Cutting down my groceries expenses

[dclpluto]

Don't let food go to waste. Easier said than done.

Bananas gets too ripe fast. When they about had it. Take it out of the peel wrap it up and put it in the freezer. Makes a good healthy dessert or snack.

 

[neatokimmo]

I brought up a HEB ad for Houston. I didn't know where you are in TX.

Buy the pork roast for $1 pp. Get the largest quantity they will allow. Break it into two pound portions.

Same thing with the 1.47 pork chops.

Chicken breast is only $1 pp. It takes ten seconds to strip meat off the bone. Then you have the bones for stock.

If you don't have a digital scale get one.

You can do a number of things with this meat for 5 people. For $2-3.

Limit your vegetable purchases to $1 pp. Buy two pounds per meal. $2

Find a starch your family likes. Keep it at $1. Potatoes, rice, noodles etc.

If you keep dinner at $6 a night for a month, that is just $180 plus tax. After you get the hang of it, work on lunch and breakfast foods.

 

[Minnesota!]

We spend about $300/month for a family of 4. It can be done. You need to cook in bulk, shop what is on sale, avoid the prepackaged crap/stick to perimeter of the store, and do a lot of rollover meals. Steak, for us, is a once a year treat or so. Our main proteins are chicken, shrimp, fish, eggs. and beans.

Avoid the lunchables, bottled water, pre-made cookies, etc.

I have been where you are - my husband and I were full time students, and I was working one job, he was working 2. Plus, an infant and a toddler at home. But, we were broke as a joke and had no choice but to get our grocery budget shored up.

We get all our meat at Costco or the local butcher. I make trays upon trays of meatballs when Italian sausage is on sale at the butcher. Then I freeze and throw in ziplock bags. Make a massive batch of spaghetti sauce in the crockpot one day. You will always have sauce and meatballs on the ready. Can be used for spaghetti, subs, as a side with a salad, etc.

I make big pans of egg bake. Just slice and heat up for breakfast each morning and add some fruit to the side.

Rotisserie chicken - use the chicken day 1 for chicken salad. Day 2 for quesadillas, day 3 boil off the carcass/remaining meat and make a soup out of it that you can eat for days 3 - 6.

Target usually runs a good sale on their fresh veggies (or, the fresher veggies...the Market Pantry ones). I stock up and use them for roasted veggies, stir fry, in omlettes, soup, and with a roast.

Nothing goes to waste in my house!

 

[Hans Olo]

We're a family of 6 plus my mother in law lives with us now so we're 7. We usually spend about $100-120 a week on groceries.

I'm from Texas too and shop at HEB as well. Whenever the ad comes in I sit down and make a menu for the week based on sales and coupons. HEB always has lots of coupons.

I have 4 kids home from school so lunches are usually sandwiches, leftovers and easy stuff. Really besides lunch meat and pb&j I don't even buy for lunch. We kinda just throw stuff together and make do.

I only buy cereal if it has a coupon (which something usually does) and look for snacks with the store coupons as well.

Some cheaper dinners are:
*Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon
*Pasta tossed in olive oil and diced tomatoes(sometimes I'll throw in a chicken breast)
*Tostadas
* Baked chicken(bone in skin on is cheaper)
*Spaghetti

I also started getting ground turkey since it's cheaper. This week HEB has their frozen ground turkey $1 for a pound. I bought 8 and that will last me awhile. Tastes just like beef and so much better for you.

Hope this helps some!

 

[Dashzap]

$300.00 a week during summer. Maybe $225.00 week during school.

I spend about $250/week for three of us. And I am not getting steak.

We have food allergies in the family so often we are limited what brands we can buy. That cuts out a lot of couponing.

And then there is some personal preference issues. I prefer air-chilled chicken for health reasons. Produce all comes from the farm stand this time of year. Some organic produce finds it way into my cart, too.

Food is expensive.

 

[TwoMisfits]

We're a family of 6 plus my mother in law lives with us now so we're 7. We usually spend about $100-120 a week on groceries.

Some cheaper dinners are:
*Oatmeal with apples and cinnamon
*Pasta tossed in olive oil and diced tomatoes(sometimes I'll throw in a chicken breast)
*Tostadas
* Baked chicken(bone in skin on is cheaper)
*Spaghetti


Hope this helps some!

