Please help me feed my family of 5 on $100 a week for the next 4 months.

[DawnM]

Yes, that is what I did. I posted a link to a recipe but I made up my own.

 

I *think* I used 1 can of tomato paste, chopped onion, garlic powder, pepper, chili powder and a bit of water. Can't remember anything else. It was very simple.

 

Dawn

 

I know someone who makes Manwich/sloppy joe sauce with a small can of tomato paste as the tomato ingredient. I can't remember what else she puts in, but it was very simple.

[catalinakel]

No kidding! I paid $3.50 per pound for hamburger today. What are wages like in WV? Are there any jobs?!?!?!:tongue_smilie:

 

uh, no offense to West Virginians...We lived there for three years,and the people are great. We're from California and thought for sure that things would be much cheaper....they weren't. Most of the good produce came from California, and the prices reflected that. Sure, our mortage was very cheap, but it took us four years and $4000. to sell our house once we had left. The wages are low. And the quality of food there is not great....WV is not known for its healthy population...again, no offense....we love our friends from there, but whenever they suggested 'good' places to eat, we were disappointed.

[StephanieZ]

If these prices are for real, the way to feed your family on $100 is to move to WV.

 

Here, it would be: $1 for the box of pasta (1 lb of spaghetti or macaroni), $1.50 for the half bottle of sauce, $2 for the lb of chuck, $1 for the half bag of salad, .25 for the egg (at the absolute best sale prices ever available at the cheapest stores).

 

And the five of us would eat that in one meal with no leftovers, and two of them would stil be hungry.

 

It is NOT WV being cheap -- it's shopping sales combined with coupons and stockpiling when things are cheap. We used to live in very pricey northern VA and groceries (and gas!) are cheaper there than they are here. The groceries there have better coupon policies, too -- some offer TRIPLES (wow!).

 

10c pasta = on sale for $1 - 50 c coupon doubled = FREE. The 10 c I calculated is my cost to get the coupons. I bought about 150 lb of pasta that sale, lol.

 

My "$1" hamburger would be sale for 1.79 c/lb (85% lean ground chuck) - 20% food perks discount (buying card at my main grocery) = 1.44/lb or so. I rounded down, my bad, but I do tend to use less than a pound. I buy it 20 # at a time or so when it is on sale and use my 20% discount that I've saved up for that purpose. (Now that I am getting my half a cow, I won't need to do that for a long time. I'll be paying more for the meat, but it's healthier and I feel better about it.)

 

40 c half a jar of pasta saice -- would be the 80 c/jar I paid for Classico (brand loyal) last winter. I bought 100 jars or so. I also bought about 200 cans of Hunt diced tomatoes for 10 a can last winter. So, I could easily make pasta sauce for under 20 c but I was rounding up. :)

 

Free cake mix, cookie mix, and frosting is coming out of my ears via sales plus double coupons (plus sometime overage or money making due to various coupons or freebies that you get When You Buy the free cake/frostings) This stuff is free or nearly so every 6 months or so.

 

Cheap salad bags routinely due to sale + coupons. This week I bought 2 bags salad for 3.38 - $2 coupon = 1.38 for two, so 69c each bag, or 36c per half bag (I rounded UP!)

 

10c / egg is full price, lol. Most times I pay for eggs so I think of them as a dime. However, this week I have earned maybe 15 coupons for Free Eggs up to $2, so I'll be eating fancy eggs (organic!!) at 50c/dozen or so after the $2 coupon for the next couple months.

 

I didn't add in a vegetable to my imaginary meal, but we nearly always have 2 or 3 veggie dishes as I am a big believer in veggies. Usually have something fresh cut up (carrots, peppers, etc) if it's on hand and then often a salad or soup plus I have about 150 lb of Green Giant (sauced) and Birds Eye (plain) veggies in my freezers. The GG were all free and the Birds Eye I paid 10c a pound for, plus another 5 c a pound in coupon costs. Soooo, all those veggies cost me, maybe $15 max and we've got unlimited veggie supply. So, if I don't have sth we want fresh, I *always* have a pound or so of veggies on the table.

 

And, there's always the 30 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls and Grands biscuits that I paid $0 for (coupons combined with sales) and the Bisquik I bought for 80 c/ 40 oz box (brand loyal!) this week and the 60 lb of flour I bought this week for $1/ 5 lb bag. . . A roll/biscuit side dish is always easy to add to a meal and in my house rarely costs more than a dime to make the whole batch.

 

Point being, NOONE will ever go hungry in this house. Friends joke about heading over here if disaster ever strikes. I have enough food to feed our family for about a year. Cheese, meat, snacks, veggies, condiments, cereals, etc. If I needed to, I could easily go 6 months on $20 a week (milk, cheap lettuce, fresh fruit, sour cream) without anyone even noticing we were "out" of anything.

 

It's nuts how much FREE food you can get. Or get PAID TO TAKE OUT OF THE STORE. (Oatmeal on sale for $1.30 c, coupon for 60 doubles to 1.20, but register coupon prints for $2 if you buy 4, so you are being paid 40 c for each canister. . . Buy 20, earn $8 in grocery store $$. . .) So, now you've got 20 canisters of oatmeal for the stock pile (+/- giving away) AND you've got $8 extra in grocery $ for whatever else you need.

 

Once you start accumulating loads of super cheap or free food, item by item your grocery list gets shorter each week. Makes shopping faster, easier, and much cheaper. . .This just gets more and more refined over time, as your stockpile grows and you pay for less.

 

FWIW, there have been MANY meals I've looked at on the table and realized I've fed us all dinner for under $2 or $3 -- good food, lots of choices, nutritious, yummy.

[gardening momma]

Friends joke about heading over here if disaster ever strikes. I have enough food to feed our family for about a year.

