S/O Budgeting: Groceries

[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.

[Shawna]

Originally Posted by mlewis

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.

This is what I do as well, we try to shop 2-3x a month and then just do small trips in between to get milk & bread as needed and take advantage of any good deals I see in the ads. For our family of five (2 adults 3 kids) we try to stay under $350/mo for groceries, household items and diapers/pullups for the 2yo. I shop Dillon's (Kroger), Walmart, Target, Walgreens & Sam's Club and then we also have Aldi but it's not close to our house so I don't get there too often.

I have a bunch of frugal/money saving/couponing type blogs in my blog reader and watch for posts about good deals in my area and then stock up as much as I can on those. Another great site is Hot Coupon World which has similar info to the Grocery Game but free. With coupons I can get all our toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, feminine products, razors, etc. for free or darn close to it. Having a nice stockpile of those items has really helped cut our budget down so we can spend a bit more on other stuff. I also never pay full price for diapers/pullups/wipes, there are tons of coupons available for the name brands and most of the stores I shop at regularly do great diaper deals. Not too long ago I got 4pks of pullups for under $12!

[Nettio]

Wow, I'm really impressed by some of your budgets! We have two adults and we spend around $300/month on average. Which based on some of the comments here, I can't tell if that's good or not! haha We buy as much fresh as we possibly can though - I can't remember the last time I bought canned or frozen fruit or vegetables, plus my DH loves meat so we by a lot of that too, and a lot of that is fresh too. That amount does include all paper goods, cleaning supplies, ziploc/trash, etc. We try to buy as much as we can at the commissary on the military base because it does same us quite a bit of money.

[jannylynn]

I won't tell you my budget (family of 5) but I promise that it's gone up over the years after years and years of having to scrimp along! I still have to be careful and we have a budget but it is better than when we first decided to start paying down debt.

The best way for you to figure out what you spend on the things you need every month is to simply track your spending for a month. Note the things that aren't purchased monthly. So be reasonable when you are purchasing because stuff comes up that you need to buy but you aren't purchasing month. Like cleaning supplies and batteries, etc. (ok, weird example, but batteries are expensive!). Anyway, the second month try to stay within that spending amount or even attempt to reduce it by 10%. But put the 10% in savings. Don't spend it because you might find you need it. Budgets have too many variables.

And the 3rd month review how the 2nd month went. Was it too tight? Can you reduce it another 10%? What did you forget about that came up? Add that in.

And do the same on the 4th month but you should be closer to a reasonable budget.

We still do this. Only DH and I review about every 3-4 months. We talk about what's not working for our budget and then try to make changes accordingly. I found that when we first started and said, "This is all we can spend on groceries." It didn't work. You have to eat! Although you don't have to eat steak every night. And I was being reasonable about what I was purchasing and did a lot of meal planning. It just wasn't enough when I included diapers and other essentials. But we also found other places that we could cut back. I often took out of entertainment and eating out to help my grocery budget. We turned off the cable. I shopped at garage sales for kids clothes. Stuff like that.

I hope I'm making sense here. The idea being that you set a budget that you can live with so you don't go overboard from being too strict. And keep reviewing to make sure you aren't being too lax as well.