Monday, August 16, 2010

Groceries...

Groceries.  Oh dear.  The cost of buying groceries has gone up SOO much in the past few years!!  I'd love to know what your family is paying each month on groceries. 

Also, how much does your family eat out??

I shop right after each payday- the 10th and the 25th.  Just last week, our bill was $260!!!!  And that didn't even include any meat!!!!  There are 3 adults in our home and a 4 year old.  I'm not even counting formula for Caroline in this purchase.   I buy store brands as much as possible and don't buy anything premade (no chips or cookies or frozen meals) because I enjoy making things from scratch.  Coupons aren't always helpful since the store brand is usually much cheaper.  Wow, that totals $520 a month!! 

What does your family do to keep the cost of food down?

21 comments:

Scientific Housewife said...

There is just two of us but we buy mostly generic and stuff that will last us a couple of days. We usually spend about $200 a month but can get it down to $150 if we really try.

Amy said...

I just posted on my issues with couponing and healthy foods today on my blog. It seems it's a real catch 22.

TK said...

I've been doing a lot of couponing and sale searching. I have been using southern savers website along with blogs-save at home mommy and southern savings and deals. Also like "i heart publix" Publix has a ton of BOGO every week when I can stock up along with coupons which brings the costs down. It has really been fun to see how much money I can save by doing a little research before I go out.
Kim O

TK said...

Also, what brand of formula do you use? I still get coupons and can mail them your way. What brand diapers/wipes also?

Dianna said...

We spend $150-200 every two weeks for my family of two adults and two small children. We eat frugal menus—I don't do coupons, but I just try to plan menus that won't cost much. I hope some day to have a bigger garden so I can grow more produce in my backyard—it never seems to be on sale! We eat out twice a month—once for lunch, once for dinner.

anita said...

We have a family of four adults that I feed. I budget $200 every two weeks for groceries, although my son and his fiance' help out by buying the items they pack in their lunches, and also some breakfast items. I generally buy items that are on sale or special and plan most of my meals from the things I have on hand. We eat dinner out once every couple weeks. I also grab something off the dollar menu at mcdonalds for breakfast a few times a week.

Wendi said...

I buy for two adult, a 4 yr old and breakfast and lunch for a 12 mo old. I spend about $300./mo. I do the bulk of my shopping at the first of the month and then just make a milk/bread and sale run the rest of the time. If the funds are there I like to stock up when things are on sale. The freezer in the garage is usually stocked with frozen veggies and meat.

It seems that everytime I go shopping the prices are going up, up, up!

Oh, and we eat out once or twice a week, but that is about to change. The financial belt is about to get tightened.

Heather said...

I'm shopping for and feeding 2 adults, a 12 year old (you know, always hungry), an 8 year old and a 6 year old. We usually spend about $250 each paycheck, or $500 a month. When money is really tight I can make it work on $150 for two weeks, but that is lots of sandwiches and without having snacks every day. I've been thinking about this subject a lot myself lately.

Anonymous said...

For the two of us; we keep our grocery bill at $200 per month. But that is getting more and more challenging to do. We might need to bump it up to $240 per month.

Here is a link to what all we routinely get for $50 a week.I eat out lunch 1x per week and we eat out supper 2x a month.

http://farmhomelife.blogspot.com/2010/08/household-grocery-budget.html

Trixie

Mrs. Pear said...

It is definitely getting tough! With our move I have no more Henry's to get dirt cheep gorgeous produce, no CVS, and no doubled coupons!

It has definitely gotten tougher.

So in our new state we are spending $400 a month for grocery and most household a month for 2 adults and 2 children. I say most because the movers would not move a bunch of stuff leaving me kind of stuck, and we had to dump weight to keep under the move allowance. So I lost a fair bit of my stock pile.

I think it will be possible once I get more caught up and figure things out more.

So far my best strategies are shopping the sales and combining coupons where I can. We shop at Costco for a lot of the baking basics, dairy, and produce and whatever else we need that is better priced there.

