Attn Mamas of big families: How do you afford groceries??

[cseitter]

I have 5 children one of which is a 15 DS and a husband who eats a ton. How in the world do other moms of big families (5 or more children) afford groceries? Do you cook from scratch? Coupon? Limit seconds? My kids are eating me out of house and home!

 

Links would be appreciated! :001_smile:

 

Cindy

[Mergath]

I've wondered that myself. I only have one kid, and even with meal planning and clipping coupons, food is almost as much as our rent every month. :glare: I don't know how bigger families do it.

[Bang!Zoom!]

Do you bake Cindy?

[justamouse]

I have a budget and I stick to it. I shop every week, and we do a costco run every month. I cook everything from scratch. We eat leftovers and I don't throw away food. When something is on a good sale, I stockpile it. I keep a stocked pantry. We eat at least two meatless meals a week.

 

we don't eat a lot of cereal. :-) Oatmeal, eggs and toast, french toast, pancakes, waffles, granola and yogurt, meusli

Edited August 20, 2011 by justamouse

[AngelBee]

We feed our family of 9 plus 3-5 other adults for almost every dinner. We are at the poverty level in MN. We receive no government assistance.

 

For us, make more than you need. Freeze leftovers and eat leftovers for lunch next day.

 

My dh does most of the cooking and is EXCELLENT at using past meals to create new ones.

 

Example: Small chickens for dinner with veggies, mashed potatoes, etc.

 

Next night homemade chicken noodle soup using left over bones and meat of chicken with left over veggies.

 

Breakfast for dinner next night using potatoes to make some potato cakes or potato bake thingy.

 

Honestly, we are not eating as many veggies and fruit as we should due to our situation right now.

 

We limit milk.

 

Try to find healthy cheap snacks...like bananas, apples, yogurt on sale.

 

Look up bean dishes and experiment.

 

We have a huge freezer and buy in bulk.

 

I freeze bread that we get on sale or free from friend who works at bakery.

[coffeegal]

Do you cook from scratch? :001_smile:

 

Cindy

 

Yes, we cook from scratch and favor frugal meals. We also buy bulk items at a restaurant supply shop. Being able to purchase 50 lb bags of oatmeal for $12 helps quite a bit. :001_smile:

[Renee in NC]

I have a budget and I stick to it. I spend a LOT less on groceries than I do rent! I've always heard that a good rule of thumb is $100 a month per person, but some people get by with a lot less.

[mandymom]

One of the biggest money savers for me is stockpiling. I'm not talking about huge stores of food that you see on some of the latest couponing shows. I'm talking about a reasonable three month supply of the things we use most. I buy about a three month supply when an item reaches a very low sales price, whether we need it that week or not. That way, when I make my weekly meal plan, I don't have to buy it at whatever price it happens to be selling for that week. I already got it on sale. I do much less "needs" shopping other than fresh produce and dairy on a weekly basis. I spend maybe $125-150 a week on groceries. When I am very diligent with coupons, I can spend around $75-100 a week. And that usually includes household products and toiletries too.

[happypamama]

I'm fully expecting that by the time my three boys are teens and eating loads (and let's not forget the girl -- she eats nearly as much as I do, and I don't exactly eat like a bird), they will be old enough to help with gardening and raising some animals. I know that's not feasible for everyone, but we do currently have the space for it, and if that's what makes the difference between having meat and not having it, so be it.

[cseitter]

Do you bake Cindy?

 

I do bake. I make our bread from scratch (which includes grinding the grain). I make pancakes, french toast and cinnamon rolls from scratch and freeze the extras for quick meals in the morning. Lunches are usually sandwiches. And dinner consists of a meat, veggie and a starch.

 

I need to lose 30 pounds and have been trying to go really healthy but it cost a fortune. I have been growing our own veggies without much luck this year (this is our first real year of a garden) and buy from farmer's market for the veggies.

 

I can't imagine going to multiple stores to buy groceries!

[cseitter]

How do you know when it is at the lowest price?

 

 

One of the biggest money savers for me is stockpiling. I'm not talking about huge stores of food that you see on some of the latest couponing shows. I'm talking about a reasonable three month supply of the things we use most. I buy about a three month supply when an item reaches a very low sales price, whether we need it that week or not. That way, when I make my weekly meal plan, I don't have to buy it at whatever price it happens to be selling for that week. I already got it on sale. I do much less "needs" shopping other than fresh produce and dairy on a weekly basis. I spend maybe $125-150 a week on groceries. When I am very diligent with coupons, I can spend around $75-100 a week. And that usually includes household products and toiletries too.

