samba2nite Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I am curious how much others spend each month on food for their family. Â How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? Â What do you do to cut corners? Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? Â As always insight and wisdom is GREATLY welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gratia271 Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Too much. Seriously, though, we spend around $1500 for a family of 5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We live in a relatively low food cost area. I spend $80/week for the 5 of us (but my girls eat lunch at school). We buy 1/2 cow at a time so that adds another $10 or so a week to the grocery bill. Â We eat simple foods and I don't make things that call for buying special and/or high priced ingredients/spices, etc. Â I buy what is on sale and cook with that. I am doing Savings Angel but not sure if I will keep it up or not. http://www.savingsangel.com Even without that I rarely bought anything that wasn't on sale and I use store brands, Aldis, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaAkins Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I budget $1000 per month for 3 adults, 1 teen, and 3 children. This includes all of our food, household products, and eating out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeeBeaks Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $400-$600/mo for food, cleansers, HBA, diapers and supplements. We have a separate budget though for eating out, which we often do on the weekends for lunch. We have a family of six, but my oldest is only 8 so I'm not dealing with teen appetites yet. I do have a garden pretty much year round also that supplements fresh fruit and veggies for us (I buy some still). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tabrizia Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We're trying to cut down a bit, we currently spend about $1000 a month for 2 adults, 1 preschooler and 1 toddler. That being said we have some food intolerance and allergies so it ups our budget a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $650 - $700/month for six. Two teenagers, a 10 yo and a 4 yo. Â We eat mostly organic. I don't buy typical snack foods. Instead the kids snack on yogurt, homemade bread, nuts, and fruit. And, we drink water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I go grocery shopping every 2 weeks and spend $300-350 each time. I also spend another $10/week getting items that I can only find at other stores. So that's $160-185/week for a family of 5. If you assume a 4.5 week month, then I spend about $720-835/month. Â The girls and I almost never eat out. My dh eats out for lunch every workday. He used to take his lunch, but he never got to actually eat it when he did. Â The amount above is what I spend on everything at the grocery store - food, toiletries, paper products, trashbags, ..., everything except dog food (don't buy brands that are available at the grocery store). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sukale Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I work part time to pay for our groceries and most of our extras. I try to shop well so I have a little money left over as "mad money". I spend no less than $100 a week and no more than $150 a week. This includes cleaning supplies, diapers, wipes and eating out. On the weeks that I need to stay at $100 I plan all 3 meals, snacks and drinks on a menu and try to use what I already have on hand. I only go the the store once a week. If I run in to get a couple of things I always pick up junck that we don't need too. I have a small family (hubby, 12 yr old and 2 yr old girls) so most of the time Monday's dinner becomes Tuesday's lunch for me and the girls. We don't get fastfood much. If I pick up subway I get 2 of the $5 footlongs to bring home. Thay way we use our own drinks and chips. We will play some board games or rent a $1 movie and we have a family night at home for about $10. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missesd Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? There are 9 of us, regularly. I average about $136 to $245 a week on groceries*. I have been under, and over before though. No more ten $300 ever though, and not consecutively. It all depends on what we have going on that week. Â What do you do to cut corners? I am trying to use less meat as a starter. More rice, etc as fillers. But my diet is supposed to be very carb prohibited, red meat 1x a week, no more then 3 egg yolks a week, 1 slice of bacon a week, etc... it's a 1500 calorie diet for Diabetics/Pre-Diabetics. It makes it very hard to merge feeding my large family cheaply, and taking care of my own dietary needs. More often then not, it becomes a one or the other thing :( Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? Coupons, planning every meal down to every detail, no snacks (unless for dietary needs), no soda (unless for migraines), no sweets/desserts, sticking to the menu. Â *Food only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam Wilhelm Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Family of 5..... approximately $600 per month (that includes nonfood items also). We only go out 2x per month.... about $50.00 each meal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Ooh! I can answer this question! I have kept track of all grocery spending by month for 2010. This includes groceries, paper products, farmer's market or u-pick or fruit/veggie stands, pet food, toiletries, and diapers for my disabled child. Our 3 kids are relatively small eaters and I think food is probably on the cheaper end here. I started the year thinking I could do $650/month, but it's looking more like $675/month. Some months are more expensive than others. I had a high (July) of $1030 and a low (August) of $427. I do a Costco run every 6 weeks, so months with a Costco run are always higher than those without. I do some fruit picking and freezing in July that explains