How to feed a family on $400 per month!

When Javy and I were dating we could spend our money on anything and everything without one care. There was no mortgage to pay, no doctor bills to figure out, no HOA dues. Oh man, weren't those the days? I specifically remember spending $400 on one trip the grocery store for 2 of us. I am pretty sure we bought corn dogs, frozen pizzas, pizza pockets, bagel bites and a bunch of other crap that wasn't good for us or our wallets.

 We have grown up since then. We work hard for our money and I refuse to throw it down the drain on crappy food. I made a family budget about 2 years back and have really stuck to it every since. One of the things on that budget? Spending $100/week on groceries. With this $100 I need to buy meals for a week for 2 little hungry munchkins and a husband who loves his home cooked meals. We need toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, toothpaste . .we are not just talking about food. I need to figure out how to buy all of my households needs with only $100 measly dollars.

 It actually gets kind of fun figuring what I can make for cheap and how I can save I don't have time or patience to gather coupons, here are some tips and cheap meals I have found throughout the years:

1. Figure out how much you can afford to spend each week- stick to that budget!!! Make it a focus to stay in that budget. I get such a feeling of accomplishment when I stay below my budget (this must be the community manager side of me)
2. Buy store brand name foods. 99.9% of the time the store brand name foods taste the same., especially your canned goods. Just suck up your pride and buy whats cheap, not whats "name brand". You will thank me later. 
3. Plan out your weekly dinners ahead of time! This one tip has saved me loads of cash. I no longer buy what I think I may possibly cook with. When I did do this I wasted more veggies and meat than I care to talk about. What I do now is look through recipes on Saturdays, I go through all the ingredients and make a shopping list from there. This way I only buy what I really need and will use. 
4. Don't buy a bunch of junky nasty crap. I buy 1 snack for me, 1 for Javy (he hates my healthy snacks) and one for Xavier. That's it, nothing more. Junk food runs up the grocery bill quick. PS. when did a bag or doritos become $3.99. That's redic.
5. Walmart has some of the cheapest prices on food. Walmart produce is NOT good. Walmart lines are hell, Walmart customer service needs some love, and some of the people that like to shop at Walmart . .well you know where I'm going with this. Shop where you are comfortable. I shop at Target and the prices are actually rather comparable but the produce is MUCH better. PLUS I get to shop through racks of baby clothes when I am done with my groceries and have $10 to spare. What better to spend that $10 than baby headbands?
6. Do not take your husband or kids grocery shopping with you. Everytime I make this mistake I regret it for days, and I end up going way over budget. I buy crap like double stuffed oreos, cheese sticks, super hero fruit snacks, super hero juice, and superhero mac and cheese. Just go grocery shopping yourself, make it quick and leave the family at home. They will be fine without you for 1 hour. 
7. Don't give into the temptation or give into the sales at the end caps of the aisle (Target). Stick to your list and your list only. If something isn't on my list . .well it doesn't get put in the cart.  Sorry husband of mine, screaming "don't forget the chicken wings!" As I walk out the door does not make it on my list. I will not buy it. Done

Here are a few recipes to brighten for day and family budget. You should be able to get ingredients for these meals for under $10:

Slow cooker BBQ chicken

calzone rolls

Easy meatloaf

Chicken Curry

Meatball subs

Lasagna roll ups

Sloppy joes

Lasagna Soup

Italian layer bake
Cream cheese chicken chill
Philly cheesesteak sloppy joes
pesto chicken stuffed shells
shepards pie

As I started to post these, I realized that almost everything I cook is budget friendly. For more recipes check out my Pinterest page. I have made just about everything on my "recipes to try" board.