March Grocery Budget Challenge

March was a good month for me grocery wise. It was also a month I decided to use my entire $100 that I set aside for groceries (I typically use around $80 or so). If you are new here, my $20 challenge is designed to help me shop on a budget while managing my food waste. I plan ahead (well I try to but it does not always work out this way) I try to ensure I purchase enough food for breakfast and lunch/dinner. As I said in the past fruits are important for my breakfast, so this month was no different.

I went to Walmart, The Real Canadian Superstore, and to Seasons Foodmart which is an Asian grocery store for my trips. I tend to break my trips up based on the items I can get for a reasonable price at each store. For Walmart I tended to get shrimp here as I can get a large bag for a reasonable price (I’ve said this in the past) but for this month I just went crazy lol. I got breakfast items from both Walmart and the Real Canadian Superstore and dinner items from all 3 stores. I know March is long gone but it doesn’t help getting meal ideas so let’s get into it so you can see how I did for March.

I went to the Real Canadian Superstore and got a few items for breakfast and lunch/dinner. For breakfast I was able to grab a few fruits like banana, kiwi, mango, and mandarins because you know I love my fruits and I got eggs, yogurt, and cereal as well. I try my best to get as much fruits as possible because like I said before that’s all I care about lol. I eat them as snacks, I can freeze them to make smoothies etc. I just want to have options. I made hard boiled eggs and had it with yogurt and cereal with fruit. It was simple and yummy. I spent $17.79 on ingredients to make this meal.

_{^{Cereal with hard boil eggs and fruits}}

For dinner I decided to make shrimp pasta to me it looks like a pasta salad, but you know it’s a shrimp pasta. I had ZERO oil lol and the struggle was real, but I have been learning to cook without the use of oil or butter and the food is still yummy. I wont lie there was a time when I would go nuts if I didn’t have oil or butter. I would feel as though my meal wasn’t complete. NOW??? If salt and pepper are involved, I’m good lol. I got 6 ingredients, pasta, garlic, carrots, broccoli (this is a must lol) tomatoes and shrimp. Can we talk about the shrimp (it’s a tiny bag with not enough) in my opinion. The bag of shrimp cost $7 and I had enough for 2 servings. This was not a purchase I was happy about, however if you only have $20 your options like mine are limited. This trip cost me $19.70.

_{^{Shrimp pasta}}

While Walmart isn’t always my first choice for supermarkets, I tend to visit here more often because I am able to get specific items like it said. For my breakfast trip I was able to get my most important fruit PINEAPPLES lol yup if you know you know. I was able to grab some bananas, a mango, a kiwi, raspberries, blackberries, and yogurt. To me that was a lot because fruits have become so expensive, I almost never get the fruits I want to eat. I was able to make myself a yummy fruit salad to have with my yogurt. Although this may be considered breakfast items, I eat my fruits as snacks, so I am always happy when that happens. This trip cost me $19.96.

_{^{Fruit salad with yogurt}}

For dinner I managed to grab the shrimp which I love because like I mentioned before, I can get a decent size bag of shrimp for $9.97 at Walmart which gives me multiple servings. For this trip I got shrimp, garlic, a 5lb bag of potatoes, BBQ sauce and broccoli to create my meal. Simple yet yummy. I tend to always want garlic because it’s my thing now lol and broccoli, broccoli is MUST every trip lol, if you know you know. It’s the one thing I enjoy eating and need in my life lol. This trip cost me $18.87.

_{^{BBQ shrimp with mashed potaoes and broccoli}}

My final trip of the month was at the Asian supermarket, like I said before I love getting my fresh salmon here because they usually have it at a reasonable price. I was able to get a decent number of salmon peices (I purchased the tail) for around $13.00, a few sweet potatoes which I love and broccoli of course lol. No added seasoning just basic ingredients. I popped my salmon and potatoes in the oven with salt and pepper and steamed my broccoli and the meal was yummy. Sometimes less is more and I am learning that. This trip cost me $15.84 so I was happy!

_{^{Salmon with sweet potatoes and broccoli}}

For the entire month I spent $92.16 on my $20 challenge, to me that’s good especially because I was able to get almost all the fruits I wanted and my protein options. I can always complain but I am learning to buy what I want and use all without waste.

Check out my January & February grocery on a budget. Have your grocery shopping habits changed?

Check out my grocery budget playlist for this meals and more!