S/O Budgeting: Groceries

[Megan Turnidge]

Well, funny that the budgeting thread popped up because hubby and I stayed up really late last night talking about our horrible financial situation. In the past few days we've cut back on stuff...like my Verizon bill. I checked and it turns out there is a plan with the SAME EXACT features as the one we had but was $14 cheaper. Also, found out that Allie DL'ed two subscription programs to hubby's phone and we we're being charged $10/month for those! Hubby is on the phone right now with Cox trying to reduce our cable bill.

ANYWAYS, now that I'm plugging everything into Excel, I really don't know how much to budget for groceries. What is a realistic amount for 2 adults and 1 toddler? I include diapers with groceries.

[lauren grier]

I dunno how much diapers cost.. so I can't help with that part

But ce and I can survive on 30-50 bucks a week. I have to be really careful though, because it's so easy to spend 200 bucks in a grocery trip ^_^ It's just about paying attention and not buying shizz you don't need.... and of course you know, finding the meat of the week etc etc. So.. that's 2 people- I dunno how much your nugget eats ^_^ but I'd say reasonably you could prolly do up to 75 a week.

This wasn't really helpful was it ^_^

[lauren grier]

oh also.. does your market have those self scanner things.. you know you scan your food as you go along? Those help me soooooooooooooo much cause I can see the running tally.

[Paula]

Well, we spend $500 a month on food and we have three teenagers and two adults. You can probably get by with must less than that.

[Sharon Kay]

Bring a calculator with you...use coupons...and talk to the butcher...ask them WHEN they put meat on clearance....some do it certain days of the week or at a certain time...it's a great way to save on different kinds of meat!!

Our local grocery (hy-vee) just started doing this thing with their online ad...you can click and add it to a list...and they have printable coupons that will save you even more.

It seems that the coupons that come out in the newspaper on Sunday appear many times to be for the grocery ad that ends Tuesday night...so I try to go grocery shopping right after those coupons come out.

I haven't bought diapers in eons...my "baby" is 13 ... going on 14 years!

[LenaGardner]

We spend $80 per week, groceries only. For 2 adults and 2 toddlers

[Darcy Baldwin]

I'd start of planning for meals for the length of time you're trying to budget for. Figure out how much it would cost, and start your budget from there.

See where you can cut back on the type of foods you're eating, plan non-meat nights, do 2 meals in one to stretch to the next day, etc. But just coming up with an arbitrary number that might not even fit your family can be really frustrating. We feed a family of 4 on about $300 a month w/no diapers.

[wvasweetness]

We spend about $350/month for two adults, one toddler.

I make meal plans out 2 weeks in advance, which really helps with my grocery spending. I only buy what's on the list - and I know when I get home that I have the stuff to make all of my meals b/c I used the meal plan when making the list.

[Julie Billingsley]

I probably spend about $100 a week and that is for 3 adults and 1 child (I'm counting my teen as an adult). That is not just food, but all the grocery store stuff like paper towels, etc. I don't buy diapers anymore, but I use to go to walmart to buy Luvs because they were just as good as pampers in my experience.

[Leila]

ITA on the meal plan!! I successfully did it for the first time last month--and my grocery bill went down by $200. Our dining out bill went down a lot too--just because we knew what we were going to eat and weren't floundering to figure it out at 6pm.

Like Darcy said--double up to stretch to the next day. If it's freezeable, freeze half for another meal a week or more down the road. I'm making meatloaf tonight, it's #3 of 3 that I made a few weeks ago. (I buy ground beef in very large packages.)

[Megan Turnidge]

I think realistically $300/month including diapers ($40/month) is a good number for us, but hubby thinks it should be lower. I have enough rice, flour, sugar, instant potatoes to last me several months, but I think we spend about $40/month on meat alone (from Costco because it's way cheaper). I really do need to cut back on the crap I buy though because I always buy too many snacks. I KNOW I need to plan menus ahead of time but my problem is I can't seem to think of 2 weeks of meals to make. I hate cooking. lol I think I'm going to go digging through the forum for all those recipes that have popped up here.

