2nd Trimester
Mr. & Mrs. RN
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Food is so expensive! Any tips?
Mr. & Mrs. RN
member
About how much do you spend a month on groceries? (How big of a household?)
What grocery store do you find to be the most affordable?
How do you find ways to save other than couponing?
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Re: Food is so expensive! Any tips?
Alright! We're neighbors! I'm over in CDA.
I've always found that buying and cooking in bulk saves money for me. Especially when I want to make chili, I'll just make a huge batch in bulk, and freeze some for the next occasion. It saves time, too. Really all it costs you is freezer space.
Dry and canned food items are the best for buying in bulk. I do this with noodles, rice, canned veggies, soups and tomato products; anything that doesn't spoil. Just make sure you check the price per oz/lb tag (most stores have it on the price tag), because sometimes the smaller packages actually turn out to be cheaper overall, especially during a sale.
It'll take a little investment in the beginning, but you'll notice savings over time, especially because you'll be able to stock up on things when they go on sale. Typically, stores have a rotation of when items go on sale, so for example pasta will go on sale every 4-6 weeks or so. If you stock up then, you won't need more until it's on sale again, so you'll save a little money each time you go shopping.
Also, put your veggies on the shelf, not in the drawer of your fridge- you'll be so much less likely to waste them this way, that happens to me all the time.
Why not couponing? I save about 50% on my grocery bill with coupons. You should check out www.thekrazycouponlady.com. She makes it really easy. For me and DH we spend about $50 a week, most of that is on fruits, veggies and meat, all the other stuff we get super cheap with coupons/store sales/etc.
I feel it is my personal duty to suggest the money matters board on the nest if you ever want money savings tips.
That being said I am not the best person to ask when it comes to groceries. That is one place we allow for lots of room in our budget (and we buy mainly organic). I don't find coupons helpful becuase I don't buy anything that is "box food" other than the occasional box of pasta. It is hard to find coupons for meat, dairy, and produce. That being said you can still choose to shop sales and stock up on certain items when they go on sale.
A good way to save money with vegtables is to make sure to shop in season (i.e. don't buy tomatoes in the winter). In some areas you can get really good deals at farmer's markets (sadly not in my area). We also eat very little meat and tend to do one pot meals. For example, I will make a stir fry and use one chicken breast and use frozen vegtables (cheaper than fresh) for the rest of the stir fry. Usually the meal can last one dinner and two lunches. Other good multiple day meals include casseroles, enchiladas, spaghetti (or any pasta dish), mac and cheese, curry (we eat a lot of lentils they are delicious and cheap!).
Also you CAN occasionally find coupons on dairy if you go to the manufactures websites.
I don't buy much in the way of processed stuff (chips, cookies, crackers, frozen meals, etc...)
It helps cut down cost because those items are way overpriced for the volume you get, and the fresh stuff actually has an expiration date in the forseeable future, which encourages me to cook instead of going out to dinner on a whim.
I was going to say the same. Go to www.iamthatlady.com she makes couponing very easy.I go to many places in order to save money. Tops is good because they have a lot of items on sale for $1 so I stock up on those. BJ's is a wholesale store where I buy things in bulk. Things like meat, bottles of water, toilet paper, shampoo etc. in bulk save a lot of $$$. I go to Save a Lot which is like Aldi's but with name brands to buy things like taco shells, waffles, frozen foods and whatever good deals they have.
Edit: I just realized I overestimated usually I shop every two weeks which totals about 300 for just food. So $75-$100 a week is pretty accurate. Before I was thinking of my total with diapers and all that junk added. Which is for three people. Sometimes even less depends on what we need. Since I buy in bulk we have an abundance of condiments, noodle mixes and such.
We spend around 50 a week, for a family of three. Then usually once a month I do a bulk trip that is around 100-150.
When we got married we spent a ton on groceries, which was fine for us at the time, but when I became a SAHM I kind of felt like it was my monetary contribution to our family to do as much as I can to lower our grocery bill.