My only problem is that when the power goes out (as it did for us for 5 days in September 2008--Hurricane Ike winds that came up to Ohio), everything in the freezer and fridge goes bad. We salvaged a little bit with 2 coolers and free ice, but lost a lot. Not enough to make a homeowners claim on, though. (we'd have to lose more than $500 in food to make it worth a claim)

 

 

It's nuts how much FREE food you can get. Or get PAID TO TAKE OUT OF THE STORE. (Oatmeal on sale for $1.30 c, coupon for 60 doubles to 1.20, but register coupon prints for $2 if you buy 4, so you are being paid 40 c for each canister. . . Buy 20, earn $8 in grocery store $$. . .) So, now you've got 20 canisters of oatmeal for the stock pile (+/- giving away) AND you've got $8 extra in grocery $ for whatever else you need.

Where do you buy your coupons? Do you use one of those coupon services that you can find online, or do you buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper?

[6packofun]

If these prices are for real, the way to feed your family on $100 is to move to WV.

 

Here, it would be: $1 for the box of pasta (1 lb of spaghetti or macaroni), $1.50 for the half bottle of sauce, $2 for the lb of chuck, $1 for the half bag of salad, .25 for the egg (at the absolute best sale prices ever available at the cheapest stores).

 

And the five of us would eat that in one meal with no leftovers, and two of them would stil be hungry.

 

Exactly. How, for example, on the e-mealz site does a family of 4 make TWO cornish hens stretch for 2 meals?? LOL

[lakotajm]

 

Where do you buy your coupons? Do you use one of those coupon services that you can find online, or do you buy multiple copies of the Sunday paper?

 

Yes, my inquiring mind is wondering about these odd and amazing coupons that are unlike anything we get around here. I cannot easily access the internet (lousy dial-up), so I need a mail-order source. I am hoping you know of some?

 

Lakota

[StephanieZ]

Yes, my inquiring mind is wondering about these odd and amazing coupons that are unlike anything we get around here. I cannot easily access the internet (lousy dial-up), so I need a mail-order source. I am hoping you know of some?

 

Lakota

 

Clipping sites, papers, ebay, internet. Friends give me thier paper coupons. . . WV actually has terrible paper coupons, but my mom in No VA has great ones. . .

 

Between home and work (which is our own business) I have access to a dozen computers to print from (high speed) so I can print like mad when there are great coupons, which there very often are.

 

www.hotcouponworld.com is the way I learned how to coupon. Learned about it right here on WTM and thank GOD regularly for it.

 

HTH.

[Pippen]

]

I use puree cans to make my own Manwich sauce too. The boys didn't even know I had not used the real manwich sauce! I read the back of the $1.45 can label and thought, "I can do this!" The ingredients came to about .35 total!

 

I was going to work on finding a pizza sauce recipe to make that we liked when I discovered the large commercial size can of pizza sauce at Sam's Club was as cheap or cheaper than what I could do at home. I bought the can and froze it up in amounts for family pizzas. Only one can to open too. :)

[Veronica in VA]

When I first read The Tightwad Gazette years ago, I sort of skipped over the part where the author discusses her pantry. I didn't really get it as I had a pantry of course. But now I realize what she was talking about. Once you are stocked with a good amount of items, you can reduce your shopping bill immensely. I try to buy only what is on sale, though I still need milk and fruit very week. A few weeks ago 90% ground beef was on sale for $1.89/lb. I stocked up and have a lot in my freezer right now. I do the same thing with pasta sauce, for instance, when it was .99/jar I bought a lot of them. I won't have to buy sauce for awhile. I still have 8 jars of peanut butter left from the back to school special of .99/jar. If anyone looked at my cart at a given time, they would probably wonder what in the world we were eating. But, when I combine it with what is in my pantry, it works well. Stocking up the pantry so you can hit only good sales, takes time, and I am not there yet either. But try to set aside some money each week for those items that are are a good deal. Stocking up when they are a really good deal means you won't have to buy when they are not on sale.

I try to approach it as a game. It is amazing how excited I get when it is triple coupon week. My dd got so excited last time when they brought the manager over since I saved so much the order needed to be approved by the cashier's boss! I felt like one of those coupon queens on t.v. - lol!

 

Veronica

[DawnM]

We have always been Costco shoppers and just 2 weeks ago joined Sam's club out of necessity (threw a party in another town for an event and they had no Costco there!) I will look for it. Thanks.

 

Dawn

 

]

 

I was going to work on finding a pizza sauce recipe to make that we liked when I discovered the large commercial size can of pizza sauce at Sam's Club was as cheap or cheaper than what I could do at home. I bought the can and froze it up in amounts for family pizzas. Only one can to open too. :)

[Haiku]

10c for the box of pasta. . . 40c for half a bottle of sauce. . . $1 for lb of ground chuck . . . 10c for the half bag of salad. . . free dressing. . . free cake. . . 10 c egg. . .

 

Around here we can get prices like that if we go to low-quality stores that sell preservative and filler-laden food. If we go to a regular grocery, the prices are quite a bit higher.

 

I have read The Tightwad Gazette several times and honestly, I was always appalled at the low quality of the food the woman was willing to feed her family. I believe I remember that she even wrote about how she didn't believe there was a nutritional difference between fresh, frozen, canned, etc.

 

Tara

[gardening momma]

We have always been Costco shoppers and just 2 weeks ago joined Sam's club out of necessity (threw a party in another town for an event and they had no Costco there!) I will look for it.

If you have a restaurant supply store that sells to the public (we have GFS--Gordon Food Service), you can look there for larger quantities too. I bought a big can of pizza sauce, divided it up and froze it. The one I bought was very bland, but I just add my own seasonings to it. The other day we were going to have spaghetti, and I thought I had spaghetti sauce, but I didn't. So I used the "pizza sauce" which is really just a really thick tomato sauce, added a touch of water, the seasonings I normally add, and all the other things I like to put in my spaghetti sauce.