a little of why it was so high. I think that's also when I turned some shelves in the garage into a food storage area and started stocking up. Â Like others, we don't do junk food or soda. Probably half the year we go out once or twice a month (something cheap like pizza usually) and during our busier months we might go out once a week. Dh takes leftovers for lunch probably 2 or 3 days/week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I spend $260-$275 for myself, dh, and ds7. That includes groceries, household & paper products, bath products, and vitamins. We go out to eat no more than once a month, generally for less than $30. Â To keep costs low I coupon, stock pile when things go on sale, cook from scratch at home, and have 2 meatless nights a week (also better healthwise). We are about to buy our first 1/2 cow next month, but I haven't figured out yet how I'm going to budget it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamarie Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $500-600/month for a family of 5. But my kids are 3, 5, and 7, so we haven't hit the ravenous stage yet. That amount includes everything that you could buy at a super walmart type store--food, HBA, meds, socks, underwear, about half my kids' clothes, impulse buys, etc. If it were to be just food? Probably more like $400/mn, maybe less. Â I get the impression from some of these budgets that food budgets are more of a regional thing. My cost of living is lower in MI than it would be elsewhere. I went on vacation to New Jersey this summer and we went grocery shopping once we got there. I almost fell over with sticker shock at the prices I saw. It was nearly double what I normally pay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We are a family of six, and I spend $550 a month for food, toiletries, paper products and hygiene items. This does not count eating out, which we do maybe once a week and cheaply. We live in an area full of low cost food options. I regularly shop at a discount salvage grocery store and get things like a CASE of organic yogurt for $1. No, this is not a typo. We are very blessed this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mejane Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Around $400 for four people. I shop Aldi mostly. We eat very little red meat, at most once a week. Lots of beans, soups, and pasta. I grab cereal and chips at discount stores like Big Lots and Job Lot, and also find lots of random organics there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pretty in Pink Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We spend 800.00 per month for our family of 6 (four growing boys) plus the dog. This includes all food, HBA, cleaning and laundry supplies, etc. I try to shop at the commissary whenever possible; Walmart if I can't make it to the base. We don't buy soda, chips, ice cream, or any of those sorts of foods (only for special occasions). The boys just eat a lot of food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I am curious how much others spend each month on food for their family. Â How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? Â What do you do to cut corners? Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? Â As always insight and wisdom is GREATLY welcome. Â We spend around around $225/week ($900/month) for our family of 5 (ages of kids are in my sig) and our dog. That's all food, cleaning supplies and some toiletries. My main way of cutting corners is making a menu with breakfast, lunch, dinner and 2 snacks/day and not over-buying food. I live in Hawaii. A gallon of milk at the commissary or Costco is around $5. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clementine Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 (edited) Ooh! I can answer this question! I have kept track of all grocery spending by month for 2010. Â This is my New Year's resolution!! I am going to keep track of grocery expenses and coupon savings. January 1st, here I come!! Â Love that you know where all the money is going! :) Edited December 16, 2010 by clementine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prairie~Phlox Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I use Quicken to track things, we average $350/month for food, $100/month for Eating out and $30/month for beer and alcohol. We have 5 in our family. Â Food- this includes food, health & beauty and cleaning supplies. I coupon and get stuff super cheap when I can and stock up on things when it's cheap. My parents are beef farmers and we get a 1/4 of beef for Christmas, so this helps us tremendously. I still buy chicken, pork, some seafood. We do not eat organic, but I cook a lot from scratch. I do occasionally buy things like egg rolls, mini corn dogs, but only a few times a year. I do shop the drugstores for free health & beauty items, etc. Oh, we have 2 cats and this is included in there as well. Â our eating out goes in spurts, there are times when we can go for weeks and not eat out, but when dh is super busy and we are working long hours, we eat out more. Â Alcohol, dh drinks about a beer a day, sometimes 2, we also will have wine on occasion and hard liquor. Â We live in a great area that has double coupons, very competitive grocery store sales. Also, I garden and freeze and can some stuff from that. Â My dh is self employed, so our income fluctuates and have found this is one area that I can contribute to. I love to menu plan and clip coupons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 (edited) I try to spend $300 or less per month on groceries, health & beauty, medicines and household products (napkins, foil, cleaning supplies, etc). We have 4 in our family.  Sometimes I use coupons, but haven't in a few months. I have saved huge amounts when using coupons, but it takes a lot of time to do the research and get it all ready (and I did use Grocery Game and A Full Cup, which helped a lot).  Besides buying store brand when I can, checking price per ounce, and so on, my main strategy right now is not going to the store (check the cupboard instead and see what I can do with what's there).  