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Can we talk grocery bills? Budgeting time and money


Danestress
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Even though I know we talk about it with some frequency. I am having trouble getting good search results with this format. Plus I am lazy.

 

This month I decided to track what I spend on groceries. Groceries includes whatever I spend at the grocery store, including dog food, cleaning supplies. etc.

 

It is January 9th. I've already spent over $400 at the grocery store! That seems excessive, doesn't it? There are 4 people in my household, three of whom are very big eaters. Two of those eaters go to high school, and actually, that $400 doesn't even include a few of their lunches, because we order lunch at the school for them once a month and pay when we order. So we ordered in December for this month, and have yet to order for next month. They eat lunch there a couple of times a week and the other days I pack.

 

That $400 includes a $11 case of beer. It includes a large pack of laundry detergent, which is pretty pricey but will last. We do drink good coffee. I haven't even bought dog food yet. It included a bit of "stock up" type stuff - some discounted meat. I don't even buy organic meat most of the time. I only buy organic milk when it is on sale. That amount is split between two trips to my regular grocery store and one trip to Aldis.

 

I am having a "no eat out" month, so that is every meal. But seriously, $400 in 9 days? My kids do eat A LOT. Both are athletes. DH is a runner and plays tennis.

 

I actually would like to start eating more organic produce and meat, but I look at what I am spending on groceries and it seems impossible. And I will say that I think everything we have eaten so far this month has been from scratch. Lasagna with meat sauce, spagetti, chicken chili, black beans and rice .... sort of normal American meals. I am not even low carbing right now, which would cost more. My kids eat a lot of fruit and we do eat vegetables and beans - a basically healthy diet but not a perfectly ideal one.

 

I feel like I have spent the whole nine days cooking, lol. Most days I take a meal for them when I pick them up at 3:30 because they want "real food" not snacks. I cook pasta and add canned sauce and frozen meat balls, or I pack a sandwich for that "extra" meal - stuff like that.

 

This all seems very hard to me, because I had gotten in the habit of running by Subway or Chick Filet for them in the afternoons - at least a couple of times a week. I know that even with this large grocery bill, ultimately we are saving money if I have a zero tolerance for the fast food runs. But it's killing me to spend so much time cooking and preparing food and then still seeing so much money spent on it. And I have also been cooking them hot breakfast a few times a week, so it's not like our cereal bill is the culprit.

 

I guess I am wondering (1) how to cut the grocery bill without just buying low quality food (2) how people weigh trade offs between time and money. Convenience food costs more, but cooking three meals a day costs TIME. Some days I think I would like to look for part time work, and then truly, I have no idea how I would manage to keep the food rolling without eating out a lot.

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Look to see if there is a Bountiful Baskets co-op in your area. www.bountifulbaskets.org

 

I am participating for the first time this week, but everyone who I know who does this (and I've seen pictures of what they have gotten) says that quality is good and the savings are really good. You pay $15 for a regular basket of produce and $25 for an organic basket. Plus, there are several add-ons that you can get. I am getting 5 loaves of organic 9-grain bread for $12 this week. Everyone I know that has tried it says that it is wonderful. Our location is every other week, but some locations are every week. I'm really excited about picking up my basket this week!

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Might not help with costs but do you have/use a crock pot? That can really be a time saver as you can put everything in the crock pot in the morning while making breakfast and then supper will be done when you get home. I use my crock pot 4-6 days a week.

 

When you make up a lasagna or something make 2 or 3 of them and freeze the extras as it doens't take that much more time to make 3 of them than just 1 and then you have 2 more meals made ahead to just heat and eat.

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I think $400 for most of your monthly groceries is great!! I also think that simply keeping tabs on your spending will cut down on frivolous stuff. If you'd like to spend extra money on good coffee and beer, that's your perogotive. But now you KNOW where your dollars are going.

 

I spend $450ish a month for my family if 4, and my kids are much smaller than yours. :) I also keep nonessential a like beer in a "fun food" category just so I know what we really need just to eat decently.

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Another way to save is the stockpiling method. Buy more than you need of something (sometimes a lot more) when it is at a really low sale price (even if you don't need it right then) so that when you need it, you don't have to buy it at the going price at the grocery store.

 

It seems like a simple thing, but when I truly grasped this concept, it revolutionized my grocery shopping.

 

Also watch buying in bulk. Many times this can be cheaper, but sometimes you can buy the smaller sizes on sale and get a better deal per ounce.

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Guest inoubliable

I think you're doing well. We've spent $300 this month. That's for a month's worth of breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and snacks plus some personal hygiene, cleaning, and pet supplies. We'll have to pick up a few things throughout the month like a pack of hamburger rolls, tea, and Benadryl. We're a family of 5. Vegan, so we don't buy meat or dairy or fish. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason we're coming in under $400, so you're doing just fine!

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First of all, I find your bill rather high (but I don't know how long your food will last), but more, I am really puzzled about this:

IConvenience food costs more, but cooking three meals a day costs TIME.

 

I would never dream of cooking three meals a day or running for fast food in the middle of the afternoon or bringing the kids a cooked meal at 3:30pm. If they had lunch, they'd get the next real meal at dinner time and would have to tide themselves over with sandwiches, cereal, fruit - or fix their own. A hungry high school student should be perfectly capable of preparing himself a cooked mid-afternoon meal.

 

We eat one warm meal a day, either at lunch or at dinner. I'd cancel the fast-food runs - it is expensive and junk.

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You're off to a good start just tracking your spending. You'll learn a lot if you keep it up. I have been doing that for 3 years now and can share a little of what I have learned.

