I just can't get our food bill down...

[ThriftyMom1007]

No matter what I do!

We are a family of 3. (dd is 4)

I would like to spend well under $100 a week, but end up spending about $130.
(including my weekly trip to the grocery store for "things I forgot", even with a list, i manage this one.)

I plan a menu, I write my list, I shop at Super Walmart, we eat leftovers when possiable. What am I doing wrong??

Is this actually a resonable amount for 3 people? It seems so expensive!!!

[elcheapo]

gosh that is wonderful. We are happy when we spend only 200 a week thats for a couple when our kids were at home they could really eat so we would spend almost 500 dollars
a week

[DivaJen]

We are a family of three (DD is 6), buy organic when we can, and spend about $460 a month on food, including dining out. (It's about $300 on groceries and $160 on dining, coffee, etc.)

[midlight21]

Are you clipping coupons and looking for the triple coupon days? You can save alot by doing that. Last week I bought $400 worth of groceries for $200.

[Lori63]

Originally Posted by midlight21

Are you clipping coupons and looking for the triple coupon days? You can save alot by doing that. Last week I bought $400 worth of groceries for $200.

Coupons help us alot! We are a family of 5 (2 are teenage boys!) and I probably spend about what you do.
Also look for outlet stores-we have a bread store and also a McKee (little debbie)

[jodi]

It does sound a little high to me...I found that when I started varying where I shop, I saved more. Wal-Mart has good prices on a lot of things, but they don't run great sales like other stores do. I sit down on Sunday and go through all the circulars for the stores I visit (Tops, P & C, Wegman's (local stores), and Aldi's). Whichever store has the most things I need on sale, and the most things I can use a coupon on, that's where I go that week. I used to just go to Wegman's every week, but then it would be hit or miss as far as finding the things I need on sale. I have found that no place, even with sales/coupons, beats Aldi's for certain canned goods and even fresh fruit/veggies, so I go there when I need to stock up.
Also, do you buy in bulk (esp. meat)? I buy the bulk packages, use what I need, and freeze the rest. Just make sure you read the labels to make sure the price is really cheaper per pound - I'm not sure that Wal-Mart prices are better for bulk like other stores are.

[katwoman]

These are the most surefire ways of getting your grocery spending down:

www.cutouthunger.org

www.thegrocerygame.com (you have to pay, but try the $1 trial first)

www.cairo.com (enter the items you need and they will tell you where there is a sale in your area)

[PrincessPerky]

I constantly have the same problem!

I have found two or three ways to get the budget a bit lower, not as low as I would like, but lower than 130 a week (my former weekly cost, kindof cool it is the same!)

1. Don't go get what you forgot, suffer or substitute, yes you can live without milk for a couple days (just how far away is a week anyway?) And lots of recipies turn out pretty good minus an ingredient or two (check my blog for some oops but worked!)

2. Have two or three incredibly cheap meals that are FAST, fast is the key, cause no one wants to spend an hour on a cheap not so awesome meal! My two normals are ramen noodles (called spicky noodles by my family cause we add ground red peper to spice it up, at the least) and macNcheese with hotdogs and a vegetable. I suppose this doesn't qualify for great healthy meals, but once a week doesn't seem to be hurting.

3. Eat dried beans once a week (ish) they are rather cheap and rather good for you just don't forget them beans!

[lrjohnson]

What types of food are you buying? If something is high cost, even buying the least expensive version can make a dent. For example, some fresh fruit in season (mango), most fresh fruit out of season (strawberries), a lot of meat, chicken, and fish, convenience food, some vegetables (asparagus), soda. If you buy some of these items, I would evaluate whether you needed them as often. If you do, fine-you need to buy what you need to buy. But, if you can go meatless a night or two, or used some ground beef in a casserole instead of steak, go for it. Try bananas and oranges instead of grapes. Instead of a Crock Pot Meal pack, try one from scratch. Eat bulk rice instead of Minute rice, carrots instead of asparagus, tap water instead of soda. Frozen juice concentrate instead of Juice packs or cartons. Of these these are very specific examples but the idea is, don't even buy it at low cost if you don't need it, or if there is a substitute.. You may of course already be doing this.