ETA: we do not eat organic and I do not have a problem with buying the kinds of things that make my life easier--mac & cheese (10₵ a box a while back), cake mix, frozen pizza, etc... Edited December 16, 2010 by gardening momma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardening momma Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I regularly shop at a discount salvage grocery store and get things like a CASE of organic yogurt for $1. No, this is not a typo. We are very blessed this way. I really wish we had salvage grocery stores here, but we don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susankenny Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I spend $400 month ($200 each pay period). This is for a family of 4. My children are 9 & 7. They key for me is meal planning & I only shop 2x month. It makes it much easier to stay in budget when I take these steps.   Susan   ETA - I make our laundry detergent & homemade cleaning supplies. That save a good bit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarreymere Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We are around $400 here in a low cost area, feeding two adult men, me, and two kids all meals daily and two other kids that I share with an ex that come and go, and the odd grandchild or two that show up regularly. That includes the trash bags, cleaning stuff, ect. I haven't gardened for a couple years, had some skin cancer removed and now I am scared to be out in the sun much. We do have a lot of local produce available seasonally with good prices (I can and dehydrate), and we have a farm down the road that sells unpasturized milk for $2.50 a gallon (think yogurt and cheese). We don't have big meat meals (I do put some into stirfrys, ect), we drink water or ice tea, I make almost everything from scratch. We eat a lot of oatmeal, beans, rice, potatoes, that sort of thing. We have soup at least twice a week. It is different from how I grew up, and I had to learn to cook things differently and I had to learn how to like beans. Tonight's dinner was one lb of bacon fried with onion and mixed into three cans of pork and beans, then served over baked potatoes with a bit of shredded cheese. We fed three adults and three kids. Last night was one lb pasta with 1 lb sausage fried and mixed in and some pesto sauce added. That fed three adults and two kids, but with leftovers that we had for lunch today. Tomorrow is a pork fried rice stir fry, the day after that is homemade pizza. There is always homemade bread for a side if anyone is still hungry. I haven't been baking sweets as much since DH is complaining he is getting fat, but we did have a homemade pie for dessert tonight. When grandkids get dropped off I 'charge' for babysitting in Coke Zero and Mr. Goodbars, my weaknesses. One daughter brings me a fancy coffee drink with her kids. Dh won't eat a packed lunch, he likes to get a dollar burger pretty much every day as he is out and about with his job. We can't complain, we are both overweight (although we have great cholesterol levels) so I guess we could cut back more. Just not the Mr. Goodbars, please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $650 for food, toiletries, cleaners, paper products and pet needs. $250 for eating out, as a family, lunches when we're out and about come from a different budget line $80 lunches out and about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $800/mo. including household items. We have two adults and five children (2 - 10 years old). We buy organic milk and other dairy as well as organic produce (some, anyway). Writing a menu based on what's on sale and stocking up on sale items that we use a lot are the two things that save me the most. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Food stamps are $380/mo for a family of 5. So that's the budget. Still working on it but mostly I meal plan, Crockpot, use a lot of beans, etc. It would be a little less of a stretch but dd is allergic to dairy & ds is allergic to peanuts so we need some specialty items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 About $1200 a month for a family of 4- 2 adults, 2 teenagers. $Aussie is on par with the $U.S. lately so it's comparaable. Â We live in a city with a high cost for fruit and veg and that's mainly what we eat. I go to Farmers Markets and buy some organic, some spray free, and the rest just what I can get and what is cheap (and we wash it well). Â We could eat cheaper- much cheaper- if we really had to but we are reasonably careful, like to buy healthy and fresh food and some organic. Â We still buy some processed and packaged foods - such as corn chips and salsa sauce for the kids to make microwave nachos- but not a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kim in Appalachia Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 It may be closer to $850. That includes all household products, not just food. Â I buy snacks for my dh for work (yogurt) and extra food for my kids for swimming. I also buy lots of fruits and veggies. We buy a half a cow each year, so we eat a lot of beef. I have a few in the home who don't drink milk, so I buy soy or almond milk each week. Â The best way to keep our food expenses down without affecting the quality of what we eat is to cut down on cereal. Cereal is convenient but pricey. I make a lot from scratch, but less bread then I use to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsbaby Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 About $800 a month for 5 of us. Sometimes more, never less:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaS Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Dh has given me a limit of $1,000/month (he's the money guy here-I don't handle it). It's like a challenge to me now. We average about $800. I don't shop sales too often. I usually shop the majority at the BJ's and get fresh fruits and veggies at the grocery store (better prices than BJ's and better quality). I probably cut it some, but I don't have to, so I don't. This is for 2 adults and 4-5 children ages 5-8.    