How much is reasonable to spend on food for a month?

[MamaBirdX7]

One option for non-food items is taking advantage of Drug Store rebate/loyalty programs. Our local store is rite aid. Every month there are items that end up free after using coupons and their rebate program. If you buy certain items, a +UP coupon will print out for $1 or $2 off your next purchase. You can get and use multiple +Up coupons in one transaction.

 

There are many websites (google) which list the good deals each week at each drug store. The same for grocery stores.

 

If you don't mind using grocery stores loyalty cards, you can load coupons directly onto your card at cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, and pgesaver.com. You may not end up buying a lot of the items that you have loaded coupons for but it only takes a few minutes. Sometimes I buy something and am nicely suprised when that extra 50 cents comes off. ("oh yah, e-coupon")

 

I generally buy what's on sale at Safeway and use coupons and buy whatever I absolute need and my % Savings is usually between 47% and 52%. We don't have double coupons in my area.

 

For meat, I cruise a locally owned grocery store for marked down meat.

 

If you don't have time to make your own bread, buy a bread machine (at a yard sale for $1 - $5) and let it make your dough. I mostly use our bread machine for pizza dough but have made bagels, dinner rolls, raisin bread, and the occasional loaf of regular bread. I have 3 bread machines.

 

For pizza, I have frozen the both the dough and pre-baked crusts. Either way works. Last time I worked out the cost for a crust it was 30 cents, it might be 50 cents by now.

 

I'm not sure how much we spend on groceries. I used to scrimp as much as possible, but there is a point where you have to spend more to eat a little healthier.

[Emmy]

I just went shopping...we are a family of 6, and this included diapers, but I bought a months worth of groceries and spent $600!

 

I think that's a very reasonable amount to spend for a family your size.

[delaney]

$500 every 2 weeks. I just can't get it under AND I use coupons like a pro! That is for 8 of us and little man is in cloth dipes.

[UnsinkableKristen]

We just use our hands. We make sure and use hand sanitizer after. It's all good.

 

 

:lol:

[Wheres Toto]

We spend $800-$1000/month for a family of 5, with one in pull-ups. We do buy organic milk and yogurt for the kids. We do have expensive cuts of meat semi-frequently, as well as fish and seafood. DH will buy the very large cuts of meat and butcher them himself. We buy mostly fresh veggies and a moderate amount of processed foods. I do shop sales for many items but certain things we buy whether they are on sale or not. We don't use coupons other than the ones I get at the register since we don't buy the newspaper and no longer get the freebies in the mail.

 

According to the USDA chart, we fall into the moderate category.

[RoughCollie]

I find that if I try to plan my grocery shopping around a menu it costs me a LOT more as I need to get lots of special items to make the meals. If though I plan my meals around what is on sale (and I mean a GOOD sale--like 50% off or more) and what is in the pantry, then I do much better.

 

Thanks for posting this, Ottakee. I snipped your post since mine is long, too.

 

These meals are typical of what I cook:

 

Breakfasts: cereal, pancakes, French toast, muffins, eggs & biscuits, or bagels, served with milk, OJ or fruit. Even though everyone loves it, I don't serve bacon any more because it is between $5 (on sale) and $6.79 per pound. Last year, Oscar Meyer bacon was $5 a pound, and went on sale for 1/2 price quite often. I eat either Fiber One cereal or steel cut oatmeal for breakfast.

 

Lunches: 2 kids eat at school, their choice, and get low quality, unhealthy meals for $1.60 apiece (much cheaper and less nutritious than school lunches in Boston). I count that as part of my food budget. The 2 kids at home eat pbj or a couple of hot dogs (one will eat leftovers from dinner if available), milk, fruit. I eat a huge salad with lots of different veggies in it (which more than fills my veggie requirements for the day. DH's lunch includes 2 sandwiches (each with 1 oz. beef or chicken, romaine lettuce, tomato), fruit, 2 cookies (homemade). If I don't put the cookies in, he will go out for ice-cream, candy bars or some other sweet in large quantities.

