I just tracked my grocery spending for the month of January and I'm ill...

[imeverywoman]

I spent $987.19. That said, I have a TON of meat in my freezer, plenty of fresh and frozen fruit, tons of grain for bread/muffins (wheat/ corn/ oats, which I did NOT count as part of the expenses because they were purchased a while ago), eggs, rice, orange juice, coffee, milk, beans, pasta, you get the picture....

 

Someone join me in my efforts to cook/eat out of my pantry.Truthfully, I could feed my family for a good long while without buying anything except milk and bananas.

 

Anyone?

[Tree House Academy]

We are actually living that way right now. :) It has gone really well. We have saved a lot of money and are trying to reduce our shopping trips to once a month other than for perishables.

 

Our grocery budget for a family of 4 is only $400 a month.

[OnTheBrink]

I spent $987.19. That said, I have a TON of meat in my freezer, plenty of fresh and frozen fruit, tons of grain for bread/muffins (wheat/ corn/ oats, which I did NOT count as part of the expenses because they were purchased a while ago), eggs, rice, orange juice, coffee, milk, beans, pasta, you get the picture....

 

Someone join me in my efforts to cook/eat out of my pantry.Truthfully, I could feed my family for a good long while without buying anything except milk and bananas.

 

Anyone?

 

I'm doing this now. Eating out of the pantry and freezer, I mean. I literally only buy milk and fresh produce. It's hard to get out of the "shop for two weeks" mode, and I found that keeping a list of what I have in the freezer and pantry helps curb my buying it again.

[lynn]

I spent $987.19. That said, I have a TON of meat in my freezer, plenty of fresh and frozen fruit, tons of grain for bread/muffins (wheat/ corn/ oats, which I did NOT count as part of the expenses because they were purchased a while ago), eggs, rice, orange juice, coffee, milk, beans, pasta, you get the picture....

 

Someone join me in my efforts to cook/eat out of my pantry.Truthfully, I could feed my family for a good long while without buying anything except milk and bananas.

 

Anyone?

 

 

Take some time to write out a menu for a couple weeks or even a month and keep a list of things you will need to pick up to complete a meal if need be. then post the menu right on your fridge or inside a cabinet door and check off the meals as you make them. I have tried to write down what I will make each day but some days I change my mind so I just write down the meal and check it off as I make it. I also include the cheap filler meals that are easy to make when you forget to thaw the meat or the day does not go as plan these meals include things like pancakes, rice n beans, orzo w/ marinara, spaghetti etc. hth

[datmama4]

Our groceries for our family of five tends to average about $130 per week. I find I do very well with a menu, no matter how vague.

 

I used to plan out a few weeks at a time and post the menu on the fridge -- this worked well with the exception of not knowing what side dishes were going to be happening (depending on what fresh veg was in the house), and helped me not to repeat meals for at least three or four weeks.

 

Another thing which helped me was designating a certain category for each day of the week. One day of the weekend, we have a roast or some type of larger-but-easy meal (a whole chicken), and the other weekend day is usually "jerk" night where we jerk out whatever is in the fridge -- to us that means leftovers but to the kids it means they can have cereal if no leftovers appeal to them. Fridays are for pizza, and we alternate homemade with cheapos. One night is fish or pasta, one is chicken, one is beef, one is breakfast-for-supper or sometimes soup/sandwich. Once I have a category in mind it makes it easier.

 

One family I know does categories, but theirs are more like Italian, Chinese, American, Mexican, etc.

 

Lynda

[cjzimmer1]

Last fall I stocked up on everything that I could think of from non-perishable food to ziplock bags, kleenex, water softener salt etc. The idea was so I could avoid taking 5 kids (2 who need to be buckled into rear facing car seats) to the store when it was cold and/or snowy. I am absolutely loving it. About once a week my husband stops and picks up milk for me and every 2-3 weeks I go for fresh produce. The last time I was in a Walmart/Target type store was before Christmas. So I had some pretty big bills last fall but they are much smaller now. It will even out in the end.

[Garga]

I did that only once--bought a lot and then ate from what we already had.

 

By the end we had some weird meals: like 2 fishsticks, 1/2 a leftover bean enchillada, and freezer burned strawberries for each person. But it was great to finally finish off what we actually had!

 

Now I'm just very carefully to buy only what we'll eat (no more fishsticks and freezer-burned strawberries hiding in the freezer chest.)

[Moni]

:001_huh:How do you add this?

Is it just food?

Anything you don't eat?

Or just anything you spend in a month? :001_huh:

 

This topic is always so perplexing to me....

 

:seeya:

[Prairie~Phlox]

:001_huh:How do you add this?

Is it just food?

Anything you don't eat?

Or just anything you spend in a month? :001_huh:

 

This topic is always so perplexing to me....

 

:seeya:

 

 

When I keep track of my stuff in Quicken, groceries include anything we eat, health & beauty, cleaning, plastic & paper products, etc. I have another section for clothing, misc. Our budget for the month is $350 for 5 adults, but I seriously coupon and am able to get things for hardly nothing. For instance, this week, peanut butter is .45 a container, I will buy a few and it will last us quite a while. Free frosting and Chex Mix this week, dh uses the Chex Mix in place of chips for his lunch and the Frosting I will keep just a few to use in a pinch (on pot luck items etc.) and donate any I don't want.

[Moni]

I have another section for clothing, misc.

 

Oh, that's a good way to think of it.

What is "not included" in the 'grocery' category. :)

 

Thank you

 

:seeya:

[Moni]

:lol:

 

It seems that whenever I think to eat from the pantry, someone posts an article about how important it is to have a well-stocked food storage. :001_huh:

 

And then whenever I attempt to keep the pantry well-stocked, there is a challange to eat only from the pantry. :lol:

 

I can eat from the pantry and refrain from buying for weeks and spend less, but eventually all that needs to be replenished and a larger expenditure seems to balance out the weeks of savings. ;)

 

:seeya:

[Moni]

So I had some pretty big bills last fall but they are much smaller now. It will even out in the end.

 

I agree. I like stocking up because I don't particularly enjoy "going to the store." :auto:

 

:seeya:

Edited February 8, 2009 by Moni

[Anita in NC]

Yep, groceries seem to add up pretty quick. We went out for a few things yesterday and $160 later......

 

I said to my husband that we didn't even really buy stuff for fixing meals. We didn't buy any junk food, just things that seem to add up - coffee, milk, cereal, yogurts, pasta, etc..... We buy a lot of bulk items too.

 

I think that the fact that food seems to be going up and up in price isn't any help or that my 3 boys sure can tuck it away. :001_smile:

[KidsHappen]

I would be tickeled to only spend that much. I keep track of our spending in Money and we usually spend about $1500 a month and that does not include household supply items. And we eat very little meat. Dairy products and fruits and vegetables are very expensive though.