 

I also bought a big bag of shredded cheddar cheese there for $0.99/8 oz. I divided that up into several sandwhich bags and froze it.

 

I bought spaghetti noodles there in a 5 lb. bag (can't remember the price now).

 

I like to get large containers of herbs and refill my spice jars as needed.

[stripe]

I can feed the boys lunch each day for less than $2 if we stick with raamen noodles, totinos pizzas, pb&j sandwiches and so on. I will also do only frozen veggies instead of fresh. Lots of soups with homemade stock and oodles and oodles of beans. Black bean tacos and red beans and rice are already a staple in our home.

 

I also am a big coupon user and my store does double and triple coupons.

 

 

I wish you all the best. You've already gotten a lot of good advice on here. I think you will do better if you spend time cooking and then freeze extra to save time, instead of buying prepared things. You can make your own pizza for cheaper than those totinos things.

 

I don't use many coupons as they are mostly for prepared foods.

 

I recommend eating things like 1 lb of beans for $1 -- will certainly feed your family for at least one meal, instead of ramen noodles. Buy regular pasta (goes on sale near me for less than $1/lb regularly) and make your own sauce. Be adventurous. Rice and beans are very cheap. Stretch meat. For us, 1-1/2 lbs of chicken cooked with rice, lasts us for 2 meals. Jazz up ordinary stuff with exciting flavors. Go to the library for cookbooks. Investigate ethnic grocery stores, if you have any. Check out oil, rice, spices, veges and meat there -- the prices may be dramatically better (depends on your area). Keep your eyes peeled for sales. I don't eat nasty/expired/rotten food but I don't spend much money.

 

Frozen veges are not always cheaper, but sometimes. They are healthy, though. Canned veges don't taste good to me, and don't strike me as cheap at all. I am not much into canned goods; I think using a lot of cream soups and this and that sauce is fairly expensive. Learn how to make a bechamel sauce instead. I enjoyed reading the Duggars' book for the recipes -- there was only one thing (the grandma's chocolate cake) that didn't seem to be mixing cans of things; she even said she makes her sons form an assembly line to open up the canned goods at cooking time. That's too much! Marion Nestle didn't really believe the FDA or whoever about the cost of fresh produce; she thought for sure it had to be more expensive, so she measured and cooked, and lo and behold, she found their estimate to be accurate -- it costs about 64c a day to have the recommended amount of fruits & veges (this is in her book "What to Eat"). So buying veges really shouldn't bankrupt you. :)

Edited November 5, 2009 by stripe

[Spy Car]

I wish you all the best. You've already gotten a lot of good advice on here. I think you will do better if you spend time cooking and then freeze extra to save time, instead of buying prepared things. You can make your own pizza for cheaper than those totinos things.

 

I don't use many coupons as they are mostly for prepared foods.

 

I recommend eating things like 1 lb of beans for $1 -- will certainly feed your family for at least one meal, instead of ramen noodles. Buy regular pasta (goes on sale near me for less than $1/lb regularly) and make your own sauce. Be adventurous. Rice and beans are very cheap. Stretch meat. For us, 1-1/2 lbs of chicken cooked with rice, lasts us for 2 meals. Jazz up ordinary stuff with exciting flavors. Go to the library for cookbooks. Investigate ethnic grocery stores, if you have any. Check out oil, rice, spices, veges and meat there -- the prices may be dramatically better (depends on your area). Keep your eyes peeled for sales. I don't eat nasty/expired/rotten food but I don't spend much money.

 

Frozen veges are not always cheaper, but sometimes. They are healthy, though. Canned veges don't taste good to me, and don't strike me as cheap at all. I am not much into canned goods; I think using a lot of cream soups and this and that sauce is fairly expensive. Learn how to make a bechamel sauce instead. I enjoyed reading the Duggars' book for the recipes -- there was only one thing (the grandma's chocolate cake) that didn't seem to be mixing cans of things; she even said she makes her sons form an assembly line to open up the canned goods at cooking time. That's too much! Marion Nestle didn't really believe the FDA or whoever about the cost of fresh produce; she thought for sure it had to be more expensive, so she measured and cooked, and lo and behold, she found their estimate to be accurate -- it costs about 64c a day to have the recommended amount of fruits & veges (this is in her book "What to Eat"). So buying veges really shouldn't bankrupt you. :)

 

Great advice!

 

Build meals around beans, whole grains (like brown rice) and veggies and you can be thrifty and healthful at the same time.

 

And in our area we can get fruit, meat, and vegetables that are much higher in quality and far less expensive by shopping at "ethnic" markets and supermarkets.

 

Bill

[MomtoCandJ]

Have you signed up for WIC? you should be able to get for your 3 and 4 year old, that will help with milk, vegetables, fruit, some bread, juice, cheese and eggs

[Ravin]

1. Ditch the paper towels; cloth is cheap and reusable.

2. Think inexpensive, simple ingredients rather than processed foods.

3. Watch the ads; if you don't want to go ten different places, ad match at Wal-mart. This is great, esp. for getting ALL the produce deals, milk on sale, etc.

4. Set in your mind what are acceptable prices to pay for certain foods. For example, I won't pay more than 10 cents an ounce for breakfast cereal, $1.00/lb. for chicken, or $1.50/lb. for ground beef, or cheese for $2 lb. or less. In your situation, of course, I would nix the breakfast cereal. Pancakes, oatmeal, and such are cheaper.

5. Limit meat. I cook with meat once or twice a week, and that's all. Vegetarian is even less expensive, esp. if you avoid meat substitutes.

