Google to the rescue. Sort of.

So I'm going over the budget.  Again.  This is a regular thing I stress out about when I'm not stressing out about Zach making shanks.  And of course I'm doing the whole coupon thing, which is a stress reliever and a stress creator (and an entirely different story/subject).  But here is my ultimate goal: only spend $50 to $75 dollars each week on groceries and household items (dog food, detergent, etc) and not feed my family mostly packaged foods. 

Of course I consulted the Google gods and typed in exactly this: "how to spend only 50 a week on groceries".  I got some info out of it but also a lot of common sense, no brainer advice, too.  The dilemma we have is that we live in a very small town with two small grocery stores that carry their brands mostly and don't have coupons for said brands.  Also, because they are small stores in small towns they charge outrageously expensive prices for stuff anyway, so shopping with a coupon actually makes it a "normal" price at a bigger town grocery store.  They are fairly comparable on milk, regular bread and most meats.  Other than that...not so much.  Our solution is to meal plan and drive about 25 miles to the nearest store that has a customer card and double coupons.  But I still end up spending over $100. 

So, here is what I am going to do this week when I shop:
Get my list of items I have on hand
Scan the ad they have online and base our menu off of the items I have on hand and the sale items
ONLY BUY those items I have listed
STOP putting items into the cart when I have said listed items in the cart!
Go to Dollar General and buy the stuff I know I can get there cheaper like toilet paper, paper towels and toothpaste, probably some pasta too.  They also have canned chicken for (usually) cheaper than the regular stores. 

Is it realistic to think that I can actually feed my family of 4 (keep in mind I have 2 boys, a tween and a teen)?  And now for the summer we are home most of the day so they will now be eating breakfast and lunch at home.  I guess we'll find out.  Of course, Ry is on his Big Adventure so we will be minus 1.  That will help.  I'm gonna give it a try. 

Am I giving up on my extreme couponing/stockpiling dreams?  Heck no!  But I'm also a bit more realistic now in thinking I just might not have the smarts/time/patience/attitude/patience/patience or patience to be that "extreme".  So wish us luck and if you have any advice on spending only $50-$75 a week on groceries, please let me hear it.  I will let you know this weekend if I met my goal!