Food budgets are also appetite/age dependent. Families with lots of active or growing members will eat a lot more than families without same. My spouse is a gym rat as are my other kids, some of whom are also in the puberty/eat the whole house stage...so if I served say oatmeal with apples and cinnamon or the above pasta with just oil and tomatoes, they'd eat it and then ask either "where's the protein" or more likely "where's the rest of dinner"...or they'd snack all night out of my kitchen til they found their own. I'm so hoping that eventually this stage of our life slows down, since feeding an army every day is not easy. And I will say, all of my family members are at their "healthy" growth stage and weight, so sometimes, I don't know where the food goes, but it's not going to their waistline (I'm the only one who ever has to watch that - thank you pregnancy metabolism changes!)

So, since the Op also has 2 kids likely in or around the puberty stage (who may also be active)...she could have the same needs as my family does, so she probably doesn't have as far to reduce her budget as many do...I'd say again, she should try for 10% off her current spending and if that works, try another 5% until she reaches 20% and live on that for 6-12 months...

 

[Eureka]

What is air

I spend about $250/week for three of us. And I am not getting steak.

We have food allergies in the family so often we are limited what brands we can buy. That cuts out a lot of couponing.

And then there is some personal preference issues. I prefer air-chilled chicken for health reasons. Produce all comes from the farm stand this time of year. Some organic produce finds it way into my cart, too.

Food is expensive.

What is air-chilled chicken? I've never heard of that.

 

[dreiwhit]

I took a new job and a pay cut back in March. What we did was to start picking up the buy-one-get-one-frees and buying the items that are on sale. My wife will print off shopping lists and I will make the rounds at the nearly Publix, Winn Dixie, Wal Mart, CVS and Rite Aid at lunch. She also uses digital coupons and links them to our Publix and Winn Dixie accounts. We also have a Costco membership that we use for bulk purchases of items like ground beef, butter, milk, etc.

We also will buy several of the same items we regularly use, like cereal or deodorant, when they are on sale. It usually will last us until the next sale.

We also comparison shop A LOT. For example, I know where to go to buy items or brands we like at the cheapest price.

From what i've found, Wal Mart will have the best prices on non-food items regularly, but YMMV depending on your location.

Doing all this, we've managed to cut our grocery budget back quite a bit!

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I have two kids who are home for the summer. My son is 16 and my daughter is 10. I try to spend $125 a week.

What I do to limit the budget is I don't buy convenience foods. No hot pockets, lunchables or pre packaged foods. When they are hungry they have to actual MAKE a meal not just throw something in the microwave. They can make sandwiches or have leftovers from dinner. I cook dinner every night and they will eat leftovers so that's a plus. My daughter can make scrambled eggs. I'll make a batch of meatballs and they'll make meatball sandwiches.

I also limit snacks. My kids can get lazy so instead of my son getting up and making himself a sandwich he will grab a box of crackers or chips and eat the entire thing in one sitting. He will do this all day, multiple times throughout the day and then wait until I get home from work to cook dinner so he can eat a meal. I had to stop it. So now I buy a few snacks and hide them and only hand them out when they specifically ask for something.

I still buy fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese and applesauce for snacks and my daughter eats most of that.

 

[Hans Olo]

Food budgets are also appetite/age dependent. Families with lots of active or growing members will eat a lot more than families without same. My spouse is a gym rat as are my other kids, some of whom are also in the puberty/eat the whole house stage...so if I served say oatmeal with apples and cinnamon or the above pasta with just oil and tomatoes, they'd eat it and then ask either "where's the protein" or more likely "where's the rest of dinner"...or they'd snack all night out of my kitchen til they found their own. I'm so hoping that eventually this stage of our life slows down, since feeding an army every day is not easy. And I will say, all of my family members are at their "healthy" growth stage and weight, so sometimes, I don't know where the food goes, but it's not going to their waistline (I'm the only one who ever has to watch that - thank you pregnancy metabolism changes!)

So, since the Op also has 2 kids likely in or around the puberty stage (who may also be active)...she could have the same needs as my family does, so she probably doesn't have as far to reduce her budget as many do...I'd say again, she should try for 10% off her current spending and if that works, try another 5% until she reaches 20% and live on that for 6-12 months...