 

It can be done; my budget for DD and I is about $160/mo., including household items we share with roommates (TP, laundry detergent, etc.).

[tristangrace]

Just wanted to say "Good for you!" How awesome to be working on knocking out your debt rapidly!

[Veronica in VA]

This year we also joined a CSA. It just ended, but I agreed to help at harvest so the cost was half price to join. It worked out to about $15/week, and we got plenty of fresh veggies - and found some new things we had never tried before. Swiss chard lasagna is the best! The food was organic, and cheaper than the grocery store. A garden would be good, too.

[StephanieZ]

Around here we can get prices like that if we go to low-quality stores that sell preservative and filler-laden food. If we go to a regular grocery, the prices are quite a bit higher.

 

I have read The Tightwad Gazette several times and honestly, I was always appalled at the low quality of the food the woman was willing to feed her family. I believe I remember that she even wrote about how she didn't believe there was a nutritional difference between fresh, frozen, canned, etc.

 

Tara

 

Nope, I bought Eggland's Best organic eggs for 50, whole grain barilla pasta free (+ 10c coupon cost), Fresh Express bagged salads or baby spinach under 70 c a bag routinely. . . etc. I never go to the cheap grocery. Only the nicest ones that many folks say are too pricey. My stockpile is Hunt's all natural tomato products, Santa Cruz organic lemonade, Kellogg's and Post cereals, Gold Medal unbleached, bread, and whole wheat flours, Barilla whole grain pastas and Barilla normal white pastas. . . etc., etc, etc. The image people have of having to buy "cheap" food to spend less is totally wrong.

[Linda1951]

buy brown rice, get canned or dry beans, cornbread, jams, fruit, potatoes, you can do a lot with potatoes.

I am on the mcdougall eating plan and there are three of us and I spend less than 75 dollars a week on food, for us, including milk a gallon once every two weeks.

 

meal plan

we have

oatmeal or cream of wheat with some fruit for breakfast

Lunch baked potatoes, salad, ham buns and bq beans and brown rice on them, this is really good ramine soups

Dinner pot of soup, stew that can last two days.,

cornbread, rice with veggies, all inexpensive.

[Guest queenant]

Jennefer frozen pizzas could be a good way to save. Also, if your family purchases Tombstone pizzas, you could be saving $5, $10 or $15 on your utility bill. Here’s the link that has details on the program http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/products/pages/TombstonePayYourBills.aspx

 

 

 

You have to be in the USA. Also requests must be received before 2/10/10 and theres a limit of one request per family or address. Hope this can help you!

[Renee in NC]

Nope, I bought Eggland's Best organic eggs for 50, whole grain barilla pasta free (+ 10c coupon cost), Fresh Express bagged salads or baby spinach under 70 c a bag routinely. . . etc. I never go to the cheap grocery. Only the nicest ones that many folks say are too pricey. My stockpile is Hunt's all natural tomato products, Santa Cruz organic lemonade, Kellogg's and Post cereals, Gold Medal unbleached, bread, and whole wheat flours, Barilla whole grain pastas and Barilla normal white pastas. . . etc., etc, etc. The image people have of having to buy "cheap" food to spend less is totally wrong.

 

I am guessing that you rely on stores doubling coupons to get these prices?

[babysparkler]

I use puree cans to make my own Manwich sauce too. The boys didn't even know I had not used the real manwich sauce! I read the back of the $1.45 can label and thought, "I can do this!" The ingredients came to about .35 total!

 

http://www.ehow.com/how_5034000_make-manwich-sloppy-joe-sauce.html

 

Dawn

 

 

 

I just made my own manwich tonight for dinner using ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, worchestershire sauce, and vinegar. It was my mom's recipe and it is SO much cheaper to make. :)

[stripe]

I am guessing that you rely on stores doubling coupons to get these prices?

I don't find many super deals like StephanieZ, but I've been able to stockpile stuff too. I don't really have the coupons she does, though, but I think I've got almost as much Barilla pasta in my basement as she does. ;) I don't really stockpile veges, though -- how do you do that?

 

My husband finds abandoned coupons all the time at the grocery store. People just don't want them. --?? He is always getting them when he checks out too.

 

Around here we can get prices like that if we go to low-quality stores that sell preservative and filler-laden food. If we go to a regular grocery, the prices are quite a bit higher.

 

I have read The Tightwad Gazette several times and honestly, I was always appalled at the low quality of the food the woman was willing to feed her family. I believe I remember that she even wrote about how she didn't believe there was a nutritional difference between fresh, frozen, canned, etc.

While I agree with your general sentiment about eating healthful food, I don't think there are any "regular" grocery stores that don't have anything with preservatives and cheap junk food!

 

It has also been my experience that many of the stores catering to more, shall we say, budget-minded consumers (my grandma used to shop at Food 4 Less, for example) had plenty of regular produce and such, but they did have a warehouse "feel" to them and you had to bag your own groceries. In fact, she befriended a man in the produce dept so I know for sure they've got it there. Where she lives, she reports the 99c stores sell produce too. (And I recently read an article about a program to encourage corner convenience stores in urban areas to offer produce by subsidizing the cost of the frigs.) One has to be able to discern what is junk. Eating organic ice cream made with organic cream and organic sugar and organic strawberries is still not the best choice for dinner. ;)

 

I have also found that ethnic grocery stores (Chinese, Indian, Mexican, etc) sell a lot of less processed foods (oil, rice, beans, spices, meat, fish, veges, fruits, etc) AND tend to be cheaper.

