We enjoyed eating every meal outside in the beautiful Florida weather ... on the cheap.
***we left 30" of snow back at home!***
7 Days in Florida was awesome. And while we splurged on some things, we also wanted to be smart with our money and save where we could. The biggest money-saving tip? Don't eat out if possible. We wanted meals that were quick to make, didn't leave leftovers, and that everyone would eat. We nailed it! Everyone was full and satisfied.
We spent $195 feeding a family of 5 for 17 meals. SEVENTEEN!
We ate out 4 times and spent $300. This is how we saved.
*This DOES NOT include the frequent stops to WaWa for drinks and soft pretzels.*
* I don't even want to know what those cravings cost us, haha*
THE MENU
Breakfast:
- Bagels & cream cheese
- Cold Cereal
Lunch:
- PBJ sandwiches (so we don't have to worry about meat in the heat)
- chips (standard size bags and put into individual sized ziplocks)
- cutie oranges
- apples
Dinner:
- Chicken alfredo & French bread
- Sausage Hash
- BBQ chicken salad
- Spaghetti & meatballs, house salad, French bread
- Hot Dogs, chips, apple slices & sautéed potatoes
- Taco Salad
SHOPPING LIST
*Our Airbnb had absolutely nothing helpful. No plastic wrap, ziplock bags, no salt and pepper. Totally bare. So we had to be selective to avoid too much waste.*
Condements & misc.
cooking spray
sandwich size ziplock bags
salt & pepper
McCormick Montreal Chicken Grill Mates seasoning
1 packet taco seasoning
1 jar salsa
1 bottle BBQ sauce
1 bottle buttermilk ranch dressing
mustard
catsup
peanut butter
strawberry jelly
1 large jar of alfredo sauce
2 regular jars of spaghetti sauce
1 can black beans
1 can corn
Breads, Pastas, etc.
2 bags malt-o-meal cereal
1 bag of bagels
1 bag linguini
1 bag spaghetti
4 bags of chips (6 lunches & 1 dinner)
1 bag tortilla chips (1 dinner & snack)
3 loafs of bread (6 lunches)
1 load French bread (2 dinners)
1 package hotdog buns
Dairy
2 gallons milk
1 gallon chocolate milk
1 block cream cheese
8oz block of cheese (2 salads)
5 cartons of ice cream (we were on vacation!)
butter
Produce
1 head iceberg lettuce
1 large carton of salad spring mix
3 tomatoes
1 avocado
1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 zucchini
1 bag shredded carrots
5 pound bag potatoes (2 dinners)
1 bunch bananas
2 bags of apples (6 lunches, 1 dinner & snack)
1 bag cutie oranges
Meats
2 Hillshire Farm Cajun style sausage links
1 package hot dogs
frozen bag Italian meatballs
6 small chicken breasts (2 dinners)
1 pound ground beef
Snacks
fruit snacks
cracker sandwiches
Waste Not Want Not
I hate waste - so we tried to be very careful about what we bought because we knew it was all going in the garbage when we left. This is what was extra: half a bag potatoes, mustard, catsup, salsa, cooking spray, salt, pepper and seasoning, chips & apples (which we took on our flight). We did pretty good.