WIS0320 Posted April 25, 2012 Share Posted April 25, 2012 We spend about $1200 per month for a family of five. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tutor Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 We spend about $350/ month for 6 people. One person is gluten-free and another is gluten and dairy-free, so most of our meals are gf/df, but we have a mix of non-gf/df snacks and make yourself meal ingredients available. We eat much less meat than we used to, and most of that is no longer organic, grass-fed. We also had to give up our straight-from-the-dairy milk and buy regular milk now (but only occasionally). I'm expecting our average to go up a bit over the summer because I used to barter for veggies at the farmer's market (photos for food :001_smile:), but one market is closing this year and the regulations for selling prepared food at the market have tightened to the point that I can no longer sell gf/df baked goods to sell or trade. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in MI Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 No kidding!!! You want to know what having to spend an extra $200 a month on food might cost me? THIS!! http://psc.disney.go.com/eventservices/artofdisneyparks/event/dlr_dooneyandbourke_retrocollection_may2012.html I am going to have to do some serious scrimping, because I want my new Disney Dooney bag!! :lol: Nooooooooo! You must eat beans and rice. Every day until your trip. You must have that bag!!! Which one do you want? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KristinaBreece Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 We're up to about $200 a week for food, toiletries, etc. A year ago I had no problem getting by on half that. :glare: Stuff is going up like crazy here, though. I decided to skip buying Cheerios for dd last week because it seems that it's now six dollars a box. Ugh. And don't even get me started on the cost of organic milk... I know, right? I'm glad I'm not the only person who was appalled that plain Cheerios took such a price increase! Oh. And our monthly budget for 3 adults, two kids, a cat, and 1-3 extra teens/adults three to four times a week (my brothers-- they range from 14 to 24, and I can count on one or more of them stopping for dinner at least a few times a week, and the middle two tend to "shop" in my pantry before they leave... ;)) is $800-$900. That's for people food, all cat supplies, toiletries, household items, and any non-prescription pharmacy items. Like a pp said, if you can buy it at Walmart, Meijer, or (in our case) Kroger, it goes in the "grocery" budget. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AHASRADA Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Our total weekly supermarket budget had to be raised from $175 to $225. I know some of that is baby foods, etc., but it does hurt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jpoy85 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) We are no longer on foodstamps. We make too much money to qualify. We were getting $668 for a family of 4 and that would last us all month. That was getting pop, chips, the extras as well as main foods. I did coupon to make it stretch. Now? We spend $100-$150 every other week on groceries for a family of 5. (they didnt take into account N on Foodstamps). I do this by shopping at IGA and Save A Lot. Going to Food Pantries for veggies and Canned Goods. I coupon. I shop with cash, not a card. I menu plan and I make from scratch what i can. IE: Spaghetti sauce, noodles, bread, etc. We dont get pop, chips, extras anymore, but thats OK. ETA: this is only food, not dog food, cat food or cat litter. Edited April 26, 2012 by Jpoy85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) Food prices really haven't gone up too much here over the past couple of years. We're spending more because we're buying more whole grains, a greater variety of produce, organic milk and things like that. We budget monthly, not weekly, as I buy all of our toiletries, paper products, cleaners, etc at the beginning of the month so that the rest of the grocery trips are quicker, and it makes planning easier. Food budget of $700/month includes food, pet food, toiletries, paper goods, cleaners. It does not include eating out, that is a separate line item in the budget. We eat at least one dinner out per week, plus dinner at church on Wednesdays. Usually one lunch per week is out, sometimes two. Most of one ds' lunches are bought at college, with his money. Edited April 26, 2012 by CathieC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 I am going to have to do some serious scrimping, because I want my new Disney Dooney bag!! :lol: I did NOT need to know about that! Dh will never forgive you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runningmom80 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 We spend close to 250 a week, for a family of 5 in a low COL area. Ds has lots of food allergies, so we spend a lot on special foods. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cricket Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Our budget has gone from about $100 per week to $150 per week for 6 people. I've been stretching our meat a little thinner. I used to have money for extras but not anymore. I'm having to be be pretty careful now with what I buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Groceries 886.68 643.65 925.45 918.50 981.08 614.23. This is the last six months from my Money program. It is groceries only. No pet care products, household products or fast food, drive thru or dining out. I am pretty happy with that. You inspired me. I went. I looked. I feel nauseous. Tomorrow I'm making a menu again. No, really. :glare: Mine *does* include household stuff, dog food, etc. I did a three month average. It wasn't good. I'm trying to figure out what big ticket expenses I could have had at the grocery store?? (But that includes Costco and I don't divvy stuff up, so there could be some curious things.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 (edited) Nooooooooo! You must eat beans and rice. Every day until your trip. You must have that bag!!! Which one do you want? I did NOT need to know about that! Dh will never forgive you! :lol: :lol: :lol: Don't tell dh. I love ALL the bags. I was especially eyeing the Ipad cover though. And I love the satchel and the tassel bag. And then there are THESE: http://zannaland.com/dark-brown-leather-disney-dooney-bourke-sketch-bags/ Click on each photo and swoon: http://zannaland.com/disney-dooney-bourke-handbags/. My dd really wants the Tinkerbelle one! We're having popcorn every night for dinner for the next month!! :lol: :lol: Edited April 26, 2012 by DianeW88 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 We're at about $100-125 a week for everything. I am trying really hard to keep it at the lower end of that! That includes dog food, cat food, and paper goods, as well as raw milk and farm-fresh eggs (from a friend's farm). Since I will be unemployed in a couple of months, I am practicing being extremely frugal. I make a lot of things from scratch. Not bread though... I buy that at an outlet store and freeze it. I personally don't do gluten, but dh and the kids like sandwiches! We also eat a lot of ethnic foods--mainly Mexican and Chinese... lots of brown rice, veggies, a little meat, plenty of beans, etc. I buy in bulk when I can. And I stretch meals. If we have a roasted chicken, I serve it with lots of veggies. Then I can use the leftovers for a pasta (brown rice or corn pasta) dish, and then cook the carcass down for stock! It is hard to keep it at this sometimes, and we do go over occasionally. We live in a fairly high COL area. We're gardening more intensively this year to help cut costs - I see a lot of freezing and canning in my future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 Wow...seems hard to believe. Although I am counting EVERYTHING in my total so maybe just the food alone isn't as bad as I think. It is that bad. I shop at the commissary and always buy the same things. Usually produce starts to go down this time of year - not this year. Cheese went up from $2.50/bag of shredded cheddar to $3.00/bag literally overnight. Cream cheese went up $.50/block at the same time. Of course, a gallon of 1% milk went down $.25. Triscuits went up $.75 in the same time frame. I vary meat by what's on special - but the specials aren't nearly as low. It wouldn't be so bad if things were gradually going up - but across the board all at once makes me crazy. My normal $175 trip has cost me $220 the last two times I went shopping. Irksome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairfarmhand Posted April 26, 2012 Share Posted April 26, 2012 A year or so ago, I could eat the way we eat, and spend around 500-600/month for our family of 3. Now, I struggle to keep under $800/month. me too. About 200 per week, I am hoping that since my dairy cow is producing now and we will soon be putting in a garden, I can cut it back. We will see, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.