[livelys]

I'm in the UK, so our spending will mean little to you - but I do some of the same things as everyone: make a list, stick to it - I have recently got my DH to do the shop 'cos I was starting to 'treat' us too much, but now he's doing the same!

If you can shop on-line as this is a great way to force yourself to stick to your list and budget too.

Be tough on yourselves for a couple of months, and then plan a special treat for the next - having something wonderful to look forward can help you to be good (been there, done that )

[Darcy Baldwin]

I don't have my meal plans on the PC (I really should, it would probably be easier), but start it like this. Just jot down your favorite meals and his favorite meals. Jot down your fast, go-to meals. Use those as the beginning of your meal plan.

There are some good menu planning sites on the web:
http://www.menus4moms.com/menuplanning.php
Look to the right and you'll see basic menu plans that you can use to build from if you need a start.

My biggest money saver by far is doubling up on meals. If I'm making meatloaf, I make at least 2 because it takes the same amount of time, not much more $$, and I've got 2 meals ready in a flash. One can go in the freezer and be ready to pop out. Taco meat for 2-3 meals can be tacos one night, taco salad or mexi-mac'n'cheese another. Cook a whole chicken and use the leftovers to make at least 1 more meal if not 2 like chicken tetrazini, chicken salad, chicken tacos, etc.

[*Kelly*]

I spend quite a bit of money on food a month but I too, buy pretty much everything at Costco.*I wish they sold baby food* Last year we broke it down Costco vs HEB shops. We found that I may spend more at one time at Costco, but it ends up being cheaper then shopping weekly (for us).

I'm envious of those of you who can plan weekly meals. It's such a great idea and because I also *d-e-s-p-i-s-e* cooking, it's hard for me to plan ahead, crap I can't even think of what to make for dinner tonight.

I'm actually on my way out to Costco with a little list, we'll see how well I stick to it.

Originally Posted by mturnidge

I think realistically $300/month including diapers ($40/month) is a good number for us, but hubby thinks it should be lower. I have enough rice, flour, sugar, instant potatoes to last me several months, but I think we spend about $40/month on meat alone (from Costco because it's way cheaper). I really do need to cut back on the crap I buy though because I always buy too many snacks. I KNOW I need to plan menus ahead of time but my problem is I can't seem to think of 2 weeks of meals to make. I hate cooking. lol I think I'm going to go digging through the forum for all those recipes that have popped up here.

[ColleenSwerb]

I am useless. Jordan does the shopping (BJ's and Giant for us) and is a VERY stick to the list kinda guy. If I did the shopping every month? We'd be screwed.

[kscwgirl]

I spend about $60 a week for just food. 2 adults and 2 kids.
Probably close to $100 a month at Sam's for larger food items and the majority of our non food items. The only non food thing I get at the regular store is pullups, everything else is purchased at Sam's.

[Paula]

I agree with making a meal plan. We make a two week meal plan and shop according to that plan. Of course we have certain things that come up that we can't plan on - feminine products, and milk, eggs and stuff like that.

[newfiemountiewife]

Geez, I probably spend $100 a week for the 5 of us at least.

[emilyscout]

We buy our meat directly from a meat processing plant. If you live in the northeast, google poultry products northeast. there are a couple scattered around in different states. We bought meat at the end of march and we still haven't used it all. We're two adults and one kid at the moment. I get boneless skinless chicken for 1.39/lb., ground hamburger for 1.59/lb, etc. You just have to buy in bulk and package it up and freeze it. A little more work, but it has shaved about $40 off our weekly grocery bill, so well worth it. And it is so nice if I don't feel like making what I planned for the week as its not like I'd be taking meat away from another meal!

[glumirk]

We set a $200 budget for groceries and everything that wasn't a regular bill (school supplies, dates, toiletries, and any random expenses) when we lived there. Fry's tended to have the most specials and we could save a lot by buying there (just don't go alone at night!), but we kept an eye on sales that happened at Safeway and Albertson's. We always seemed to spend the least at Fry's though. I've learned that grocery stores are WAY different depending on where you live, so that was our experience.