1. While I have a mental budget of about $700 per month, some months are lower and some are higher. I do a Costco run every 6 weeks or so, so in a 3 month period 2 months will have a Costco trip and the one that doesn't will have a lower total. Some months are just more expensive. July is blueberry season and we pick and freeze a lot. Holiday months are more expensive. January is usually a cheaper month--we've still got some holiday excess around.

2. I spend more at the beginning of the month than at the end of the month. I do more stocking up. Sometimes at the end of the month I know I only have $70 for the last week of groceries to stay within my budget. We eat whatever I've stocked up on, I don't buy anything to replenish stock, etc.

3. My family is okay with some meals being pretty cheap and simple. When life is crazy, they're okay with quesadillas or breakfast for dinner. In fact, I don't cook expensive dishes very often (I once priced my lasagna recipe at something like $20--that may have been for 2 lasagnas, but still, it's a lot more than spaghetti!)

4. There are some months of the year when kid activities force us to eat out a little more. October was pretty much 2 dinners out per week. They are inexpensive meals like 1 pizza for all of us or Chipotle. During months where we don't have that pressure, we try not to go out at all (August, December). But the grocery bill is definitely higher if we're eating at home for every dinner.

5. I think I live in an area with less-expensive groceries.

6. I would go for cheap and easy after-school snacks rather than a meal. PBJ. Quesadilla. I cook dinner every night we're at home, I cook Saturday brunch, I'll cook lunch occasionally, but other than that everyone gets their own food. Kids eat cereal for breakfast and some snacks. Can of soup or sandwich for lunch. Etc. Dh will ask what's for lunch on a Saturday and I'll gently remind him that I cook two meals that day and he's on his own for figuring out lunch!

7. I have girls, not teenage boys. Disabled dd doesn't eat much. Youngest is very picky. No one eats huge amounts of food.

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We budget $700/month for groceries (this does not include pet food -- that goes under the "pet supplies" category or our farm share because we make 2 payments on it annually and save up a bit each month). Our family is also 4 people, but 2 are children with small appetites. I can see how you'd spend a lot on groceries if you have athletic teens and you're including pet food in that category.

 

I've been working on saving time cooking because I also turn to fast foods and restaurants for convenience. If you can double-up on cooking and freeze stuff, that helps. If you buy a second crockpot (I'm going to assume you have at least one) it's easy to double-up on the crockpot meals and freeze one. I'm not a big breakfast person, but I've head there are oatmeal and one-dish breakfast meals you can put together before you go to bed and they'll be ready in the crockpot when you wake up. A thermos of soup or chili is a convenient meal for athletes on the go, and easy to make in bulk.

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We have six people, (but two are just 8, so it probably about evens out with your family), and we spend 600-800 a month on groceries. However, that does not include non-food items, like cleaning/laundry supplies or toiletries, and we have no pets. Your $400 is probably fine if that's a "stock-up", but if you spend $400 every 10 days, that's probably a lot!

 

Do you know how much you spent on food (groceries plus the fast food runs) in previous months? That's really the only way you can compare and see if you're saving money.

 

As far as the time cooking, yes, it does take time. But I have found that I am more efficient as I do it more. I do understand why you're cooking and feeding them in the afternoon (active teen boys = bottomless pits!), but I would suggest streamlining that as much as possible. Perhaps choose 2-3 different items that you take them, then just rotate those. As much as possible, so the work for several days at once: prepare enough pasta for several days, for example, so all you have to do is reheat it another day.

 

Remember that the beginning of new habits and practices is always the hardest!

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I think one solution to your question is leftovers. I usually only cook two warm meals a day - breakfast and dinner, but I cook more than we will eat. If the kids are hungry after breakfast, they eat more breakfast. We eat dinner leftovers for lunch.

 

This morning I made baked oatmeal and banana muffins. A little of both is sitting on the counter for afternoon snacks. Our lunch consisted entirely of random leftovers. Everyone ate a different lunch. Dinner for tonight is already in the crockpot. Tonight's dinner will be tomorrow's lunch.

 

I usually make a big grocery run at the beginning of the month to stock the pantry. Half of my monthly budget is usually spent by the end of the first week. Then I split the rest by week and use that money to buy perishables and to fill in as needed.

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I've spent about half of my grocery budget for the month already, and obviously we still have a few more weeks to go. However, I shouldn't need to purchase meat again this month and probably not many frozen veggies. I should be good on dish soap, toilet paper, and laundry detergent. So it will just be dairy products, eggs, fresh produce, and a few incidentals. I have most of what I need for dinners, except for fresh salad. I think we're in good shape.

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Even though I know we talk about it with some frequency. I am having trouble getting good search results with this format. Plus I am lazy.

 

This month I decided to track what I spend on groceries. Groceries includes whatever I spend at the grocery store, including dog food, cleaning supplies. etc.

 

It is January 9th. I've already spent over $400 at the grocery store! That seems excessive, doesn't it? There are 4 people in my household, three of whom are very big eaters. Two of those eaters go to high school, and actually, that $400 doesn't even include a few of their lunches, because we order lunch at the school for them once a month and pay when we order. So we ordered in December for this month, and have yet to order for next month. They eat lunch there a couple of times a week and the other days I pack.

 

That $400 includes a $11 case of beer. It includes a large pack of laundry detergent, which is pretty pricey but will last. We do drink good coffee. I haven't even bought dog food yet. It included a bit of "stock up" type stuff - some discounted meat. I don't even buy organic meat most of the time. I only buy organic milk when it is on sale. That amount is split between two trips to my regular grocery store and one trip to Aldis.

