Figured Grocery Budget and its $368.00!! - Page 3

MandaRenee · 01-22-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AtHomeWith2

I think that your doing a great job on your weekly amounts. We are a family of 4 and spend $150-$175 a week here in Texas. I'm always jealous when I hear people saying they can spend $50 a week because coupons, generics, sales etc. that is just not possible here--I've tried. I make a menu, a list, shop sales, stockpile meat when its on sale etc. I think it also has to do with the way I like to cook too. I like to put a home cooked hearty full meal on the table every night. This week, lasagna, homemade french onion soup, honey mustard chicken, sirloin beef stroganoff, pizza, grilled pork chops etc. I also make a hot lunch daily for kids at home and bake healthy cookies etc for the kids. I also have sides like garlic toast, salad, veggies and fruit every night as well so I don't think that I can get my budget down more than that. I think you are doing a great job and you'll get great ideas here!

I think I have the same problem as you. I cook full meals all the time and although I could try to do meatless meals dh wouldn't really go for it. He likes his meat and potatoes.

But I am also stockpiling meat when I can find it on sale and we have started doing breakfast for dinner 1 day a week. But we still cook sausage with it for dh. But its only 1.29 or so and that will last for 2 or 3 breakfasts.

Plus we are both taking our lunch everyday or eating lunch at home. But I'm sure that's still cheaper than eating out.

MandaRenee · 01-22-2008, 11:43 AM

I think in practice my budget may actually be a bit less because I don't necessarily spend that total amount on baby items every month. For instance right now I just stocked up on diapers with Walgreens sale and got 2 big packages and a box of wipes for $13 so we will be set for a while with those. Its her formula that makes up the bulk of her expenses right now. Hopefully I'll get some coupons for it though (the company said they would send some)

Thanks so much for your encouragement and ideas ladies.

flybygrace · 01-22-2008, 01:33 PM

Are you using coupons on the dog food & baby stuff? The Coupon Clippers - Your source for Grocery Coupons. has coupons for dog food that go from $1-$3 off. If you are buying giant bags of dog food because its cheaper than buying multiple smaller bags, it may actually be cheaper to buy smaller bags and use coupons with each of them. Price it out per ounce to find out. I've also heard of people using 1-800-diapers; you can use manufacturer coupons (this would be a great instance where emailing the company for coupons would give you a greater bang for your buck, as they're typically larger coupons than the ones in the papers).

DebbieL · 01-22-2008, 03:43 PM

I haven't read all the responses yet. Here's my take on this issue. Good, nutritious food is NOT an area that I want to skimp out on (and no, it is not usually the cheapest way to eat). Junk foods contain no value. They are cheap, but what do they do for you in the process? I think your grocery budget is actually very reasonable (and much lower than mine would be if I had diapers, etc. to include). I do shop the sales where I can, but I will buy lots of fresh fruit and veggies no matter what the prices are doing. If pineapple is on sale - I'll get a pineapple, but I won't go without fruit. I consider the money I spend providing my body with healthy food to be an investment in my (and my family's) future health. I would cut down on other areas before I would ever touch the food spending.

MandaRenee · 01-22-2008, 03:58 PM

Flybygrace I will look into the savings of buying smaller bags of dogfood with coupons and see how it comes out. I do buy the big bags because we have 2 HUGE dogs so it just seems easier to buy a big bag less often. I hadn't considered the other way so I'll definitely look into it. Thanks.

I've been using the White Cloud diapers from Walmart as they work really well for her but I think I'll call Huggies and see if they would send out some coupons and I'll look into 1800diapers. I've heard of people using them too but I've never actually looked at their site.

skimommy · 01-22-2008, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DebbieL

I haven't read all the responses yet. Here's my take on this issue. Good, nutritious food is NOT an area that I want to skimp out on (and no, it is not usually the cheapest way to eat). Junk foods contain no value. They are cheap, but what do they do for you in the process? I think your grocery budget is actually very reasonable (and much lower than mine would be if I had diapers, etc. to include). I do shop the sales where I can, but I will buy lots of fresh fruit and veggies no matter what the prices are doing. If pineapple is on sale - I'll get a pineapple, but I won't go without fruit. I consider the money I spend providing my body with healthy food to be an investment in my (and my family's) future health. I would cut down on other areas before I would ever touch the food spending.

OP- it sounds like you are doing a fabulous job. I should come in around $360 this month for my family of four. My girls don't eat much but I buy them organic milk which is $3 a half gallon.

I try to shop the sales and stock up.

My only flexibility seems to be on dinners. My family eats the same things for breakfast & lunch all the time. Cutting back on meat is a big helper. My husband really didn't even realize he wasn't getting a lot of meat. I've been having soup for over a week! We had homemade vegetable & chicken noodle. It is great because my husband never comes home at the same time, so he heats up the soup when he gets here.

For me, cutting out use of swiffer products and cleaning products was a huge saver.

DebbieL · 01-23-2008, 03:07 PM

Skimommy:

Soup is a wonderful (and usually economical) way to stretch meat. It's satisfying and healthy (you can put a ton of veggies in). I LOVE a good hearty soup!