 

Typical Dinners:

Every meal has 2 veggies (served plain, unless they are in the main dish), AND potatoes, sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole grain noodles/pasta, or beans, AND salad, AND milk. The males eat dessert every night, no matter what --- if I don't serve it, DH will stop on the way home to buy a couple 1.5 qt. boxes of ice-cream, a couple dozen doughnuts, or a grocery store layer cake. I usually serve each male one brownie (they want 5 ea), a couple of cookies (they want a dozen ea), or a piece of fruit pie. The males think a bowl of ice-cream is 1/2 of a carton. (DH needs to lose 40 lbs, but the boys are thin, bottomless pits.)

 

*Pot Roast (this is DH and the boys' favorite meal)

* Chili (made with 1/2 the meat called for in the recipe (usually ground chicken or turkey) & twice the beans and veggies

* Chicken soup with tons of veggies in it, barley, brown rice or whole wheat noodles

* Salmon croquettes for DH when the rest of us have stir fry (chicken, veggies) or tacos

* Ham, pork roast, pork chops or bbq pork once a month.

* Hamburgers or cottage pie

* Spaghetti, meat sauce

* Baked chicken, brown rice

* Ribeye steak, on birthdays, if the person requests it

* Homemade pizza (DS1 eats one large one, I make 3 in all)

 

My family drinks 9 gallons of skim milk, 4 gallons of OJ, and eats 10 loaves of whole grain, high fiber bread every week. They go through a lot of peanut butter and jelly. I buy pasteurized eggs. (They don't need milk, but the males are Milk and OJ Lovers, and only soda will lull them away from it.) At dinner, DH and DS3 eat at least 6 oz. of meat or poultry, everyone else 3.5 oz.

 

The boys typically eat between lunch and dinner, and between dinner and bedtime: usually sandwiches, milk, fruit and fruit. DS1, who is thin and only 5' 8.5" tall, can eat a large pizza or 5 sandwiches at one sitting, no problem -- no weight gain either. DD will have a fruit smoothie or yogurt for a snack.

 

I stock up whenever things go on sale. Last week, I stopped making brownies from scratch because the cost of chocolate is so high. Instead, I bought 20 boxes of name-brand brownie mix for $1 apiece (I make 2 boxes at a time). Did the same with cake mixes -- at $1 a box on sale, it is cheaper and faster for me to use them. Last week, I bought about 30 lbs. of dried beans because they were on sale for $1 a pound.

 

I make everything from scratch, except for bread - but when it goes on sale for $2 a loaf, I buy a couple of dozen loaves and freeze them.

 

I will not pay more than $3 a pound for meat. A year ago, my limit was $2 a pound, but prices have risen so much that is impossible now.

 

I use coupons rarely because I've never seen a coupon for the vast majority of the foods I buy.

 

I plan my meals around the grocery store ads, or use what I have in stock (pantry, large freezer). We have an Aldi, but it is tiny.

 

I buy locally-grown produce whenever I can.

 

The kids get an allowance, and they have to buy their junk food out of that. (I don't count foods I bake as junk food, but chips, soda, and candy are on that list.)

 

I spend at least 21 hours a week to provide meals for my family, meal planning, recipe finding, making grocery lists, shopping, cooking, baking, and cleaning the kitchen. That's a part-time job all by itself. I'm not complaining because I enjoy it. I was astonished to find out it takes that much time -- I spent one week adding it up.

 

RC

Edited September 17, 2010 by RoughCollie

[brewer13399]

We spend about $250 every 6 weeks but we get our milk, pinto beans, meat and eggs for free, they seem to be pretty expensive items. Since we had our twins we use cloth diapers because the thought of how much would be going out for diapers was sicking. Also I will stock up on certain items like TP, treats when I have a really good coupon and they are on sell for really cheap. DH thought I had lost my mind one day when I brought home 2 dz cake mixes that were on sell for .25 a piece but they have lasted over a year.

[RoughCollie]

We have a 9.75% tax on groceries here.

 

Wow, that is a lot. That would make me mad. There is no tax on groceries here and I don't think there should be. The percentage of income most of us spend on food is high enough, without walloping us with high taxes on top of that.

[dansamy]

Wow, that is a lot. That would make me mad. There is no tax on groceries here and I don't think there should be. The percentage of income most of us spend on food is high enough, without walloping us with high taxes on top of that.

Prepare to get even madder. It's 10% here. So a $250/mo bill would be $275 here. It's sickening that every time someone suggests dropping it, the politicos squash it fast.