Food Budget (S/O food stamps thread)

[flyingiguana]

We spend 500-600 a month for a family of 4. The problem is, we eat healthily. This includes virtually no processed foods/candy/soda/baked goods. But fruits and vegetables are expensive here. We only do a little meat. We cook most everything from scratch. Fact is, if I loaded my family up on processed foods, it might be cheaper. They fill up on produce instead, and that's more expensive.

 

10 years ago, I was spending about 200 a month. The kids were smaller and food was a whole lot cheaper. Food has shot up in price just recently, so I do wonder at times if the reports of feeding families on the cheap are just slightly out dated.

 

Also, I just don't see the point of scrimping on healthy food unless we're destitute. I'll scrimp on just about anything else, but not that. This doesn't mean I don't shop sales and buy in bulk, but coupons are just a waste of time. If I bought things that I could use coupons on, I'd be spending more money, not less. I've never seen a coupon for bulk lentils or greens.

[flyingiguana]

I'm just saying that sometimes there's a lot of judgement (intentional or not) in the messages about $400 being enough to cover the monthly grocery bill. When you're trying to save money, there are some tricks that work everywhere, but some that won't.

:iagree:

 

And I can't say how tired I am of having my mother whining every time she visits here that I shop at stores that are way too expensive. I'm already shopping at the cheapest stores around. Short of moving to the cheaper location where she is, there's little I can do about it.

 

But that's my mother. I can do no right. Sorry, back to regularly scheduled programming.

Edited October 8, 2010 by flyingiguana

[Mejane]

.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Mejane
Duplicate post

[StaceyinLA]

What I do is purchase 1/4 of a cow from my sister about once every 3-4 months. That is our beef, and I buy NONE from the store. That costs me about 1/2 of my food budget that month, so I use up stored grains, beans, etc. more that month and start replenishing again the next month.

 

During the months we don't buy beef, I go to the farmer's market every Saturday morning and buy 40-50 worth of produce for the week. I then hit Whole Foods and buy sale items ONLY, and ONLY things we normally use (mainly nuts, some organic yogurt tubs, tortillas, etc.) I then hit Wal-Mart for basics that I don't always buy organic (canned beans, Newman's spaghetti sauces (for quick meals), bbq sauce (for dh), ketchup (they now have the HFCS-free at WM), etc. I don't buy many snacks, but what I do buy I get either on sale at Whole Foods, or I buy the natural Cheetos or Tortilla chips (chips and salsa are a fave snack at our house). Wal-Mart also carries the "Back to Basics" brand cookies and I pick dh up a box of those once or twice/month. We don't eat a lot of sweets.

 

I also shop the Asian market once every couple of months for cans of curry paste, coconut milks, sauces that we use for dips we make, sticky rice, rice paper wraps, etc. It is an inexpensive place to shop. I get enough items to cook a half dozen good Thai meals for $25-30. We eat Thai once a week or every other week. Everyone LOVES Thai at my house. My son has learned to make the raw spring roll wraps and they are delicious!! The wraps are CHEAP and we fill them with cheap, raw veggies and dip them in a yummy sauce - delicious!!

 

We DO eat a lot of salad. I keep organic romaine in the house at all times, and keep organic spinach leaves. I make dressings, and we throw whatever we have available in the salad. Dh LOVES salad.

 

Obviously, if I am stocking the sale items each week I buy different items each week. I work to keep the pantry full, not buy certain things. That way I am spending the minimum, but always have food to cook/eat.

 

Occasionally, I buy chicken from a guy at the farmer's market who raises "yard bird." It is expensive, so I will do it once every couple of months and buy $100 worth. Dh also hunts, but that has cut down since he started golfing. We usually do wind up with at least one deer, which he makes into ground meat, stew meat and sausage. Since our beef is excellent, and humanely raised by my sister and her husband on pasture, that is our main meat (oldest dd and I eat little to none).

 

I also purchase from Frontier co-op every month or two. I get spices and my laundry detergent from them. I buy cleaning supplies from Melaleuca every few months. Most of the time, this comes out of the normal grocery budget, but every once in awhile, I will spend a chunk of my spending money just stocking up on things (maybe $100 or so), so I guess that would technically add to the grocery budget, but it's maybe once or twice/year at most.

 

Dh takes leftovers to work every day. If he wants lunch out, that comes from his spending money - NOT the grocery budget. If the kids and I eat out, it also comes out of my pocket money. We include no meals out in our grocery budget. I guess we figure that is a luxury, and we can always cut it out if needed, but the groceries have to be bought!

