Grocery budget getting out of hand? I have had some request to show what I buy for breakfasts, lunches and snacks on a budget. Buying items for that little bundle can get out of hand FAST, am I right?
Raise your hand if you also like looking into other shoppers carts while at the grocery store! I KNOW I cant be the only one! On my monthly grocery shopping trips, I love to see what other people are buying at the store!
You’ve got company coming over but you’re worried about feeding guests on a budget. How can you still make sure they are comfortable? How can you best make sure that everyone has enough to eat and that everyone is happy with the meals?
That’s what we are going to talk about today!
I just got done with my grocery shopping to stock up to feed five more people at our table for a couple extra days this week. It got me thinking…
“Why do people think they NEED to completely blow their normal grocery budget when they have guests over?”
Let’s talk more about feeding guests on a budget!
3 Hacks for Feeding Guests on a Budget
- Meal Plan as Normal
Have unexpected guests? Not a problem! No need to rearrange everything! If you have been meal planning then just choose one of the meals on your plan that can be easily doubled to feed a larger crowd. Meals I love to do this with are things like pastas, casseroles, or “build your own” type meals like, build your own… tacos, baked potato, salad, etc.
You can also choose meals that can easily be bulked up by adding extra veggies. Things like roasts are great for this, because you can just add in extra potatoes and carrots. Mexican dishes are also great for this when you add in an extra can of something like black beans or rice to carry the meal further.
2.Grocery Pick Up or Delivery
I get it! When company is coming you have an extra long to-do list. Laundry, dishes, and bathrooms are usually at the top of my list before guests come. I mean I am right in the middle of washing all the bedding in our entire house. Literally! I just put the fifth load in the wash before I sat down to write to you.
So you’ve got your meal plan. Check… But you do need to actually buy the groceries. When are you going to find time for that? Welcome to the world of grocery pick up or delivery. Have you tried it yet? I usually do grocery pick up to avoid any delivery fees. It is heavenly! Getting your groceries this way helps you stick to your list so you can also stick to your budget.
Another way to stack the savings on your groceries is to use a cash back app like Ibotta. What’s especially great about using Ibotta is that they have new ways to earn cash back with the browser extension on grocery pickup & delivery!
Ibotta has more ways to earn cash back than any other browser extension. What I love so much specifically about Ibotta, is that a lot of times there are cash back opportunities on “any item” purchases. Also, unlike other browser extensions and rewards platforms, Ibotta offers real cash back, not points, and not promo codes that need to be tested, you get real cash!
All offers were valid as of publish date. Check your app for details, as offers change frequently and may not be available in all areas.
I love that when I’m shopping from my computer, any time I am setting up my grocery pick up order, Ibotta’s browser extension will automatically remind me about all the amazing cash back offers I have set up for my order.
Don’t miss out on stacking up your cash back!
3. Make Meat the Side Attraction
One more tip for your grocery list. Make sure that in the meals you choose to feed your guests that do have meat in them, that meat is not the main ingredient. So if you are looking for ways to keep costs low, a steak dinner for all ten people probably isn’t your best bet. If you stick with the meals I suggested in hack number one that also follow this rule, you should be good to go!
You can do this! There is no need to panic if you’re feeding guests on a budget. A few minor adjustments to your normal meal planning and grocery shopping and your guests are going to have an amazing time in your home!
What are you tips for feeding guests on a budget? I would love to hear all about it over on Instagram.
This is a sponsored post about back to school snacks written by me in partnership with Ibotta. All opinions are my own.
What does back to school look like for you this year? I know it’s crazy, right?
With all the uncertainty that this school year is bringing, one thing remains consistent… our kids are always eating!!
Haha! Or at least it feels like every ten minutes there are extra hands in the cupboards and pantry searching for something to fill those stomachs.
Do you know how much you spend on grocery shopping each month? Before we started this amazing strategy for grocery shopping our family was spending over $1,000 a month on food! That was just me and hubby!!!
