Groceries - How Much?

Mommy2Isabella wrote: We spend $200 a month on groceries!

I shop at one store and they double coupons up to .50 so if you have a .50 they double it to a dollar!

Also, wondering, who else clips coupons? I do it EVERY SUNDAY!

I am cheap though, I get the coupon section of the paper from my dad! HAHAH, so it really pays off for me! My brother asked what if dad wanted to clip coupons, I said he would have to get another paper! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!

moped replied: I don't know for sure what we spend but I go on 2 BIG trips a month and many little ones, I am going to guess at $500-$600 month. But my husband loves steak and I love Checken Breast - so meat is $$$$$$$$

Mommy2Isabella replied: WOW~ lol thats what we used to spend!!

We get our Chicken Breasts from Sam's club now, they have a bag of Tyson Brand boneless skinless, with 12 breasts, for 13 bucks! Can't beat that! So we get those. We don't do a lot of red meat, when I say we I mean ME! lol

mummy2girls replied: iam going to say 600-750 a month and thats because i have to buy for the dayhome as welll. and marcus is a pig..LOL

my2girls replied: We spend $450 a month for a family of 4.
That includes toliet paper, paper towels, personal products, laundry soap etc.

kimberley replied: $180-220 per week

stella6979 replied: I would guess about $200/month. I am a huge bargain shopper and only buy what's on sale and I also use coupons. We eat lots of chicken so I get that at Gordon Foods. They have 5lb bags of chicken breasts for $11.00!!

5littleladies replied: $300-350 a month.

coasterqueen replied: $850 - $900 a month. I get $350 every two weeks for groceries and household items. I almost always go over that by about $50 or so. Then we buy our meat from our farmer once a month which is anywhere from $50 to $100 a month. Now this does not count how much we spend on eating out too, but now that Dh and I are only eating out for lunch, no other meals with Megan's allergies, our grocery budget will probably go up even more. But DH said we spent at least 1/2 of what our grocery budget was going out to eat.

This is probably our BIGGEST area we could cut down on. In all fairness we buy almost all organic which is EXPENSIVE, and I have to buy Megan's food for school, and some for the daycare provider, and anytime she goes to stay with someone. I also have to buy soaps and such for school as well.

Our Lil' Family replied: I think we spend about $400/month for a family of 3.

luvmykids replied: Ours averages out to about $700/mo, some months its more or less since I'll stock up on things when they're on sale and not have to buy as much the next month or two. But we're a family of five, plus we always have extra guys hanging around at dinner time

coasterqueen replied: Ok, mine is obviously a HIGH budget. Am I the only one that buys a lot of organic?

moped replied:
I dont' buy organic, my costs seem to be in the meat and convenience items like cheese strings, costco runs, chips (for me), special treats........

MoonMama replied: Ok I'm going to admit mine is high....BUT I do but mostly organic (everything I can) and juice daily so all those fruits and veggies (organic) add up. I spend about $1200 a month sometimes more sometimes less on a family of 3. It goes down during the summer some because the prices of fruits and veggies go down.

My3LilMonkeys replied: Around $300-$400 a month for a family of 5, including the baby's formula and most household products like toilet paper, ziploc bags, aluminum foil, etc.

luvmykids replied:
I don't buy much organic, although I try to keep most dairy organic. I hate to admit it but it's only because it tastes so much better

Crystalina replied: Well, until last week we've always shopped at Wal-Mart. We were spending $100 plus a WEEK! Then we decided to visit the store across the street (well dh did, I haven't been there yet but plan to this week) it's Aldi's I think. MIL said it was cheaper and dh got a gal of milk there a couple of days ago for $2 and change! It's almost $4 at Wal-Mart!! He said it was much better going there for now so I can't wait to see what they have.

And btw, I'm the cheapest person I know so I can't believe I hadn't found this place before now.

lovemy2 replied: I would be happy as a clam to spend $200 a month - we are more like Jen - $400 - $600/month.....coupons, buying meat at BJs, etc. I bargain shop but still spend alot...