 

Anyway, this is it in a nutshell for us. We eat pretty well. I cook lots of different types of foods, and we have a nice variety.

 

ETA: At this point, I feed Dh and myself, occasionally my mom who lives on our property, 21yodd, 15yods, and 17yodd about half the time (she stays with a friend near her college sometimes because we live so far). I'd venture to guess that when dss, his gf, the grandbaby AND 19yo dd were ALL at home, we might have gotten upwards of $700 on groceries for a short time, but never more than that.

Edited October 8, 2010 by StaceyinLA

[Mejane]

In CT, the max a family of four can receive on SNAP is $668/month. I spend about $350. We eat healthfully, but not radically so. I find it hard to believe a same-size family can't eat well for almost twice what I have to spend. There are discount grocery stores all over this state, and they all carry healthful food. Sorry, barring extreme circumstances like having no stove or fridge, there really is no excuse if one is willing.

[Lilymax]

We live in metro Atlanta and I spend about $600-$700 a month on groceries, which includes pet food (for a dog, cat and fish), TP, paper towels, cleaning stuff, baby wipes, etc. I only buy one package of disposable diapers a month because we cloth diaper, using the sposies just for overnight and when we're out.

 

I do use couponing--but only when it's something we'll really need and use, coupled with a BOGO or other type of sale so that it's free or almost free. I also shop at Aldi when I can, and go to our commissary once a month, when I do my bigger shopping (on the 15th of the month).

 

I cook a lot from scratch, but am not averse to serving Kraft mac-n-cheese, Hamburger Helper or baked goods made from a mix. ;) I add things to make them a bit nicer/healthier (real cheddar and minced broccoli to the mac, an extra cup of brown rice and TVP to extend the Helper, wheat germ and veggie or fruit purees in the muffins).

 

We drink water with most meals, and go through two gallons of milk a week, which I'm told is not a lot for a family of five.

 

It works for us. :001_smile:

[StaceyinLA]

There really IS a comparison, because in the parts of the country where the cost of living is higher, the salaries are also comparably higher.

 

If you live in Louisiana, you are going to pay less for groceries, but you are going to make proportionately less doing the same job that you would make in DC, or places on either coast.

 

Also, though I DO live in a rural area, I don't shop there. We have no grocery store. I travel nearly an hour to shop at a Whole Foods and visit a farmer's market in Baton Rouge.

 

I can shop at Wal-Mart about 20 minutes away, and I do, but not for everything I purchase.

[justamouse]

I regularly pay $4.99 a pound for boneless skinless chicken breasts. If I want organic I'm paying closer to $7 a pound. Which is one reason why we are trying to move to a vegetarian diet in my household.

 

I don't think some people have a clue what the VAST differences in food prices are in different areas of the country.

 

And prices are going up like crazy in my area!

 

:iagree: The dairy is headed skyward up here in Jersey. Even flour is getting higher. :glare:

 

I have a 1400 a month grocery budget for 9 people. I buy everything on sale, I use coupons for health and beauty items and I go to Costco. We eat out maybe once a year. I do not buy all of the fun, pretty, prepared foods, we eat rice and beans and veg at least three times a week and red meat comes in the form of meatballs and meatloaf and occasionally. Though I AM looking at buying half a cow because the price per lb is what I pay for ground meat. A bag of apples from the farm costs 20 bucks. Welcome to NJ.

[justamouse]

There really IS a comparison, because in the parts of the country where the cost of living is higher, the salaries are also comparably higher.

 

If you live in Louisiana, you are going to pay less for groceries, but you are going to make proportionately less doing the same job that you would make in DC, or places on either coast.

 

 

Yes, salaries ARE higher, but so is everything else, and my state taxes, 15,000, are subsidizing states like Louisiana and Mississippi. The amount of taxes that we actually keep in the state is something like 30 cents on the dollar. So it's not all equal.

[Gwenhwyfar]

There really IS a comparison, because in the parts of the country where the cost of living is higher, the salaries are also comparably higher.

 

this isn't always true. i live in an area with a high cost of living - and IF you work in a very specific industry, you'll do okay. if you work in anything else it can be very, very difficult to get by.

[StaceyinLA]

There are always exceptions. It's generally true though.

 

I'd like the information on the state taxes in other states subsidizing Louisiana though.

[Entropymama]

Wow. I had no idea feelings ran so high on grocery budgets. :)

 

My original post was intended only to help out the gal who said she wished she knew how to spend less on groceries.