 

I am having a "no eat out" month, so that is every meal. But seriously, $400 in 9 days? My kids do eat A LOT. Both are athletes. DH is a runner and plays tennis.

 

I actually would like to start eating more organic produce and meat, but I look at what I am spending on groceries and it seems impossible. And I will say that I think everything we have eaten so far this month has been from scratch. Lasagna with meat sauce, spagetti, chicken chili, black beans and rice .... sort of normal American meals. I am not even low carbing right now, which would cost more. My kids eat a lot of fruit and we do eat vegetables and beans - a basically healthy diet but not a perfectly ideal one.

 

I feel like I have spent the whole nine days cooking, lol. Most days I take a meal for them when I pick them up at 3:30 because they want "real food" not snacks. I cook pasta and add canned sauce and frozen meat balls, or I pack a sandwich for that "extra" meal - stuff like that.

 

This all seems very hard to me, because I had gotten in the habit of running by Subway or Chick Filet for them in the afternoons - at least a couple of times a week. I know that even with this large grocery bill, ultimately we are saving money if I have a zero tolerance for the fast food runs. But it's killing me to spend so much time cooking and preparing food and then still seeing so much money spent on it. And I have also been cooking them hot breakfast a few times a week, so it's not like our cereal bill is the culprit.

 

I guess I am wondering (1) how to cut the grocery bill without just buying low quality food (2) how people weigh trade offs between time and money. Convenience food costs more, but cooking three meals a day costs TIME. Some days I think I would like to look for part time work, and then truly, I have no idea how I would manage to keep the food rolling without eating out a lot.

 

 

While it does seem excessive to me based on my family size (7) and the cost of food in my area, I also realize that many areas of the country are significantly more costly and if you are in one of those areas you expenses might be entirely reasonable. The other thing is that I have been a bulk buyer for years and years so I almost never pay full price for something. For instance we eat Ragu or Prego spaghetti sauce. "Normal price is 2.40 (or maybe even more) per jar. But I've never paid that. My number is 99 cents a jar. When they hit that last summer I bought 60 jars. I won't be buying anymore jars until this fall at the earliest. As a result what I do spend goes a lot farther than if I was just buying a week (or month's worth or spaghetti sauce at whatever price was available at the time. My point is tracking your spending is your best first step but that alone won't bring your spending down. First you need awareness and then you have to start working on changes (and some of those can take years to fully implement). I'm not saying that to discourage you but to simply remind yourself that comparing to others isn't always productive because others may have strategies/opportunities etc that are not available to you right now. My cheap price on sauce doesn't do you a lick of good if you are completely out right now and need some and a price like that only happens once or twice a year around here.

 

As far as spending time cooking I spend no more than 2 hours a day but usually closer to 1. I make huge suppers that are also eaten for lunch the next day. If we don't have enough for a lunch than we cobble together whatever until everyone is full. I DO NOT cook lunch. It is not unheard of for me to cut up a plateful of veggies and set it on the table and everyone eats until it's gone. I may then rummage around for cheese and crackers or maybe a couple slices of pizzas in the fridge or a single hamburger etc. No one gets the same thing but everyone does get food. It's also a great way to use up leftovers. Breakfast is oatmeal 95% of the time. The adds in change daily but that is left to the kids decretion. Oldest makes the oatmeal so I don't cook that meal either.

 

We have an afternoon snack but again it's something that requires no actual cooking, Celery and peanut butter, fresh veggies from the garden in the summer, Seasonal fruit, home canned applesauce with ground flax etc. Snack is between 3:30 and 4 and we eat supper so I don't feel like they need something big an heavy.

 

If your kids are in sports and need something more, I would make sure to have more protein options for snacks rather than an actual meal, hard boiled eggs, cheese, hummus, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches etc.

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Re: cooking time... I use the slow cooker/pressure cooker/rice maker all the time, and I make extra. Dinner leftovers are easy to pack for lunch the next day. So that's cooking once (at a time of day that is convenient for me) for two meals right there.

 

I also put bread ingredients into the bread machine at night before bed, and set the timer. We wake up to fresh bread for breakfast.

 

Snacks... Yogurt is easy to make. And I try to keep lots of fresh fruit and veggies available to snack on.

 

We're not perfect and sometimes end up getting expensive convenience foods. When I get into a good routine of making our own from scratch, though, I always end up saving money on the food bill. It took some investing in very convenient kitchen appliances to save me the time, though.

 

The Instant Pot is the most recent "best thing ever invented" to get a spot on my kitchen counter. :) It does everything, lol.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-IP-LUX60-Programmable-6-33-Quart/dp/B0073GIN08/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1357763038&sr=1-1&keywords=instant+pot

 

 

 

 

 

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I think you need to make some "convenience" foods so that you don't need to cook three times a day to get those homemade meals in. This morning my kids had leftover pancakes (made them Sunday morning, reheated in the microwave), lunch was veggie soup I made months ago and thawed, and supper will be chili from the freezer (I made a double batch last time). Tomorrow I will make a big pot of oatmeal with apples that will be reheated on Friday, lunch will be more of the veggie soup (plus hard boiled eggs, fruit, etc. -- I just always keep sides like that on hand), and supper will be leftover pasta with meat sauce (from last night). I don't know how well your family will tolerate seeing the same foods a couple times a week, but leftovers save my sanity. Also, making up pots of pintos, baked potatoes to reheat, baked oatmeal or muffins to freeze, etc., all means that anyone can make a hot meal in just a minute or two using the microwave.