[Bang!Zoom!]

http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/

 

Mark this site. You'll need it.

 

Find a source for the inserts.

 

To stockpile, you have to have a filing system for these inserts then go to a website (I recommend --> a full cup ) and take it one step at a time.

 

Baking is half of the game I think. Then working with the bulk dry area.

 

I'm talking rice, beans, grains.

 

I also think getting savvy about pre-packed stuff is smart.

Edited August 20, 2011 by one*mom

[mandymom]

How do you know when it is at the lowest price?

 

Well, I use http://www.grocerygame.com, but I don't always use coupons. They keep a data-base of the lowest prices for different stores (regionally) Also, I've been doing it long enough that I know what the rock-bottom prices are for my fav store on the things I use most. If you just keep a price log, after about 3 months you can see where the lowest sales price falls.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We make a monthly menu and buy in bulk. Now, I only have 4 kids and dh but I wanted to chime in. We make our menu for the month, then go through the house and see what we already have then make our menu based on that. Otherwise if we didn't do that we would go grocery shopping and spend between $200-$250 every 2 weeks and still have to go running to the grocery store here in town every other night depending on what we want. We live in a TINY town with a WAY over priced grocery store so we go to the "big city" to get to Sam's, Safeway and Walmart. Since starting the menu we easily save between $100-200 a month because we are not running to the grocery/convenience store here in town a few times a week.

 

 

We don't do convenience foods/pre-packaged meals. We make our food from scratch. That helps alot also! (except for noodles, I don't make noodles ;))

[CalicoKat]

I have 5 children one of which is a 15 DS and a husband who eats a ton. How in the world do other moms of big families (5 or more children) afford groceries? Do you cook from scratch? Coupon? Limit seconds? My kids are eating me out of house and home!

 

Links would be appreciated! :001_smile:

 

Cindy

 

Aldi is my grocery store of choice. Things are just so much less there.

 

From scratch cooking, except on 1/2-off pizza night.

 

Making bread from scratch is my biggest savings. I bought three used breadmakers from Goodwill (avg. $5 each) and I make 9 loaves a week. Kids wanted to not like homemade bread but they adjusted. They can eat a loaf for one lunch so it's a huge savings!

 

We grow veggies and preserve them for the off season.

[kwickimom]

Just downloaded a free ebook from this site Peaceful Mom called Save More Clip Less. She feeds a family of 6, including 3 teenagers, for $100 a week. It has some good tips and ideas and links to menus and all kinds of things.

[Coffeetime]

I plan a menu at the beginning of the month and shop for everything all at once, with the exception of produce which I buy weekly. I cook from scratch. I limit snack foods, but not seconds at mealtimes. COSTCO. We eat a lot of meatless meals and soups. I buy mostly frozen vegetables instead of fresh. I really don't buy convenience foods at all. I stockpile when I can. My typical grocery budget comes to around $550/month including diapers, wipes and all personal and household items. I'm dreading the day when I have teenage boys!

[cseitter]

So what are your favorite sites or books for recipes? I have Sue Gregg cookbooks but I need some more ideas. :)

 

Thanks for all the answers so far... I know this subject is beat to death on this board but I need some guidance before we go broke!

[LibraryLover]

I won't lie. Our bills are considerable. I don't even know how other people manage.

[Quiver0f10]

I cook from scratch, bake our own breads and we eat a lot of meals that stretch the meat. For instance, I will toss a few boneless, skinless chicken breast into the crockpot with salsa and beans, then shred it when cooked and serve on rice or tortillas. You can do the same with BBQ sauce and serve on buns, pasta sauce on spaghetti, gravy on rice etc. We eat vegetarian a few times a week. We dont buy junk food like chips and soda. We don't eat cold cereal. I make our own yogurt. I don't use coupons that often because I find that we either don't use the item the coupons tend to be for or I can buy walmart brand cheaper withOUT a coupon.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Quiver0f10

[2squared]

Maybe your budget is reasonable and it just feels like a lot? There's only so much you can do.