Like a PP suggested, Aldi is a great place to start!
about $40-75 per week on groceries for DH & I. It just depends. We do eat out fairly often, about 3 times per week or more. Our schedules aren't really predictable between me attending college, teaching classes & him trying to find a job and working for the armed forces. So, all of this keeps life interesting ;-) and changes how much we spend on food.
Oh, I should mention that I don't clip coupons usually. It just took so much time & the ones in the newspaper typically are for expensive name brand products. Just buying generic usually saves me more money than using a coupon would.
We spend about $100 a week for a family of 3 between the grocery store and Sams Club. Being flexible on brands and buying whats on sale helps out out a lot. The only things we buy not on sale are the essentials like milk and eggs and other things that are needed that may not have a sale option. There are some brands we do not compromise on, so we stock up when they are on sale. For example, we buy skippy peanut butter and they sell it at Sams club for a good price. However, every once in awhile the grocery store has is on sale for a slightly lower price per ounce than Sams club, so we stock up then. A lot of times the brand name items are cheaper than generics when they are on sale.
I also try to make recipes around whats on sale. We stock up on chicken breast and ground turkey at Sams club and freeze them. Then when I notice major ingredients for some of my common dinners on sale, I buy them. Finding recipes and then shopping for ingredients can get pricy. Its much more economical to let whats on sale at the store guide what you eat, especially with seasonal produce.
We also use coupons but our grocery store does not allow printed internet coupons, so are savings are somewhat limited there.
I found that making things ourselves saves us money. Between wanting to buy some organic and healthier options, prepackaged stuff really adds up. We eat a lot of fresh items. I make my own taco & chili seasoning (lots of recipes online), lowfat chocolate muffins, cookies for my son, and sometimes even black beans. I double or triple the recipes and then freeze the extras (so they are on hand). We try to only eat out 1-2x month and my DH brings his lunch to work.
We also buy a lot of things from local farmers. It's more expensive but they are organic and I feel like it is my donation to the local farm community (& environmental contribution). I also have a garden each summer.
Overall we spend around $150-200 a week (family of 3). My DH eats a lot and is skinny as a rail. We also live in the Washington DC area where a lot of things are more expensive. I feel like spending the money eating healthy is a long term investment.
We spend a lot on groceries, but only buy organic. I'm a HUGE advocate for eating natural, pesticide and hormone free food. So while Aldi or Walmart might be much cheaper, it's not worth the savings to me to have such low scale produce.
We don't buy processed food and rarely buy junk (but it's not like we're 100% perfect and never have Doritos either
)
We go to the Farmer's Market a lot... we have a huge one near us and it's much cheaper than Whole Foods and Kroger. We also get a weekly bin drop off of organic produce. Based on what is in our bin we do meal planning for the week.
I would say planning our meals saves us the most. We never have anything that goes bad or needs thrown away. It took us a bit to get into planning and a rythem but it's very easy now.
We spend around $120 a week
We spend about $200/month on groceries, and household goods. We coupon, but I'm just getting started, so we're not saving a ton every month (but every little bit helps).
I don't use paper towels much, I just a rag (or an old, cut-up t-shirt), I make my own laundry detergent (saves us about $10-15/month), I don't buy a lot cleaners (I use vinegar/water for the most part... I have an all natural disinfectant that I use when I clean the kitchen/bathroom, and I use a wood cleaner/polish). There is always coupons for paper goods, toiletries, and cleaning products. If you're a family that uses a lot of those, I would look into couponing, even if it's just to save money on that.
I cook from scratch a lot (it's easier done than you think)... anything that is a "convenience" food will always cost you more, and it usually isn't very good for you anyways. I buy fruit and veggies on sale and in season. If the food is going to go bad, I freeze or dehydrate it, so it doesn't go to waste. We rarely buy chips and snacks; we buy lots of fruits, cheese, yogurt, crackers, etc. It fills you up more, and costs less than chips. We buy generic for most everything.
