How do you budget for food expenses if your family doesn't have traditional meals?

[Element]

The meal planning threads are great this week! I have been trying to figure out something that would work for us but I'm hitting a wall due to our family's weird eating habits.

 

We don't really eat meals. We eat all day long. It is usually something small like a few crackers with a piece of cut-up cheese or peanut butter, a fruit, a yogurt, a smoothie, an egg, OR half of a sandwich (not all of these things at once.) I love to cook, so I still make meals or soups pretty often and we just eat off it until all the leftovers are gone. We sit down for dinner together probably twice a week. (I wish it could be more often, but dh has a weird schedule.) I used to be a "3 meals a day" mom but our new way of snacking all day seems to keep us happier and more energetic. Also, dh and dd are extremely picky so it was kind of a waste to cook a meal for everyone.

 

I usually spend about $100-$120/ wk. on food for 4 of us. We have less $$ coming in than we did a few months ago so dh says we now need to lower our food budget to about $75/ wk. I know this is doable, but I don't know how to plan or shop for our eating style. We are fairly small to average size people so I am not looking to gain or lose weight. I really don't like to buy, eat, or cook meat, but I will buy it more often if it will help keep our food costs down. (We do eat eggs.)

 

I have been looking at the local grocery circulars and I can't wrap my head around how I'm supposed to plan. My current way of planning is this: I had a pre-printed list of everything we usually had in the house, and when something would run out, I would highlight it on the list. At the end of the week, I would just buy everything we were out of. I guess that's not really planning, now that I think about it, but I wanted to put my current grocery method out there.

 

Does anyone have a similar situation? If you do, (hey, even if you don't!) could you give me any advice?

[VA6336]

I like couponmom.com for seeing easily what is on sale and for how much less than normal. I guess if I were you, I would stock up as much as possible on the things you know you eat, but when they are on sale. For example, we have 10 two pound blocks of sharp cheddar in the fridge right now. They are usually $8-10 each but were on sale for $5. The expiration dates are long on the kind we eat (about 6 months) and I know it will get eaten before then. I don't know that buying more meat will help your budget, but eating whatever produce is in sale in greater quantities each week might help. For example, peaches and pears are our fruit this week because they are cheap right now. Maybe a cheap extra fridge for the garage would help?

 

Good luck!

[klmama]

Yes, shop the sales in advance of the need. If the item you would normally buy is on a great sale, you buy enough to last you until the next sale (assuming it won't go bad before that). Over time, you will probably notice that your store puts things on sale in a regular pattern.

[Element]

Yes, shop the sales in advance of the need. If the item you would normally buy is on a great sale, you buy enough to last you until the next sale (assuming it won't go bad before that). Over time, you will probably notice that your store puts things on sale in a regular pattern.

 

I like couponmom.com for seeing easily what is on sale and for how much less than normal. I guess if I were you, I would stock up as much as possible on the things you know you eat, but when they are on sale. For example, we have 10 two pound blocks of sharp cheddar in the fridge right now. They are usually $8-10 each but were on sale for $5. The expiration dates are long on the kind we eat (about 6 months) and I know it will get eaten before then. I don't know that buying more meat will help your budget, but eating whatever produce is in sale in greater quantities each week might help. For example, peaches and pears are our fruit this week because they are cheap right now. Maybe a cheap extra fridge for the garage would help?

 

Good luck!

 

That makes sense. I guess my big hurdle will be training my family to learn that "10 blocks of cheese" does not equal "cheese party!" I gave up trying to buy in bulk a while ago because it just encouraged everyone to eat more and didn't save me any money. (I can't just keep stuff "up high" because dh is the main offender! :glare:) It really sounds like that is my only option, though, so I'm going to give it another try.

 

Thank you!

[Amira]

I finally had to tell my family that those 10 blocks of cheese were meant to last for 5 months (or whatever it would be) and I wouldn't be buying any more till then whether the cheese lasted 5 days or five months. That seemed to be pretty good incentive.

[catz]

This is how we eat too. :bigear:

[EducationX2]

That makes sense. I guess my big hurdle will be training my family to learn that "10 blocks of cheese" does not equal "cheese party!" I gave up trying to buy in bulk a while ago because it just encouraged everyone to eat more and didn't save me any money. (I can't just keep stuff "up high" because dh is the main offender! :glare:) It really sounds like that is my only option, though, so I'm going to give it another try.