And we started getting our produce from a farm, a $31 box every two weeks with bananas, peppers and maybe some apples thrown in actually covers us for most of the 2 weeks, and the box is organic, fresh picked (within 2 days of us getting it) and we can swap things out if need be. I love the box.

We are hoping to not have to increase our budget.

It helps that we make as much from scratch as we can, including all the baking, and do things like use dried beans instead of canned, and go meatless a couple nights a week.

Interestingly enough, I have had the same grocery and household budget for the last 4 years....

Melissa said...

We have budgeted $100 every two weeks for my husband and I, $200 a month. I have been able to stick to that budget quite nicely. If I go over the first two weeks, I'm more careful the second two weeks. It really requires NOT buying something we can do without. I mostly shop at Wal-Mart, so picking up a home improvement item might cause the grocery bill to be slightly higher. I try to look at it like this too, some of the items I buy, I don't have to by but once or twice a year (such as special seasonings or sauces).

The other day, after making out my August menus, I warned my husband that I may go over $100 buying two weeks of groceries...but I didn't! I only spent $90. I contribute that to sticking strictly to my grocery list. If it wasn't on the list, I didn't buy it! :D I don't waste money on extra items such as snack cakes, soft drinks, etc. Though....we splurge if there will be a three day weekend :D

Ginger Perry said...

We usually spend about $500 a month on groceries. It is just my husband and I, but he works away from the house for 2 weeks out of the month, so he gets $200 for those 2 weeks and I get $100. (He eats twice as much as I do.) Then for the other 2 weeks he is at home, I usually try to do most of the cooking, just because fast food gets old. We have guests over all the time to have dinner with us, but that never changes our amount of groceries. We have been changing a few things around our house, like smaller portions and healthier and lighter foods, since it is so hot here in Louisiana. That has made ur grocery bill g down a lot. I still by the same amount, that way my freezer will have a little extra in it. Once it starts getting a little fuller, I will cut back on the amount of things I by, and make menues according to what I have.

Blissful & Domestic said...

we price match at Wal-mart and it has saved us tons!

REJOICING said...

We are a family of 6 (my grandmother now lives with us) and I spend on average $150 a week on groceries. I say on average because I can get away with spending almost nothing on groceries (20 to 30 dollars) if the money is not there. I like to keep a stocked freezer and a stocked pantry for times when I have more month than money!

Jennifer @ Her Southern Charm said...

How in the world do you do that?! We have a $500 budget and it's just me and my husband? It's obvious I need to do some trimming...

Jenn said...

Well we normally spend $1,000.00 monthly for 2 adults, 2 teens and 3 boys!! I do generics always.

We can get it down to $700 but honestly it's not the healthiest menu that way, it's a LOT of carbs.

~Lesa~ said...

If I use lots of coupons and shop the sales, we spend about $200 a week. Six people...2 adults, 3 boys who never stop eating (teen and preteen) , and 1 girl. It's crazy.

Troop 2449 said...

We spend about 150-200 a month in groceries for 5 people. I noticed that it has gone up in the last year, but that could be because my ten year old is eating more. By more I mean everything!!

Jennifer said...

Try following MoneysavingMom.com You can really learn alot from her

Amie said...

We spend $240 every two weeks for 2 adults and 2 children for breakfast. lunch and dinner everyday.
I found this website that may help out http://www.cheapcooking.com/Recipes/chicken-baked-with-rice.htm

I also make my own sauces, Spagetti and enchalada. I make my own granola bars and laundry soap. I buy bread from a bakery outlet because I have no talent for baking my own, but that would save more as well.
Hope that helps!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mrs. U,
Well After reading everyone's comments my food bill will make you feel better. I spend about 1,000 a month for 2 adults. We eat organic real food and special diets. My dh has health challeges that require special foods. There is no way I can go any lower. I feel very blessed we can afford this.
This has been interesting.
Blessings,
Elizabeth

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