

Honey mustard dressing, $1

Canned diced tomatoes, 14 oz, $0.50

Estimated total: $11.00

Actual pre-tax total: $9.60

Meals*

Roasted Chickpeas with Roasted Veggies (1 can chickpeas, spinach, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms, topped with honey mustard)

Beans and Rice x2 (1 can beans, rice, spinach, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms, topped with honey mustard)

Roasted Chickpea and Rice Bowls (1 can chickpeas, rice, spinach, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms, topped with honey mustard)

Dirty Rice (tomatoes, rice, 1 can beans, spinach, carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms)

*All these meals can use any variety of the veggies. Leftovers from one night can be used following night or in a use-up meal.

A Word About Leftovers

Most of these meals make more than enough for 2 adults. If you don't eat leftovers for lunch, at least once a week you should do a leftover/use-up meal. For me, this is where eggs come in handy. I toss the leftover veggies in the skillet with eggs and scramble it all up or bake it off in the oven. If there is any meat or potatoes, they go in as well. Serve along side leftover rice and/or beans for an even cleaner fridge afterward. 

Bulk Shopping Total

When I ran all 3 weeks through Wal-Mart to see if I would save buying all three weeks at once, I did notice small savings that during a slim month can make all the difference to your budget.

Pre-Tax Totals

Individual Weeks Combined Totals: $28.11

Bulk Shopping Total: $27.89

Bulk Shopping Savings: $0.22

Need more grocery budget help? Check out my budgeting posts for even more money-saving ideas and tips.

Until next time my lovelies!

-M

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