Now… now we only spend about $400 each month on groceries! That’s over $600 in savings Every. Single. Month!!!
That’s thousands of dollars saved each year! Want to see what it looks like to get a yummy budget friendly meal plan together and then go grocery shopping on a budget? Stick around and I’ll show ya!
Today I am sharing with you our one day laundry routine. This is great for big families like ours to save a bunch of time and hassle on a regular basis. By dedicating one day, I can free up other days of the week to focus on other tasks. I really enjoy batching my work.
Curious how we get it done? Keep reading. If you try this yourself I would LOVE to hear about your experience.
Our family uses the cash envelope system every single month. It is one of the BIG GAME CHANGERS that has helped us finally stick to our budget!
I highly recommend giving my unique approach to the cash envelope system a try. Even if in the past you tried it a different way. Inside my online course I teach you how to customize this system to make it actually work for your family.
In today’s post I am showing you the steps our family takes every month to make our cash envelope system work to give you an idea on how you can do it for your family’s budget.
Related Articles:
- Our Family’s Cash Envelope Budget Breakdown
- Beginners Guide to the Cash Envelope System
- 7 Savings Accounts You NEED
- How to Start a Budget for Beginners
- Cash Envelope System Categories
Cash Envelope Wallet GIVEAWAY (Open 02/13/2020 – 01/18/2020)
I absolutely love my cash envelope system wallet from DaisyLaneDesigns! If you see a wallet in any of my cash envelope system videos or grocery shopping videos, it’s from there! I love them! You’ll get all the info on what they look like in the video!
Do you want one?
I know you do! For a chance to WIN one all you have to do is follow PenniesIntoPearls and DaisyLaneDesign on Instagram and leave a comment on this post letting us know why you love the cash envelope system or why you’re excited to get started. That’s it!! Good luck!
Our Cash Envelope System Routine
Set the budget
Making sure that every dollar is accounted for BEFORE we spend a single penny, is such a key to us successfully having money to fund our goals! That is why it is step one of our routine for funding our cash envelope system every month.
You can read in this blog post about how we and when we budget the cash for our cash envelope system. We used to pull half of the cash with each paycheck of the month. Now we pull all the cash from the first paycheck of the month.
Make sure money is in the bank
Seems silly but we make sure that our paychecks have cleared the bank before we go and pull out the cash. There has been a time or two in the past that for some random reason the paycheck was a day or two late. It’s a simple thing to do to be on the safe side.
Get the cash from the bank
This is the easiest step. Once a month I go to the bank and pull the cash we need to fund all our cash envelopes.
Put cash in cash envelope files
Make sure to check out the related articles above to understand what I mean when I talk about the cash envelope files. For this step I take the cash and fill the file envelopes. That way I have all the cash we need ready for the next month.
1st of the month
On the first of the new month I move any necessary cash from the file envelopes to my wallet envelopes. I don’t carry every single category with me in my envelope, which is why this system works so well.
Now we are ready to shop! Once the cash in a category is gone, then the shopping for that category stops! It’s that simple. Planning ahead and giving every dollar an assignment makes this possible.
Do you have any questions about our routine for managing our cash envelope system? I would love to chat with you about it in the comments.
Thanks for stopping in! I’ll talk to you soon!
Xoxo Brittany
Does the thought of feeding your family seem like an endless task. Well… you’re right. As long as you are alive, this will most likely be your responsibility for anyone under your roof. The good news is that I have a monthly meal plan that will help lower your stress!
Not only do I have my monthly meal plan for November to share with you, but I am also showing you what it looks like to shop all of the month’s groceries in one morning!
You’re motivated! You have your entire month’s worth of whole 30 meal plan ready for your family. This is going to be awesome! You’re family is going to be SO HEALTHY!
And then you sit down for the first meal and reality sets in. None of your kids will even try dinner…
Holy frustrating! Right?
In this month’s whole 30 meal plan I made sure to choose not only budget friendly meals, but are recipes that either your family will love as is or are easily adaptable to accommodate any picky eaters.