My grocery bill averaged $100 (for my half) last year, or $23 a week. But, we ate out about twice a week. This does not include shampoo, toilet paper, etc. When I first planned my minimum wage challenge, I aimed for a grocery bill of no more than $290 a month for 2 people, or, $34 a week per person, to compensate for eating more at home/kless out. However, I think Il'll be able to do better than that; I think I'll actually be more around $240 a month, or $28 a person a week, without any sense of deprivation.

Good luck in your efforts!

[Tree0164]

What meals are you eating?

You may want to go meatless.

We are a family of 5 and spend about $350 on food including eating out.

[flash]

It's not bad! Super WalMart may not have the best prices, though.

To really dig deep, take out all the supermarket ads your receive for the week (usually Sunday or Wednesday newspaper, or mail). Don't assume you are shopping at any of these places, but go through the ads and make a list of what strikes you at each store. Chicken 69 cents a pound this week, TP special? Stores offer loss-leaders each week to pull you into the door, and taking advantage of them WITHOUT buying everything else there can get your costs down. Also many stores compete, so run similar sales in the same week.

Look at your lists. How much are you paying for the same items at Super Walmart? Again, one store is going to have a few great deals, and make up for it by the things that aren't low priced but you buy anyway.

Princess, was it, completely right, do not let yourself go out for those little things. Find a sale on powdered milk and stock it; you can get by for a day or two; find the pantry basics on sale, stock them, and you won't end up paying high prices later. Especially true on spices.

Coupons. Add these to the sales, and watch your grocery bill fall. If you need help finding/using coupons, just ask.

[contrary1]

One tip of mine.............I don't ever go back to a store for something I forgot. I just pretend I'm my grandmother, stuck in the middle of North Dakota..........she would just make do. That's my best advice, make do with what you have. No going back, put the forgotten things on your next list.....and make do.

[marjorie]

The advice given about comparing prices to SuperWal-Mart was good, but you can take it a step further. At least around here, you can bring ads from stores that compete up to a 30 mile radius, and Super WalMart will match the price for exactly matched items. One trip, one store, everyone's doorbusters. Great for "cherrypickers"! It can make a huge difference, expecially around holidays. Great times to stock up include Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor day and Thanksgiving. In conjunction with a price list you can really determine when you are getting the best value for your money and stockpile then. Also it helps enormously if you are willing to experiment with different brands. I rarely find generics as inexpensively as name brands bought on sale with coupons. PM if I can help more...

[MsRis]

I have a family of 3 but my boyfriend is always over and we spend around 250 a month. If you get the coupons in the Sunday paper some food markets double the coupon like my store don't know if i can say it so i won't but we save around 30 dollars each time we go just with the coupons

[Thrifty Ray]

You might look at the types of foods you are buying...is there alot of packaged or convenience foods? A good book I use is Not Just Beans...which has alot of simple, homemade meals that use basic and frugal ingredients.

I found a huge difference when I started baking from scratch...I rarely by packaged convenience anymore - unless it is deeply discounted.

Good luck!

[starving_student]

Avoid grocery store!!!!

Sounds silly but true.
I found that all grocery store (Safeway, Fryes and Albertson) are overpriced on almost everything. I actually get better deal at Trader Joes, Sunflower, Wild Oat and a local organic grocery store. I go to many places (4-5 everyweek) and bought where that specific item is cheaper (you just start to memorize these things). It doesn't take me much time as I know exactly what I am looking for in every place. The organic food store is at a walkable distance and the other three can be made in a circle. (thus only cost sliglthy more in gas). Beside food is much better quality....