[justamouse]

I plan a menu at the beginning of the month and shop for everything all at once, with the exception of produce which I buy weekly. I cook from scratch. I limit snack foods, but not seconds at mealtimes. COSTCO. We eat a lot of meatless meals and soups. I buy mostly frozen vegetables instead of fresh. I really don't buy convenience foods at all. I stockpile when I can. My typical grocery budget comes to around $550/month including diapers, wipes and all personal and household items. I'm dreading the day when I have teenage boys!

 

OK yo must live somewhere where food is cheaper because I do all that and NO WAY is my bill that low.

[Denisemomof4]

our grocery bill is winding down now but when we had TWO growing teenage boys, the grocery bills were a KILLER. We have 4 kids, but the years our boys were growing tall VERY quickly, there was simply not enough food in the house! They would go right from the dinner table to the pantry! A few years back we were spending $1200 per month on groceries. We still do but now we are able to eat many organics and wild meats. We could NOT do that when we had to feed two growing teenage boys!

 

I'd shop the fliers and learn how to use coupons. There is a show on it. I know someone who gets AMAZING amounts of product for SO cheap. She rec cently got $76 of product for $16.

 

I buy grains and legumes in bulk at the local HFS. I stock up on sales. If buying meats in the grocery store, I will stock up on markdown meats. Learn about budget meals. What was that website? Tightwad gazette? There are blogs/forums/websites out there that can help.

 

ETA: One day you'll worry about why your boys don't eat like they used to. Are they sick? What's up?

[Coffeetime]

OK yo must live somewhere where food is cheaper because I do all that and NO WAY is my bill that low.

 

Yes, we live in the Northwest- so that's likely. :) We lived in So-cal briefly and I KNOW groceries were much more expensive there.

[Jennifer in MI]

I cannot figure out how to lower our bills. I already get my grains, beans and nuts from a food coop. We have a trader joes near us. I get mostly organic meats from a local Amish meat person. Our milk is local and delivered weekly.

 

Last week? I spent more than $200. So, I think I spend $250 a week! Ack. I have two teenage boys though and they eat a ton!

[wendybird]

I am chiming in with the bake from scratch crowd, and the buy in bulk crowd. Oh, yeah, the limited prepackaged food group,too.I joined a food coop and have fruit delivered in bulk a little above cost. We don't drink anything but water,tea, or cocoa(as a treat).We raise chickens for eggs and meat(free range so feed costs are negligible). We usually raise pigs as well, but didn't this year, so we will buy half a cow. My boys eat like crazy. I try to keep their snacks to hard boiled eggs, apples, or bread. We eat homemade pizza A LOT. Usually that is dough, homemade sauce, cheese, spinach, and sliced tomato. Half a head of cabbage cooked in butter,garlic,and pickle juice then tossed with noodles is cheap and filling. Rice with beans, or rice with a cup of gravy and pound of meat stretches very far. We definitely do not eat the cheapest that we could, but we eat well and are under the $100 per month per person thought.

[Peela]

We are not a big family but we are now 4 adults- the teens eat more than dh and I now.

The more I plan, the less we waste.

We hardly eat any meat- I cook some for the kids a couple of times a week. Mostly kangaroo nowadays- its the best value, least chemicals, grass fed (wild), low fat, high iron. We feed kangaroo to the pets too. Is there any cheap game meat you have access to?

Half of every meal here is salad. Last night it was waldorf- celery, apple, walnuts and mayo.

Mostly I buy at the Farmers Market nowadays- I can get apples for $1kg there on sale, wheras they are $5 kg at least at the supermarket.

Snacks here are generally fruit, or 2 minute noodles or pasta for the kids. Pasta is cheap- the kids eat lots of it. Dh and I don't, but we really dont need the extra calories.

The more I save on everyday foods- on sale, at the markets etc- the more I can spend on health foods which add extra nutrition- like spirulina, goji berries, frozen blueberries, chia seeds.

We dont buy food like donuts, baked goods. I do buy cheap cereal- corn flakes for ds15- as he loves big bowls of them and its a good filler (not my choice but he asks for them a lot).

I always make a list for shopping- that saves a lot right there. I also have a budget for shopping. If I am under budget, I buy special things like superfoods for our smoothies.

[LibraryLover]

I cannot figure out how to lower our bills. I already get my grains, beans and nuts from a food coop. We have a trader joes near us. I get mostly organic meats from a local Amish meat person. Our milk is local and delivered weekly.