What I do to keep it as low as possible:  menu plan-I only buy the food needed to make the meals for the month  no paper products/disposables-we use cloth for cleaning, napkins, feminine products, when we have foster babies I cloth diaper, etc  I make my own laundry soap  I don't clean my house unless it's for special occasions. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandalwood Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 About $50 a week at most for a family of 3. I coupon like crazy and match up coupons to the sale ads (online mostly) for the stores. I buy things like shampoo, deo., etc. at CVS when they have the extra care bucks on them. I make my own bread 95% of the time in the bread machine & make things like pizza dough in it (in fact that is our lunch today --- pizza). I cook from scratch.... we never eat out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeneralMom Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 For a family of 6 (2 adults, 4 kids) with 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 fish and 4 snails I spend:  $30 every two weeks for raw milk (6 gallons) $15 every two weeks for farm fresh organic eggs (6 dozen) $120 at Costco every two weeks (food, pet food, non-food items) $20 week for produce from a buying club I belong to $40 every two weeks at grocery store for things I can't get elsewhere  So about $245 every two weeks or around $500 for the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I spend about $200 dollars a week, but that includes pretty much everything except gifts. Â I stock up on sales, shop at Sam's and all the grocery stores. I try to shop at a different grocery store each week. I enjoy cooking many things from scratch, we don't eat a lot of meat, and local or organic produce tops my list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrissiK Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 My monthly budget for food is $560 and we stick pretty close to that. We are a family of 5 in California - 2 adults, 7 & 6 year old boys, 4 year old girl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missiemick Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We spend $400-$500 a month -- family of six (no teenagers.) We never eat out -- so this covers all meals, snacks, cleaning supplies . . . I've been using $5 Dinner Mom cookbook. Each dinner (obviously) costs about $5. She teaches you how to use coupons but I don't really do that part since it also involves having an extra freezer. I do like her ideas for each (complete) meal. She has a website, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 Too much. Seriously, though, we spend around $1500 for a family of 5. Â Ditto here. We saved for quite a while when I was doing the Grocery Game but I got so busy with school that I gave up budgeting altogether. Not smart, but it is what it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbeaser Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? Â It is myself, and 3 children (10yob and 2 girls 8yo and 4yo). We average $185 per month for food and $50 each for eating out and household items (although I try to cut these down-everything tends to get thrown in here since I budget every penny. So, if we buy some Christmas decorations...it goes here. Extra gifts? Goes here. Etc). I *could* spend more, but we can eat well at this budget level, and I could also spend less, if needed (I could also qualify for food stamps, but choose not to go that route since we have wiggle room in the budget even without them; I'm actually taking a trip to England in April with my Mom, doesn't seem right to be on public assistance with that in mind, kwim?). Â What do you do to cut corners? Â I menu plan and shop sales. I watch for things we use a lot of to go on sale (ie PB for $1 a jar or less? I'll get 3 months worth, since it goes on sale for that price about every 3 months. Ditto for spaghetti sauce). I actually budget $35 a week for "regular food" and $35 a month for stock up items. Aldi is my friend. I plan visits to my parents around the JayC ads.... Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? I love the people at livinglikenooneelse dot com for ideas and support on frugal living. Otherwise, living in a low cost of living area is *very* helpful, but its not really something one can do much about.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluemongoose Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 (edited) About 800-1200 per month. This includes paper and cleaning products. Â It would be less expensive for us if we had less food allergies, or if we were all allergic to the same thing. This drives up the food bill quite a bit! Â This is for 5 people-2 adults 3 kiddos Edited December 16, 2010 by bluemongoose Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainbowSprinkles Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I am curious how much others spend each month on food for their family. Â How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? Â What do you do to cut corners? Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? Â As always insight and wisdom is GREATLY welcome. Â Â We get paid bi-weekly and I always set aside $500 which includes food, household stuff and toiletries. We are a family of 5. Â Recently, I started meal-planning (just 3-4 weeks ago) and I feel like that has helped us saved some money, but I can't say for sure yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3byzaz Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 (edited) I grocery game so that helps a lot. I spend an average of 75 (usually less) on that a week and then another 150 or so a month at TJ's, Sprouts and Costco on our healthy stuff. So - about 450-500 max. That is down from 750-800 before GG. I have 5 in our family - one teen and two younger boys. Â Plus, I have quite the little 'store' as my boys call it!! Â Edited to say that this is everything except gifts also - dog food at Costco, etc. Oh, and my 'fun' money - little treats here and there and the very RARE eating out is a little more a month or left over GG cash. Edited December 16, 2010 by 3byzaz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We live in a moderate to high food cost area. That includes cleaning, paper, toiletries and my husbands rather expensive eye drops, allergy medicine, and stomach medicine.  