Edited November 7, 2009 by stripe

[Kari C in SC]

My top suggestions for reducing your grocery bill (although, again, I don't recommend spending less than $100 a week for five people, as I don't think you will have quality food):

 

1. Make your own bread.

 

2. Don't buy boxed cereals.

 

3. Make your own pasta sauce from a can of tomato sauce, some olive oil, and some basil and oregano.

 

4. Stop eating meat (we are vegan, and I don't know any meat-eaters who eat as inexpensively as we do).

 

5. Pick a theme for each night of the week and have two or three meals for that theme that you just rotate through. For example, in our house Monday is pasta night, Tuesday is Mexican night, Wednesday is soup night, etc. That way you always know what you are having and can anticipate the grocery bill.

 

Tara

 

I gotta say that I have doing the coupon thing and have found that buying cereal and jar sauce has actually been a savings to my budget. For instance, this past week, I went to Target. I used a manufacturer coupon and a target coupon to get the 24 oz box of Frosted mini wheats for 89 cents a box. They have a sale where you buy 3 Kelloggs cereals get 1 free. With coupons, my total for 4 boxes of cereal was $3.57 - I actually bought 8 boxes. I also transferred a prescription to get a $10 gift card - so I actually paid NOTHING for 8 boxes of cereal, 3 bags of chex mix and a cake mix.

 

I have done the same with Ragu sauce. I have gotten a jar for about 50 cents a jar - I bought 20 and stocked my pantry for a year.

 

Now, if I were not going to use coupons, I would agree with not buying boxed cereal or jar sauce. I just don't see I could feed my family cheaper without the coupons.

[cathmom]

I have done the same with Ragu sauce. I have gotten a jar for about 50 cents a jar - I bought 20 and stocked my pantry for a year.

 

.

 

20 jars of Ragu lasts you a YEAR?!?! That would last us 2-3 months maybe!

[Kari C in SC]

20 jars of Ragu lasts you a YEAR?!?! That would last us 2-3 months maybe!

 

It does now that my oldest is in the Army! :tongue_smilie: When he was still home, I made recipes with that sauce a lot more. Now I use about 1 to 2 jars a month. :D

[Heather in MD]

Is this recipe alright for the HE washers? (I already use reg. detergent in lesser amounts and do not buy the HE detergent).

 

Is it okay to use homemade detergent if you have a septic tank?

Heather in MD

[jenL]

You've already received some great ideas. I'm following them carefully too as we're about to knock off some debt and we're "finding" money in our budget to do it. Thank you for asking this question!

 

A great couponing site if you don't already know about it is www.afullcup.com. It has store lists under the Tools tab that allow you see which coupons match up to the current sales flier at that store, including doubles and triples. You can often print coupons straight from this site too.

 

Good luck!

[VA6336]

Wow, there are a lot of really great ideas on here!

 

We started using http://www.couponmom.com back in the spring and it has made a huge difference (but I wasn't really using coupons before that). We got a discounted Sunday newspaper subscription, so I add the $8 to our monthly grocery/household bill.

 

I shop at Sam's Club regularly and while I'm not an organic food buyer for the most part, I have been impressed with the selection they have in addition to what I consider "normal" stuff. For things like laundry detergent, paper towels and toilet paper I'm rarely able to buy enough of it on sale at the grocery store (combined with coupons) to make it last any length of time and they are always cheaper at Sam's. If Costco was closer, we'd shop there, too. I have started substituting rags for paper towels on occasion and I've been surprised at how such a simple thing has cut down on our paper usage.

 

For my family of 5 (small ones: a 5 yr old, a 4 yr old and a 1.5 yr old) we spend around $400 a month for grocery and household items. Not $100 a week, since I go to Sam's twice and the grocery store once or twice in a month, but it evens out by the end of the month.

 

Good luck!

[Jennefer@SSA]

This thread has been wonderful. I have learned so much!

 

I went shopping yesterday for the first time with $100 cash so that there was no way I would spend one cent extra! Our menu for this week includes:

 

* pumpkin pancakes and eggs (already had can of pumpkin)

* baked potato soup (I already had a 10 lb bag of potatoes I had bought last week for $2.77 that was only half used)

* chicken and dumplings

* black bean tacos

* sweet and sour meatballs

* mock wonton soup (This recipe and the one above are my boys' favorites. Daddy is going out of town so I will surprise them with these two treats.)

* red beans and rice

 

With that $100 I spent $25 in fresh produce and $5 on nuts. The remaining $70 went to items to make the dinners above as well as items for breakfasts and lunches. One week down and 11 to go!

 

We also were able to get a membership to Sam's Club through Dh's work and went today to comparison shop. I found many items that I can buy monthly that are cheaper there, even if I pair a coupon with sale items at my local store. :)

 

I am hoping that one of the first posters is right and that when this is all said and done I will not want to go back to my old ways of spending $250 a week - although $125 would be fantastic!!!

 

Thanks again everyone!!!

[Audrey]

I haven't read the other replies, but has anyone mentioned this gal's site, yet? http://www.5dollardinners.com/

 

I only just heard of it because she has a book coming out in Jan/Feb. From my quick glance through, the meals look healthy and not complicated. She also has tips on shopping, coupons, etc.

 

Might be worth a look....

[Quiver0f10]

It is NOT WV being cheap -- it's shopping sales combined with coupons and stockpiling when things are cheap. We used to live in very pricey northern VA and groceries (and gas!) are cheaper there than they are here. The groceries there have better coupon policies, too -- some offer TRIPLES (wow!).

 

10c pasta = on sale for $1 - 50 c coupon doubled = FREE. The 10 c I calculated is my cost to get the coupons. I bought about 150 lb of pasta that sale, lol.

 

My "$1" hamburger would be sale for 1.79 c/lb (85% lean ground chuck) - 20% food perks discount (buying card at my main grocery) = 1.44/lb or so. I rounded down, my bad, but I do tend to use less than a pound. I buy it 20 # at a time or so when it is on sale and use my 20% discount that I've saved up for that purpose. (Now that I am getting my half a cow, I won't need to do that for a long time. I'll be paying more for the meat, but it's healthier and I feel better about it.)