It's actually very filling! My 4 kids eat a lot...like more than a lot of adults do Plus it's super cheap to add in lots of fresh veggies to the pasta which also helps stretch the meal (which I do do sometimes just like with the chicken). I vary it up

I don't think the bulk of the OPs budget is coming from the quantity of food but rather from the type of foods and not using any coupons. That can make a huge difference. My point was that you can make food at home that's filling, inexpensive and better for you instead of maybe expensive hot pockets and lunchables.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

I wish I can spend $130 a week. I shop at HEB i live in Texas. I honestly don't know how to coupon. I also make a grocery list for the week. It takes me all day to make my list on Monday and I am still over budget. I try to budget for $150.00 a week and that doesn't work. Also this amount is just food not toiletries that's a different list and different budget amount and I am a little lost on that too. Saturday and Sunday counts a big meals cause the kids are home most of the day and they eat breakfast, lunch and supper. During the week its just breakfast and supper.

I buy the normal things I think...

Ground meat, chicken, sausage, steak, bread, snacks, juice, water, eggs, breakfast food, cereal, oatmeal, pizza, lunchable, hot pockets. everything on this list I buy once a week.

Jumping in before I catch up: Are you throwing away a ton of food? Most people's biggest food expense is food that goes in the trash.

 

[mom+3girls]

check out Pinterest, they have lots of ideas for meals on a budget and even preparing several meals at a time.

I shop sales and use coupons, when the digital coupons came out I was more than excited. Plan your meals around what is on sale. Price compare, sometimes something at Kroger may be more expensive than it actually is at CVS, CVS has a nice selection of foods. I also have just learned about Dollar Generals app they also have a nice selection of foods, you have to register, you can load coupons on your account all you do is tell the cashier that you will be using electronic coupons before she hits the total button and enter your phone number and Poof off goes some dollars, they also have special days where they have 5.00 off of a 25.00 order. I say you need to tell them before hand because they will not ask you if you will be using digital coupons, and you can not use a paper coupon with an electronic coupon for the same item. But you can you the 5.00 off with other digital coupons or paper coupons. I got soap one day for free, A box of cake mix one day for free.

Also, it pays to look at all ads, and maybe go to 2 or 3 stores if they are close to each other.

I also make a list and as I am shopping I write down the price of everything I put in my buggie/cart, total it at the end of each isle. That way I know where I'm at on the budget.

Also, don't use a CC or a debit card, take cash, if you know you have to say under 100 bucks take 100 in cash and that's all you got and that's the only way to pay for it you won't pick up random items.

I will never forget the man I was dating lived alone, I had 3 children at home and myself, I usually spent half of what he did on his groceries and we ate better than he did. He finally asked if I would teach him how to shop.

Big one here DON'T take your kids to the store with you.

Good luck

 

[My2CrazyGirls]

What is air

What is air-chilled chicken? I've never heard of that.

http://m.wholefoodsmarket.com/blog/whole-story/chillin-chicken

 

[marthachick]

All of the ideas by PP are great. My suggestion is that, if you do use a crock pot, buy some of the crock pot liners. These don't save money but they save time! I used to forget to use them, so now when I buy a box of them, I store them in my Crock Pot so I'll remember. Wonderful invention!

 

[maxiesmom]

OP--Do you have a large freezer? If so, find a local meat market and keep an eye out for sales. Many times they will run sales on a whole/half a pig or cow. If you buy it in bulk that way it is a lot cheaper. Plus you can request how much is cut into specific parts--like so much ground chuck, so many steaks, so many roasts.

 

[DawnM]

I just moved from California to Georgia. And, of course, I'm finding grocery prices (AT GROCERY STORES) more reasonable than California. In California I would only buy sale items at the grocery stores (Nob Hill and Safeway) and everything else mostly at Target and Walmart. It was a real price difference in California. However, Kroger and Publix here in Georgia are very competitive with Walmart and Target and most times Kroger's prices are better. I still try to stick to mostly sales items at grocery stores and I downloaded Krogers app which really helps. I decided to buy meat at Costco (like I did in California). Just not liking the meat departments in the local grocery stores here. Even my 11 year old daughter commented the meat tasted funny.

Huh. I moved from CA to NC and found NC prices more or at least similar.