Ways we cut: Low meat night 1x per week Few processed or prepared foods No store bought cookies or crackers No ice cream We try to use only 3 cleaners Cheap detergent, soap, shampoo We don't buy organics Make our own salad dressing Use frozen veggies instead of salad kits Don't throw anything away Lunchmeat only on Sunday Use paper towels only for cleaning toilet and meat dripping on counter- use rags for all else No cereal- eat oatmeal or eggs and toast instead  Some luxuries I buy: Swifter pads and liquid Cheese- we eat more cheese than necessary The Sunday Lunchmeat and chips Hot sauce Soy Sauce Mayo (I consider all condiments luxuries.) Cat Food (it's a stray we feed and give medical care to) Wine- we buy one 5.00 bottle almost every week   We use a lot of rice and potatoes- potatoes are great nourishment. They fill you up and have tons of vitamin C, protein and folic acid  We use dried beans at least twice per week  The kids and I usually have left overs for lunch.  I bake either cookies or bread every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whitestavern Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We try to keep our food budget at $700 but we often go over. I do purchase a fair amount of organics and we only buy all natural meat, but I try to keep costs down by not eating much meat. We do a lot of bean or veggie based meals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Florida. Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We average $300-$500 a month for 2 adults and a teenage boy. This includes non-food such as household, HBA, pet food and treats, paper goods, etc. Since I buy multiple categories of items at the same stores, I don't separate the food costs from the rest. Â This is an average, because about few months (it varies) we go to BJ's and stock up on meat, paper products, and a few other bulk items. Those are the months we get closer to $500. Â I match sales with coupons and use stock-up strategies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 $400-$500 a month for a family of 5 including all toiletries and paper goods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justamouse Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 this is the kind of question that will be different for each area of the US. Â We're a family of 9 and I spend a lot on feed (Ha! Freudian slip? I'm keeping it for the funny). We also live on the East Coast. 1400 a month or thereabouts. Â I make a lot from scratch-mostly everything, actually. Even cleaners. If I were Warren Buffet I would probably still do the same. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 We spend around $700-$800 per month, which includes all toiletries, cleaners, pet supplies, etc. for 5 people. I'm pretty happy with what we spend. I haven't the time or inclination to do much couponing or shop several different stores. We could spend more than we do, we could probably spend less, but there are things we are not willing to give up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelaNYC Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I am curious how much others spend each month on food for their family. Â How many are in your family and what do you spend per average on food? Â What do you do to cut corners? Â Any great ideas you want to share on saving money on your monthy food budget? Â As always insight and wisdom is GREATLY welcome. Â We spend about $500/month for our family of 5. This is for food and most toiletries, paper, & plastic goods. We live in NYC with its extremely high cost of living. Â We cut corners everywhere. I think almost 90% of what we buy is on sale. I stopped the mega-couponing years ago, it took too much time and hassle. I'll still use them on occasion, though. Â We really just buy the basics, pre-thinking almost all meals, beverages, & snacks. We eat around the sale items. My high-schoolers get packed lunches every day and dh takes his, too. We don't buy junk food or sugary soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 IIRC my avg for this past year was $500- I buy our chicken for the year all at once- and sides of beef and lamb- that probably added about $100 a month to the budget for the year. I haven't done much to cut back this year to be honest, I had a new baby and was a bit busy. We are a family of 5- 1y-3.5y-6y. and 2 adults- one a nursing mom. We are gluten, dairy, and soy free, dye and preservative free and try to eat grain-free. Â We don't do fancy cleaners- pretty much, vinegar, baking soda and Barkeeper's Friend. I use cloth napkins, diapers, wipes, rags- haven't ventured into cloth tp yet! We generally don't do snacks unless I find them at the discount store. Usually we don't eat out as there is hardly anything safe, if we do it is really basic and cheap. I menuplan and try to stay out of the store, I think those are the biggest savings for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mona100 Posted December 16, 2010 Share Posted December 16, 2010 I have just started budgeting my grocery bill for $200 biweekly and that is for me and one teenaged daughter and an outside cat. I know I could cut corners but I usually don't spend as much as $200 but it is there if I need too. I am sure the more comfortable I get with my budget I can get even smaller with it. It also includes any toiletries and cleaners I need from Walmart. I have recently started cooking more from home and I am trying to get my daughter to make more stuff from scratch for lunches vs something that comes out of a box. I am hoping to get it to $300 a month in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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