 

40 c half a jar of pasta saice -- would be the 80 c/jar I paid for Classico (brand loyal) last winter. I bought 100 jars or so. I also bought about 200 cans of Hunt diced tomatoes for 10 a can last winter. So, I could easily make pasta sauce for under 20 c but I was rounding up. :)

 

Free cake mix, cookie mix, and frosting is coming out of my ears via sales plus double coupons (plus sometime overage or money making due to various coupons or freebies that you get When You Buy the free cake/frostings) This stuff is free or nearly so every 6 months or so.

 

Cheap salad bags routinely due to sale + coupons. This week I bought 2 bags salad for 3.38 - $2 coupon = 1.38 for two, so 69c each bag, or 36c per half bag (I rounded UP!)

 

10c / egg is full price, lol. Most times I pay for eggs so I think of them as a dime. However, this week I have earned maybe 15 coupons for Free Eggs up to $2, so I'll be eating fancy eggs (organic!!) at 50c/dozen or so after the $2 coupon for the next couple months.

 

I didn't add in a vegetable to my imaginary meal, but we nearly always have 2 or 3 veggie dishes as I am a big believer in veggies. Usually have something fresh cut up (carrots, peppers, etc) if it's on hand and then often a salad or soup plus I have about 150 lb of Green Giant (sauced) and Birds Eye (plain) veggies in my freezers. The GG were all free and the Birds Eye I paid 10c a pound for, plus another 5 c a pound in coupon costs. Soooo, all those veggies cost me, maybe $15 max and we've got unlimited veggie supply. So, if I don't have sth we want fresh, I *always* have a pound or so of veggies on the table.

 

And, there's always the 30 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls and Grands biscuits that I paid $0 for (coupons combined with sales) and the Bisquik I bought for 80 c/ 40 oz box (brand loyal!) this week and the 60 lb of flour I bought this week for $1/ 5 lb bag. . . A roll/biscuit side dish is always easy to add to a meal and in my house rarely costs more than a dime to make the whole batch.

 

Point being, NOONE will ever go hungry in this house. Friends joke about heading over here if disaster ever strikes. I have enough food to feed our family for about a year. Cheese, meat, snacks, veggies, condiments, cereals, etc. If I needed to, I could easily go 6 months on $20 a week (milk, cheap lettuce, fresh fruit, sour cream) without anyone even noticing we were "out" of anything.

 

It's nuts how much FREE food you can get. Or get PAID TO TAKE OUT OF THE STORE. (Oatmeal on sale for $1.30 c, coupon for 60 doubles to 1.20, but register coupon prints for $2 if you buy 4, so you are being paid 40 c for each canister. . . Buy 20, earn $8 in grocery store $$. . .) So, now you've got 20 canisters of oatmeal for the stock pile (+/- giving away) AND you've got $8 extra in grocery $ for whatever else you need.

 

Once you start accumulating loads of super cheap or free food, item by item your grocery list gets shorter each week. Makes shopping faster, easier, and much cheaper. . .This just gets more and more refined over time, as your stockpile grows and you pay for less.

 

FWIW, there have been MANY meals I've looked at on the table and realized I've fed us all dinner for under $2 or $3 -- good food, lots of choices, nutritious, yummy.

 

I have a friend who does this, but she has to buy her coupons and then drives to 4-5 different stores. Some days she has to go out becuase the deal ends that day so she is using gas for a trip she would otherwise not take. I am wondering after buying the coupons, gas etc how much the items really cost?

Edited November 8, 2009 by Quiver0f10

[Tammyla]

:hurray: I'm encouraged by this. Reluctantly I found the Sam's savings in bulk vs. coupons the same. Now I've grown to love having a stocked pantry, and really have no idea anymore how much we spend per week to feed ourselves, except for the perishables. I used to spend an average of $225 but that included many non food items:001_unsure:.

 

Sam's also saves me quite a bit on dishwasher detergent, Jet dry, TP, paper towels, laundry det and other cleaning items. I had to get used to the giant bottles though and the big cost at the time of purchase. However, we save so much over time.

 

Great thread everyone!

 

Good wishes~

 

This thread has been wonderful. I have learned so much!

 

I went shopping yesterday for the first time with $100 cash so that there was no way I would spend one cent extra! Our menu for this week includes:

 

* pumpkin pancakes and eggs (already had can of pumpkin)

* baked potato soup (I already had a 10 lb bag of potatoes I had bought last week for $2.77 that was only half used)

* chicken and dumplings

* black bean tacos

* sweet and sour meatballs

* mock wonton soup (This recipe and the one above are my boys' favorites. Daddy is going out of town so I will surprise them with these two treats.)

* red beans and rice

 

With that $100 I spent $25 in fresh produce and $5 on nuts. The remaining $70 went to items to make the dinners above as well as items for breakfasts and lunches. One week down and 11 to go!

 

We also were able to get a membership to Sam's Club through Dh's work and went today to comparison shop. I found many items that I can buy monthly that are cheaper there, even if I pair a coupon with sale items at my local store. :)

 

I am hoping that one of the first posters is right and that when this is all said and done I will not want to go back to my old ways of spending $250 a week - although $125 would be fantastic!!!

 

Thanks again everyone!!!

[coffeefreak]

 

I'd skip the paper towels and use rags for the months you have to do this. I'd also go the cloth napkin route and try vinegar in the dishwasher.

 

Happy bargain hunting!

 

How do you do vinegar in the dishwasher? I don't think dishwasher detergent works very well anyway, but I'm wondering if you have to add anything to this?

Thanks!