And Crystal - we go to Aldi's too - its great for milk, cheese, etc. and snacks for the kids....

Mommy2Isabella replied: We buy some organic like diary, and our mac n cheese, and our produce! But I don't buy organic cake mix or chips or anything like that.

We get our fruit snacks from sam's and our meat from there as well. Unless meat is on sale elsewhere then we buy it and stock up.

I am a HUGE bargain shopper. Coupons, and only if it is on sale. Publix does B1 G1 all the time and 9 /10 I have a coupon for it. The also do .1 coupons on sunday. So if it is something we use we snatch that up as well. A few weeks ago it was oatmeal and I had a coupon plus it was b1 g1 in the store and it was the .1. So we got like 4 things of quaker oatmeal for like 1.00 or something silly like that.

I used to use the GroceryGame.Com ... she tells you how to use your coupons to your advantage ...

HuskerMom replied: We spend about $500 a month on groceries.

MommyToAshley replied: I am not exactly sure but if I had to guess I would say $600-$800/month, but that includes meals, snacks, and household items like laundry soap, cleaners, etc. However, I have to admit that we still eat out at least twice a week.

I buy A LOT of fresh fruit and vegetables which can get expensive this time of the year. I buy organic fruits for thost fruites that are known to have more pesticides. I don't buy all organic vegetables though because I don't like the taste of some organics. I also buy hormone and antibiotic free chicken, and I buy the Laura's beef (the extra lean) that is also hormone and antibiotic free. I usually don't buy hamburger, but buy the ground chuck or sirloin. We usually have the leaner selection of steaks or roast too, so that gets to be more expensive.

boyohboyohboy replied:
I wish you would come to my house and help me sort out what is on sale and the coupons...to make my grocery budget go down. I know we could spend less, especially if we cut out the extra inbetween trips..
I used to use couponbug.com but then stopped because we werent getting coupons we used.

Mommy2Isabella replied: I have found a free site called CouponMom.Com

I only buy things that we use, and we go to the store once a week for groceries.
I also do meal plans which has helped us A LOT. When we get the paper on sunday I sit down go through my coupons that I have from previous weeks and that weeks, I also look at the store ads and then make my meal plan. With also using the existing things we have in our cabinents. We always have pasta and pasta sauce around here. Those are staples and when they are B1 G1, I get them.

You can also look for printable coupon's online or at the manuf. website they often have coupons. So many times we have gotten free loafs of bread because Sara Lee will have a coupon.

boyohboyohboy replied: ok you really inspired me to take a look at my spending habits.
so I found a site this morning called
abe-grocery-tips.com
and really got some good ideas there as well as links to some good savings..

lisar replied: I spend about $300.00 a month just on food.

3xsthefun replied: We spend around $400-$500 a month.

luvmykids replied: Stacy, something that really helped me was changing my thinking on meals. Instead of planning my meals and then shopping for sales, I base my meals on what is on sale. It wasn't huge amounts of money, but doing that shaved at least $100/mo off our bill.

I also started baking a lot more...instead of buying granola bars, fruit snacks, etc I just started experimenting for snack stuff. Google "energy" or "breakfast" bars. Also, I used to spend a hefty amount of money on stuff like granola, until I found out I could make my own with oatmeal.

Cece00 replied: I probably spend $400-500 a month for a family of 6. I use coupons a LOT & save a good bit of $$. I also include my "stockpiling" in that $400-500. I stockpile foods and some items like laundry detergent & shampoo, etc. I usually them them for very cheap or free w/ coupons.

We lost all the meat in our freezer awhile back so I'm trying to replace that now, its costing me a bit more but I'm watching for sales (we have a HUGE stand up freezer in addition to the inside freezer).

I dont buy organic bc I really dont buy into it. The most expensive things for me are convenience items (snacks and such), meat and produce.

Hillbilly Housewife replied: I used to spend just about double tihs, but lately I spend about 200 - 250$ a month, family of 5 with usually one meal with 2 extra adults, including some convenience things for lunches, ziplocs, foil etc...

I do just about all the baking in the house, though, including loaves of bread and bagels. Most of the fruits and vegetables I buy ARE organic, or from my garden... jams, jellies are made by me..

