$50 grocery challenge

so i have new feature on my weird little blog here, the $50 a week grocery challenge. in the past, our household budget has been primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive, meaning that basically we've used it to see and track our spending rather than to actually control our spending. which has been fine. but we've had some changes in our financial situation, not to mention our goals and philosophies, so i took a fresh look at our budget with the aim of minimizing expenses. a usual weekly grocery trip would ring up to, say, $80 or so, and i thought hmmm, how much could i cut this without sacrificing quality or enjoyment? the number $50 came to mind as a nice round number and a good goal.

potential obstacles: we live in an area with a high cost of living. and we prepare & eat most meals at home (we brown-bag lunch or snacks). but on the plus side, there are only 2 of us in this household (plus zoe, but her expenses are a separate budget item), and we eat lots of veggies and just a little meat. also working in my favor is a freezer still half full of beef (local grass-fed meat from a cow pool we did early last year) and a few jars of stuff i canned from our CSA bounty last year. plus i already made a good-size costco run and a grocery trip to start the year.

anyway, i figured that by 1) actually paying attention to prices at the store, 2) planning a weekly menu and sticking to it and 3) allowing some flexibility, i stand a decent chance of success!

so each week i will post my menu and grocery bill, as well as recipes/links if they seem worthwhile.

disclaimer: our budget has a separate item for drugstore stuff, so some things like toiletries, paper goods & cleaning supplies may or may not count against my weekly $50. similarly, adult beverages, grabbing lunch or coffee at the deli, etc do not count here. not trying to get too crazy.

also, i have no desire to become a crazy coupon person or a crazy stockpile person, though i reserve the right to use coupons now & again or to buy extras of stuff i know we eat a lot.

*void in some states and localities. your mileage may vary. professional driver on a closed course.