I subscribe to all manner of blogs, both through my feed reader and through Facebook. Today I got a message on my Facebook wall for the Super Healthy Kids Blog featuring an article about 10-cent breakfast. Obviously, I couldn’t pass it up!

In the article, the blogger discusses her struggles with staying within her monthly grocery budget:

Healthy eating does not have to be expensive. And this next month I hope to stay within my food budget to prove it :)

Want me to be totally honest and transparent here? I budget $500 per month for food (family of 5). Last month I spent $837!! In my defense, I was super busy with school and did not shop the sales like I should.

When I read this, it sounded so familiar! This happens to me so often – I carefully plan our monthly budget, and almost every month I go back and realize that I’ve overspent by a couple hundred dollars. At least now I know I’m not the only one. Of course, it might help if I didn’t run out and buy every little thing I was craving right away. Planning is definitely one of the keys to staying within a budget.

And, now I’m motivated to try and break down the cost of a lot of our meals. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a cost breakdown, per serving, of the meals that you cook for your family?

What are some of the things you struggle with when it comes to cooking for your family? Do you already break down the cost of meals in your household? If you have any tips on cooking healthfully within a budget, please feel free to share in the comments. I know that Dot did an article here on Foodwhirl not long ago on Chicken on a Budget, but we’d love to hear your ideas, too!