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Check out Www.krazycouponlady.com plus she is on Facebook.

 

Thanks to coupons I have money in my savings account!!!

 

Coupons do not have to equal junk food.

 

Del monte last month had pineapple coupons. I got beautiful large pineapples for $1

 

Use coupons and stock up on razors, shaving cream, toothpaste, toilet paper, paper towels, shampoo, deodorant, even milk.

 

You will be amazed at how much you can save for very little effort and even have money leftover for a quick fast food meal.

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First of all, I find your bill rather high (but I don't know how long your food will last), but more, I am really puzzled about this:

 

 

I would never dream of cooking three meals a day or running for fast food in the middle of the afternoon or bringing the kids a cooked meal at 3:30pm. If they had lunch, they'd get the next real meal at dinner time and would have to tide themselves over with sandwiches, cereal, fruit - or fix their own. A hungry high school student should be perfectly capable of preparing himself a cooked mid-afternoon meal.

 

We eat one warm meal a day, either at lunch or at dinner. I'd cancel the fast-food runs - it is expensive and junk.

 

:iagree: Despite being athletes and the whole "growing boy" rhetoric, there is no way on earth I would bring a cooked meal to pick up my high schooler from school and there's less than no chance that I would stop by a ff place to pick one up.

 

Your total sounds high to me for the 9th day of the month. I'm anal about tracking expenses, though, so I count food sources separately from household groceries. It's too inaccurate that way.

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I don't think it sounds high--family of 4 here and I've spent $408 since the first of the month for groceries and household items--I think it's the new normal :( I cook 3 meals, well lunch is mostly leftovers. The only organic thing I buy is chicken. The only junk/processed food for those 2 trips was a bag of potato chips and a box of oatmeal breakfast bars. I do buy a lot of fresh fruit/veggies. I will probably spend that much again the last 2 weeks of the month, too.

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We are a family of 4 and spend about $50 a week on groceries. There are times a week may be slightly more than that (this week was $74 because I stocked up on a chicken breast sale) when we stock up on something. The total is between $200-$250 a month because if I go over one week I make up for it the next week or the week after that. My kids are younger than yours, though, but my 7 year old eats more than me, by a lot, and I am not a light eater and neither is my husband. I use a combination of coupons, sale prices, and stock up (not insane stock ups though, it all fits in my pantry or freezer) to get the best prices. So what we buy in a week is usually all of our fresh produce, eggs, milk (organic milk, but we don't drink it, just cook with it), bread, and then stock up on whatever is on sale. Sometimes that is meat, sometimes pasta, cheese, frozen veggies, or whatever it may be that has good prices. So, if you saw my cart, you would think what the heck is she going to make with that, but I use a lot of what is in the freezer/fridge/and pantry already each week, too. We do not eat junk and I try really hard to have a mostly healthy diet, especially for my kids. We avoid trans fats, HFCS, and food dyes but sometimes we will eat something processed like jarred pasta sauce, canned tuna, bbq sauce, or the like. In general, I prefer to avoid processed things but we do eat some, not much, though. That does include toiletries for us like toothpaste, deodorant, etc., but not toilet paper, I buy that at stock up prices elsewhere. We no longer have any pets to buy for, except a fish, so it doesn't include that, either. I spend about an hour a week making a list and gathering the coupons. I shop at one store, Publix, with an occasional pick up at Super Target.

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Stop and think about the math. You've fed 4 people essentially 4 meals a day for 9 days. Even if you used all $400 for food - you're looking at about $2.75 person/meal. And not all of that was food, right?

I agree you can find ways to streamline the cooking process, but financially you're way ahead. If you went to BK even 3xweek and bought two meals at $5/ meal you'd have spent about $60 just on those afternoon snacks.

I get really tired of the cooking/planning/shopping but when I think about taking the 6 of us out and spending a minimum of $40 per meal I can't hardly justify it.

Good luck!

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Look to see if there is a Bountiful Baskets co-op in your area. www.bountifulbaskets.org

 

I am participating for the first time this week, but everyone who I know who does this (and I've seen pictures of what they have gotten) says that quality is good and the savings are really good. You pay $15 for a regular basket of produce and $25 for an organic basket. Plus, there are several add-ons that you can get. I am getting 5 loaves of organic 9-grain bread for $12 this week. Everyone I know that has tried it says that it is wonderful. Our location is every other week, but some locations are every week. I'm really excited about picking up my basket this week!

 

 

I WISH they had this on the EAST coast!!

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Last year my grocery costs were $1000-$1200/month + another $100-200/month eating out for dh, myself, + 2 teenage boys. Both boys are very competitive athletes & dh & ds#1 are tradesmen, so all 3 are big eaters. So far in January I've paid only $20 for food (grocery & eat-out) & nothing for other household grocery expenses. Changes to my spending / cooking habits include:

---Making the decision to "shop" our pantry/freezer/garden first, before going to the grocery store

---Making a monthly menu & posting today's menu in the kitchen for everyone to see what's available to eat

---Making as much from scratch as possible (bread, homebaking, yogurt, etc.)

---Making ds#1's lunch as I clean-up dinner & putting it into the fridge ready for morning. He takes left-overs most of the time.

