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A Millennial's Guide to Budget Grocery Shopping: Week 3 [July 12-19]

Writer's picture: Emma TiersonEmma Tierson

Let's go, let's go! It's vegetarian week!!! This is how to start decreasing your spending! It cuts out $20+, it's typically more healthy, and if you cook like I do, it's also freaking delicious!

This weekend, I knew we were going to be stretched at the end of the month, so of course I thought it was the absolute perfect time to go out to dinner with friends. AND I WAS RIGHT.

Sometimes you really do need to treat yo self. Especially when it's for your mental health. We ended up going to a Asian food court, and let me tell you, it was awesome. The restaurant that Cody and I ate from is called Xi'an Gourmet House. If you've ever eaten at Xi'an Famous Foods in NYC, this place has the same style food. I'm now obsessed all over again with biangbiang noodles. They're spicy. They're hand ripped. The portion is massive, and honestly I just need some more right now. The fact that I'm able to get them again, and don't have to attempt a homemade alternative is a miracle for me. I just don't think I could do them justice.

After eating my noodles and having the memory of them be the only part remaining, I spend the rest of the weekend meal prepping. As in my entire Sunday, making a huge mess of the kitchen, wondering why I put myself through this ever weekend, and wishing there was a way to have good, homemade food everyday without prepping once a week and without sacrificing my sleep. To be fair, I only really prep breakfast and lunch, and sometimes part of another complicated meal, but it still takes forever. There are probably recipes that would be faster, and I could probably be faster if I pushed through my exhaustion. But it's the weekend, and I want good healthy food, and to be a bit lazy. So, on Sundays, I cook. And cook. And cook.

Like I said before. This week is vegetarian week. I'm not a super strict vegetarian, I do like meat quite a bit. Because of that, not all my meals are technically vegetarian even though I did not use meat this week. I do use meat byproducts, such as bacon grease, or a beef/chicken broth. It just depends on what I have on hand and what flavor palette I want to create. One could easily make all of these meals truly vegetarian however. They're intended to be easily converted to ones preferences.

Weekly Receipts:

Alrighty. This weeks total came out to $53.75. If I cut down on my 'treats' of kombucha, sparkling water, cola, and chips, the total would've been $10.44 less. But I'm human and if I need to spend $1 on a snack now to not spend $5 on fastfood later this week, I'd say it's better to spend that snack money.

My monthly grocery spending total is up to $231.03. And I've cut my spending by $43.09 this week. Doing pretty good so far. There are only a couple weeks left before payday, so I'm guessing I may spend just over $300 this month on food. Not the worst, and not the best. But at least that gives me a number to try and beat next month.

The Menu

Breakfast:

Chia Seed & Fruit Parfaits

Lunch:

Quinoa and Vegetable Quesadillas + Spanish Brown Rice + Refried Beans

Dinner:

• Vegetable Quiche with Sweet Potato Hash Crust

• Buffalo "Chicken" Pizza

• Vegetable Barley Soup

• Mac n Cheese with Zucchini

Looking at that menu makes me hungry! So much delicious and healthy food!! Be right back. I'm just going to consume my weight in vegetarian quesadillas. ✌✌✌

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