January, Week One Meal Plan (Take Your Best Guess!)

2011 has been full of ups and even more downs.  Me and the family have been focusing on each-other and our future for the past couple of months and plan to start 2012 fresh in all areas, including financially.  We are starting Dave Ramsey’s financial plan beginning of 2012 and that means cutting costs everywhere, including groceries.

I’m a horrible meal planner to be quite honest but I hope, with your help, I can become better at it.  I realize it’s an essential part of saving money so I’m determined to make it work.  The meals will be basic most of the time but you gotta do what you gotta do to make the budget work right?

To make it more interesting for you guys, I’ve decided to make this a weekly post for accountability for me, and I’m gonna do something fun for you!  This is how it will work!  Every week, I’ll post my weekly meal plan.  I’ll provide you with a list of ingredients that I’ll have to buy to make the meals and the person who comes closes to the actual amount spent without going over, will win a small prize.   I’ll share my receipt and all so that you can see it.  During the next week (every Saturday), I’ll share who won, the actual cost, and the next meal plan..so on and so on.  This will encourage me to buy ONLY the ingredients I need to make the meals, stick to my budget, provide you a little fun, and a chance to win a prize.

A couple of things you should know; 1) I have a family of 5 – me, my husband, 18yr old, 15yr old, and 5yr old.  We live in the middle of Texas.  2) Our beef is part of our income so we have a chest freezer full of it.  Most recipes will include beef but I’ll throw in chicken and such from time to time. 3) All the kids are in school so these meals are for our evening supper.  Me and the hubs will eat whatever we can find during the day.  If I have extras that need to be bought that week, I’ll post them as ‘ingredients’, which you’ll include in your total when calculating cost.

Week One, January 1-7 2012

• Pot Roast, Mash Taters, Corn
• Hot Dogs
• Fajita Steak Sliced & Cooked with Bell Pepper with Rice and Brown Gravy
• Enchiladas and salad
• Hamburgers & Fries
• Slow Cooker Short Ribs with cubed/baked tater chunks
• Hot Roast Beef Sandwiches

INGREDIENTS TO BUY

• 10lb bag of Taters
• Rice
• Green Bell Pepper
• Campbell’s Brown Gravy & Onion
• 1 package Hamburger buns
• Sub type rolls for roast beef sandwiches (probably 2 pkgs, not sure how many come in one)
• 1 head of Lettuce
• 6 tomatoes
• Package of sliced cheese (24)
• 2lbs of cheddar cheese
• 1 package corn tortillas
• 160z sour cream
• wieners
• can of chili (family size can)
• 1 garlic cloves
• Campbell’s condensed french onion soup

Extras to buy for the week include:

• 2 Loaves of bread
• Box of Cold Brew Tea
• Stick Butter (2 pkgs)

How much do you think those ingredients will cost?

In a comment below, leave your best guess of what you think these ingredients will cost.  The person that comes closes without going over, will win this sharp Chef’s knife from Chicago Cutlery.  It’s professional stainless steel, forged blades, 8″, and has a full lifetime guarantee.

You have until Friday evening of January 6th, 6pm CST to take a guess.  Good luck!  Also, if you have a budget friendly meal idea, please share along with your guess. I’d love to have more ideas for my future meal planning!

P.S. Congrats to Mary G from North Carolina. She was the winner of the Clorox Gift Basket and Williams & Sonoma Gift Card!