---Making water the drink of choice for everyone. (This was painful for me the first day or 2 as I LOVE my cocacola)

 

Surprisingly, I find that I spend less time in the kitchen because I have a plan & am able to focus to get things done in a timely manor. I put a loaf of bread into the breadmaker each evening to be finished baking in the morning. I make a cake & a couple batches of cookies for the week & when they are gone, there's no more until next week. Week 1 they disappeared very fast, but week 2 my boys have learned to ration their snacking to make it last. Using my slowcooker when possible saves on time & having planned left-overs saves as well. No one is hungry as we are eating well, instead of filling up on a lot of junk that doesn't keep you satisfied. I don't buy organic / freerange / etc. as it doesn't fit in our budget, but simply making homemade is just more filling, than stuff you buy from the shops in my experience.

 

As far as household supplies (i.e. laundry detergent, dish soap, toothpaste, etc.) I stocked up the end of December with what I thought we would need to last the month. I took inventory Jan 1st, so it will be interesting to see if I have a good handle on what we use regularly. I do have supplies to make homemade cleaners, if we run out. Our only pet is a goat, so no petfood costs for us.

 

My suggestion would be to make a plan (breakfast, snack, lunch, afterschool snack, dinner, dessert) & have everybody stick to it. Nobody will starve & after a fortnight you'll be surprised at how everyone is satisfied, even though you are not running a fastfood restaurant at home. Teenage boys sometimes get into the habit of eating a lot just because they can. Learning new habits is sometimes tough, but they will survive. Less, but better food is much prefered over tons of comfort food. If your boys are extreme athletes, google diets of professional sportmen in their sport. You'll get a good idea of what to aim for. We were given a print out of the diet recommendations that NZ Hockey put out when ds#2 competed in the national tournament last year. It was enlightening to read that it wasn't a lot of food, but good food at certain recommended intervals.

 

JMHO,

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Your prices can vary a lot from store to store. I've had a very hard time getting into a groove this year (added a kindy student, a preschooler that wants to do school, and tutor twice a week). Because of that, I was going to Safeway daily and deciding the next two/three meals while wandering the aisles. I was spending $1200-$1600 a month on groceries plus an additional $300 a month eating out. We decided to try budgeting. I now meal plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner every week. From that, I come up with a shopping list. Then DH and I go shopping together. We now shop at a cheaper store. I hate the new store. I make DH come with me because it makes being there more tolerable. (I know hating a store that much sounds silly but I always leave with a headache from the lighting.) Anyway, we're now spending $120-165 a week. We spend about $100 a month on meat elsewhere. And we toss some money at Costco occasionally. Basically, we are saving $400 to $800 a month just by menu planning and switching stores.

 

I do prepare three meals a day, though lunch is usually sandwiches or leftovers. It does take a lot of time, but it is what we are used to now.

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I'm reading with interest. I'm in your boat, too. With a dh and a teenaged ds that work out lots, I've just about decided that the only thing I can do for my grocery budget is to try to make couch potatoes out of them ;) But seriously, they each so much food and good quality, high protein stuff (i.e expensive).

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Look to see if there is a Bountiful Baskets co-op in your area. www.bountifulbaskets.org

 

I am participating for the first time this week, but everyone who I know who does this (and I've seen pictures of what they have gotten) says that quality is good and the savings are really good. You pay $15 for a regular basket of produce and $25 for an organic basket. Plus, there are several add-ons that you can get. I am getting 5 loaves of organic 9-grain bread for $12 this week. Everyone I know that has tried it says that it is wonderful. Our location is every other week, but some locations are every week. I'm really excited about picking up my basket this week!

 

 

I looked and they do not have this in my area, but it looks like a great program!

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Might not help with costs but do you have/use a crock pot? That can really be a time saver as you can put everything in the crock pot in the morning while making breakfast and then supper will be done when you get home. I use my crock pot 4-6 days a week.

 

When you make up a lasagna or something make 2 or 3 of them and freeze the extras as it doens't take that much more time to make 3 of them than just 1 and then you have 2 more meals made ahead to just heat and eat.

 

I do have a crockpot, and I love it but I cracked the liner over the holidays, so I need to order a replacement. I guess I should do that. I'm on a "no spend" kick, but I guess this might make a reasonable exception.

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I think $400 for most of your monthly groceries is great!! I also think that simply keeping tabs on your spending will cut down on frivolous stuff. If you'd like to spend extra money on good coffee and beer, that's your perogotive. But now you KNOW where your dollars are going.

 

I spend $450ish a month for my family if 4, and my kids are much smaller than yours. :) I also keep nonessential a like beer in a "fun food" category just so I know what we really need just to eat decently.

 

The $400 was just for 9 days. At that rate, I will spend $1200 for the month. There are families that live on $1200 a month. I have a friend whose husband makes not much more than that, and they support 8 children, though they do get government assistance. Still, I think my family should be able to eat on less than that, and then maybe have money for the things it feels like we never have money to do - like a fun vacation.

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First of all, I find your bill rather high (but I don't know how long your food will last), but more, I am really puzzled about this:

 

 

I would never dream of cooking three meals a day or running for fast food in the middle of the afternoon or bringing the kids a cooked meal at 3:30pm. If they had lunch, they'd get the next real meal at dinner time and would have to tide themselves over with sandwiches, cereal, fruit - or fix their own. A hungry high school student should be perfectly capable of preparing himself a cooked mid-afternoon meal.

 

We eat one warm meal a day, either at lunch or at dinner. I'd cancel the fast-food runs - it is expensive and junk.

 

I get what you are saying, and I probably exaggerated a bit because I don't cook three meals every day. Some days I let them fend for themselves for breakfast. Other days they get lunch at school. Some days dinner is something I had put away in the freezer. So I try not to be a total martyr to cooking.

