Feeding my family on $140- Part 2

Ok so now you know my menu plan for the next few weeks & I just wanted to put in a couple notes.
1. I switch around meals to suit our needs that day (for example Hubs will be working late one night this week & since he is the 'cook' I will probably move Saturday's pasta night to that night to save me some time). I write out the menu plan so I know what I need to buy at the grocery store to have everything I need for all those meals- it doesn't mean we ONLY eat that on the scheduled day.
2. Lunch is usually grilled cheese but you won't ever find bread on my grocery list. I make my own. Flour & yeast are so much more inexpensive then a loaf of bread. I do not have a breadmaker but I do have a stand mixer to help me out. That said- a stand mixer is not an 'essential' part of a kitchen, people have been making bread for many more years then there has been electricity.

3. If you don't stay at home like I do you CAN still do this. It takes a little thing called pre-planning & discipline to figure it out. If you are living paycheck to paycheck and there is always more month then $$ just promise me you'll give menu planning & a grocery budget a try? It's so reassuring to know that your family will be fed no matter what. I'm not saying you have to make your own bread or hamburger rolls- that's just how I save us that much more.
4. Beans & rice are staples in our diet. Why? they are filling, nutritious, and cheap. Yes they take a little pre-planning & 'extra' work but you are saving $ by doing the 'extra' work yourself and not paying someone to do it for you. That is the core of saving money- remove some of the convenience and you get a cheaper product.
5. There ARE menu planning resources on the internet and I did try a few (usually $5 a month subscription or something similar) but I found our grocery budget skyrocketing because they didn't focus on cheaper foods, just yummy tasting ones. But if they work for you- by all means go that route and save yourself some time!
6. I buy whole chickens and cook them up in my crockpot and end up with enough meat for at least 2 meals plus *free* chicken stock for other meals. For about $4 a chicken (whole, free range, 'organic' chicken) I get much more then those $7 (& up!) packages of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. If I don't get a whole chicken I at least get the bone in, skin on package of chicken. It takes 2 seconds to take of the skin and cut the meat away from the bone. If you are squeamish about it just have Hubs do it- like I do ;)

Ok moving on. I know these posts without many pictures are long but hopefully we are all learning something and saving some $$ for ourselves right?? I promise tomorrow I will get back to posts with pictures & more crafty ideas!
Here is my grocery list & receipt total- keep in mind even if it doesn't list 'organic' next to it- it still probably was. I am just pointing out organic items that I buy that you might not think of as having an 'organic' option.

My grocery list for this paycheck was this: (tried to separate it out a bit for you- easier reading)
1 gal. Milk, juice, bananas, apples, grapes,
D's cereal bars (organic), raisins, dried cranberries, butter- hope to buy in bulk soon,
half & half, coffee-organic/fair trade, celery, cream cheese, 4 cans tuna fish packed in water,
Vegetable oil (almost out so had to replace), Sugar (again- replacing), Worcestershire sauce (replacing),
15 oz. chopped tomatoes, 26 oz. chicken stock (needed some more before I remembered I had a chicken to cook in the crockpot- oops!), 15 oz. can kidney beans (normally buy dried to save money but didn't this week...weird.),
6 pack Yo-kids yogurt for Little Man & the large organic vanilla yogurt for Hubs & me, sour cream,
all-natural peanut butter, strawberry jelly, 1 lb. bag northern beans, Jiffy mix- cornbread,
Stove Top stuffing mix (I never have any leftover bread to make my own stuffing or bread crumbs), taco shells, 2 or 3 tomatoes, lettuce (we buy the pre-shredded bag but the lettuce head would be cheaper),
pinto beans (hubs bought the canned kind but I prefer the bag of dried), dozen eggs,
2 cans black beans, rice (we were running low on both white & brown), mexican shredded cheese mix (hope to buy bulk blocks of cheese and shred just what we need soon to save $$),
shredded cheddar cheese, 1 lb. ground turkey,
jar of yeast, bottle of honey (anyone know where I can get bulk honey??). That's it!

Here is a photo (blurry- iPhone again...stupid computer won't read my camera card reader!) of the total for all the items listed above:

In case you can't read that it says: $125.98 (woohoo! LESS then my $140 budget!)
Also here is a photo of the $$ off per gallon I saved too since my grocery store teams up with a gas chain to offer the discount:

It says I will save $0.20/gallon if I use it within the next 2 weeks...which we always do! :)

So there you have it! A little thought, planning & time is all it takes to save money on the grocery bill! Coupons & stockpiling not required! (Although would help out a lot!)

I hope you learned something and if not- at least got some great links to new sites to check out recipes from! :) Please let me know what you think & if you have any great resources for me!!