Try taking a stab at how much you spend a month on diapers and add that to $200 and see if you can do that. We've found that setting our budget low is better than setting it high. If it's high, we'll spend that much instead of looking for better deals and watching our spending habits. After a month or two of aiming for normal, money-saving shopping, see how that budget really fits you, and adjust it so that it's rounded to the next highest $25 (to give you wiggle room, but not too much) of what you actually spend.

I know that we are WAY cheaper shoppers than a lot of people we know in that area, so your budget may need to be higher. DH is NOT picky at all about what he eats, so sometimes he would just eat random things for breakfast and lunch and then make sure to have a good dinner. Not the healthiest eating habits, that one.

That's my suggestion...the rest is me blabbing about how we try to succeed with such a tight budget.

The best way to save money is to know what your family eats, and stock up when it's on sale. When we had stock-up trips where a lot of our staples were on sale, we sometimes went over our monthly grocery budget, but it lowered our spending for the next month or two because we had what we eat. Write your grocery list based on basic needs and then add to it what's on sale. We only buy meat on sale, and then individually package it into servings. (e.g. package the chicken by wrapping it in saran wrap and then foil before freezing, and ground beef we cook up with salt, pepper, and onions, and then portion it into ziplock bags before freezing it). This really helps us to eat meat, without having to commit to a whole package ($$) at a time. This kept regular trips to more of the perishable items (bread, cheese, fruits, veggies, milk) and we could generally wait for the non-perishables to go on sale before stocking up again.

Also, Costco trips were kept to under $100 and every other month. We found that a lot of the time Costco wasn't necessarily a better deal than when we could find stuff on sale at the grocery store, so being aware of what is a good price for food is essential. What we do buy, is definitely a good deal though.

Our $200 was a little tight if we found ourselves eating out because we were busy or needing to take a trip to Target (we didn't have to go very often...just to buy essentials like shampoo and soap because it's cheaper there than at the grocery store), so it's probably not enough for food for 3 and diapers. We decided on that budget because we knew it would be tight, and we tried really hard to keep at it. Realistically it went up to about $250 when I got pregnant because I was a LOT pickier about what I ate, but we tried to stick to the $200 just as incentive. Now our budget for food has to go up again because food is more expensive here (and I'm probably eating even more).

That's what we did for groceries when we were spending more than we were making a month (thank goodness for scholarships and grants!), and we were actually able to build up a decent savings with our summer jobs instead of having to spend it all to survive.

We're trying to figure out our budget too, now that we have a steady income in a new city, and a baby due NEXT MONTH! Good luck!

[scrapperjade]

At this point, I have no idea really. We were dropping $100 - $150 on groceries every couple weeks BUT a lot of it was processed food, pop, chips, etc that cost a lot on the packaging.

My best tip for reducing your grocery bill is to make a meal plan!! I did that and went shopping for those groceries ONLY. I had most of the meat and a lot of canned stuff already, and was amazed that I was able to buy all the rest of the groceries for $60 (I made a list for a week, but realized I didn't want to cook a different meal EVERYDAY, and those groceries stretched into 2 weeks!). I was seriously amazed & pleased!

A good way to reduce the price of diapers is to go with a store brand. We like Parent's Choice from Walmart. The savings is HUGE, even though the price went up on them. I get a box of 120 diapers for $26 (was $22 until this last trip). For a package of 60 Huggies, the cost is $17!! When you break it down, I was paying only $9 more double the amount of diapers. And seriously, we've NEVER had a problem with the PC brand.... I have no intention of switching!

[Megan Turnidge]

Originally Posted by glumirk

We set a $200 budget for groceries and everything that wasn't a regular bill (school supplies, dates, toiletries, and any random expenses) when we lived there. Fry's tended to have the most specials and we could save a lot by buying there (just don't go alone at night!), but we kept an eye on sales that happened at Safeway and Albertson's. We always seemed to spend the least at Fry's though. I've learned that grocery stores are WAY different depending on where you live, so that was our experience.