 

Last week? I spent more than $200. So, I think I spend $250 a week! Ack. I have two teenage boys though and they eat a ton!

 

 

:iagree:Only our mortgage is more. I won't sugar- coat it. I even raise our own chicken meat and eggs (so I am including feed) &

we don't even eat meat daily.

 

I guess I am just grateful I can.

 

I seriously don't know how people do it.

Edited August 20, 2011 by LibraryLover

[Kalmia]

In case you haven't seen a reference to it here before:

 

The Complete Tightwad Gazette

 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Tightwad-Gazette-Amy-Dacyczyn/dp/0375752250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313806575&sr=8-1

 

Borrow it from the library. The prices quoted in it are outdated as it was written in the 90s, but the advice is timeless.

[TracyR]

Buy in bulk , limit the snacks, make your own garden. We don't have much of a summer here where I live so I'm planning on getting some of those big plastic totes , maybe a plastic swimming pool and make my own indoor garden. But my mother in law lives close by and makes her own garden. We didn't get much this year due to the weather though. Sigh.

 

I bake a lot. Try to make lots of something and then freeze the extras.

We like to shop at Wegmans in Lakwood NY. we get the milk for 1.89 a gallon. But I'm getting to a point that I'd really like to drink raw milk instead. Its more pricey here though at almost $5 a gallon. But then maybe my girls would drink less of it and it may sit in their stomachs longer than pasturized milk.

[LibraryLover]

In case you haven't seen a reference to it here before:

 

The Complete Tightwad Gazette

 

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Tightwad-Gazette-Amy-Dacyczyn/dp/0375752250/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313806575&sr=8-1

 

Borrow it from the library. The prices quoted in it are outdated as it was written in the 90s, but the advice is timeless.

 

 

I adore her. She did do things differently, and I so respect that. Her kids are healthy and well. My oldest was born at the height of her popularity and I always trusted her ideas about money. I simply could not make it work for my family. She a bit older than I, and she and I had different standards. I so often wished I could have done all of the things she did. I do remember trying. I love Amy. She is brilliant. I wish I could have done what she did. My dh always made far more than hers. She remains above reproach in my mind.

Edited August 20, 2011 by LibraryLover

[cseitter]

for us to to have raw milk you pay a one time fee of $100 and then it is $35 a month for 1 gallon a week. That is way to expensive in my book and there is only 1 place around here you can get it from so no competion.

 

I do buy my eggs from a friend for $2 a dozen for cage-free.

[TracyR]

We are not a big family but we are now 4 adults- the teens eat more than dh and I now.

The more I plan, the less we waste.

We hardly eat any meat- I cook some for the kids a couple of times a week. Mostly kangaroo nowadays- its the best value, least chemicals, grass fed (wild), low fat, high iron. We feed kangaroo to the pets too. Is there any cheap game meat you have access to?

Half of every meal here is salad. Last night it was waldorf- celery, apple, walnuts and mayo.

Mostly I buy at the Farmers Market nowadays- I can get apples for $1kg there on sale, wheras they are $5 kg at least at the supermarket.

Snacks here are generally fruit, or 2 minute noodles or pasta for the kids. Pasta is cheap- the kids eat lots of it. Dh and I don't, but we really dont need the extra calories.

The more I save on everyday foods- on sale, at the markets etc- the more I can spend on health foods which add extra nutrition- like spirulina, goji berries, frozen blueberries, chia seeds.

We dont buy food like donuts, baked goods. I do buy cheap cereal- corn flakes for ds15- as he loves big bowls of them and its a good filler (not my choice but he asks for them a lot).

I always make a list for shopping- that saves a lot right there. I also have a budget for shopping. If I am under budget, I buy special things like superfoods for our smoothies.

 

Peela, your a lady after my own heart. Its interesting that your whole foods are cheaper in Australia than your supermarket variety. Here in the US healthy food is expensive and the supermarket processed garbage is cheap. Guess that's why there's so much obesity in our country.

 

By the way, what does kangaroo taste like?

[AngelBee]

I adore her. She did do things differently, and I so respect that. Her kids are healthy and well. My oldest was born at the height of her popularity and I always trusted her ideas about money. I simply could not make it work for my family. She a bit older than I, and she and I had different standards. I so often wished I could have done all of the things she did, and wanting to live away from family as she does. I do remember trying. I love Amy. She is brilliant.

