I don't buy much in the way of processed foods, no convenience foods to speak of, and precious little meats...and then only on sale....but I spend between $150 and $200 a week for the 5 of us, 3 dogs, and 1 kitty. I pack the kids' lunches every day and come home for my own lunch every day. I buy 4-5 gallons of milk a week (the kids have to have it for their growing bones and teeth, so I'm not skimping there), no juice, very little soda for Matt to take to work with him so he doesn't buy any while he's out, fresh fruits/veggies on sale, generic brands of everything I can, cheeses, yogarts, eggs (all dairy is sky-high!!!!!), generic cereal and oatmeal, and generic snacks for the kids' lunches. But I also include my household supplies, meds, vitamins (super expensive, too), hygienic products, pet supplies, and clothing/shoes for the kids. I've cut back in so many areas, that I just don't know where else to cut back.

I really want to know if you are only counting your edibles in your grocery budget or if you separate out the other items, Happymom.

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I count whatever I buy at the grocery stores. That includes napkins and paper towels. I don't buy a whole lot of cleaning supplies. It does include laundry detergent and dishwaser soap. It does not include dog food (which I spend maybe $10 a month on) Actually included in my extra $100 is alot of little misc. Since I give myself $100 cash for picking up things. We do not eat super healthy, but we do not eat unhealthy either.

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~Happiness is a large family~

Thanks for answering that one. I know several of us were wondering.

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I can easily spend $400 a month on groceries but that includes cleaning products, toiletries and dog food. We don't eat rich either groceries are just expensive here. I recently started buying food boxes from Angel Foods and my budget is starting to go down. I typically buy 2 basic boxes and a special meat box from Angel Foods. I also save money by buying frozen meats instead of fresh.

Jen

Well I must be the only person that doesn't keep track of how much I spend at the grocery. Does that make me a bad mommysaver? I don't do one giant shopping trip. Since in live in a suburb surrounded by stores, I tend to just get a little two or three times per wk while I'm out and I've never bothered to add it up. We do eat lots of fresh fruit, fresh meat or rotisserie chickens, I prefer better quality breads, soy milk for my dd, etc. Plus we do NOT eat lots of casserole type things or hamburger helper type things. So I would imagine we spend more than some. Plus if we added in the cost for dh's lunch out everyday, the pizza and other meals we get carryout, my lunches out with friends, etc. we're probably spending a fortune on food. Hmmm....maybe I should look into this.

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I think you need to consider why the grocery bill is so big. If you're buying for a lot of people, if you're picky about brands, if you live in an expensive area, your bill will be big.
I look at some of my friends, though, who have huge grocery bills. Some of their trips cost so much because they simply don't plan (and of course, they can't be bothered with coupons). Then, they discover that they want to make pasta for dinner tonight and they don't have any pasta. DIdn't realize they'd need it, didn't buy it. So, it's another trip to the store to buy pasta and a dozen other things that look appealing.

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~Jeweled

we have aldi's but I've never been in one.

I shop at Kroger. I'd say 99% of my household's stuff comes from there. and Now that I'm couponing "properly" I save OOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDLLLES of money. just last month my Fuel rewards at Kroger says I accumulated $1211 during Sept. I calculated every last penny spent there and its $435. I'm still just getting my stockpile going and that includes all toiletries, soda, cat food/litter, diapers for TWO, meat, produce etc.... so basically I brought 1200 worth of product home from kroger last month for 435. I am pretty happy about that.

I'd say 85% of what I buy (and likely more) is on sale AND has a coupon. and a good 25% of that will be free after coupon on a regular basis. I also very rarely purchase generic anything...now I get the name brand much much cheaper.

We do the majority of our shopping at Wal-Mart (Sams & Aldis too far away to make it worth the trip). We have a $200 weekly budget for groceries, gas, diapers, formula, napkins, toilet paper, paper towels, cleaning & laundry supplies. We have a family of 6 (2 adults, 7 year old, 4 1/2 year old, 2 year old, 9 month old) and buy lots of milk, bread, meat and fruit each month. But most of our weekly budget goes to gas. I'd say we spend $80 a week at the grocery store and the rest on gas so around $320-$350 a month on groceries - edible and non-edible). We use lots of coupons, buy only what we need for the most part, and make due with what we have in the pantry & freezer until our next shopping trip.

another tip for those that have children under 5...check into your state's WIC program!!!!! they provide cereal, cheese, eggs, juice and milk. if hte child is under a year you can also get formula!!

I am not exactly sure what we spend each week. I keep a pretty hefty stockpile so if we don't want to buy food for a few weeks we can handle it. In the same way, we can spend plenty on food each week. I shop Aldi and get extras (like my Greek yogurt) at the bigger Grocery. I pick up loss leaders, but only those we will use.

One thing I did do during the summer was to look at my Visa (going from my checking account) and color code my expenses. This allowed me to add up and see what we spent our money on that month. In July I was surprised to see I paid as much for eating out as we did in the grocery store. This wasn't good so I reigned us in the next month and we did much better. Part of the problem was when it was hot. I would easily rationalize going out to our local restaurant which had specials each day of the week. It was air conditioned after all! When I was reigning us in, I would just start dinner ....or even let everyone choose a leftover heated in the microwave. Just to get something in our bellies before we went out to eat. In our defense, I work full time. Sometimes I work late. It is hard to balance dinner and work. When we find a quick dinner at home we think of it as saving $40 each time, because even an inexpensive place would cost our family at least that amount. My kids even get in on the convincing us to eat at home.

Using my Visa debt for purchases and breaking down our spending really helps open my eyes to what we are spending money on.


Barb C.