Oh man, that Fry's scares me! lol!! I usually shop at Safeway simply for the feeling of safety I feel there. I know Fry's is a little cheaper though... maybe I'll try and go during the day instead. lol!

[emilyscout]

Oh and another thing to try and save money is diapers. We switched to cloth when Meri was a year and GEEZ the money we have saved, its not even funny. I know it seems like more work, but honestly, it really isn't. And it really isn't as yucky as it originally seems. Plus they are WAY cute! lol Anyhow, just thought I'd throw that out there.

[glumirk]

Originally Posted by mturnidge

Oh man, that Fry's scares me! lol!! I usually shop at Safeway simply for the feeling of safety I feel there. I know Fry's is a little cheaper though... maybe I'll try and go during the day instead. lol!

haha! I usually made Matthias go with me for that reason. When I went alone it was ALWAYS during the day. There aren't too many scary people there around 3-6 (which is probably when I went the most). Plus that cop is ALWAYS parked there! It was seriously $15-$20 more a shopping trip for us at Safeway for our regular items. Also, if you go at the beginning of the sales week (Wednesday or Thursday) the produce at Fry's is a lot fresher than Safeway and doesn't go bad as quickly.

Growing up, the two stores were opposite and so my mom would ALWAYS shop at Safeway for the same reason I would shop at Fry's when we lived there.

[mummytothree]

Another meal planner here. I do mine for a month (it sucks shopping with 4 kids and Ilike to do it as little as possible!!) and I feed my family of 6 (2 adults and 4 kids) for about $350 bucks a month!!! That includes diapers for two kids (I've started buy for the new baby) and all other non food items!!! I have 3 staple dishes I make every month: Homemade pizza, Spaghetti and Tacos. I probably make them about 3 times each a month. Then every 5 day is a planned leftover night so that leaves me with about only 12 recipes I need tomake a month.

$40 bucks a month for meat sounds really high to me!! I buy our meat at Sam's club and I buy the best ground beef (93/7) and I spend about $18 dollars for that. I buy fresh Chicken tenderloins for about $17 dollars and then i always pick up a boneless pork loin for about $13 bucks and that all that meat feeds my family for 2 months!!!

Darcy's idea for freezer meals ia great help too....I have a subscription to a Taste Of Home Magazine called Simple and Delicious and every month they have 3 to 5 of these types of meals. You make one casserole and you frezze the second. But I bet you could google freezer meals and come up with tons of idea!!!!

[Darcy Baldwin]

Originally Posted by emilyscout

Oh and another thing to try and save money is diapers. We switched to cloth when Meri was a year and GEEZ the money we have saved, its not even funny. I know it seems like more work, but honestly, it really isn't. And it really isn't as yucky as it originally seems. Plus they are WAY cute! lol Anyhow, just thought I'd throw that out there.

cloth rocks We were a fuzzibunz family!

[emilyscout]

I L-O-V-E fuzzibunz. That's the majority of our stash. I'm looking forward to the new little baby so I can buy more diapers since we don't have any that will fit newborn-year old!

[Megan Turnidge]

I admire you ladies who do cloth... but that is not something I am interested in right now! lol!! I'll stick with disposables.

[jessica31876]

depends...if you have several stores in close vicinity you can shop the sales and get really good buys. Stock up on stuff when it is on sale etc and you could easily spend only 75 a week on groceries. I fed my family of two adults/two teenagers/one pre-teen on less then 75 a week. (that doesnt include personal items like shampoo, conditioner, soap etc or cat food) We didnt eat expensive cuts of meat and never bought stuff like steaks unless the store near us had the buy one pound get two free. But it is doable.

[Darcy Baldwin]

That's something I meant to say earlier, too. On a more limited budget, we don't eat a lot of steaks or big meat. We eat meat incorporated in other things because it stretches more. About once or twice a week we have chicken or pork that is separate because DH is a meat lover and really misses it if we don't. It's healthier because I can get by using less meat overall, and it's a good stretch, depending on what we're having.