 

But both of my boys are athletes, and when I pick them up at 3:30, one goes straight to the tennis facility where he trains HARD for either 2 1/2 hours or (twice a week) for 5 hours. He needs a small meal in there. Sometimes it is just left overs, but it needs to be more than "a piece of fruit and some crackers" or whatever would seem like a snack to me. The other kid swims and doesn't like to eat much before he gets in the pool, but he does need a snack before and immediately after. I know. It's crazy. I am not at all an athlete, and I resisted this reality for a long time, but my boys are thin and strong, and they eat everything I give them, lol. On the days I cook a hot breakfast, they go to school happy! It's hard to resist.

 

Because they are working on these sports and work very very hard on school, and one also practices his violin at least an hour a day, I just don't feel like I want to put meal prep on their plates. I know I could, but I don't want to. They just don't have time. My DH says they are "baby kings" grown up, and it's true, but I am a SAHM so I feel like I can do this for them at this stage in my life. But apparently not without complaint:)

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Do you know how much you spent on food (groceries plus the fast food runs) in previous months? That's really the only way you can compare and see if you're saving money.

 

 

 

No, I am not a big tracker of spending - this is new for me. Part of me just hasn't wanted to know what i am spending. But we are lucky to have a fairly liberal budget, and like I said, I was running to Subway or Chick Filet a couple of times a week, and that had to be costing $150 a month, so I know I will save from our previous life style if I just cut that out and pay a little more attention to what I am buying. I do try to shop within the weekly discounted items at our local grocery store.

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I usually make a big grocery run at the beginning of the month to stock the pantry. Half of my monthly budget is usually spent by the end of the first week. Then I split the rest by week and use that money to buy perishables and to fill in as needed.

 

Does it make you uneasy when the cupboards start to look bare? I can imagine I would save a lot of money short term if I decided to try to eat through everything in my pantry before restocking. But part of me worries that we will have a major ice storm or something, and there won't be plentiful food in the house.

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Guest inoubliable

I think you've been given some good advice here. The only thing I can add is that cooking at home and from scratch does indeed cost time, however you're likely to see financial savings both short-term (grocery budget) AND long-term (health-wise). Not to mention that you're setting a good nutritional and financial example for your teens. Just something to think about.

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Honestly I don't think your grocery budget sounds that bad. I currently have three teens. Two of them are girls and my 13 year-old is NOT a big eater at all. I do have a competitive gymnast boy who is 10. He eats like a horse and he's still itty bitty. I can't imagine the amount of food he will be consuming in the next few years. Currently I spend $900 a month on groceries but if I had two big teenage boys who were athletes I can see spending $1200 a month easily. Also my husband travels for his job a lot and isn't home much so if I were to add him into the mix it would increase our budget by a lot.

 

I do like the idea of stockpiling when something goes on sale and I think I will try that. I am not in favor of coupon clipping but I do use the coupons the store prints out when I am checking out.

 

Good luck!

 

Elise in NC

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Does it make you uneasy when the cupboards start to look bare? I can imagine I would save a lot of money short term if I decided to try to eat through everything in my pantry before restocking. But part of me worries that we will have a major ice storm or something, and there won't be plentiful food in the house.

 

Sometimes, but not really. When things start to get bare I know I'll be shopping in a few day at the beginning of the next month, and it all depends on how much stock pile you keep. We go through 2 containers of oatmeal per month. I could keep three in the pantry so I would never run low. kWIM?

 

I do stock up before storms. Out here on the SD/MN border we have winter storms that leave us snowed in for days. I usually get panicky before the storms, and I buy extras of everything. We always know when storms are coming, so I can always stock up before they hit. The stores do run low when the storms come together too quickly for them to restock, but we still aren't going to starve.

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Couple of things we've done to help-

 

Put ourselves on a grocery budget. I get $160 in cash out once a week. $10 goes to the pet fund, and $10 for hs/books. With the remaining $140, I need to get all food, toiletries, and household necessities.

 

Make a meal plan, for every meal and snack of the day. For breakfast and snack, I give my kids a few options they can choose from. So for breakfast, they can have a bagel with cream cheese, eggs, oatmeal, or cereal. for snack they can choose Greek yogurt, fruit, veggies, or nuts. For lunch, I just plan 4-5 meals and I choose what to make each day, depending on how I feel, how much time we have, if we are home or at the park, ect.

 

Try to get them to eat protien and drink more water. Carbs leave you feeling hungry soon after you eat them.

 

Stock up when prices are really good. This will take some time, to realize what your areas bottom line price is for certain items. For example, at SAMs I can get B/S chicken breast for $1.77 a pound. But, SAMs is far, and I won't go just for that one thing, kwim? So if the local store has it for $1.99, I'll stock up. Plus, the smaller packages are easier, one pack of three B/S breasts will feed all 5 of us. After Thanksgiving, turkeys went down to $.39 per pound. I could get a turkey for $3-$4. One turkey can be roasted for dinner one night, sliced for sandwiches the next night, and the small bits can be used for white 'chicken' chili or 'chicken' noodle soup, the carcass boiled to make stock.

 

Check into farmers markets, local small farms, coops, ect for produce, eggs, honey. We spend between $20-$25 per week at the farmers market on produce. That's cheaper than the store, the fruits and veggies are beautiful, fresher, and in season. Plus, the walk at the farmers marker is a fun, free outing. We also buy local honey there, it's pricier than the cheaper stuff at the store, but we love it, and love supporting that small business.

