Does your grocery bill go up in the summer?

What do you do to keep it under control?

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We eat lots of ramen noodles for lunch, and grilled cheese sandwhiches

My grocery bill doesn't go up in the summer...but my kids aren't in school yet either.

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LeAnn, mommy to
Kaylee July '06 and Megan June '08

http://mommysavers.com/boards/mommys...ml#post1060022

This is us, but DD starts school in August so I'm curious to see what others do.

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I was just thinking about this today- I think our grocery bill probably stays the same during the summer. We are lucky to have lots of fresh veggies from my parent's giant garden. That helps on produce. Also, I feel like we get good in season produce for a better price in the summer. We also spend afternnons at my parent's pool and stay for dinner lots of nights! When we travel, I also bring as much food as we can and when we do eat out the $5 sub at subway satisfy us!

I don't think my grocery bill goes up much during the summer because my kids brown bag lunch during the school year. Because I have a few teenage boys home during the summer, I do stock up on easy to prepare foods that I normally don't buy during the school year: Easy Mac, ravioli, spaghettio's, lots of ramen soup, etc. I know that they are not nutrionally sound, and some are more expensive than making something from scratch, but these boys are so lazy that if it is not easy, they will go the whole day without eating (I mean, how much effort does it take to make tuna salad from scratch???)

My grocery bill definitely goes up during the summer. I have two kids who generally buy the hot lunch at school most days so even though I am paying more for groceries, I stop paying for the school lunch so I think that part evens out. Also, with the kids home from school, they have friends over who end up staying for lunch or dinner sometimes, so many times I am feeding 4 (or more) kids instead of 2. Although, it probably evens out since my kids end up eating at their friends' houses just as often. Another addition to the grocery bill is the extra entertaining we tend to do in the summer. We'll be at the neighborhood pool and next thing you know, we've invited another family to come and have a cookout at our place that evening We try and save some money on summer lunches by eating ramen noodles once a week. I also try to watch the sales and stock up on certain things around the holiday sales. We also visit a local produce stand to stock up on fresh fruits and veggies which are so delicious! I just stocked up on Easy Mac for the summer because I got a ton of BOGO coupons for it. We'll see how this summer goes. The budget is tighter than last year so I will be watching what we spend a little more closely than usual.

We'll see how this summer goes, we are all home. My hubby and I are teachers and he is taking off this summer too. I really need to stick to a budget. I will try to stock up on good sales! We do alot of cereal, frozen waffles and bagels for meals. We grow our own veggies, which cuts down on costs. I mix my own iced tea and juices for the kids. I want to see others ideas to save in the summer too!

I know I stock up when the ice pops go on sale!

Ours goes WAY down. We plant an enormous garden and since I'm a vegetarian (and my family is close) almost everything comes from there.

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The mighty oak started out as a nut that held its ground.

Ours tends to go up because my kids eat at daycare for breakfast and lunch during the school year. My kids and I are home all summer. We do a lot of BBQ. This summer will be interesting because we put a lot of the cost up front by getting a share at a local farm. We will see how much that cuts down the weekly grocery shopping.

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Mom to Peter (August '05) and Carlie (April '08)


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