Dorinda

[gardening momma]

Sam's also saves me quite a bit on dishwasher detergent, Jet dry, TP, paper towels, laundry det and other cleaning items. I had to get used to the giant bottles though and the big cost at the time of purchase. However, we save so much over time.

If you still have a smaller bottle, you could just refill it. I now buy liquid fabric softener refills (they come in a paper carton like a milk carton) and use it to refill a plastic fabric softener bottle. You could do the same thing with a large laundry detergent bottle--use it to refill a smaller one.

[coffeefreak]

I wish we could price match at Walmart, but we have food allergies and Walmart doesn't always have what we can eat. I do have to go to 4 different places, but it's worth it for us. I was spending 500-$800 a month when she was first diagnosed this year, but I've gotten it back down to $400 with comparative shopping. Here's what we do:

 

1. Plan, plan, plan. Always have a meal plan. . .ALWAYS.

2. Clip coupons. I go all over the internet. I also go to websites of the brands. Organic Valley will usually give me a coupon once a month for milk. A life saver for us since my youngest can only drink their Lactose free milk and it costs $3-4 a gallon. If you have to use a name brand of something, google it and see what you come up with. Also, coupons.com will allow you to print multiple coupons of the same item. Go back several times until they won't let you go back anymore.

3. Keep your lists separate. I have a Walmart list, a Smith's list, a Target list and a Vitamin Cottage list. I am near Vitamin cottage on Wed, so I shop there Wed. That's how I save on gas, but do multiple place shopping.

4. I never buy boneless, skinless chicken. I only buy ground turkey (cheaper and healthier than ground beef), and whole chickens. A whole chicken will feed us at least twice. I can cook it once, we'll eat it, I'll make a freezer meal with the leftover chicken, and broth from the carcass. The rest of our protein comes from beans.

5. I was making our own bread, but it wasn't cheaper or easier for us. Yeast and I are not friends, I don't have time to grind my own wheat, and I only get decent flour 1/2 the time. Because of this, my bread only rises half the time, and it's so hard to spend an entire day making bread to only achieve 2 loaves IF it turns out. Our local Trader Joes has a decent soy-free bread for under $2 a loaf. I'm near there on Tuesday, so that's where I buy bread now.

 

My next goal is to do the freezer meal thing. Good Luck from one Debt reducer to another!

 

Dorinda

[Radish4ever]

We are living on $100/week and that includes anything that's not a bill or gas - so I'm including playdates in that too.

 

It has not been difficult for us! Admittedly, we do have quite a bit of meat in our deep freeze that we are using, but the VAST majority of it is stuff that I grabbed a bunch of because it was on sale (like packages of Italian sausage for $1 a pound or organic whole chicken for .99c/lb).

 

We usually eat ground turkey ($1.49/lb tube at HEB) as our meat otherwise but I've considered using some of my budget to get some turkey. Leftovers can be frozen to incorporate in other meals.

 

We have lots of beans and rice and such, but I prefer pasta (whole wheat) with sauces and such. We shop at HEB a lot and I LOVE their meal deals - especially if it's for stuff you'll be getting anyway. For example, they have a deal right now that if you get 2 of a specific brand pasta sauce, you get a free head of lettuce and a free bottle of Wishbone salad dressing... score! I was buying the sauce anyway! They frequently have deals where if you buy meatballs or parmesan cheese (or something like that), you can get the sauce and pasta free. We really stretch our budget this way.

 

I can't wait to move to an area with double/triple coupons and the better coupons! We're hoping to move to the DFW area once our debt is paid off and I can tell you right now that I will TOTALLY coupon again! Where I live, we get the lame coupons like .50/an item where a larger market paper would have a FREE coupon or something (and we can't get bigger market papers here anymore because of gas costs or something...we live 6 hours from a big city paper..bah!)

 

Hmmm I also have signed up for lots of market research type sites like General Mills' Psst, Bzzagent, Vocalpoint, Shespeaks, etc. I get freebies and free product coupons frequently and that's always awesome!

 

We also are staying home more - we save on gas and are not tempted to buy out!

 

OH and for when we DO go out, I purchase a LARGE container of bottled waters from Sam's and stick it in the back of my van. Then when we're out and about and my kids say, "I'm thiiiiiiiirsty" or if we go to a playdate or jumping party place or something, we have our own drink and it costs MUCH MUCH less than stopping to get a soda somewhere! (Plus I don't have to keep track of sippy cups or anything lol)

[Radish4ever]

OH and adding my favorite kid recipe!

 

 

Tortilla pizzas!

 

Tortillas, tomato sauce, and a big block of mozzarella are SO cheap per serving.

 

You simply place your flour tortillas on a cookie sheet, spoon on as much sauce as you'd like (I get the kind that's already seasoned or you can top with Italian seasonings), put shredded mozzerella on top, and then you can top with whatever meats or veggies or fruits that you'd like - broil for a few minutes in the oven (until the edges are getting golden).

 

 

1 pizza per kid and it's SOOOO easy and VERY cheap - and as healthy as you want :)

 

 

 

Don't forget about rice, couscous, quinoa, and homemade waffles or pancakes when thinking about breakfasts. They are all cheap and easy to customize to fit your family's tastes. They can also be so yummy and healthy compared to commercial products.

 

We eat very well for that $100 a week. TBH, we actually only use about $60 for groceries and that includes soda for me (LOL) and lunch and dinner always include a fruit and veggie, breakfast is a must in our house, and there are ALWAYS snacks goin' on.

Edited November 8, 2009 by Radish4ever

[susie in tx]

I only go to two grocery stores. I tend to buy only the loss leaders at one of the stores and/or stuff that is on sale because it is going to expire. At the other store, I go in the mornings because that is when they mark the stuff that is going to expire down. It's Kroger and they have orange stickers for the items that are on super sale. I scan the organic area and the health food area and the milk area. I often find great prices. If I do, then I buy all they have. Freezing milk works, and then I don't have to worry about the expiration date.