 

Thank you!

 

This.

 

We're grazers too. We do eat a sit down dinner many nights, probably 5 out of 7, but everything else is eaten in small meals throughout the day. My big thing, especially with the treat things, is that I only buy them once a _________ (depending on how much I've determined is reasonable). You can eat/drink it all in one sitting, or spread it all out throughout the whole period, I'm not going to police you. But if you eat up all the food you like in the first week and have "nothing to eat" (read it in a super-whiny voice), then it's not my issue!

 

It works well. It didn't take DD long to catch on to the program. :lol:

[Element]

I finally had to tell my family that those 10 blocks of cheese were meant to last for 5 months (or whatever it would be) and I wouldn't be buying any more till then whether the cheese lasted 5 days or five months. That seemed to be pretty good incentive.

 

That sounds like a good idea!

 

What about making your own bread? You might save a bit there.

...

I don't know where you live, but it sounds like you are doing very well budget wise already.

 

Thank you! I needed to hear that, since dh's opinion is "HOW can a family of 4 spend more than $400 a month on food?!?" Um, yeah. I don't think he has been grocery shopping in the last 10 years. I am in a lower than average COL area though.

 

I tried making my own bread, and it was wonderful but my $10 hand mixer just couldn't hold up. I don't really have the counter space for a stand mixer or bread maker, but now I'm wondering if I can find a hand mixer that will hold up to the task. (I know, I know, people used to mix by HAND but that thought horrifies me.:tongue_smilie:)

 

...if you eat up all the food you like in the first week and have "nothing to eat" (read it in a super-whiny voice), then it's not my issue!

 

This will probably be printed on my fridge soon. :D

[Jenny in Florida]

The only thing I can think of to suggest other than what other folks have mentioned is to see if you can transition to less expensive versions of what you're already eating.

 

For example, we eat a fair number of nuts here. My husband snacks on peanuts in the evenings, and I eat cashews a couple of times a day. Buying the name brand version at full price costs me $5 or more per container. The do go on sale now and then, and I buy extra when they do. However, the most helpful thing I've found to do is to buy mostly at Aldi, where a comparable size container is $3 all the time.

 

Air-popped corn costs a lot less than potato chips.

 

If you're not already buying store brands, you could try that.

 

Also, rather than replenishing every item every time you run out, could you try waiting a week before buying more of the most expensive items? Maybe your family would make do with the less expensive stuff for a week or two?

[Ravin]

Kneading dough is fun and relaxing.

 

I would take stock of the things you all like to keep on hand and price out which would be more cost effective in a homemade version. Also building a "stockpile" that's not in the regular pantry (another closet, maybe?), and stocking the pantry from that then buying for the stockpile from sale items. Build this up gradually.

[littlebug42]

I have actually started shopping differently. Bulk shopping does not work here because things either get eaten too quickly or they go to waste. Too much money down the drain. I now do one trip at the beginning of the month to get my staples, etc. Then, I go to the store every few days and get what we need for those few days. I hate to defrost anything so buying ahead and freezing just doesn't work for me. This way, I can also take advantage of what is on sale and it avoids gigantic grocery trips which I hate. This has been helping us to save money as well.

[elegantlion]

another thing you could do is divide up the food into single serving containers. We like to graze during the day and I prefer it if the food is in a bowl or container.

 

I've started buying yogurt and just wash the containers afterward. They make great containers for pretzals or nuts.

[Hoot]

That makes sense. I guess my big hurdle will be training my family to learn that "10 blocks of cheese" does not equal "cheese party!" I gave up trying to buy in bulk a while ago because it just encouraged everyone to eat more and didn't save me any money. (I can't just keep stuff "up high" because dh is the main offender! :glare:) It really sounds like that is my only option, though, so I'm going to give it another try.

 

Thank you!

 

I wouldn't just tell them that it is supposed to last X number of months; I would literally Sharpie the month onto each item. If you have 10 blocks of cheese that are supposed to last 5 months then write on each block:

 

Jan. 1-14

Jan. 15-31

 

etc.

 

Same with chips or cereal or whatever else. This is a visual reminder of what is available during any given time.