Saving on Groceries- what do you spend?

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Grocery shopping is where I really need to start budgeting better. When I bring my daughter along, she wants things (like strawberries, and other healthy things I can't say no to).

Unless you can buy equally healthy things for less money, go right ahead and bring your daughter and buy those good things. Unless there is a money emergency, don't go for cheaper but less healthy food.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

$300 for 3 adults, 1 is a 6'4" man who works out a lot. He bikes about 30-100 miles a day for training.

[Coleroo]

We have 3 people in our household - me, my husband, and my nursing baby (who has not started on solid foods yet). I weigh 130 and am 25, my husband weighs 240 and is 25...he enjoys eating...A LOT! We joke that we have two "growing boys" in our household.

(We also have 3 dogs, a bird, and a ferret.)

We don't budget for "specific" grocery spending.... we have one category in our budget that lumps together all "miscellaneous spending" outside of our set bills. Impulse purchases, pet food, toiletries, batteries, eating out, pictures, everything that's not a "set bill" or "gas" gets put in here.

We've been tracking this category since last December and the most we've spent is $420 in a month. We typically eat out anywhere from 3-5 times per month (we never spend more than $20 total eating out), order pizza about 2 times per month (only costs $5.35 for a large), and almost never have any "entertaining" expenses (we don't go to movies or out for "drinks" or such). We eat at my parents around 4 times a month.

I typically shop for groceries once a month or so (sometimes less) at Walmart, and the bill is usually $75 to $100 in a trip. I go to the farmers market about once a month and usually buy $30-$45 worth of fresh food. We love fresh fruit and can't really afford much meat. Most of our meals are vegetarian (not because we are...it's just cheaper). When we buy meat, it's whole chicken fryers ($2-$3 each at walmart), walmart hamburger patties (32 patties in a box for $13), and ground beef (3 lbs for $8.00). We don't buy TV dinners, but sometimes "splurge" on a few boxes of walmart brand hot pockets (my weakness). We rarely ever buy "snacks"..perhaps a box of nutty buddy bars or a bag or doritos every 3 months or so. We don't buy Ice Cream. We don't really buy much milk...perhaps a quart or so every month or two. We mainly drink water and tea, sometimes kool aid. Sometimes we splurge on grape juice or a two liter coke.

My pantry is stocked with basics - pasta, rice, flour (white & wheat), powdered milk, canned tomatoes, dry beans (many kinds). I also stay stocked with cheap canned foods (I usually pay 60-80 cent per can of whatever I buy). I google for cheap recipes a lot, and use recipezaar.com religiously to come up with different food combinations.

Our fridge holds fresh fruits, cheese, butter, onions, and potatoes (our taters and onions seem to last a whole lot longer in there).

I always cook "more" than we can eat at any one meal and then divide it up into freezer bags, then label and put a "use by" date on it (it forces us to actually use our freezer stock). Most of the time, my husband takes leftovers to work as well.

All in all, we rarely spend more than $220 per month on "food". During winter months when I don't hit the farmers market it's cheaper.

[SnoopyCool]

For 2 adults and 4 children (no one older than 6), we spend an average of $100 per week. This ebbs and flows, as I gather when things are on sale, and spend less when I'm using our food storage.

[Gailete]

This is something I should track better, but I am always stocking up and do much of our grocery shopping at a super Walmart which means other stuff ends up in the cart that we need, it kind of makes it hard to figure out what was grocery and what wasn't. Except for toilet paper though, we don't buy any paper products. I own dishes, why buy paper plates. I use rags instead of paper towels, we use cloth napkins, we use hankies. I love using those honest to goodnes pretty embroidered hankies from long ago and they hold up much better than a tissue (hubby uses plain mens hankies and loves them better than tissues). I some times go weeks between grocery trips if I don't need anything or nothing special is on sale.

Gail

[djabloel]

We spend about $300 on groceries for a family of 4. Most of this money go to Costco and Meijer.

[JBinKC]

It ranges from $80-120/month for 2 adults. The reason why it is lower is I have a garden, practice home canning and eat fish and game.

[MangoMomOf4]

$210 per month, includes cleaning items and tolietries as well. this is an adult male, adult female, and 4 kids-- that cost also includes formula, disposable diapers if we need and wipes (we use cloth wipes and dipes as much as we can). This includes all breakfasts, all lunchs (husband packs everyday and the kids and I are at home), and all dinners and snacks. About once a month we will treat ourselves to take out.

[zakity]

I budget between $400 and $500 for a family of 5. I aim for $400, but sometimes, it goes up to $500. In the summer, it tends to be a little higher. It is also higher when I need to stock up. I buy lots of things in bulk because we will use it up and I have the room to store it. That also includes all paper items and toiletry items.

We cook almost entirely from scratch. The only "mixes" I buy are brownie and I keep a few cake mixes on hand.

In the household, there are three pubescent boys who are eating us out of house and home. They haven't even hit the "teen" years yet... We are so screwed when they do.

[shibafu]

I am shocked to read everyone's post, and still wondering why we cannot reduce our grocery cost.