 

Which is why she owns her home free and clear and I do not.

 

:grouphug: It is hard to do things sometimes that are far from where you came from. Hard to wrap your head around at times.

[AngelBee]

By the way, what does kangaroo taste like?

 

:lurk5:

[LibraryLover]

:grouphug: It is hard to do things sometimes that are far from where you came from. Hard to wrap your head around at times.

 

 

:) She is very much like my own Yankee mom. I understood exactly what she was saying. And there were times I spent $15 on groceries. Amy spoke to me, but then did not. Her kids never had private music or other lessons...and I can't go there. She didn't hs. She didn't buy books. She mathematically figured she couldn't raise chickens as cheaply as she could buy eggs. It doesn't mean I don't love Amy. :) I do love Amy. Amy is fantastic. Amy rocks. Her kids are proof of that.

Edited August 20, 2011 by LibraryLover

[ElizabethB]

Peela, your a lady after my own heart. Its interesting that your whole foods are cheaper in Australia than your supermarket variety. Here in the US healthy food is expensive and the supermarket processed garbage is cheap. Guess that's why there's so much obesity in our country.

 

By the way, what does kangaroo taste like?

 

:iagree:

 

This is where I order most of my wild game from, they have kangaroo but I have not been brave enough to try it! I can now get buffalo fairly cheaply at the on base grocery store (commissary), but wild game and veggies are more expensive here than unhealthy things. You also pay more for whole grains.

 

http://www.exoticmeatsandmore.com/kangaroo.aspx

 

I did try pigeon, but am now allergic to it. I have also become allergic to some of the other game meats I used to eat, so I might just try kangaroo! They seem so cute, though. I did not have a problem eating rabbit and deer, though, and they are cute.

[KungFuPanda]

So what are your favorite sites or books for recipes? I have Sue Gregg cookbooks but I need some more ideas. :)

 

Thanks for all the answers so far... I know this subject is beat to death on this board but I need some guidance before we go broke!

 

 

 

Have you ever explored the Hillbilly Housewife website? http://Www.hillbillyhousewife.com. There are some great frugal recipes there. Her recipes for homemade hamburger helper, yogurt, bisquik, and hot chocolate are staples at my house. She has lots of other cheap ideas for feeding a crowd.

 

I like the crockpot 365 recipes too. They're not all frugal, but there are some good ones. I believe she has a recipe for doing refried beans in the crockpot. Also, budget101.com has a great section on spices. So many spices are mixtures of what you already have. I needed garam masala one day and found a recipe on that site. It saved me some money and a trip to the store.

 

If your family likes hummus, learn to make it. Its easy and cheap to make from dried chickpeas. It's also healthier and cheaper than using canned chickpeas or premade hummus. Pita is pretty easy to make too.

[Skadi]

Well, I use www.grocerygame.com, but I don't always use coupons. They keep a data-base of the lowest prices for different stores (regionally) Also, I've been doing it long enough that I know what the rock-bottom prices are for my fav store on the things I use most. If you just keep a price log, after about 3 months you can see where the lowest sales price falls.

 

Grocery Game looks neat, but I couldn't find on the site how much it costs per month (without the free trial). Would you mind sharing that information?

[LibraryLover]

Grocery Game looks neat, but I couldn't find on the site how much it costs per month (without the free trial). Would you mind sharing that information?

 

Is this thread about buying whole foods?

 

It seems there are multiple food threads going. I am starting to get confused. :)

[AngelBee]

:) She is very much like my own Yankee mom. I understood exactly what she was saying. And there were times I spent $15 on groceries. Amy spoke to me, but then did not. Her kids never had private music or other lessons...and I can't go there. She didn't hs. She didn't buy books. She mathematically figured she couldn't raise chickens as cheaply as she could buy eggs. It doesn't mean I don't love Amy. :) I do love Amy. Amy is fantastic. Amy rocks. Her kids are proof of that.

I TOTALLY understand!

 

My children are competitive level dancers. We are at poverty level. We homeschool.

 

How? Choices. We live with my mother and only have 650.00 in housing expenses for use of a giant farmhouse with private carriage house.

 

We have one car purchased with cash at 3,000 about 3-4 years ago.