 

For what it's worth, I live in Las Vegas, hardly a low cost of living area, although it's easier to get by here than say San Fran or NY. I get most of my produce from a co-op (bountifulbaskets.com). We eat lots of fruits and veggies, but no organic. I won't pay more than $2/lb for meat and stock up when it goes on sale. That pretty much means hamburger, chicken and pork chops. We eat meatless at least once per week. I use coupons to stock up on snacks and other non-perishables when they are free or close to free. For example, I was able to buy boxes of Barilla pasta (usually $1.50/box) for $.50/box when they were on sale and I had a coupon. I get 4 newspaper subscriptions so I was able to stock up - I bought 20 boxes. So we'll be eating a lot of pasta. :) I'm also able to get my diapers and toilet paper from my church for free - that makes a HUGE difference.

 

Anyway, sorry for stirring the pot, I was really meaning to give some helpful suggestions.

[Audrey]

Farmer's markets are very expensive here. I can't imagine using them to save money.

 

 

You need to drop by my farmer's market. :D We're all really farmers (not market gardeners) who have extra in our gardens to sell. It's cheap. For example, I sold the overflow of asparagus I had for $1/bunch and there was an average of 2#/bunch. I sold the tomatoes for $5/flat which probably averaged around 7-8# of tomatoes per flat. Fist sized, individual tomatoes were 25¢/each or 5/$1. The last market was last week and my pumpkins were $3 each for nice big jack-o-lantern sized beauties; acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash went for $1-$2 each depending on size. I bought some cabbage for $1 that was enormous -- bigger in diameter than my turkey platter! I bought 4 ice cream pails of apricots (each is a 4-liter pail) for $3 each pail.

 

If you really want a cheap farmer's market, try smaller ones or ones further out. In the Big City, the same produce could go for 10x as much, but I'm not driving for 3 hours to get that price. I don't have the time, and I'm not in it so much for the money as for promoting our local producers.

 

These are the ways I keep my food costs down: growing and preserving what I grow, selling the excess and/or trading it for something else, buying from local farmers directly, never buying processed foods.

 

I probably spend way too much on fruit, but my growing choices are limited, yet my tastes in fruit too extravagant, I guess. :tongue_smilie: I couldn't tell you what meat costs here because I haven't bought meat in a regular store in ages. We used to pay get steers and hogs processed at the abattoir, but then dh took a butcher's course, so now he does it. He has always made and smoked his own recipes of sausage. Processing the meat himself just saves even more. I have chickens, but I'd never dream of eating my girls. I do get chickens from the neighbouring Hutterites, though. They have free-range layers and they cull in the Spring and Autumn. Our turkey for Monday (Canadian Thanksgiving) came as a gift from them, which was a very lovely gift indeed!

Edited October 8, 2010 by Audrey

[Mergath]

You need to drop by my farmer's market. :D We're all really farmers (not market gardeners) who have extra in our gardens to sell. It's cheap. For example, I sold the overflow of asparagus I had for $1/bunch and there was an average of 2#/bunch. I sold the tomatoes for $5/flat which probably averaged around 7-8# of tomatoes per flat. Fist sized, individual tomatoes were 25¢/each or 5/$1. The last market was last week and my pumpkins were $3 each for nice big jack-o-lantern sized beauties; acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash went for $1-$2 each depending on size. I bought some cabbage for $1 that was enormous -- bigger in diameter than my turkey platter! I bought 4 ice cream pails of apricots (each is a 4-liter pail) for $3 each pail.

 

I'm sick with jealousy. We only have one farmer's market in our area. The last time I went- I go if I have a little extra cash and want my food to actually taste like food- I spent $3 on one tomato.

[Snickerdoodle]

You need to drop by my farmer's market. We're all really farmers (not market gardeners) who have extra in our gardens to sell. It's cheap. For example, I sold the overflow of asparagus I had for $1/bunch and there was an average of 2#/bunch. I sold the tomatoes for $5/flat which probably averaged around 7-8# of tomatoes per flat. Fist sized, individual tomatoes were 25¢/each or 5/$1. The last market was last week and my pumpkins were $3 each for nice big jack-o-lantern sized beauties; acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash went for $1-$2 each depending on size. I bought some cabbage for $1 that was enormous -- bigger in diameter than my turkey platter! I bought 4 ice cream pails of apricots (each is a 4-liter pail) for $3 each pail.

 

Sigh...