We are three adults (me, DH, Au Pair), 2 kids (9 year old, 5 year old), and three babies (all 14 month and eating solid.) I figure that with 5 kids, it is equivalent to about 3 adults' worth of grocery, so I should say we need grocery to feed about 6 adults.

I cook everything from scratch except my husband's lunch, but we still buy chips, juices, and sometimes cookies. Still, I can never lower my grocery bills lower than $1200 per month. I live in the SF bay area, though. Is the grocery more expensive here than other parts of the U.S.? I primarily shop at Trader Joe. Is Trader Joe's expensive?

Each week, we consume about 6 to 7 gallons of milk, about 4 gallons of orange juices, 3 dozens of eggs, at least 1 lb of cheese, 4 to 5 kinds of proteins (chicken, fish, pork, beef, etc, about 1.5 lb each, so the total is about 6lb to 7lb per week) etc, etc,,,. My meals are very simple. Still, I can never go down less than $1200 per month. I really want to reduce it to $1000 per month to start. By the way, my grocery bills do not include paper and cleaning items. It is sorely for foods.

I am wondering if one meatless day per week may help, but I have kids who are growing so I do not want to cut back their nutritions.

I really want to cook better, but I just do not seem enough time to prepare everything. If I pack my DH's lunch, I would save $35 per week, and I know it is big, but still I run out of time every morning.

What kind of ideas helped you cut back grocery fees?

[kork13]

I am shocked to read everyone's post, and still wondering why we cannot reduce our grocery cost.

We are three adults (me, DH, Au Pair), 2 kids (9 year old, 5 year old), and three babies (all 14 month and eating solid.) I figure that with 5 kids, it is equivalent to about 3 adults' worth of grocery, so I should say we need grocery to feed about 6 adults.

I cook everything from scratch except my husband's lunch, but we still buy chips, juices, and sometimes cookies. Still, I can never lower my grocery bills lower than $1200 per month. I live in the SF bay area, though. Is the grocery more expensive here than other parts of the U.S.? I primarily shop at Trader Joe. Is Trader Joe's expensive?

Each week, we consume about 6 to 7 gallons of milk, about 4 gallons of orange juices, 3 dozens of eggs, at least 1 lb of cheese, 4 to 5 kinds of proteins (chicken, fish, pork, beef, etc, about 1.5 lb each, so the total is about 6lb to 7lb per week) etc, etc,,,. My meals are very simple. Still, I can never go down less than $1200 per month. I really want to reduce it to $1000 per month to start. By the way, my grocery bills do not include paper and cleaning items. It is sorely for foods.

I am wondering if one meatless day per week may help, but I have kids who are growing so I do not want to cut back their nutritions.

I really want to cook better, but I just do not seem enough time to prepare everything. If I pack my DH's lunch, I would save $35 per week, and I know it is big, but still I run out of time every morning.

What kind of ideas helped you cut back grocery fees?

Meat (beef, poultry, pork, etc.) is expensive, so having meals based around them so frequently certainly would get pricey... Breads, soups/stews, rice, eggs, beans, pastas, and nuts are all ways to make meals more affordable and still hearty, healthy while not skimping on nutrition. Processed juices are generally both sugary (cavities for young children?) and expensive. I'd cut that at least in half, or more. Packing your husband's lunch the night before can save alot for you, particularly if you base his lunch from leftovers of the previous night's dinner. There are lots of ideas like this, and this is the place to get them, but sometimes you just have to end up getting creative.

[ScrimpAndSave]

Make his lunch at night.

[Madwand]

My wife is the Coupon Queen.

We save about $200 a month on groceries with a family of five.

That's $2400 per year. Heck that pays for a beach vacation.

Scott

[shibafu]

Thank you very much for some ideas. My kids,especially the second one, is an meat eater, but maybe,,,, I will start to find some easy recipes with eggs and beans. They can be much less expensive than meat.

I thought of packing my DH's lunch the day before. For that, I guess I need to figure out how much to cook for dinner. I always cook what I thought is a lot, but my family eats a lot, and the food disappear,,,. I guess I just save the potion for lunch before putting it out for the dinner.

I know,,,, the juice is an issue too,,,,. Maybe,,, I should switch the drink to buckwheat tea or something. There should be another $45~$50 saving per month there.

I think my most difficult task is organizing my time. I simply run out of time to prepare things,,,. But I will try to be a little more careful with what I cook. Thank you!!

Meat (beef, poultry, pork, etc.) is expensive, so having meals based around them so frequently certainly would get pricey... Breads, soups/stews, rice, eggs, beans, pastas, and nuts are all ways to make meals more affordable and still hearty, healthy while not skimping on nutrition. Processed juices are generally both sugary (cavities for young children?) and expensive. I'd cut that at least in half, or more. Packing your husband's lunch the night before can save alot for you, particularly if you base his lunch from leftovers of the previous night's dinner. There are lots of ideas like this, and this is the place to get them, but sometimes you just have to end up getting creative.

[shibafu]

Dear ScrimpAndSave,

Thank you! I will try to cook more for dinner, so we have enough left over for the next day's lunch.

Dear Madwand,

Thank you for your advice about coupons. Since we do not read newspaper (we just read online newspaper), I will also try to see if there are any sites for coupons online for groceries. Thank you!