 

Doesn't hurt that I own a dance academy as well....which helps ;) But I pretty much work for free to make sure they have those opportunities.

[mandymom]

Grocery Game looks neat, but I couldn't find on the site how much it costs per month (without the free trial). Would you mind sharing that information?

 

From the GG FAQs: "The cost for a 1 store membership is $10 every 8 weeks. That works out to about $1.25 per week. A 2 store membership is $15 every 8 weeks, a 3 store membership is $20 every 8 weeks and so on."

 

I easily save the price of membership every week. I have been using it for about 6 years now, and I could probably do a lot myself, but it saves me time. And yes, there are free coupon sites out there, but they are solely based on ads (GG shows unadvertised sales) and GG shows what things are "rock-bottom" prices (most things in the ads are not).

[Carrie12345]

I don't use The Grocery Game anymore, but I do highly recommend it to people who are trying to get a grip on their grocery budget. After a couple of years, I switched over to using (free) Coupon Mom. I think the background knowledge I gained from GG really helps out (knowing my local stores' lowest prices and cycles.)

 

Meal planning, scratch cooking, leftovers, stockpiling, gardening... it all helps here. Still, my grocery bills are NOT low, and I still have a baby who doesn't eat much "real" food yet! I keep it as reasonable as I can, and we cut back elsewhere.

[tiredmommyof8]

Couponing and stocking up on super sale priced items that we use a lot of.

[Lucy in Australia]

I'd say kangaroo tastes quite a lot like venison/deer, although I can tell the difference. Much cheaper, though.

 

Peela, which Farmers' Market do you go to? The ones I go to tend to sell quite a lot of organic produce but it's too expensive. If apples are $1/kg, organic or not, I'm there :D

[saraha]

I have 6 kids. We eat a lot of soup, especially veggie. You can add a small amount of meat, a bag of frozen vegetables and a can of tomato paste and spices, some homemade breadsticks and let them eat all they want. Also spaghetti made with sauce made from tomato paste. Making sauce this way is a little less expensive.

We only serve saltine crackers for snack if they ask for it. I make sure they get three to five veggies in their meals and don't offer snacks.

It is hard, but we are trying to subtly teach them that you eat to live, not live to eat. That way our special occasion meals are really special.

Casseroles made with white sauce instead of cream soup and homemade soup with rice or homemade noodles are lifesavers. Also, some kind of bread with each meal, biscuits, homemade bread, breadsticks, toast, corn bread. Using oatmeal or whole wheat does at least make the bread a little healthier. It can be hard, good luck!

[Tarreymere]

Well, it is a LOT of work for ME. We have a family of nine, seven kids (one adult leaving next week, hopefully). I make everything from scratch, it is actually a treat to have store bought pasta. If it isn't made from scratch, then it is something that grew out of the planet in it's present form, like rice, potatoes, or beans.

I bake all of our bread, muffins, biscuits, bread sticks, pretzels, snack crackers, tortillas, everything. I make french bread and turn it into garlic bread for some meals. I grow sprouts year round for veggies. I didn't can my own tomato sauce this year so far but I am dreading it. And it is almost time to can apple pie filling. I grow a lot of my own herbs and dry them.

Meat? Ha! I barely remember what that is. Even cheese is rationed here. We don't clip coupons, because if there is a coupon for it then we probably can't afford it. :D

 

Breakfast is homemade oatmeal or waffles or pancakes made from scratch. We buy oatmeal and flour in bulk, 50 lb bags. I don't get sugar in a bag that big because I just know some critter will get in it. I even make the syrup, with corn syrup and maple flavoring.

Some days it is toast and eggs or eggs in a hole. Or somedays the muffins just have to be eaten, so we'll have those. I also have made my own english muffins that aren't too bad.

 

Lunch is leftovers if any, PB&J (homemade strawberry jelly and bread, store bought peanut butter) white bean paste flavored with garlic as a sandwich spread sandwiches, loaded baked potatoes, potato pancakes, grilled cheese, or homemade flour tortillas with beans.

 

Dinner is based on rice, potatoes, and beans with different flavorings. One of my favorite recipes is for a chicken fried chicken recipe from Prudent Homemaker that doesn't have any actual chicken in it, it is just oatmeal and seasoning in a gravy. We do use flavored tvp. I have a lot of different recipes with pasta and beans or pasta and tvp. I would like to use rice more often. I do stir fries with veggies in season (oh, yeah, garden. Grow as much as you can in a garden, even in a container on your sunniest windowsill), and homemade quesadillas with beans and rice filling. I like to be as creative as possible with dinner, and we always have a bread to make sure everyone gets filled up.