 

I look at Target for food items that are going to expire as well. If the prices are great, then I buy all they have.

 

Another great place for me is the salvage grocery store. Recently, I found chicken and apple sausages for $1 a package. These are organic and usually run over $6 a box. We don't buy them. But, I bought all they had. They also had organic whole wheat pizzas for $1 each. I bought all they had. On another recent trip, they had 3 lb bags of apples for $1 a bag. I bought several bags. We ate a lot of apples for a while. They usually have tomato products that run about 50 cents a can less than they run at the store. I buy organic olive oil for $5.99 a container. If they don't have maple syrup, then we don't buy it. They often have organic yogurt, though we don't eat store purchased yogurt anymore.

 

Another thing I do is find chickens on sale for 99 cents a pound. I bring them home and cut them up. Breasts go into one ziploc, wings in another, etc. I toss the bags in the freezer. Then, we can eat chicken parts instead of the whole chicken. Some of the chickens are also put in the freezer whole so that we can have a special dinner.

 

Remember, Thanksgiving is coming up. You'll be able to buy turkeys for cheap. Stock up. A huge turkey will give you many, many meals. The original meal, the bones for stock, the leftovers for adding into pasta and rice dishes...

 

If I were going to go on a super budget, I would buy what I could from the salvage stores and the local stores that were very well priced and then build my menus from them. I'd probably add in dry beans, rice, and some grassfed beef. I can buy beef from my farmer for much less than I get it in the store. Alas, I cannot find chicken for less than $2.50 a pound from a farmer.

 

HTH,

[T Baer]

If you can do 2 regular boxes and use one box on the 1st week and the 2nd box on the 3rd week with different recipes that would help. Hillbilly house wife has menus. recipes that coordinate with what you get that month.

[Pippen]

I only go to two grocery stores. I tend to buy only the loss leaders at one of the stores and/or stuff that is on sale because it is going to expire. At the other store, I go in the mornings because that is when they mark the stuff that is going to expire down. It's Kroger and they have orange stickers for the items that are on super sale. ,

 

I'd never shopped at Kroger until this past year when I realized a) that I could do really well watching their clearance and b) that their prices seemed a lot lower in comparison to other stores I was shopping, when previously that wasn't true. I wish they did the double/triple coupons in my town like they do elsewhere but they don't.

 

One other tip--Since I stop at two grocery stores frequently, I've gotten to know employees. I would have anyway but it can add to the savings. At one store I chat with the butcher, the general stuff but also chatting about what's their best deal this week and what she and I are making for supper that night. There also the check-out clerk knew that I used to run the school chess club so if I were coming through and had missed a great deal on snacks she'd give me a heads up. Since I usually shop Kroger in the early morning the produce guy is usually out and he really knows his stuff. Last week he handed me coupons to try the new store brand lettuce mixes for free.

[gardening momma]

Another great place for me is the salvage grocery store. ...

If I were going to go on a super budget, I would buy what I could from the salvage stores and the local stores that were very well priced and then build my menus from them.

I wish we had salvage grocery stores here. I looked it up some time ago, and Ohio doesn't have them (according to the lists I found online). I don't know if there are state laws regarding these types of stores, or if it's just a coincidence that there aren't any here.

[Veronica in VA]

I found a blog that has links to organic websites and coupons:

 

http://organicdeals.blogspot.com

[Jennefer@SSA]

I found a blog that has links to organic websites and coupons:

 

http://organicdeals.blogspot.com

 

Looks great! Thanks!!! :)

[Guest Cindie2dds]

try vinegar in the dishwasher.

 

 

:w00t:

You can use vinegar in the dishwasher! Wow!

[chiguirre]

I use white vinegar and my plates and glasses look good. But, it might depend on your water and I do completely rinse my plates before washing.

 

Give it a try and see if it works for you.

 

PS: White vinegar also works as fabric softener and keeps a front loader smelling nice.

[Nestof3]

I have a friend who does this, but she has to buy her coupons and then drives to 4-5 different stores. Some days she has to go out becuase the deal ends that day so she is using gas for a trip she would otherwise not take. I am wondering after buying the coupons, gas etc how much the items really cost?

 

I have 4 grocery stores and 2 warehouse stores within two miles of me. :)

 

My mom gives me her coupons because she gets the Sunday paper.

[Dobela]

I have bought coupons before and they are not expensive usually. There are sites all over for it. I have even bought them on eBay for hard to find coupons. Usually a reputable seller will charge just a penny or 3 for each coupon plus postage. I don't do it often though. Usually I am able to get most of my coupons from family or even on Freecycle and Craigs list. I ask for any that folks don't want and then go pick them up. I have also participated in coupon trains before to stockpile coupons. You can find several groups that do that on yahoo.

 

Matching coupons to sales is a great way to build a stockpile. I have done that. If I find products I like, I will take time to call the toll free number on packages and let them know why I like it. Many times they will reward me with coupons for my time.

 

 

Sam's has good deals but I have found better deals on paper products using coupons. The best deals I have found at Sam's is for Silk Soy Milk, baking soda and baking powder, vinegar (2 -2 gallon jugs for $3.50 here), and organic cheeses. I will in the future be buying the gallon jug of soy sauce for about $5 and the Worcestershire sauce for about the same. I will just refill the jars I have and store the extra in our extra frig in the basement.

 

Big Lots is another place I have had great success finding good deals on grocery and paper items. After signing up for their emails they will occassionally send me a coupon for 20% off my entire purchase.

[Quiver0f10]

I have 4 grocery stores and 2 warehouse stores within two miles of me. :)

 

My mom gives me her coupons because she gets the Sunday paper.

 

 

I can see how this would be a really nice way to save.