POLL: How much is your grocery/household supply bill?

winery

Each month?

 

[Poll]

Yodajo

We used to spend $750-1000 a month a few years ago, but now it is under $500.

winery

Yodajo:

We used to spend $750-1000 a month a few years ago, but now it is under $500.

How?

How did you do this?

MrsCorbin

We spend around $800 a month on food and probably $150 on supplies including diapers.

Temp970088312507122

Our household budget is $150/week, so about $600/month. That includes groceries, paper products, diapers, toiletries, etc.

Yodajo

By using coupons. Not just using coupons for the things on my list, but matching coupons up to sales and stocking up when things are free or at a stock up price. I buy multiple papers every week and am able to stock up when a sale hits that way. It's time consuming only in the beginning, IMO. So, for example, I have a ton of whole wheat pasta in my pantry that I got for free or pennies, so I don't need to pay full price for it when I need it. There are a lot of blogs/websites out there that do all the deal finding for you for free and tell you how to get started, so it's really easy. I remember spending $900 a month easily before and it was just out of hand. I'm a super competitive person that loves to shop and this satisfies that side of me and saves us money. We moved a few years ago and doing this has allowed us to not have to change our lifestyle at all while we do the things we want on our house, etc. *sorry for the lack of paragraphs. I can't figure out how to do them on my iPad.*

Yodajo

Oh, and I stopped going to Costco so much!

rumpunch21

We are trying to do the same thing Yodajo described. We were spending $750 minimum a month. The past 2 months we've spent $400-$500, and we get better each week.

We look at all the circulars every week and decide which store has the best bargains for our needs, stock up when stuff is on sale, use everything in the house before we buy anything unnecessarily, and use coupons. Even DH is totally on board now, and we make competitions like "who can save the most" (we trade off who grocery shops each week to see who wins this! haha.. lame, but it makes it fun for us). Or we'll have Iron Chef nights where I'll lay out the basis for dinner and he has to make something using only what we have on hand.

These are all things we never did before..we'd just go to the store every day to get what we wanted for that night.

Carol*Brady

Our budget is $800...we always go over.  I don't use coupons or plan--I know I could save a ton if I did--it's just too overwhelming for me when ever I look into it.

LuvinMyKids

For a family of 6, I spend, on average, $80/week on groceries, so $320/ month.  Other household stuff comes out to around $150/mo.  I clip coupons like CRAZY, though and the website www.Hip2Save.com is a lifesaver.  So many great deals on there!