 

Treats are also homemade, like muffins, cookies, pies, and cakes. Homemade starting with the flour. A PITA in the summer, believe me. I do like to make fruit slushies if I remember to make enough ice cubes.

 

We drink homemade iced tea and plain water, no juice or milk. I do cook with some milk (lactose issues) but we get it raw from a local farmer for cheap. I've made yogurt out of it, too. I haven't made cheese yet but I probably will soon. I did make yogurt cheese once and that was good.

 

Cleaning supplies are the least expensive bar soap and generic comet and ammonia. No paper towels or disposable anything except garbage bags and tp.

 

I am an RN, I COULD work somewhere, make decent money and buy stuff, but we made the choice for me to stay home and live on DH's income (knowing that his choice of work would make our income limited). I would rather be home boiling beans during the afternoon in August than to not be home with the kids as much as I can. But it is a LOT of work and planning ahead (dried beans need to soak, ect) and I do still complain about canning stuff.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Rainefox

[merry gardens]

I have 5 children one of which is a 15 DS and a husband who eats a ton. How in the world do other moms of big families (5 or more children) afford groceries? Do you cook from scratch? Coupon? Limit seconds? My kids are eating me out of house and home!

 

Links would be appreciated! :001_smile:

 

Cindy

It helps having petite children. We're a big family of mostly petite people. :lol: As some families get smaller, it seems the individual members get bigger. That's not the case here.

 

I limit seconds and snacks. I watch portion size. I cook from scratch fairly often.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Hmmm. I don't know if there is one specific thing we do. We make our own yogurt and granola. I make a rotating menu, but sometimes that is not cheaper. We utilize homemade freezer meals and canned soups. I know I can make them cheaper, but I don't. My grocery budget including household expenses like toilet paper and diapers is about $1000 per month. We live in OK. We are raising 9 dc, a cat, and 2 fish. We have people over often, so that includes hospitality. It also includes eating out. A couple of times a month we will get take out or kolaches. I am not sure how that compares to the rest of the country.

 

 

Eta: We go through periods of making things from scratch. I don't know that it makes a huge difference in our bill and it certainly is more time for me. I do make pizza dough from scratch, but ocassionally order pizza. I also make my own french bread, but we purchase buns, tortillas, and pita. We shop mainly at Sam's and WalMart. I never use coupons. I always forget, and the store brand is usually cheaper. They don't have the grocery game in my state.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Excelsior! Academy

[butterflymommy]

I spend ~$200/ week for 8 people. No gov't assistance and most coupons are no good for us since we never buy processed food. I make everything from scratch except sandwich/ toast bread, english muffins, cereal and tomato soup concentrate which I use undiluted for pizza and tomato sauce. I only buy those things when they are on sale. I have no brand allegiance, I don't hesitate to buy generic, I shop "with" the sales so we often make do with what happens to be on sale. We hardly eat any meat (at most 2 whole chickens a week), but that is by choice. I never buy organic and have no problem with frozen or canned veggies if they are cheaper than fresh. I do buy bagels from a bakery-- 16 for $11 -- they are huge (I swear one of these bagels equals 4 "mortal" bagels!) and usually last close to a week. I often buy nuts from the drugstore because they are half the price there for some reason. A typical day of eating for us is--

 

breakfast-- oatmeal, fruit, nuts, dried fruit, toast, bagels, english muffins, cereal, leftover dessert from previous night

 

lunch-- similar to breakfast (kids are picky), I usually make a huge salad for myself (no one else wants it), yogurt

 

dinner-- usually one or more of the following: homemade pizza, roasted chicken, rice and beans, french toast, pancakes, grilled cheese, spinach, broccoli, salad

 

dessert-- homemade cookies or brownies

 

snacks throughout the day are fruit, toast, cheese, nuts, leftover dessert

 

beverages throughout the day are fruit juice, whole milk, and water

 

I usually have something semi-healthy available at all times for snacking, like bran muffins or homemade bread, but I am 8 months pregnant now and not doing as much cooking as I normally would.

 

Everyone in the house is a healthy weight.