Some deals
Organic pasta at traders Joes are 99¢ a bag
organic cereal box TJ 2,25$
Whole wheat organic flour 58¢ pound at Wildoat
organic tomato basil pasta sauce for 1,89$ TJ
pint of organic cherry tomato 1,69$TJ
etc...
Good luck

[Thrifty Ray]

Good point starving student...to dovetail, stick to a list and try to hit the store(s) only once every week or bi-week....Keep in mind that every store visit increases the opportunity to IMPULSE SHOP....which is what the stores are banking on!

[contrary1]

another thought on reducing the bills ......... Check out any ethnic markets in your area. We're lucky to have huge asian and mexican markets nearby. Both of these offer great prices on things I normally use anyway, but are much cheaper than my grocery stores.
Rice and tortillas are 2 items I can think of off the top of my head.

[rebelchai]

Definitely look at the convenience & packaged foods you buy. Do you have time to make more from scratch? I'm a stay-at-home mom so I have more time than money.

I bake two loaves of bread every other day. It's 50 whole/ ap flour wheat bread, and I buy the ww flour and yeast at the local health food store and they cost less. The last time I did the math, it was $.30 a loaf. I use the same dough to make hamburger buns (8 for $.30), pizza crusts (1 XL for $.30) and subway rolls (4 for $.30). The home made breads taste a lot better, are fresher, and less expensive. On the other hand, I have to be available for the bread making process which lasts about 3 hours from first mixing to out of the oven. Bread freezes great so in the summer I make more and freeze ahead.

Do you buy cereal? We just reduced this drastically. DS is almost three and loves my home-made granola:

7 c rolled oats
1 c ww flour
1/2 c corn syrup
1/4 c molasses
1/2 c peanut butter
1 c rice crispies (store brand)

Mix all but the rice crispies thoroughly - I use my KitchenAid mixer. Don't overdo it or you'll break up all the oats. Dump this into a roasting pan and mix in the rice cereal. Pop it in a 250F oven and stir every fifteen minutes for one hour. Cool. Store. Eat. YOu can add dried fruits if you want.

We spend $40 at the store per week (including diapers, toiletry needs, EVERYTHING) I have stated this in previous posts, but what I failed to include (I just forgot) is that my DH helps his parents on the family dairy farm, so we get free milk (2 gallons) and 2 pounds of ground beef a week "free".

We also grow lots of peas and eat one meatless meal for supper per week.

Um, let's see, what else? No soda, no crackers, no baked goods not from scratch, no juice, no chips. . . Kettle popped corn/ air popped corn are our snack of choice. Home-made soft pretzel and bagels are tasty, too.

No convenience prepared potatoes. Cut up some potatoes in bite sizes, put them in a covered casserole dish (brushed with oil) with some garlic &or seasoned salt for 1hr @ 375. No complaints.

One whole chicken costs about $3.00 at Walmart here and we can get 2+ meals from one. (2 adults, one toddler). Cook in crock pot with 1/2c water on LOW for 6hrs, or until drumstick pulls off easily. We eat one "roast chicken" meal, and the leftovers go into enchiladas, or pasta salads, or green salad main dishes, or anything else you use chicken bits for.

How much time do you have?

[baselle]

First of all, if its a consistent 130$/week, that's good in itself. You're regular - not $130 one week, $200 the next, 50$ the next because you're freaking at the end of the month. Sounds like you're close and you need a tweaking.

Instead of trying to go to 100$ right away, make a game out of it and try to get to 120$ - 125$ next week, then drop it 10$ when you get good at 120$. Take the $120 you have as $120, not as a debit card. When its done, you're done.

Also, a grocery store has a route that they want you to through - expensive stuff first, basics hidden at the end or in the middle. Try to reverse the flow - get your basics first. When you have your list for the week, list those at the top. If the grocery has a loss leader that you can swap for something on your list, great, go for it. Otherwise, stick with your list.