The other thing, like someone mentioned, takes some work, but I definitely shop loss leaders - those sales on front pages of grocery ads that are really cheap...I stock up as often as I can. And if I can get boneless/skinless chicken breasts for less than $1.80/lb, I buy $50 worth to stock up. I do have a chest freezer so that's a help.

[Sarah8914]

So... we spend about $110-120 every 2 weeks.... so roughly $250/month and that includes diapers for 2 kids.

Oh and that is for 2 adults and 2 little ones who equal like 1/3 of an adult because they are horrible eaters. Soon I will start making baby food for the third little one but that won't be too much a change.

Anyway, we make a 2 week menu and shop for that. It's easy and makes shopping easy too. But, I'm not a snacker, so it's easy to avoid snack foods for me!

[jessica31876]

also we make stuff like spaghetti because it can last for two dinners and lunch and it costs like 4 dollars plus maybe 2 for ground beef. We buy garlic bread and salad and for basically three meals we spend maybe 10-12 dollars

[aggiefamily]

I know this isn't feasible for everyone but we process our own meat. We had 3 deer and 2 hogs this past fall and will not have to buy meat for the rest of the year. Most of the meat is ground venison.

So without buying meat out grocery bill could be around $60 or less a week if I stuck to a budget.

Have you tried the Grocery Game and using coupons?

[jessica31876]

I looooveee ground venison and it sooo much healthier then ground beef. My son, father-in-law and brother-in-laws all go hunting every year and have not gotten a deer in so long. We had two in our yard last week and one was really big but it was a doe and a fawn and my husband said he wouldnt shoot a doe.

Originally Posted by aggiefamily

I know this isn't feasible for everyone but we process our own meat. We had 3 deer and 2 hogs this past fall and will not have to buy meat for the rest of the year. Most of the meat is ground venison.

So without buying meat out grocery bill could be around $60 or less a week if I stuck to a budget.

Have you tried the Grocery Game and using coupons?

[emilyscout]

Darcy, you should look into seeing if there is a meat processing plant near you. We buy the same stuff that grocery stores and restaurants buy. The quality is great AND we've found the food to be much fresher as it isn't refrozen and defrosted like a lot of the grocery stores in our area tend to do. Plus is SOOO much cheaper. And if you already have a chest freezer it is totally feasible.

[MelissaL88]

There have been a lot of great tips here!

One question for you ladies...do you buy fresh veggies or do you buy frozen or canned? That's where I spend most of my grocery $$$. We buy meat in bulk at Costco, but dh & I really love fresh veggies and that can get really expensive.

[ajf9597]

We need to plan better, we spend anywhere from 80-120 a week for 2 adults, 1 child and that's without diapers or food for DD

[BrattyMeg]

I'm jealous..we spend easily 5-600/month on groceries :0/ Granted my family is larger than most but still..lol that is one area we need to save..and I meal plan! Granted not every month is a big spender..depends if I have enough meat to carry over

[Darcy Baldwin]

I'll have to try - I know there are lots further west from here, I'm just not sure around here, but I'll look into it!

[aggiefamily]

Originally Posted by Darcy Baldwin

I'll have to try - I know there are lots further west from here, I'm just not sure around here, but I'll look into it!

You come visit me in January and I can hook you up.

[Darcy Baldwin]

Originally Posted by MelissaL88

There have been a lot of great tips here!

One question for you ladies...do you buy fresh veggies or do you buy frozen or canned? That's where I spend most of my grocery $$$. We buy meat in bulk at Costco, but dh & I really love fresh veggies and that can get really expensive.

Yes, they do, Melissa - and that's where a huge chunk of our budget can go, especially if you're buying out of season, but it's still hard even if you buy in season. So yeah, we do buy frozen and canned because we have to. But I buy fresh every week and use it as much as we can. We really spend a lot in salad...buying spring mix either from the grocery store or Sams in the big containers (mesculine). It looks expensive, but it's really not, and it goes a long way. It's how we get the green veggies in us lol. But we do fresh and canned fruit all the time.