 

[kydisneyfans]

Meat prices have nearly collapsed in our area. Ground chuck 80/20, 85/15 has been on sale throughout the summer for $1.99/lb, beef roasts at 2.99, boneless chicken as low as $1.49, and even boneless pork loin is $1.37. We stock up during sales big time. Milk is well under $2/gallon now, cheese and yogurts are on sale often. Toiletries are well stocked around here between Kroger and Meijer-the Meijer Charmin deal this weekend has us stocked with 72 rolls of TP and 24 rolls of paper towels for $20. We'll get 5 bottles of Tide and a filler item and will spend less than $15 with $5 off a future purchase-total cost is under $10. Both Meijer and Kroger had free Gillette shaving creme this week by attaching an online coupon to your account. Can't get easier and cheaper than that.

Take shortcuts where you can, find some sites for the stores in your area like Meijermadness, iheartkroger, iheartcvs, and others-let them do the deal matching and steal their ideas. It saves time and thousands of dollars a year.

Where we spend money is on produce-that does seem to be higher this year.

 

[crisi]

Where we spend money is on produce-that does seem to be higher this year.

Frozen veggies are still pretty cheap - and much less waste when you can use them for a lot longer - especially if you are in a house with busy teens. Frozen fruit as well - especially berries. Smoothies are really popular in our house with our health conscious teens - and bananas, frozen strawberries, frozen blueberries - plus inexpensive protein powder or powered peanut butter.

My son cooks up a chicken breast or tilapia (bought in frozen bulk at Costco) and frozen vegetables - and warms up brown rice in the microwave almost every night for dinner. He also goes through a lot of eggs and steel cut oatmeal. None of it is really very expensive.

I almost always have chili in the freezer for him and his dad - they pop it in the microwave. When ground beef is on sale, add canned tomatoes and spices and its a cheap way to feed meat hungry carb light men. And I've discovered the fun of adding things to chili - of course, beans are a staple - but a leftover beer in the fridge is good. A can of corn is good. And it doesn't have to be beef - pork or chicken or just beans work fine.

Also we get a lot of mileage out of chicken sausages - also in bulk from costco. One sausage (or two) can be fried up with potatoes, or tossed over pasta or polenta. Add some spinach and peppers - with everyone eating at a different time, its a low waste way for everyone to feed themselves. Both my kids can cook at least well enough to fry up some sausages or toss a chicken breast in a pan. Both know that they should round that out with vegetables and maybe rice or pasta.

 

[Brancaneve]

The GREAT grocery store debate! I spend between $175-$250 per week for our family of four. I know this sounds like quite a bit but I've given up on trying to reduce the overall cost and have focused more on lowering other expenses in favor of groceries. There are many things that seem to affect how much one spends. For example:

• One family may not spend much BUT they eat out more often
• One family may spend more but everyone in the family takes a lunch every day of the week (that' us!)
• Where you live may also affect grocery prices as evidenced in previous posts
• Another family may spend more but have food restrictions that require the purchase of more expensive food items
• Some families like to freeze foods and some hate anything that comes out of the freezer
• Some people have ample storage space while others simply do not
• A stay at home mom/dad may have more time to cook things from scratch, bargain shop and clip coupons while a working family may shop with convenience in mind

I have really come the the conclusion that every grocery budget is as unique as every family. In my opinion, every family must ask themselves if they are, 1)throwing away food at the end of the week? 2)eating as healthy as they deem possible? So I'm spending whatever I need to spend!

 

[mombrontrent]

OP I feel you! I spend a ton on groceries and now that summer is here and the kids are always home they are always hungry! I don't know exactly how much I spend because sometimes I shop, once in awhile DH does and sometimes I send DS17 to the store with a list and while he is pretty good at buying sale items and looking at unit cost he always comes back with extras that aren't on the list Also I work at a grocery store so usually everyday I grab some items on the way home or the kids text me and say can we have this for dinner tonight so I will grab the ingredients on the way home (DH works nights, so I usually make the kids what they want).

I would guess I spend $300+ a week on groceries to feed our family of 5 (ds17, dd14, dd10) plus dd14 14 year old boyfriend who is at the house everyday and I usually feed him 2 meals a day plus snacks plus dd10 best friend is always there as well so I feed her a lot as well. And these kids can eat! It costs me about $30+ just to feed these 5 kids tacos for dinner, the two teenage boys can eat about 8 big tacos each and the 3 girls about 3-4 each. Then a couple hours later they are looking for another meal or snacking. It's crazy how much kids in this age range eat. I'm away right now for the week and have Dd14's boyfriend with me and it's a joke right now cause he will say I'm hungry or I'm starving and I respond with your always hungry!