 

Tomatoes were 4 dollars a pound at the farmer's market. I did buy 2 very small delicata squashes and paid 9 dollars and a bunch of asian style green beans (the long ones--what are they called??) for 5 dollars. So, a little treat and it cost an arm and a leg.

[2squared]

Yes, salaries ARE higher, but so is everything else, and my state taxes, 15,000, are subsidizing states like Louisiana and Mississippi. The amount of taxes that we actually keep in the state is something like 30 cents on the dollar. So it's not all equal.

 

We moved to a very rural, remote area last year. Dh took a significant cut in salary, but I figured the LCOL would balance out the salary cut. WRONG. I had no idea. Yes, our "expensive" house only cost $100K, but since it's 150 years old (like all the others in the community), we spend an amount equal to our mortgage in upkeep and maintenance every month. Our tiny local grocery store is expensive. If I wanted cheaper groceries or more variety, I drive an hour to the nearest Walmart. If I wanted to shop at a health(y) food store, warehouse store, or any other type of food selling place, I would have to drive 2.5 hours. Most consumer products - cars, computers, etc - are the same price regardless of COL. I guess this is mostly a vent. I didn't realize how our finances would be impacted by living so rurally and remotely. I saw the LCOL label with stars in my eyes.

 

Regardless of where you live, financial challenges abound which are specific to your situation.

[Jane in NC]

Sigh...

 

Tomatoes were 4 dollars a pound at the farmer's market. I did buy 2 very small delicata squashes and paid 9 dollars and a bunch of asian style green beans (the long ones--what are they called??) for 5 dollars. So, a little treat and it cost an arm and a leg.

 

Ouch! I spent $30 at a farm market store this week. The farm grows most of the items sold, but they also have eggs and cheese from small producers as well as things like apples from the NC mountains. This is what $30 bought: 3 fist sized slicing tomatoes, one box of grape tomatoes, four cucumbers, one large bunch of scallions, a pound or so of creamer potatoes, 2 bell peppers, and 2 jalapenos (all of these farm grown), as well as two pounds of cheese, one dozen eggs, and a dozen wonderful apples. Most of my $30 went to cheese and apples.

 

My CSA (which runs from mid-April to mid-July) costs about $17 per week for a half bushel of produce.

 

I spend time every summer on Cape Cod and see the substantial cost difference in groceries there. The farmer's markets there are outrageous but the produce is so much better than Stop and Shop's that it is worth the extra money to me.

Edited October 10, 2010 by Jane in NC

[RoughCollie]

There really IS a comparison, because in the parts of the country where the cost of living is higher, the salaries are also comparably higher.

 

That is not true for us. We moved to an area which has a lower cost of living, from the Boston area. The people here are the poorest and least educated, in general, that I have ever been around in my life. The housing is mostly horrible -- old, decrepit, and small.

 

The lower cost of living is primarily due to the lower cost of housing. That entirely makes up for the salary differential.

 

The groceries were at least 20% higher here than in Boston in summer 2009. Yet Boston's grocery prices were significantly higher than those in Atlanta and Louisville, for the 2 decades I lived there. Here, food prices have gone up considerably in the last year, and I have no clue what they are anywhere else. I do know that meat prices have gone up 25% since we moved here. I used to spend $1000 a month max at the grocery store for healthy food and housekeeping supplies. Now I spend $1300 a month for healthy food, not counting housekeeping supplies in that figure, based on the lowest cost purchases possible and having to spend hours every month making sure of that.

Edited October 9, 2010 by RoughCollie

[Tina]

A tip I got from a forum a few years back was to check the stores first thing Monday morning for marked down meat. Just in case that helps anyone!

[Renee in NC]

That is not true for us. We moved to an area which has a lower cost of living, from the Boston area. The people here are the poorest and least educated, in general, that I have ever been around in my life. The housing is mostly horrible -- old, decrepit, and small.

 

The lower cost of living is primarily due to the lower cost of housing. That entirely makes up for the salary differential.

 

The groceries were at least 20% higher here than in Boston in summer 2009. Yet Boston's grocery prices were significantly higher than those in Atlanta and Louisville, for the 2 decades I lived there. Here, food prices have gone up considerably in the last year, and I have no clue what they are anywhere else. I do know that meat prices have gone up 25% since we moved here. I used to spend $1000 a month max at the grocery store for healthy food and housekeeping supplies. Now I spend $1300 a month for healthy food, not counting housekeeping supplies in that figure, based on the lowest cost purchases possible and having to spend hours every month making sure of that.

 

I was feeding 10 people (4 adults) on less money last summer than I spend now on the 8 of us.