 

Make a few of your meals 'cheaper' meals. Chili comes to mind. I can make a HUGE crockpot of chili for very little. One pound of ground beef (rock bottom price $2 per pound), bag of pinto/kidney/or black beans ($1), cut up onion ($.50), two cans of diced tomatoes with chilies ($1), seasonings ($.50?), sour cream and shredded cheese for topping ($2, because we don't use the entire bag of cheese or tub of sour cream), that will make enough for dinner for two nights or one dinner and two lunches. $7 total, and it's very filling and healthy. You could omit the beef, and add more beans, to make it cheaper. Or put it over rice. Another cheaper meal is roast chicken. I can get a 3-5 pound chicken for $3-$4. Bag of potatoes for $2, bag of carrots for $1, bag of frozen peas/green beans $1. First night, we eat it as roast, second night as chicken salad, third night as chicken/rice/veggie soup.

 

Hopefully something there will help! :-)

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I do have a crockpot, and I love it but I cracked the liner over the holidays, so I need to order a replacement. I guess I should do that. I'm on a "no spend" kick, but I guess this might make a reasonable exception.

 

I had the exact same thing happen here. Need a crockpot to stay on track with my meal planning, but don't want to spend money to stay on track with the the no/low spend. I did research getting a replacement crock but then I learned the replacement crock (before shipping costs) was more than I paid for the whole unit to begin with. So I went to Walmart and got a new 7 qt crock for 19.99 +tax.

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Couple of things we've done to help-

 

 

Hopefully something there will help! :-)

 

 

It does help. It definitely helps to hear how others manage these issues, and IRL life it doesn't seem right to talk about how people budget for food, iykwim. So I love this board.

 

I will say that chili made with one pound of meat and one can of beans would feed dinner to two members of my family. If I make a "big batch" of chili that would feed my family and then allow me to freeze another batch for later, I am going to use three pounds of meat and probably four cans of kidney beans. So getting perspective on how much people eat is really helpful. I think, realistically, that I might be a bigger eater myself than a lot of women, even though I am not athletic and not large.

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I just want to commiserate. We are a family of 5, two are toddlers, and we live in a low COL area. We spend around 1k a month on groceries, which makes me irrationally angry, but I haven't been able to get the bill down. My 6 year old has lots of food allergies which definitely constitutes most of the budget problem.

 

 

I do only buy organic, unless it's not available, but we are vegan and eat tons of produce, so I don't feel like I can compromise on that.

 

I'm trying to get it down to 800 a month this year. I'm switching to cash, and making as much as I can from scratch.

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For me, it wouldn't be super high but that's because my first shop of the month includes the first week's food, plus all toiletries, pet needs, cleaning products and paper products for the whole month. The first shop of the month is around $300. I shop weekly, for the most part, and pick up food only the rest of the month. The other weeks are around $125. I don't include dining out in my grocery budget but we do eat dinner out about once a week and usually one-two lunches out. This is for a family of four plus one dog.

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Because they are working on these sports and work very very hard on school, and one also practices his violin at least an hour a day, I just don't feel like I want to put meal prep on their plates. I know I could, but I don't want to. They just don't have time. My DH says they are "baby kings" grown up, and it's true, but I am a SAHM so I feel like I can do this for them at this stage in my life. But apparently not without complaint:)

 

For what it's worth, your anticipated total for the month does sound a little high to me. I haven't kept track strictly this month, but counting it up in my head, I know I spent about $150 on my first post-holiday shopping trip (which included food for two cats and a dog, as well as cat litter) and another $50-ish on a quick second trip. I'm planning to do our regular weekly shopping today, and I'm estimating my current list will total another $150 or so. That will include some household cleaning stuff and one round of snacks for the 30 kids in my son's choir. (We take turns providing them.)

 

Assuming this trip gets us halfway through the month, I should end up spending about $700 for January. Of course, I have only one teen boy, and my daughter is dieting. So, that makes a big difference, I'm sure.

 

With that said, I don't think the eating you've described -- or providing what is essentially an extra meal mid-afternoon -- is crazy or even unusual.

 

My son is 14 and not a competitive athelete. He is, at most, lackadaisical about the school he does at home. He does dance, but not like any of the pre-professional kids here do. Nonetheless, on a typical Monday, his meals look like this:

 

8:00 - Breakfast, which is usually a bowl of oatmeal cooked with soy milk and wheat germ and topped with maple syrup; two oven-baked hash brown patties; and a smoothie made with a whole banana, a cup of frozen strawberries, a cup of orange juice and a generous scoop of vitamin-spiked protein powder.

 

12:00 - Lunch, which is either leftovers from a previous dinner (falafel with hummus and couscous, vegetable samosas with mint chutney and rice, etc.) or a ginormous plate of pasta with marinara sauce, often accompanied by a large glass of chocolate soy milk.

 

3:00 - "Snack," which is pretty much the same as lunch, in terms of food choices and size, although it can sometimes be a plate full -- and I do mean full -- of french fries or tater tots, instead, in which case I require him to eat a piece of fruit and drink a glass of soy milk.

 

At 4:15, he leaves for choir rehearsal.

 

6:30 - I pick him up from choir, bringing food for him to eat in the car. Sometimes, we go the simple route with a protein bar, banana and soy milk and pick up an order or fries from a drive through (if he hasn't already done fries earlier in the day). But he much prefers it if I bring him "real food." This can be any of the kinds of things named above or sometimes something like a veggie sub.

 

8:30 - We get home following his tap class, and he eats another "snack" before showering. Sometimes, it's as simple as a big bowl of popcorn. Other times, he's more hungry and will make something more elaborate.

 

10:30 - He often drinks a glass of soymilk before heading to bed. He has been known to get up in the middle of the night because he's hungry and drink more.