One of the biggest things that saves us money is making a grocery list, sticking to it, and only shopping a couple times a month. The more time you spend in the grocery store aimlessly, the more you spend. Estimate the cost of your items on your list before you go shopping, and vow to only spend that amount. When you're in the store, keep a mental tally of how much money you're spending... that tends to keep me from throwing extra stuff in the cart. Then, if I'm under budget at the checkout line, I treat myself with a magazine.
We are a family of four (Me, DH, and two boys with DS#3 on the way).
We spend about $400/mth on groceries. Not including extra stuff like pullups, diapers, toiletries, etc.
We found that Walmart is the cheapest. We hate going there, but we're saving up for a house. We used to go to Target and drop $300/wk for groceries!
I buy store brand whenever it's cheaper then the brand names. There are some things I WILL NOT by store brand like bread (Wonder Bread is the best), diapers, etc. Another thing we use is mealtimemakeover.com They put a menu together for you and how much each ingredient costs related to the store you're going to. So, we use the Walmart menu. Most menus don't go over $90! They are pretty good meals too. The ones we don't like, we substitute with something else we do like.
This is what we do too. Most of our budget goes to bulk grain (rice, flour, etc), fruits, veggies, dairy products, and a few convenience foods. We buy meat in bulk from local meat shops and a local Hutterite colony. It's more money up front, but we are always stocked with meat and it is cheaper in the long run.
We usually spend about $40/week on groceries and another $30/month (totally guessing here) on meat.
My only other tip is to either plan ahead and watch for sales or plan your weekly menu around sales.
I shop at Aldi for quite a few things and save money that way without having to spend time hunting down coupons.
Additionally, I make sure to let my political leaders know that I'm not okay with devaluing the dollar, creating inflation and most of all, growing corn in an attempt to fuel our cars instead of feed people. Perhaps one day elected officials will start to listen.
Kelly, Mom to Christopher Shannon 9.27.06, Catherine Quinn 2.24.09, Trey Barton lost on 12.28.09, Therese Barton lost on 6.10.10, Joseph Sullivan 7.23.11, and our latest, Victoria Maren 11.15.12
Secondary infertility success with IVF, then two losses, one at 14 weeks and one at 10 weeks, then success with IUI and then just pure, crazy luck. Expecting our fifth in May as the result of a FET.
This Cluttered Life
I meal plan to save money. I look at the store ad's to see what's on sale and base my weeks menu on those items.
I also use frozen vegetables a lot. We also have a garden and I buy from the local farmer's market. We get a side of beef every year from a local farmer and that really helps us save.
We'll always remember our angel baby: BFP 9/24/10, M/C 10/23/10 8w4d
This. I'll clip for household goods (razors, shampoo, deodorant, etc., but generally not for food since we don't really buy name-brand food items.
We'll always remember our angel baby: BFP 9/24/10, M/C 10/23/10 8w4d
We spend about $300 a month.
We shop exclusively at Kroger.
I meal plan, buy store brand when possible, eat a few meat-free dinners a week, and avoid most prepackaged, processed foods.
Awesome!
My husband and I were going to go "exploring" one day when we first got here and we were going to go to CDA but it seemed like it was taking forever so we stopped in Post Falls and went to Cabela's. lol. I hear it's a nice place though.
I'm from Idaho too! We do a Coscto run 1-2 times a month and then Super 1 for the rest, just DH and I right now and we spend about $50-75 a week
Best Wishes to my labor buddy FunNSunAZ!
"Well I've waited so long, so long, so long For someone like you And as this morning breaks through the window pane It reveals the truth Baby, you're my sunshine, first light Find your way to places that only know lies Failed tries and bruised skies With hardly time to hold on or be strong, now I'm strong 'Cos like the dawn you push it all away I tell ya, you're my sunshine
Everybody needs a little sunshine"
Steve Azar "Sunshine"
It's just DH and I for now and he eats like a teenager so I can't say a monthly average, but since I've been pg and trying to eat better, I found this list helpful. Most stores are similar to these prices. I had no idea the kind of variety that was healthy but not so expensive. Eating what's in season on top of that saves you money also.
https://shine.yahoo.com/event/green/50-healthy-foods-for-under-1-a-pound-1677000