I do have a 200$ float, though... which I use for when stuff is ridiculously on sale, like ground beef at 2$ a pound rather than 4.50$ + a pound.. well YEAH I'm going to buy more of it, duhhhhh!

Like Monica, I base my meal plan on what's on sale.. but i also have a general meal plan that I follow. I buy a lot of stuff in bulk... like oatmeal, powdered milk, eggs, sugar, flour.. really, all the baking stuff..I buy the biggest of what they have, because I will go through it. With all the baking i do, powdered milk is a blessing... it tastes like crap to drink - but it works great for baking.. and you can mess around with the amount of powder to make skim, 1%, 2% or whole milk consistency. I don't mind using it in coffee, too.

I don't clip coupons. I probably should... I'm sure I could knock off an extra 20$ a month with coupons, at least.

Tonight's meal cost me:

1 big can of crushed tomatoes - bought on special for 0.99
2 boxes of cannelloni pasta tubes - a splurge item - 2.98
about 1/3 brick of cheese - regular price 7.99, on special for 4.50, and so I bought like 5 bricks of marble - it's great to cut in thirds or quarters, and freeze.. the consistency is fine when you leave it out for a bit then use that to grate over stuff... (4.50/3 ) = 1.50$
3/4 pound of ground beef, bought 5 pounds for 9$ (1.80 a pound, so about 1.35 for 3/4 pound).. we only ever use 3/4 pound ground beef, and add red lentils, onions, a handful of barley and a handful of oats to add filler.. cheap cheap cheap....and gives us nearly 7 meals worth each with enough leftovers for lunch for me and the ex the next day
one onion, from a 5 pound bag at 2$.. like, a couple of nickels.. lol

total: approximately 7$ for dinner for 5, and lunch for 2.

Breakfast - oatmeal with cinnamon and dried raisins.. oatmeal, a huge back for 3$ - lasts us about a week, including making oatmeal cookies, oatmeal muffins, sprinkling some on bagels, eating it as oatmeal, and using it as filler mixed with meat.. seriously, maybe 25 cents for the 3 kids, and maybe 15 cents for the portion out of the bag of dried raisins (let them soak 10 - 15 minutes in water before using...much better and more filling. ) i don't eat breakfast nearly as much as i should.

breakfast cost: about 40 cents

Lunch - we had wraps... maybe 1$ worth of ingredients to make the tortillas..
1/4 green pepper, 1/4 red pepper.. maybe 1$ worth there too.. some sprouts - cultivated from the bags of dried beans I buy - seriously, maybe 25 cents worth.. which is about a cup of dried beans... which makes about 2.5 cups of sprouts.. which is enough for several meals in various ways, a handful or two in each.. some seasonings, onions, shredded lettuce, a tomato.. probably about 50 cents worth there..

lunch cost: about 2.75$

Cost of the day's meals: about 10$ - add an extra 25 cents on that for what it would have cost me to make the muffins and brownies they had for snacks and dessert... about 13 cents each of the kids for an apple at 2$ for about 15.. and that's a high cost for me, because we really splurged on the cannelloni. 2.98 is the cost of a huge bag of pasta around here... enough for at least 5 meals... so without that, and just using the price of regular pasta, it would have come to about 8.25 for the day. At that price range, that's barely under 58$ to feed the 5 of us for a week's time, following the food guide. Which is about what we spend.. obviously some days we have better cuts of meat, some days we go vegetarian.. some days are more expensive than others.. but we don't go without, ever. We choose to be cheap on food, because we can do it and still eat really healthily and squarely. I don't put up with picky. You eat what the meal is, or you don't eat. They're lucky they HAVE food. Simple.