[glumirk]

Originally Posted by jessica31876

also we make stuff like spaghetti because it can last for two dinners and lunch and it costs like 4 dollars plus maybe 2 for ground beef. We buy garlic bread and salad and for basically three meals we spend maybe 10-12 dollars

Yeah...simple pasta meals with meat in them are super cheap and easy to make. Even just pasta with butter, Parmesan, with some garlic, salt, and pepper is super cheap and easy. Add a little chicken to spice it up and serve with salad. For like 1/2 lb of pasta (half of one of those $1 boxes) it's only like 1-2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of Parmesan (we buy the 10 lb bag from Costco and keep it in the freezer...it lasts us a LONG time even though we use it a lot), and 1 chicken breast cooked with olive oil and garlic. It's so simple and we love it. I always guess on the proportions, so don't quote me on them. Too much butter makes it too greasy though.

[Darcy Baldwin]

with venison? Can I shoot my own? LOL

[Darcy Baldwin]

Originally Posted by glumirk

Yeah...simple pasta meals with meat in them are super cheap and easy to make. Even just pasta with butter, Parmesan, with some garlic, salt, and pepper is super cheap and easy. Add a little chicken to spice it up and serve with salad. For like 1/2 lb of pasta (half of one of those $1 boxes) it's only like 1-2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of Parmesan (we buy the 10 lb bag from Costco and keep it in the freezer...it lasts us a LONG time even though we use it a lot), and 1 chicken breast cooked with olive oil and garlic. It's so simple and we love it. I always guess on the proportions, so don't quote me on them. Too much butter makes it too greasy though.

You can use olive oil in place of the butter and use less and it's way yummy Or do half and half.

[MamaK]

We spend about $450 every month for 2 adults and 2 kids (11 & 7). definitly do a meal plan. Not only will it help keep your grocery bill down, your cupboard will be better organized and you won't end up wasting food. Take advantage of specials and coupons. We just shopped at Safeway yesterday because they had a couple BOGO and Twofer deals on teh things we needed to get like cereals, lunch/snack items and vegies. Plus I like racking up the points to get .10 off my gas.

[jessica31876]

that sounds really good. We also do the pasta with a can of clams. Its like 1.00 for a can of clams and it is sooo good!! Some people do not like clams or wouldnt like them in pasta I guess but I love it. (my kids all hate it though LOL)

Originally Posted by glumirk

Yeah...simple pasta meals with meat in them are super cheap and easy to make. Even just pasta with butter, Parmesan, with some garlic, salt, and pepper is super cheap and easy. Add a little chicken to spice it up and serve with salad. For like 1/2 lb of pasta (half of one of those $1 boxes) it's only like 1-2 tablespoons of butter, 1/2 cup of Parmesan (we buy the 10 lb bag from Costco and keep it in the freezer...it lasts us a LONG time even though we use it a lot), and 1 chicken breast cooked with olive oil and garlic. It's so simple and we love it. I always guess on the proportions, so don't quote me on them. Too much butter makes it too greasy though.

[mlewis]

I've been spending $400/month for 2 adults/2 kids and that includes Walmart/Target purchases like laundry detergent, shampoo, etc. I only buy meat when it's on sale and then buy several packages at once. Fresh fruit and veggies are definitely expensive so I buy lots during spring/summer and not so many during the fall/winter. I shop the ads and use coupons and go to multiple grocery stores - something that was not possible before I was a SAHM. I also make up a 2-week menu plan and only shop twice a month. Like Darcy, we stretch the meat out and make 2 meals. I've also gotten really good at using left-overs - something we used to never do.

[MissKim]

We added a line with Verizon and our bill actually went down $15 because we switched to a different rate plan. Crazy, huh?

[WalkersMommy]

For myself, DH, and our 18 month old, we spend about $375 a month on groceries. I go on the 1st and 15th, and spend roughly $180 each trip. I buy diapers and wipes at costco for about $80 probably every 6 weeks or so.

[lovely1m]

I buy all my groceries and Wal-Marty stuff together, but I spend about $150-$200 every other week for 2 adults and a toddler. Also check out a local meat market, the meat is often much fresher and a lot cheaper. Outlet bread stores are also much cheaper and I freeze some bread.