 

He dances three or four times a week, typically, although more if he's rehearsing or performing. He's 5'11" and weighs 120 pounds dripping wet. What there is of him seems to be solid muscle. So, I don't think we're doing him any harm with the "extra food."

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If I make a "big batch" of chili that would feed my family and then allow me to freeze another batch for later, I am going to use three pounds of meat and probably four cans of kidney beans.

 

Being vegan, I can't help with the meat question. However, I noted that the other poster said she used a "bag" of beans, not a can. One bag of dry pinto beans is likely the equivalent of four normal-sized cans.

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I think a lot of this is changing the type of meals you are preparing, either by choosing cheap proteins (beans, eggs, whole chickens, hamburger) for more of your meals or by using carbs as a filler until the protein kicks in.

 

--Start thinking in courses: soup as a starter can take up space before the 'real' meal, salad can also do the same. Serve things individually. Draw out dinner.

--50# bag of popcorn is @$12 at Sams Club. Salt, not butter. Makes a great after-school or before-bed snack. Pops up huge and is a great complex carb. with a bit of fat (if popped in oil on the stove).

--Consider cooking traditions that use less meat: stir fry, 'everyday' Mexican.

--Make sure they're getting fat and protein at every meal.

--Eggs are one of the cheapest, easiest proteins available. Consider boiling a few dozen and leaving them in the fridge for after-school snacks. They don't need a whole meal then. Make up a mondo batch of egg salad and let them make their own sandwiches.

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We spend about $1,000 a month on groceries. Half at grocery stores and half at Costco. We are vegan so that is a lot of fresh veggies and fruit. We use beans and lentils that I buy in large bulk bags. Food is expensive. I have spent about half of my budget so far this month. We freeze tofu and tempeh to use so that is something else that we "stockpile".

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I don't think the amount sounds crazy, but we also spend around $1200 month for groceries here. That does include paper products, cleaning supplies, and dog food. We're also a family of four. Dh and both dds are tall, skinny, and eat huge amounts and constantly. Dh's dad is the same way even now in his 70s. They always say that kind of eating will catch up to you, but it's obviously not true for everyone.

 

Last night my itty bitty 10 yr dd ate three bowls of bowtie pasta with alfredo sauce, shredded chicken, and peppers. She also consumed, in between bowls of pasta, two large bowls of salad with spinach, kale, cucucmber, carrots, cheese, and dressing. An hour and half later she was asking for an apple, which she devoured. About an hour after that she ate a hard boiled egg. Leftovers are a rarity and I usually have to plan for them and cook double. Older dd usually eats even more and then there is dh. If only I could eat like them and weigh as little as they do. :glare:

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In your situation, I don't think the usual advice applies. Your boys need those extra meals, and you need to be able to do it, since they go straight from school to athletic activities.

 

Do you have the time and freezer space to do some freezer cooking?

 

-Make, individually wrap, and freeze burritos. You could also do this for breakfast burritos.

-Make a breakfast casserole, cut and freeze in individual portions. Good for any time of day, and would have both proteins and veggies.

-Soup or chili can be made in big batches but doesn't have to be frozen that way. Use freezer bags to freeze individual servings. Lay the bags flat on a cookie sheet or baking pan until they freeze. They also take up very little room in the freezer when done this way.

-Twice baked potatoes can be made with whatever ingredients you like, then frozen. Great for snacks.

 

Many of your family's favorites can be done like this, as long at it's something that freezes well. It would take some labor at the start (though you don't have to do it all at once) but would save you both time and money in the end. Time - you don't have to figure out what to fix before picking up your boys. Just pull something out of the freezer that morning, and heat it before you go get them. Money - you wouldn't be stopping for fast food so often. You'd have your own "fast" food.

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I stopped caring what I spent each shopping trip, and had to start looking at things from a per meal basis.

 

IF I can make a DINNER for 5 people (two adults, one teen, and two boys) for at or under $7 TOTAL, I am happy. Some meals, I go under, some I go over, but it seems to even out.

Breakfast is usually cheaper-- eggs, toast, some kind of muffin I can make for $1-2 for the whole family.

Lunch is sandwiches, tortilla rollups or leftovers.

 

If I can recycle a meal (leftover chicken, beef or turkey) I consider that a free meal, and save even more money.

 

I have a list of meals I can make inexpensively, then throw in some slightly bigger meals in once or twice a week.

We eat out 3-4 times a month. (more if hubby naggs-- he would eat out every meal if we could afford it)

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I find that I spend the most at the beginning of the month - stocking up on staples.

 

I try to find meals that I can make that cost less - many are $5 - $7 per meal for 8. Chili w/chips, burrito lasagna, soup w/bread and salad, baked chicken legs, etc.

 

A dozen eggs with toast is an inexpensive meal. So is oatmeal with fruit. They also make very filling snacks.

 

My meals are usually very simple - main dish or meat, microwaved or baked frozen veggie, lettuce salad. I don't make desserts, but we sometimes have cookies for snacks.

 

 

 

 

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Bananas!

I remember growing up that my brothers who were cyclists going 40 miles or more at a time practically lived on bananas between meals. I can't recall all the reasonings they gave me, but apparently they are an excellent source of fuel energy. And they can be very cheap depending where you buy them. One of my brothers would eat 10 bananas and a half gallon of water for his after-cycle snack. Oh, yeah, there's something about all the potassium that prevents cramping muscles and something about the kind of fructose in bananas that aids muscle sugar. I'm sure it's all online somewhere.

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