I also buy more of the in-season things than most people would consider normal... when berries are in season and really cheap, I tend to buy more of it.. instead of buying a quart of strawberries, for instance, I'll buy 5. 1 to eat, 4 to make into jam, or freeze, or dry..or a combination of the above. That's what my float's for. Carrots - when they're in season, I buy one bag for regular use, and 2 bags to process.. i dry some slices, and freeze the rest.. they're great for things like soups, stews.. and then in off season I don't buy as many, because I use the frozen stuff more.

it really depends on how far you are willing to go to be creative to save money, on how much trouble you're willing to put yourself through to save a buck. I personally think that the things I do teaches my childrena little bit of self-sufficiency.. that I'm not dependant on a grocery store for everything - and that when prices skyrocket, i won't be screwed.. it's also a wonderful teachign tool, and I find brings us closer when we do things as a family such as peeling and cutting 10 pounds of carrots around the dining room table while the kids set up the cut slices on a tray so they can be frozen separately so we can just take out what we need from the container rather than a block of solidified carrots pieces all stuck together..

sorry this got long.. i'm tired, and talking about saving money on food irritates me to no end, because most people don't realize the things they can do do cut their budget at least in half without underming the quality or quantity of the products they consume.

luvmykids replied: I never thought about adding lentils or other things to meat as a filler, that's a great idea, especially since they're so good for you.

I went to the store today and instead of buying snack stuff, bought the ingredients to make my own. I made granola bars, soft pretzels, and cereal bars plus more fruits and veggies....in spite of all the ingredients I didn't have on hand, my total was a good $50 less than usual

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
It's incredible how much $ you can save just with a little planning.

I don't buy into it when people say they can't cook.....

...........if you can READ, you can cook.

coasterqueen replied:
Sorry, this comment struck me funny. Why? Because you may "buy into it" if you had a child with allergies. If you read the labels on something organic and something not organic you'd see a LOT less ingredients and chemicals for one, and I for one am thankful there is organic for those who can't eat every chemical they put in our foods. I think you may "buy into it" if you understood if from a person w/allergies or knew someone w/allergies. There is nothing to "buy into" organic. Organic has a LOT less chemicals in it. Do you not think chemicals harm our bodies?????

coasterqueen replied:
I completely agree that we all consume way too much and don't think about how to save costs on food, but I know since we started buying almost EVERYTHING (including meat) organic our costs have gone UP, but our consumption is way down. So just because one's grocery bill may be a lot higher than yours doesn't mean their consumption is much greater than yours.

Cece00 replied:
I shouldve been more clear- I know organic is better overall- less chemicals, etc.

But unless I grew it, know who gren it & know they didnt use any chemicals, or for example my parents own cattle & its grown organically- then no one can GUARANTEE its organic.

Also, a lot of stuff that is "organic" comes from other countries and isnt really regulated and is not only sometimes NOT organic but worse than "traditional" from our own country.

SO basically- I do eat organic beef (my parents) and grow (mostly) organic veggies in the summer, and eat organic stuff my uncle grows...but I never buy organic. Because I dont know that it IS organic. And I'm not spending extra $ on something I can guarantee is better for me.

Also, I'm wary of how they grow things that are sometimes marked "organic" for various reasons...the methods they use to grow foods called "organic".

You can research it on the internet if you'd like, but anyway, thats why I am wary of "organic" foods and why I dont really buy into "organic is better"- not because I have a 100% issue with "organic" food but mainly bc food bought in a store can not be PROVEN to me to be actually organic.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
No no... I'm not saying they consume more, like as in they eat more.. I mean that a lot of people will prefer to buy, for instance, carrots/strawberries/peas/whatever at lower prices during the summer, and higher prices during the winter... rather than lower prices in the summer, but buy more and process them either by freezing or canning...making and canning their own tomato sauce..stews..etc.. that sort of thing. Even bagels.. at over 2$ for 6... making 8 costs me all of about a dollar.. and they're made with all natural ingredients.. but most people woldn't take the time (or don't have it) to do it themselves, saving them over a dollar each time..

I know that when I make chili, I process a few cans of it.. it's at the very least enough for a meal or two.. and it keeps for a long long time...instead of making to much, having it as leftovers for a week.. lol

Maybe I'm not explaining myself properly.

But I don't mean that they consume more, just that the products that they buy, can still be bought.. but with a little creativity, can be used in a more cost -effective manner.